Unlike the May fête, which is hosted and staffed entirely by the village band's members and their families, the village fête engages "everyone" - all the various sports clubs, organisations and institutions have a stall where they sell food and drink. There is also a stage where various bands make music and people can dance. Strings of coloured lights are switched on at night.
Of course we were there, too, starting on Saturday morning at 8:00 (that was the hardest part for me - I like to sleep a little longer on the weekends) with setting up our booth, and then the main work being our shift from 6:00 to 10:00 pm, selling Flammenkuchen straight from the oven.
New official t-shirts had recently been ordered for the band members and helpers, and here I am, proudly wearing mine!
O.K. is originally a fully-trained baker, and although his days in the bakery have ended more than 30 years ago, he still knows what to do with an oven and handles a baker's paddle with ease and grace.
We did not make the Flammenkuchen from scratch but bought stacks of frozen ones. O.K. was at the oven and I was in charge of the big knife, cutting the finished "cakes" (they are cakes only by name, more like very thin and crisp pizzas) into pieces and serving them to the customers.
Our shift was prime
time for people wanting fooooood! There was always a crowd at our stall,
and not a minute of boredom. It was busy, but I enjoyed it, as it is so
very different from what I do in my "normal" life.
After our shift ended, we remained at the fête for another few hours, finally getting the chance to have a few refreshing drinks ourselves - it was a hot day, thankfully not quite as hot as we'd feared, but working next to two big ovens for several hours can make one very thirsty!
Here are a few more pictures from the beginning of the month and that same weekend. It was perfect summer all around.
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| View from O.K.'s balcony, 02.07.2019 |
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| 03.07.2019 |
A walk on Sunday, the 7th:
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| Spot the buzzard - he was one of many that were around that evening. |
When you said "Spot the buzzard", I thought you were talking about the cloud to the middle right of that picture. It looks like a bird - but not a buzzard. Sounds like O.K.'s village fete was a splendid community event - bringing people together.
ReplyDeleteThe atmosphere was good - everybody was in a good mood, I never saw anyone aggressive, like shoving others about where the crowds were at their thickest, or starting a brawl. It was just relaxed and with lots of people enjoying themselves.
DeleteSuch a great summertime village celebration, and the weather certainly cooperated which always makes a fete better! So glad you were able to participate and that you enjoyed it. The food looks/sounds delicious - what kind of toppings on the Flammenkuchen? Was there a vegetarian option? Wish you had added a photo of O.K. with the paddle!
ReplyDeleteYour photos from your earlier walk are really lovely - the vineyards and wheat fields look healthy and beautiful.
The classic topping on a Flammenkuchen is bacon and cheese, sometimes onions, on a bed of savoury cream. Our vegetarian option was with tomato and mozzarella.
DeleteI have a great picture of O.K. with the paddle - but he does not want to have his picture shown on my blog or his full name revealed.
So much fun! Although I imagine working next to such hot ovens on a hot day might be a challenge. I don't know a Flammenkuchen that looks like that but I bet it was delicious. And like YP, I thought we were to look for a buzzard in the clouds and saw that one does look like a bird, but not a buzzard.
ReplyDeleteIt was hot, but not nearly as bad as we had expected. And the cold drinks afterwards tasted all the better!
DeleteDid you click on the picture to enlarge it and spot the real buzzard?
I did! We have lots of them around here. They are called buzzards. A neighboring township, Hinkley, has a festival every year when the buzzards return.
DeleteBuzzards return? You mean they migrate in your part of the world? Here in Europe, they are not migrating birds as such; they usually spend all year at their territory.
DeleteLooking up something about the buzzards return to Hinkley I was surprised to learn this: "The buzzard, a common name for the "turkey vulture," is a large, graceful bird with a bald head and red beak. No relation to the black, Old World vulture family, which includes the eagle, hawk, and kite, the buzzard is native to the Americas from southern Canada to the tip of Cape Horn."
DeleteThank you for looking this up, Kristi! Now I know that your buzzard is an entirely different animal from ours. Ours are not bald, and their beaks are not red; they are brown-beige with a beautiful pattern on the underside of their wings.
DeleteSounds like a lovely occasion
ReplyDeleteIt was! Of course the good weather helped.
DeleteThat looks like a lovely summer gathering in the village! What fun! And I didn't know that O.K. used to be a baker. Does he enjoy baking/cooking in his spare time?
ReplyDeleteHe has not baked a cake in the 3 1/2 years I've known him, but he cooks our meals when I spend the weekends at his place, just like I cook ours when we are at my place.
DeleteLooks like you are having a nice summer! I read on the BBC that tomorrow (Thursday, the 25th of July) will be a scorcher all over Europe. Stay cool!
ReplyDeleteYes, we've all been warned that it is going to be a day for the Guiness book of records. Thankfully, I am going to work at a client's today who has AC in the office, unlike yesterday and Tuesday when there were five of us sweltering in a tiny office with not even as much as a fan.
DeleteWhat a lovely weekend, a busy, sociable Saturday and a tranquil Sunday. (I hope you managed to get a lie in on Sunday!)
ReplyDeleteYes, we had a quiet Sunday but went down to the fete later, first because O.K. had to make music again and then to help packing up everything and clearing the square afterwards.
DeleteSounds like a wonderful fete. Large cities like mine are beginning to form local groups and put on events to bring together the community. It's great to enjoy the culture of the various ethnic groups who live in our area - especially the food!
ReplyDeleteMy city is not large, but at 90,000 inhabitants still very different from the village of roughly 5,000. Once a year, a Festival of Nations is held, but I must admit I was more than once a little disappointed with the quality of the food and drink offered.
DeleteIt looks like a delightful weekend altogether. I too am glad for you that you weren't having the fete in any of the exceptionally hot weather that's been going around. We had 28 degrees or so in London which was almost unprecedented. We're not equipped for it at all. Luckily we have this portable air conditioner, what a hulk it is but as I said on my last blog post, I was so glad we had it! I was talking to someone who lives in Cape Town a couple of days ago, who reports the opposite - they've been getting snow at this time of year which used to be almost unknown, and it's very uncomfortable for them.
ReplyDeleteIt was still hot enough that day, but not in the region of 38-40C like we had before and after.
DeleteMy sister-in-law reports from Yorkshire that they had 33C one day last week and she has never experienced such temperatures in her home region before!
The Flammenkuchen look yummy... I can well imagine them being popular in spite of the hot weather as that tends to make one not only thirsty but craving salty food as well! :)
ReplyDeleteExactly, Monica! O.K. and I managed to share one, grabbing bits as we could during our shift, and it wasn't half bad!
DeleteIt's always good to be doing something different from one's day to day life but it's many years since I helped at a fête. In fact it's a long time since I've even been to one. It was good to see the walk pictures too.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how many events take place in the villages over the year - there is something going on somewhere every weekend, and one is spoilt for choice. Sometimes, though, we want nothing more than just some peace and quiet and each other's company, especially after a busy week at work.
ReplyDelete