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la guérison (gair-ee-zohn) noun, feminine
: healing
en voie de guérison = getting better
la guérison par la foi = faith healing
la guérison rapide = rapid recovery
Audio File & Example Sentence: Download Wav or Download MP3
Pour tous ces cas, le traitement à l'argile… complète le soin pour accélérer la guérison et permettre une rapide cicatrisation. For all these cases, the clay treatment completes the care for accelerating healing and permits rapid closing up (of wounds).
–"Argilothérapie: un trésor de bienfait également pour nos animaux," Le Monde Francophone du Chien – Nov 8, 2006
A Day in a French Life…
by Kristin Espinasse
La guérison continues… If Smokey is oblivious to his oozing scrapes, this is because, like most "kids" his age, he's too busy playing to take notice of his plaies.*
One of Smokey's favorite games is "Jouer à Faire Semblant"* (he loves to pretend he is a Kangaroo!). Boy, can our boy jump! I regret to not have any photos of Smokey The Kangaroo in action. Meantime, here are some slide-by-slide images of our thrice-daily routine, wherein our kitchen comptoir* is transformed into Care Clinic Supreme:
There's our (Kangaroo) outpatient, patiently awaiting his clay cataplasm. But first we need to clean his wounds… Currently we are using eau oxygenée,* though I hear (thanks to readers sharing knowledge in the comments box) that gentle soap and water is better, for the hydrogen peroxide is pretty harsh on the newly regenerated cells.
Looks can be deceiving "King Kanga" (as Smokey fancies himself) is not so sad as he seems—he just hates that word on the box to his right, the one that rhymes with "peril".
Here we have "Kanga The Conqueror" jumping to it — or simply standing up so that we might reach the second wound, there above his neck (where he had a half-dozen staples removed after the two-dog attack, four weeks ago). Kanga kindly, patiently, lets me apply the green mud, after the peroxide. (I have wet the powdered clay, which comes in the form of marble-size "pebbles". Aunt Marie-Françoise suggests setting the dry clay in the sun, before wetting it, to absorb even more healing properties, vitamins, I guess…).
As soon as the clay dries on Smokey's face, I notice the thick white bead forming on top of the dried clay: it is the infection, having been expressly pulled from the inside out! I dab the infected "pearl" with a clean towel, to dry the area, and re-apply the wet clay. "Pearl" after white pearl, the infection is leaving our puppy's wound.
(Re photos, click to enlarge… In the above photo, note the tea pot, in case Smokey fancies a cuppa. He fancies a lot of things, especially things with strings — like that he got the better… of my favorite robe and sweater!)
Back to "mud," we are using green clay. For those of you who wrote in, alarmed, and wondering whether I had, in desperation, run out to the river bed to collect copious amount of diseased dirt — no worries: I am using "argile brute séléctionnée" (carefully selected and quality-controlled "argiletz" clay).
After applying the clay, the wet "poultice" (this is a new word for me… thanks to "The Other Jean-Marc" and other commentators, who thoughtfully wrote in…) quickly dries… and ends up on our floor. I don't mind the clay covering our floor and ending up in bits and dust. In fact, I am hoping the clay's "pulling" qualities (which are working so well, I can attest, to drain our pup's infection!) will suck out those grease stains (see them there, beneath the chair, in the photo just below?). Jean-Marc thinks they'll just disappear on their own… those stains, and that our terracotta (clay…) floors are pulling them in. Every time my husband fries (and spills something) he says the same: no worries, ça disparaîtra! As if, by hocus pocus! Sounds hokey to me!
Then again, neither of us can now deny the "pulling" powers of poultice.
***
Comments welcome, click here! Please use the comments box (as my inbox is limping at the moment… from the weight of unanswered email… and guilt).
Oh, do I have plans for those newly-roasted peppers which are currently marinating (skinless now) in a bath of thyme, rosemary, and savory… and olive oil from our friends at Mas de Martin! (And garlic power, too. I was too impatient, this time, to cut up fresh garlic.)
Plan A is to cut up the peppers and put them in the next olive cake (or olive "loaf" if you prefer) along with feta cubes…. Plan B is to take half the peppers and make pipérade (I have no idea what that is, but I think the name is funny. I'll make an "au pif" ("by guesswork") Provence version, with inspiration from my belle-mère's tapenade recipe… Voilà Provence + Tapenade = Pipérade!
What would *you* do with these red and yellow roasted peppers? Comments and recipes welcome!
une plaie (f) = wound; jouer à faire semblant = to play make believe; le comptoir (m) = counter; l'eau (f) oxygenée = hydrogen peroxide
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Ca Va Kristi? I made Piperade 26 years ago, at cooking school, chez Maxims in Paris, and don’t think I have made it since. Yep, it’s an egg and pepper omelette, avec beaucoup de beurre, bien sur! WE met while you were touring w/your book and hubby, in Seattle. It is so nice to meet the person behind the camera!
Marinated Pork Loin with Roasted Peppers (Basque Recipe)
Marinade
1 garlic clove
Salt
1/2 cup Olive Oil (and a little bit more, as needed)
2 Tblsps paprika
____
1 Kilo boneless pork loin (trim the fat off)
3 Tblsps Olive Oil (and more if needed)
____
4 roasted peppers
Mash the garlic in a mortar with a little salt. Add the olive oil and paprika, mix until the paste in very red.
Rub the pork with the paste, and seal in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Refrigerate in the coldest part of the frig for 2 to 4 days.
When you are ready to cook it, remove the pork from the plastic, slice it into 1/2 inch thick slices.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Brown the slices (without crowding) for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Repeat until all the slices are cooked.
Serve with the sliced roasted peppers.
Very simple – and your whole family will probably like it.
I liked the pasta suggestion too. And you can add fresh herbs, capers, maybe some balsamic vinegar and if you like a little heat, maybe a little cayenne pepper.
Your heart shows in your stories and your pictures. Lucky family!
I live currently just north of Boston, listening to Ida’s wind (not as bad as the Mid Atlantic got it) and waiting for the rain to start soon. We are hovering in the 40’s and 50’s amazingly enough.
A sealer on that floor would prevent stains as spills can’t soak in.
I’m so in love with your dogs I can’t see straight.
I liked the pasta suggestion too. And you can add fresh herbs, capers, maybe some balsamic vinegar and if you like a little heat, maybe a little cayenne pepper.
I read this post with my 9 year old daughter sitting on my knees. She was so mad when I read out loud that 2 dogs attacked Smokey. We have a 10 month old puppy. She’s a lab/golden mix and I worry about roaming bad dogs getting to her.
As for those peppers, I would just eat them right up as is.
Hi Kristine, Go the Clay!!! It is great stuff, truly amazing. I have used it myself and it is well worth it. I hope young Smokey is fully recovered soon
sending love
Chris
I can’t cook my way out of a paper bag, but I do love your puppy. This clay treatment seems completely miraculous. Get well soonest, dear Smokey. You’re a good mistress to Smokey and Braise.
Kristi, what a patient patient you have on the counter there! It sounds like the poultice is doing the trick, along with a lot of faith and prayer. The peppers looks wonderful, and I’d want a pasta with white sauce, bread and wine to go with it. It’s currently 29 F, (is that about -1.5 C)? in Central Oregon.
Kristi,
You are wonderful!!!
XOXO
MOM
Smokey seems to be what my vet calls “a good little soldier.” I hope the treatment works.
(And I know one dog I had would suggest that the best use for the peppers would be to feed them to him.)
“If “Kanga” is leaping about he must be feeling better, the poultice is working its miracle.
I am using peppers as you have just desribed in antipasto. It is too hot to cook, 40C today, promise of cool change tomorrow 28C.
Au revoir from Kanga country.
I found the cutest Get Well card for Smokey. Does he have an address?
P.S. Just read the comment from a vet who said debridement was absolutely essential, and I think this sounds right. Gouging out the infection (i know, it sounds awful) is really important to letting the sound and healthy tissue grow. Talk to your vet!
Dear Sweet Smokey, as always, wishing you a speedy recovery with the clay and the love that is coming your way from all over the world. Some tasty recipes floating around this blog…I’d make a whole wheat pizza crust and mound the peppers on w/some onions, a smear of sauce and some cheezes and bake in a hot hot oven. We eat waaay too much of this dish! Happy weekend.
I’m so happy that Smokey is a good little patient and responding well to his treatments! What a relief! Hugs and kisses to sweet litte Smokey!
Here’s my suggestion for the Peppers. It’s a wonderfully mild, chilled pepper soup. My friend who gave me the recipe calls it 4-4-2 soup and it can be made with any vegetable, but we all think pepper is the best. You can increase or decrease proportions accordingly.
4 PEPPERS –
4 CUPS CHICKEN STOCK
2 CUPS SOUR CREAM – (I like to sub half yogurt & half sour cream)
Salt/Pepper to taste
Cook peppers how you like – steam, roast, etc. Or you can boil in the chicken stock. Take off skin or leave on, your choice. I prefer no skin. Of course throw out seeds and stems.
Cut up the pepper “meat” and combine in a cuisinart or blender with the chicken stock. Blend til there are no bits of pepper. You want it smooth, not chunky. Add S/P to taste.
Add in the sour cream (or yogurt) and put your machine on low to blend in.
Chill and serve.
Note: You can use any vegetable. Brocoli is nice, or you can combine leftover vegetables. But pepper really is the best.
Bon Appetit!
Bonjour Mme. Kristine,
Thank you for your reply. I am so happy to see Smokey is healing and is in good and loving hands. He reminds me of my Scarlet I adopted years ago. She was born with her front left leg missing and at four weeks old [with the rest of her litter] abandoned on the side of the road. I took her home and she turned out to be the best dog ever. She inspired everyone, everywhere she went. She loved to chase the ball in the park and swim in the ocean. She had no idea she was any different than any other dog. She died at the age of 9 due to a tumor they found in her left hind leg area. The only cure was to amputate and I wasn’t about to leave her with only two legs. I loved her more than life so it is such a joy to watch Braise and you and your family nurture Smokey back to health. Smokey’s bravado reminds me of Scarlet and he too will inspire others.
On another note, I live right about an amazing wine store [http://www.urbanvines.com/%5D and I sent the owner LIsa a link to your husbands wine page. I hope she orders some wine for her store so I can try it. I don’t know what to tell you about the peppers but here is a link to a GREAT recipes blog. http://www.tastespotting.com/search/roasted+red+peppers/1
Also, I neglected to mention, I am taking French in school right now [I’m am a “returning student”] and I sent the FWAD link to my professor. She LOVES it and encouraged me to send it to the entire class, which I will.
Au revoir,
Terri from Seattle
Take care and give Smokey a BIG and gentle kiss for me.
Terri
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