Second Sundays at Camont

French Dreams-Hanging out at Camont July, part 2

Summer Supper at Camont with Ratatouille and Tomato and Blackberry salad.

“Second Sundays” are what I call those Monday mornings when a sleepy haze, or a cloud-filled sky, dulls the brain into lingering over a second cup of coffee, even a third. Maybe make some pancakes for breakfast, just for yourself, and pick up a sewing project instead of getting to work. And when all that was done, I started listening to a podcast, a rare event for me, and circled back to last week’s post about hanging laundry. Here are a few words that have stuck with me since I wrote last week about drying my linens in the sun.

Revelation! On a perfect Summer day, warm sunlight plus drying breeze, I can, with help from ma femme de ménage (my housekeeper), wash all eight full sheets and 12 pillowcases and all the bath and kitchen towels in one day. Several loads were cycled through, then hung perfectly flat and squared off to dry. That evening, I brought them in before the dew started forming, folded them neatly (no ironing needed!), and sorted them into the linen closet the next day.

This might not excite you as much as it did me, but it is a new record at the Relais de Camont! Other people have their own methods and strong opinions about hanging laundry, too. Just read the many comments on the last post! This is my favorite—

I was born in NYC and grew up in a 3rd fl walkup apt. Mom, sister and me would walk-up to the roof to hang the laundry after it was washed. Don’t remember if there ever was a dryer in the basement. Moved to Southern California and we had a clothes line outside, actually several lines…fast forward to now, I live in Tucson,Az and I’m now 82 and I have a line stretching between posts in back. Still hang wash, love the fresh smell and ritual.

Barbara Carbajal

Paintings by Lois Dodd, (1927- present)

Artful Laundry

This was still fresh in my mind this morning as I worked on a little sewing mending project—a vintage market basket that I love (see below) while listening to one of my very favorite podcasts, The Great Women Artists Podcast by Katy Hessel (she also has an Instagram account and a Substack by the same name-

Katy Hessel

.) After listening to a visit to the Tate Modern with Australian curator Kelli Cole and an interview with the niece of German/Swiss Surrealist Meret Oppenheim, of that fur-lined teacup fame (Object ,1936), I listened to and fell in love a little with 98-year-old painter Lois Dodd. As it turns out, besides her famous windows and framed landscapes, Lois Dodd painted a whole series of laundry flying on a line—colorful and dynamic. Now I am doubling down on the importance of hanging my own laundry more artfully as the proud domestic French flags we fly. You can listen to Katy Hessel’s interview with Lois Dodd here. And for readers planning a summer trip to Maine, they will want to know that they can see Lois's work at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, and she often exhibits at the Caldbeck Gallery, also in Rockland, ME.

On to Summer food…

Ratatouille Salad

While the basic recipe is published here from my 2021 series, A Gascon Year-Juillet issue, I often change my approach. Ratatouille is at its best when mid-to-late summer vegetables are at their peak of flavor and abundance. As a cold or room-temperature dish, I dressed the above with a generous drizzle of a simple vinaigrette — olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper — and topped it with a freshly cut parsley and garlic persillade.

Basic Ratatouille

4 generous servings

• 2 peppers (red, green or yellow),

  trimmed and cut in thick slices

• 1 onion, chopped finely

• 2 garlic cloves, left whole or minced as you like

• 2 courgettes (zucchinis) cut into large chunks

• 1 aubergine cut into cubes

• a handful of black olives

• 4 tomatoes, peeled, de-seeded and cut into quarters

• 1 branch rosemary

• salt and pepper to taste

• olive oil

Place a large shallow pan over medium heat. Add 2-3 soup spoons of good olive oil. Place onion, garlic & peppers in the hot pan and sizzle until they are slightly golden.

Add the aubergine next, followed by the courgettes, and cook until barely soft . (These really fresh vegetables will weep their water and prevent everything from sticking)

Add tomatoes, rosemary, salt, and pepper.

Cover and cook over low heat, shaking the pan from time to time rather than stirring, until all the vegetables are soft and the flavors have combined (30-45 minutes). Each vegetable should be distinctive and not a mush of indeterminate origin.

Remove from heat and let sit. Serve at room temperature or warm as accompaniment to meat, fowl, or game or top with a poached egg as a complete lunch or supper.

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My vintage market basket repair!

A French Champêtre summer means slowing down a little more now, although the heatwaves have given over to cooler nights already, something I think of as being more summer’s end. However, I am sticking to my plan: a quieter 6 weeks without residents or guests here at Camont, dedicated to deep rest while working on a long-term writing project. Yes, more writing here at The Camont Journals, more cooking from the archives and recipe testing upgrades, and definitely more audio in the form of voice-over mini-podcast episodes. The focus? I call it the Legacy Project. Let’s see what shakes out in these next 6 weeks! Stick with me as I slow these French summer dreams down.