Memorial day

We had our BBQ last night. While there are 7 of us siblings, only 3 lives in Southern California. So it's me and my 2 brothers, 2 sisters in law and 2 teenage nieces. It was very pleasant and relaxing. We had ribs, a Martha Stewart recipe which was very good. The pictures show one of the deserts being made, summer pudding, an old family standby. I love to make it, it's so easy. This time I used only blueberries, but one can use a combination of berries- strawberries, raspberries, any berries. It's very English, they use mulberries, we can get mulberries but it's kind of rare and costs too much. Boil the berries with some sugar, I don't use too much. That's why the family loves it because it wasn't too sweet. Line a pudding bowl with plastic wrap, cut up enough white bread, crust cut out, no crust. Ladle the juice over the bread, try to coat the bread. It's kind of hard, I still have white bread peeking through, it's not suppose to. Ladle the rest of the berries, reserve some juice. Cover with more bread and pour more juice over it. Cover with plastic and a saucer with a can or heavy object over it and refrigerate. To serve, simply unmold and eat with pouring cream. The family loved it over the French macarons. I walked to the corner bakery, they bake French things, macaroons and canelles. I bought some French macarons but they didn't like it. They found them too sweet.

I have a small French community living in the neighborhood. On Sundays at the framers' market, I can eat French crepes or there's another family that makes French omelets. It's fun to live here. There are a few French bakeries, their repertoire is not very big but it's enough to satisfy the nostalgia for a little French food.