L’Art de Bien Manger

  • A Star Fell from the Sky

    A Star Fell from the Sky

    A star fell from the sky and ended up in our old castle tower, right in the top room, the one with the terrific view.  When we moved to the castle about eighteen months ago we decided to dedicate the 11th century keep to hosting, with the medieval kitchen on the ground floor, where together… Read more

  • Dinner lately

    Dinner lately

    The recent dinner menu includes a variety of salads such as couscous and tuna along with boiled eggs, goats cheese, and charcuterie. For hot summer evenings, rosé is preferred, otherwise, an aged chardonnay is enjoyed. The writer is busy with a new guest room and social events, and shares the recipes for the salads. …… Read more

  • Castle Update and Joghurt Tarte

    Castle Update and Joghurt Tarte

    Its a rotten year with all that weather and all that vegetable going to rot and mould in the quince trees and the farmer across the river has given up the one field that’s closest to the river to ducks and swans, it does look nice for so now we also have a pond. And… Read more

  • How to Croissant

    How to Croissant

    Now before we get to the how-to – did you know that the croissant actually has not been invented by the French? I figure that is a rather inconvenient truth! Indeed the croissant was invented in Vienna, after sucessfully pushing back Ottoman advances on the city. It was the bakers who alerted every body about… Read more

  • About Mending Things and a Fluffy Cake

    About Mending Things and a Fluffy Cake

    Oh why, don’t you worry, I know how to mend this, says my mother, when my husband’s spear headed elbows have poked yet another hole in his shirt. I’ll mend this, said my grandmother, when one of us had torn a button off our jackets. I think I’ll mend it, I say, when my favourite… Read more

  • On Foraged Foods

    On Foraged Foods

    I love to forage for our food. In the garden and the surrounding woods, mushroom hunting, picking wild berries, herbs and flowers. Last year, a couple of months into our moving to the castle, I found the most glorious spot of wild asparagus. I went back several times to get us some fresh one for… Read more