My quince tree is groaning with fruit this year, to the point I hope no branches break.
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it doesnāt usually last that long, much to moorish. You could store it in a jar, cubed and rolled in rough sugar it makes nice presents like a āwine gumā, plain it goes with cold cuts just as well as with cheese.
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A bit more nippy in Albi today mandy though not bad enough to put the heating on.
Went through Alban the other day and thought of you. Spent yesterday in the Sidobre, a few kms north of Castres. It was my first visit and as amazed at the scenery and rocks etc.
Which bit of Essex are you in ?
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P am hoping there will still be some at the markets by the time we get to France,
4 weeks to the day we take the ferry to Caen.
relaxed:
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Itās basically the same as the french pĆ¢te de fruits - and you can make it with just about any fruit. Cooked and pureed, then cook again slowly with added sugar till it goes gloopy. In other places it is cooked even further and called fruit leather - great for walking and picnics.
Keeps for a long time in sugar as Bettina has said, I keep in a big pot of sugar and sift out bits as needed. Very popular at christmas,
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Hi Peter, Iām on Canvey Island right on the Thames Estuary. The natives are as pro-brexit as you can get so try not to mix with them too much! The southern Tarn can be very beautiful. I miss it.
Yes and Albi is a lovely town, thereās always a spare bed if youāre in the area.
Went to Lacaune a couple of weeks back and found some nice cheese etc.
Thank you Peter thatās very kind and I may take you up on it. Iāve had similar offers from others on here and I really really appreciate the kindness.
Iām thinking of a proper tour of France and have offers from Brittany, central France and several in the South West. I would love to visit you all.
ā¦thank you, people, for the Quince, membrillo recipe and storage notes, it sounds very easy, and I believe I could do it, at least as well as green tomato chutney. I suppose quince chutney would work, too. Chutney must be almost 100% fail safe, as it doesnāt have to set, or do anything except taste exactly as you like. Thatās not difficult, because while it simmers, it can be tasted, and things added, until perfect.
Jeanetteā¦ I find that my chutney matures over time (possibly as I donāt add too much sugar).
Initially, it can be a little sharp/tangy - which startled my neighbours who had been keen to taste my first batch, some years ago.
Now, they all know it is really delicious at Christmas (and beyond) and tuck their jars in the cupboard until then. 
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ā¦ahā¦I put too much sugar of one kind or another, in everything. Its a jolly good thing I donāt do much cooking.
BUTā¦ its all OK.!!
ā¦sweetness comes from dried fruit, best, in my opinion, so half a cup of raisins (Le Clerc, eco) (much more, in chutney), makes everything sweet and yummy enough, including curry ā¦and ā¦as this morning, eeek! LATE!! my favourite breakfast, ā¦basmati rice. Rice for breakfast with any kind of fruit is perfect. IMO. Iāve no idea why basmati works best, I donāt want to pretend to be a rice connoisseuse, its just very easy to cook, looks so delicate and pretty, and is wonderfully digestible, for fogies.
Reading your posts, Stella, I believe you are a zillion times more of a social success, than moi-mĆŖme, as I cannot think of one other human, past present or future, who would accept a cooked treat from me. 
Dogs? Are a different matterā¦
Ohā¦oh.oh!!
.I can imagine the mounting excitement, that you have to keep corked!!!
ā¦, if anything like mine, in case something goes wrong. ??
I didnāt even have a ferry ticket, and it was Christmas. Maybe even Christmas day? Anyway, the port and ticket dept were shut. I had 2 dogs,
and a parrot in a micro pickup vanā¦fortunately with one of those flashing orange lights on its cab roof. I could switch on, in case I forgot which side of the road to drive. McDonalds, was open all night. Got a ticket next dayā¦ It was very cold and dark everywhereā¦ ā¦Arrived in France, feeling like the end of the world, with no Rapture in sightā¦
Torrential rainā¦awful driving conditionsā¦wrong way around the roundaboutā¦ cried like a dog outside a back door in snowā¦(and I know Iāve said this before! Sorry folksā¦)
ā¦On the road to my first leaky home, drove through a dark village with just one brilliantly lit, and sparkly/flashing sign that said ā¦
ā¦āPain!ā.
ā¦Looking so much like it was taking the piss out of my misery, I laughed, and that killed the tragedy.
All went OK, after that. (1996).
Hope everything works out wellā¦
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I feel for you in retrospect. We have moved across the Atlantic a few times and within Europe, so that part is not so daunting.
Itās an adventure, new language, new neighborsā¦ so much to look forward to.
Canāt wait - but also sad to leave a big chunk of my life behind. Scotland was good to us.
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ā¦yes, thank you for your thoughts, Bettina, complex logistics balanced against any sense of emotional gain or loss. Always a personal/individual matter. Leaving people, places, every aspect of a loved ālifeā might be as overwhelming, as bereavement. I think youāve reminded me of why it was a sad time. ie. Adrift, leaving nothing, to go nowhere.