Budget Food but Good Food

Finally, we managed to pin down a date to take Jean and Françoise for lunch to celebrate Jean's birthday which was back in December. I'd found "La Cucina del Syndicat" in Serinyà which had positive reviews on the net, so it seemed a good opportuntity to try it. What's more, for left-wing Jean, the name was sure to please. The village doesn't inspire as you arrive from the main road so it would be easy to just keep going. Glad to say that we were not disappointed. The restaurant is set on a small square with a beautiful 12th century church. Inside it was plain to see that it had started life as a workers' bar/restaurant/social centre but Judith (Catalan with S African husband) the adorable young owner had kept the spirit but updated the furnishing and decor within  the limits imposed by the height of the ceilings and it's square form. The food was delicious home cooking done by Mum. We came away well satisfied by the experience with a bill that in no way made a dent in the wallet!
With such good weather we stopped off in Besalú for a walk where we were lucky enough to find the Jewish Baths open. Had a hot chocolate in the square where we dived into the huge bags of broken biscuits that we'd bought from an artisan pastry shop for 2€. Lovely and crispy, made from wholemeal flour and sesame seeds, we were able to kid ourselves that they made a healthy balance with the chocolate.
Once home, Christian just had time to gather up his papers for the Council meeting leaving me to prepare a tapas platter for Michel and Jean-Jacques who were joining us afterwards. I regret not taking a photo as on the large wooden platter, it looked pretty good, even if I do say myself!
Weather:
14°, Blue skies.

5.2.14:
A late night last night led to a slow start this morning. All I did was do some B and B hunting for our trip later this year and make a "Tuscan Wild Boar Stew" with some meat that a hunter friend had given us. http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show/come-dine-with-me-recipes/series-11/tuscan-wild-boar-stew-recipe
Weather:
14° Blue skies, some high wispy cloud