A Fatal Grace (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #2)

by Louise Penny

CC de Poitiers

Saul Petrov

magret de canard

Magret de Canard is duck breast from the Moulard (Mulard, in French) breed of ducks. The Moulard is a cross between the White Peking and the Muscovy duck. Raised on grain in the South West of France their meat is famous for being tender, juicy, and full flavoured. The farmers of the South West take care to respect their traditions but also the natural landscape of this region to develop sustainable poultry farming. The duck is more tender and plump than other varieties. It has a very distinctive taste that blends well with full-bodied or spicy flavours (olive, ginger) and lends itself perfectly to sweet and savoury preparations (oranges, dried fruits, mango, and honey

one-vache village

Oh la vache! This is a particularly unusual expression for a non-French speaker. It literally translates to “Oh the cow!” It apparently dates back to the seventeenth century, when farmers would bring cows into towns and villages to ensure the milk they were selling was fresh. Photo: Tambako The Jaguar/Flickr This would be met by exclamations of “Oh la vache!” by the bourgeois people of the town. Since then, it has wormed its way into everyday conversation, to express shock or horror and is used frequently by French people of all ages.

Crie

Monsieur Drapeau,

Miss Edward’s School for Girls.

Olivier’s Bistro

Sarah’s Boulangerie.

Myrna’s New and Used Books,

Monsieur Béliveau shoveled the front walk of h...

G...

tuques

tuque /tyo͞ok/ I. noun (Canadian) a close-fitting knitted stocking cap. – origin Canadian French form of toque. toque plural noun: toques a woman's small hat, typically having a narrow, closely turned-up brim. Historical a small cap or bonnet having a narrow brim or no brim. Canadian a close-fitting knitted hat, often with a tassel or pom-pom on the crown.

Ruth’s bright green pompom hat

Wayne’s multi-col...

Lévesqu...

Rose

Clara’s husband Peter walked into the room. He was tall and slim and looked like a Fortune 500 executive, like his father. Instead he spent his days hunched over his easel, getting oil paints into his curly gray hair as he slowly created his excruciatingly detailed works of abstract art.

Madeleine’s exercise class.

Ogilvy’s Christmas window. The hallowed department store in downtown Montreal had the most magical Christmas window in the world.

Jane Neal had been murdered slightly over a year

Saul

CC,

Denis Fortin

carbuncle

carbuncle /ˈkärˌbəNGk(ə)l/ I. noun 1. a severe abscess or multiple boil in the skin, typically infected with staphylococcus bacteria. 2. a bright red gem, in particular a garnet cut en cabochon. II. derivatives carbuncular /kärˈbəNGkyələr / adjective – origin Middle English (sense 2): from Old French charbuncle, from Latin carbunculus ‘small coal,’ from carbo ‘coal, charcoal.’

Li Bien,

RRSP.

A registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) (French: régime enregistré d'épargne-retraite, REER), or retirement savings plan (RSP), is a type of financial account in Canada for holding savings and investment assets. RRSPs have various tax advantages compared to investing outside of tax-preferred accounts. They were introduced in 1957 to promote savings for retirement by employees and self-employed people. They must comply with a variety of restrictions stipulated in the Canadian Income Tax Act. Approved assets include savings accounts, guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), bonds, mortgage loans, mutual funds, income trusts, corporate shares, exchange-traded funds, foreign currency, and labour-sponsored funds. Rules determine the maximum contributions, the timing of contributions, the assets allowed, and the eventual conversion to a registered retirement income fund (RRIF) at age 71. Taxation Contributions to RRSPs are deductible from total income, reducing income tax payable for the year in which the contributions are claimed. No income earned in the account is taxed (including interest, dividends, capital gains, foreign exchange gains, mortality credits, etc.). Most withdrawals are taxed as income when they are withdrawn. This is the same tax treatment provided to Registered Pension Plans established by employers.

It didn’t seem to matter to anyone that snow in Jerusalem made no sense. The teacher, quite rightly, figured if anyone believed in a virgin birth they’d believe there was a snowfall that miraculous night.

Ramen Das,

gigot d’agneau

Le Gigot D’Agneau Pascal (French Roast Leg of Lamb) By: AuthorSarah - Curious Cuisiniere Posted onLast updated: November 8, 2021 Home » Europe » French Recipes » Le Gigot D’Agneau Pascal (French Roast Leg of Lamb) A leg of lamb is an impressive main dish for any celebration. This traditional French Easter dish of roast leg of lamb with rosemary and garlic is the perfect dish to wow any guests! French Easter Leg of Lamb (Rosemary and Garlic) ready to carve What is le gigot d’agneau? “Le gigot d’adneau” is French for “leg of lamb”. Lamb is an incredibly common main dish for Easter celebrations in France, and in much of Europe. French cooking might be known for being a bit complicated and over the top, but even with a seemingly fancy name, the preparation for this roast leg of lamb is so incredibly simple. The leg is studded with garlic cloves and fresh rosemary sprigs and roasted at a low temperature to achieve a tender, flavorful result

Siegfried Sassoon?’

Siegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's view, were responsible for a jingoism-fuelled war. Sassoon became a focal point for dissent within the armed forces when he made a lone protest against the continuation of the war in his "Soldier's Declaration" of July 1917, culminating in his admission to Craiglockhart War Hospital; this resulted in his forming a friendship with Wilfred Owen, who was greatly influenced by him. Sassoon later won acclaim for his prose work, notably his three-volume, fictionalised autobiography, collectively known as the Sherston trilogy.

