gazpacho and bees

When I came downstairs this morning and opened the front door to let the cat out I found a pile of tomatoes on the doorstep with a folded-up piece of A4 paper tucked among them on which Poire had written "please could you translate this for me". In any other year, off-loading your tomatoes would be akin to the Chap Door Run prank with the courgettes but because it's been so hot and dry this summer, my toms have been very late ripening so they were very welcome (particularly since I have a small forest of basil with which to make bruschetta).

The translation was headed "solar wax melter" followed by diagrams and instructions on how to make a bees' wax melter with ¾ inch lumber to handle wax rendered from 60 hives. It contained expressions like "insulating board", "thermopane lid", "cappings basket" and "expanded metal wire lath" - your everyday sort of vocabulary! I left the translating to BB who conveyed the meaning to Poire in a comical pantomime fashion with funny French accent.

Poire has offered to show me his bees (I hope this isn't the French paysan equivalent of "would you like to see my etchings?") which he keeps up in the mountains on the other side of the valley - which should make for an interesting blog post if my experiences with goats and horses are anything to go by.

I used most of the tomatoes in this recipe for gazpacho which was given to Katie Bear's sister by a Spanish friend - perfect for a summer lunch.

Ingredients
Serves 4
10 tomatoes, skinned and de-seeded
1 slice of white bread, crust removed
½ red onion
2 cloves garlic
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
sherry vinegar
cucumber, skinned, de-seeded and diced to serve

Whizz the first 4 ingredients together in a food processor with a good glug of olive oil and some sherry vinegar and season. Serve chilled with diced cucumber.

♫ Cook along to: The Bee Gees Stayin' Alive