Strange Fruit

Bonjour! How are you all doing this rainy month of May? Not raining where you are, huh? I'll send you some, we've got plenty, and to spare! Now I know why moss grows on everything in France; it is pretty to look at though. I was minding my own business going into the grocery store when a lady shoved two free items into my hands; a bottle which said Fruit and Rouges, (which I thought must be for cooking), and a sample bag of sweets. When I came back to where Jack was sitting doing email, he asked me to stop waving around that bottle of beer, it was unseemly for a missionary lady. Hmmmmm. You just never know around here, where just last week, I learned how to cook a garden snail. I think we all need to know this, in case of emergency. First, you have to catch them (they are tricky and faster than you'd think). Then put them in a box with cornmeal all over the bottom. They will try to escape, so cover the top with mesh and weigh it down because they are strong and will work together in a bid for freedom. They'll eat the cornmeal, and when their poop is white, that means they are all cleaned out and ready to cook. Boil them til the shell gets hard and pull out the gut part, and push in the meat part. Make a paste of garlic, butter and parsley and push that into the large end of the shell; top with butter and bake upside down in a special pan til the butter sizzles . . . and eat with baguette, of course! They really do love them here, and you can get them frozen.

When we did service with the Lemoges Branch at the Morrison's horse ranch last week, it was so good to be with all ages of men, women and children again. That's the one thing we really miss in Angouleme where the average age has got to be about 60. They have a horse farm with an old ramshackle house and barn all in one, the house being in the end part, about one forth of the entire structure. Good thing Brother Morrison is a builder, because he has put a lot of work into that place all ready. Today was fence erecting day, and 36 folks showed up to help. Jack jumped right in with the fence post pounder (a hand held tool) and I got a trowel and pulled weeds from around their entrance way. They fenced in the goats, and then worked on a long section for a paddock for the horses.

Carol Morrison is legally blind; no sight in one eye, but with 28 operations on the cataracts in the other eye, she can see a bit out of it. This lady is a true inspiration to everyone. She loves the church totally, and rides her horses, and told me her philosophy on raising them the way God would have us do. I was enthralled with her feelings about animals. She had made goat's milk ice cream for one and all and served it with jelly! (which turned out to be Jello), and that was pretty good. They are English, and sold their property in England to come here like 500,000 other retirees from there to live a cheaper, simpler life. It was a beautiful day and the Branch got a lot done for them.

Last night we (the missionaries) hosted the commemoration of the Priesthood program with a Bar-B-Que. We had an excellent turnout, and just the program would have made it worthwhile because the Elders and Jack did a good job with talks etc. But the day was made with the baked drumsticks (they usually stew them) in sauce, and pulled pork (that was unheard of) in sauce on a bun, and hot dogs with mustard, and cheesy potatoes (fat and cream-yum!), and a giant fruit salad. It is so much fun to introduce new (to them) food ideas, but I really was surprised at how they all loved Jack Daniel's Bar-B Que sauce, and I even found a recipe that's a reasonable facsimile to that, so I had lots of extra. We actually found that sauce at the store here, but it's costly.

Well, that's about all I can reasonably tell you about food right now without beginning to drool a bit with hunger. Hope you are healthy, happy and strong in the faith. We love you all, bye for now.

Love, Sister Mom (Joanne) Grandma