Ruth Zardo,

Ruth’s slim volumes of poetry were slipped to an oblivious public following a launch at the bistro in Three Pines. But something astounding had happened. This elderly, wizened, bitter poet from Three Pines had won the Governor-General’s Award. Surprised the hell out of everyone. Not because she didn’t deserve it. Clara knew her poems were stunning.

Who hurt you once so far beyond repair that you would greet each overture with curling lip? It was not always so.

Gabri Dubeau

his partner Olivier Brulé.

‘CC de Poitiers’s. Did you know our new neighbor’s written a book?’

Three Graces from Three Pines: Émilie Longpré, tiny and elegant in a slim skirt, shirt and silk scarf; Kaye Thompson, at over ninety years of age the oldest of the three friends, wizened and shriveled, smelling of Vapo-rub and looking like a potato; and Beatrice Mayer, her hair red and wild, her body soft and plump, and ill-concealed beneath a voluminous amber caftan with chunky jewelry about the neck. Mother Bea, as she was known,

Leigh Hunt’s Abou Ben Adhem,

Abou Ben Adhem BY LEIGH HUNT Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold:— Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the presence in the room he said, "What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head, And with a look made of all sweet accord, Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord." "And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so," Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then, Write me as one that loves his fellow men." The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night It came again with a great wakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blest, And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. Abou Ben Adhem" is a poem written in 1834 by the English critic, essayist and poet Leigh Hunt. It concerns a pious Middle Eastern sheikh who finds the 'love of God' to have blessed him. The poem has been praised for its non-stereotypical depiction of an Arab. Hunt claims through this poem that true worship manifests itself through the acts of love and service that one shows one's fellowmen and women. The character of 'Abou Ben Adhem' is said to have been based on the ascetic Sufi mystic Ibrahim bin Adham. The poem, due to its Middle Eastern setting and spiritualistic undertones, can be considered an example of Romantic Orientalism. The first known appearance of this poem is in an album kept by the writer Anna Maria Hall, whose husband, Samuel Carter Hall published it in 1834, in his gift book The Amulet. The poem shows a surprisingly liberal attitude for its time, and espouses the belief that true worship is in the service of others. The angel is said to be a representation of God's omnipresence, which observes anything and anyone.

If Myrna knew one thing it was how little she really knew.

‘All is bright.’ Crie’s exquisite voice played in the rafters with the lights then slipped under the door of the old chapel and danced with the gently falling snowflakes and parked cars and bare maples. The words of the old carol glided across the frozen pond and nested in the Christmas trees and seeped into every happy home in Three Pines.

Émilie’s

Little Rose Lévesque stared up at the bûche de Noël,

Émilie Longpré

réveillon,

réveillon, the party that spanned Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, an old Québecois tradition, just as her mother and grandmère had done in this very same home on this very same night. A réveillon (French: [ʁevɛjɔ̃] (listen)) is a long dinner held in the evening preceding Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Its name descends from the word réveil (meaning "waking"), because participation involves staying awake until morning, as the meal finishes. The practice is observed in Belgium, France, Brazil, Romania in the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick, the city of New Orleans, and some other French-speaking places. In Portuguese-speaking countries, it is also a designation for the party preceding New Year's Day. In the United States, the réveillon tradition is still observed in New Orleans due to the city's strong French-Creole heritage, with a number of the city's restaurants offering special réveillon menus on Christmas Eve. It is also observed by many Franco-American families throughout New England. The term is first documented in 18th-century France, and was used by the French as a name for the night-long party dinners held by the nobility. Eventually the word began to be used by other courts (amongst them the Portuguese courts) and after the French Revolution it was adopted as a definition of the New Year's Eve.

In my teens my drug of choice was acceptance, in my twenties it was approval, in my thirties it was love, in my forties it was Scotch. That lasted a while,’ she admitted. ‘Now all I really crave is a good bowel movement.’

So much more comforting to see bad in others; gives us all sorts of excuses for our own bad behavior. But good? No, only really remarkable people see the good in others.

Émilie Longpré

Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto in D Major.

The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 was the only concerto for violin composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Composed in 1878, it is one of the best-known violin concertos. . may have played through the day after Kotek's arrival. This work may have been the catalyst for the composition of the concerto. Tchaikovsky wrote to his patroness Nadezhda von Meck, "It [the Symphonie espagnole] has a lot of freshness, lightness, of piquant rhythms, of beautiful and excellently harmonized melodies.... He [Lalo], in the same way as Léo Delibes and Bizet, does not strive after profundity, but he carefully avoids routine, seeks out new forms, and thinks more about musical beauty than about observing established traditions, as do the Germans." Tchaikovsky authority Dr. David Brown writes that Tchaikovsky "might almost have been writing the prescription for the violin concerto he himself was about to compose." Tchaikovsky wanted to dedicate the concerto to Iosif Kotek, but felt constrained by the gossip this would undoubtedly cause about the true nature of his relationship with the younger man. (They were almost certainly lovers at one point, and Tchaikovsky was always at pains to disguise his homosexuality from the general public.) In 1881, he broke with Kotek after the latter refused to play the Violin Concerto, believing it was poorly received and would do damage to his budding career. However, he did dedicate to Kotek the Valse-Scherzo for violin and orchestra, written in 1877, on its publication in 1878.

David.

Émilie Longpré's son. Violinist.

CC was like an alchemist, with the unlikely gift of turning gold into lead.