| Born in Audincourt, Doubs in 1904? |
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| My aunt Pierrette, ~Mamie Paulette's eldest sister was a woman of incredible energy. Beside working most of her life at Peugeot and doing everyting in the house she was also the one taking care of the vegetable garden. She was also the one preparing huge meals for numerous relatives in frequent occasions. Seventy years later I still remember those meals where she would serve the most succulent "pâté de lapin" and "escargots". The end of the dinner was like paradise when she was bringing all sort of home-made pies: apple pies, mirabelles pies, plum pies, sherry pies, rhubarb pies, ... |
| Aunt Pierrette was incredibly fast and efficient. After preparing and serving these huge meals for a dozen people, she had dishes and kitchen cleaned in no time at all. I wish I could describe how she would dry a stack of six or eight plates a way a juggler would envy. |
| This brings another memory, the chore of preserving green beans every summer. After having filled several clothes baskets with the freshly harvested green beans one had to trim and string them, thousands of them. Then Aunt Pierrette would blanch them in batches. Finally this was the time to bottle the beans. Using jars would have made it easier but it was the custom to cram the beans in used champagne bottles. Every family member and even neighbours were involved in this tedious task. At the end of the day everybody was proud of how many bottles he or she had filled but here again we were all crushed by Aunt Pierrette's dexterity. |
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