Papaya pineapple salad

June in France in special. Beautiful. Evenings are soothing and invitingly lingering.

Start off a dinner (or a lunch) with a cool fresh papaya pineapple salad, drizzled with a mirrin and rice vinegar vinaigrette.

…pineapple and papaya salad…

…dinner on a june evening…

Scammed(almost)

See this as a WARNING post!

…scammed(almost)!…

pencil on paper

I fell for a scam today…almost!

We have been thinking about getting a little Jack Russel, since we’ve read Jock of the Bushveld years ago. Only still thinking about it.

Two days ago we saw, quite by accident, an ad on the internet for a Jack Russel puppy who was to be given away, due to circumstances. What made us look closer, was that it was in Monceau sur Dordogne, which is just around the corner from Puy d’Arnac and we could easily drop in to have a look at Doggy. .

So we answered.

Got an email back from Almari Dubelle, saying how pleased she was to receive our interest. She went on lovingly to describe her circumstances and last night I replied back, asking some questions, demanding the little femelle, suggesting we will come and have a look next week when we are in Correze etc, etc, etc… ending off by saying how much we look forward to seeing the doggy and I even attached some photos to show that the doggy will live in cared- for surroundings, go hiking with us, play with our cats and goodness knows what fun more!! So, off the mail wnet to Almari Dubelle in Monceau sur Dordogne!

About 30 minutes later, I get an abrupt and rude email back, without a thank you or any decent manner, no answer to any of my qustions, only retorting that the dog is sort of already in transit! I STILL believed everything is cosher, even felt bad for probably making her assume we are taking the dog!

So I thought: “Oh, well, we DO want a doggy, Well accept it and love it, seeing she went through all the trouble, PAYING for the transit and all.”  I was just so grateful it wasn’t the  rude Almari Dubelle in transit I’d have to accept!

So. This morning EARLY I get an email from the transportservice:  airlinestransport@ymail.com, saying the dog will be delivered at our house this afternoon at 15:00, but they are waiting for the receipt of transfer of 85 euros to:a Hermann Gandaho in Porto novo, Belin and the dog would arrive from Melanie Pieschot. They even advised me to say the transfer is for a friend, which would make my  taxes cheaper!

“How very kind!” I thought!

By now you can start laughing, because I did indeed storm off to the post office , completed a mandat western union, paid the 85 euros and 13 euros postal taxes and the electronic transfer happened immediatelybefore my eyes.

And just there, clarity struck my mind as fierce as the lightning on late afternoons in Corréze. I immediately realized this was a hoax. In the course of a second everything flashed through my mind, much like I think your whole life would flash before your eyes in your last minute on earth..

Everything about this whole affaire suddenly made sense…the emails, the weird requests, the even weirder behaviour…everything fell into place.  I immediately asked my adorable agent at the post office to stop it. Too late. But because we were so quick on it, we were able to block it and OF COURSE I called back my extremely-friendly- dog- owner-donor at +22993057106, telling him to go ahead and deliver the puppy, we are anxiously waiting! So he demanded me to immediately scan and send the receipt, they need the account number to complet the paperwork? Really? We would then have our doggy by the afternoon. Really? (I can afford to be smirky now…I’m not stupid after all…sic)

I told him affectionately…we were good friends by now, remember….that I will personally hand the receipt to the agent dropping off doggy this afternoon. Mr Agent can even have a coffee, while we quickly  email the details, doggy can have a whee and if all is in order, Mr Agent can leave and doggy can stay behind at his/her new home and everybody will be happy!

Well. His stories got longer and the explanations complicated as to why it can’t work that way.  That was that. He didn’t get his money. We didn’t get Doggy.  Hartman took me for a coffee and I bought ink cartridges for the printer.

On arriving  home, I ran upstairs to check these emails of the last two days, not willing yet to let it go. Did some searching on the images and links of the so-called transport company  and found the images were somewhere downloaded from “Loisir et Sport” , the text and titles were taken from “liensutiles”(both of which you can google) and several other sites which were used in this “probably photoshopped document”.

