L’Art de Bien Manger

  • Oh Kitchen

    Oh Kitchen

    The kitchen is the heart and soul of the house, at least where I come from. Our old farm houses are typically rectangular with four rooms per floor with a built-in tiled oven in the middle of the house. It’s fired up from the kitchen stove, its biggest part reaches into the parlour. Regular meals… Read more

  • Lent

    Lent

    It’s Lent. This is the forty days between Carnival and Easter, when, in an attempt to purify one’s soul and body, one is to abstain from all earthly delights and eat cabbage soup. Forty days of cabbage soup. And water. And stale bread. Or in other words, purgatory. Though I believe, at least concerning the… Read more

  • February

    February

    Et voilà and it’s already February. The extraordinarily cold days are behind us, now it’s the ordinary cold days and The Great Wet that has taken hold of our world. Muddy lanes and a fine drizzle, low hanging clouds, the trees and shrubs are entirely bare now except for the two life trees in the… Read more

  • Summer at the Chateau

    Summer at the Chateau

    Summer at the chateau and no, this blog is not dormant and yes, I’m still here! And feeling a little bad as I’ve been leaving these pages empty for so long! Think of it as a big summer vacation, my being off, yet of course it was one filled with ever so much activity. We’ve… Read more

  • La Cancoillotte, also the Drawing Room

    La Cancoillotte, also the Drawing Room

    La cancoillotte, when I first heard the word I thought it’s a type of dance maybe, or something old fashioned-yet-rather-fancy to wear. Now I assure you it’s something much more mundane, in fact, it is cheese. Or almost. I remember when I moved to France people always were so thrilled, France! Of all countries, café… Read more

  • