New Life

Some of you may remember my blogging quite some time ago about saving a Poinciana tree that was about to be destroyed.  We had no idea if the poor thing would survive the transition and as evidenced from the photo above, it has not only survived it has since burst into ‘flame’ as they do at this time of year.  We’re so pleased to see the new life growing and hope this bodes well as the tree settles itself into its new home!

I haven’t posted a blog for a couple of months but hopefully have been in touch with most of you so you know what’s going on - since the last blog, I have taken my first set of STEP (Society of Trust Estate Practitioner) exams - the first of 4 - which thankfully I have passed - the next exam is in early November so I’ll be back to the books in August in preparation for that one.  The exams are an extension of what I’m currently doing which is Private Trust administration and I have to say being based in Cayman is a bonus given that the majority of the offshore trust and related legislation, Cayman was (and still is) the front runner with most other jurisdictions then basing their legislation on ours.

Since my last blog, we’ve also been to France for a very short visit and although the time just flew (we had less than 2 weeks over there), we still managed to pack in a fair amount of activity including a birthday (mine) lunch with the neighbours in one of the local restaurants (photo above) - these particular neighbours have been so welcoming since our arrival in the hamlet in 2006 and even take it upon themselves to collect our walnuts when we can’t be there at harvest time.  They very kindly greeted us this year with a sack  containing 14kg’s of our walnuts and felt it necessary to apologise that they couldn’t collect more but their backs were bothering them (they’re both nearly 80!).  So I managed to bring a few kg’s back in my suitcase along with the most spectacular walnut oil locally produced which has given us incentive to invest in a walnut press and have a go ourselves - having only tasted the slightly rancid walnut oil available on the shelves here it was a real joy to taste the good stuff!

We also had some good friends from Cayman come and visit and very kindly included us on some Bordeaux chateau tours they’d arranged - the photos above and below are taken at Chateau Pontet-Canet which we were both thoroughly impressed with - it’s an organic operation that still uses horses instead of tractors and all the grapes are handpicked - incredible!  So we splashed out and bought a bottle from the year we got married and now have a 1999 Chateau Pontet-Canet sitting in our wine fridge here in Cayman to enjoy on our anniversary this year - cheers!

We finished our french adventure with the most spectacular meal (photo below of the phenomenal dessert we finished the meal with) at the home of our stonemasons who are renovating the piggery for us.  Their son works in a 1 Michelin star restaurant in Perigueux and had a day off, so they asked him to cook for us.  We arrived, not really sure what to expect having never been to their home and were welcomed so warmly, and although being our last day in France and with lots to do to pack up the house were hoping we might escape with just a 2 or 3 hour lunch under our belts, it was a full 5 hours later that we were saying our goodbyes with regret - an absolutely amazing meal and one that has me worried about reciprocating when we return so I’m trying out new things and have just made a soup from a recipe given to me by a good friend and cooking guru which is so simple and yet so tasty I’ve included it below in case anyone else would like to give it a try.

Cold Pear & Red Pepper Soup

2 red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped

2 pears, peeled and roughly chopped

1 shallot, peeled and chopped

pinch of salt and ground white pepper

1 can or about 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock

Saute the shallot until translucent but not discoloured, add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the pear and peppers are soft - leave to cool a little then puree until smooth.

Chill and then serve with a dollop of whipped cream or a splash of regular heavy cream or a dollop of creme fraiche - ENJOY!