I am very low this evening. Sad about nog having our Jack Russel, angry with myself for being SO gullible and stupid. But my biggest sadness and disappointmentare are in this world and the fact that people like this exist AND they get away with what they do. I almost let them get away with it.

So what does this all say about Internet? I ‘m not sure.

One thing is for sure. For me personally, this happened to make me more careful about how I use the Oh, so handy Internet! I was always careful and wary of it. But then, slowly and  surely I started loosening up and getting slack..

Well, I’m back to being the secret agent, keeping myself to myself and watching it with an inspective eye. .

My last word is one of warning. Laugh at me, mock me, ridicule me  for being SO gullible and naive and ignorant, but when you’re done….watch your step around the Internet!!

Fennel salad

The long winter days tend to bring along a fatigue and lethargy. With the first breakthroughs of sun and blue skies, we can feel the energy surging up with a desire for bare arms and healthy toned bodies and a hint of sun kissed skin. A big kick start to get those desires fulfilled is moving towards fresh salads with some proteien on the side. And after finishing a crisp salad, why not take out those walking shoes for a brisk walk or dust that bicycle for a pedal to the garden centre and stock up on fresh herbs that can be planted from now on.

Fennel is loaded with vitamin c and and phytonutrients, rich in minerals and a perfect food to drive away winter fatigue. Marinate it for a while in a piquante vinaigrette, serve with a tinge of sweetness like pears and a good matured cheddar cheese, or even a blue cheese of your choice. It marries well with fish and chicken.

To good health!!

…fennel and pear  salad…

…fighting fatigue…

Salmon tartare

A starter I love. Even good for a full meal. Or start off with the tartare and finish off with a light fish soup. The fresh salmon can be replaced by any other white fish. For those that don’t eat raw salmon, smoked salmon can be an option.

…yum..

Salmon tartare.

*Order some fresh salmon from you fishmonger, telling him it is for tartare…having pride in his knowledge and job, he’ll see to you getting the best quality fish; cleaned, bones and skin removed.  Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the freezer to get to a softly frozen stage. Remove, cut into small dice and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add a drop or two lemon juice(not too much or else the fish will”cook” and lose its bright colour), olive oil and freshly milled pepper to the salmon, mix ightly with a fork, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

*In the meantime, chop some red onion finely and a handful of fresh dill. Cut a lemon into small wedges. Toast some dark ry bread, and cut into small triangles.

*Serving: Serve the salmon along with the chopped onion, dill, lemon wedges, a dollop of créme frâiche and the rye toasts in small bowls on individual plates. Serve extra fleur de sel or maldon salt and freshly crushed black pepper on the side.

…natural sculptures…

Avocado salad and tomato sauce.

A very old salad. Now with maybe a face lift in the shape of a tomato vinaigrette. This was a favourite little salad in our home right after my marriage. And at that stage and age it was delicious with a liberal drizzling of tomato sauce, better known as ketchup, bought straight from the supermarket shelf,  instead of a fancy vinaigrette. I don’t like tomato in a green salad, the two don’t marry well for me. But this is an exception. Maybe because it isn’t really a green salad. Or maybe it is the way it is served. Or maybe I’m only fooled by the play on words. That is what we do nowadays. A salad in the seventies would mean chopped tomatoes and green leaves with onion rings and  a dressing of vinegar and sugar.  Now we are still  not french and call our dressings vinaigrettes. Now we eat an “avocado salad with bacon topping”, Or “tomato salad with a drizzling of lemon juice”. A “green salad with roasted almonds”, “mesclun with truffle shavings”. So, do we still eat ketchup on our avocado salad…of course we do…in the secrecy of our kitchen!

A tip to try: Never put tomatoes in the fridge, even in summer. Keep them in a cool place. The cold kills all flavour. To revive some of its flavour, leave for a few minutes in water…like salad, like carrots, like all vegetables in fact.

…old things become new…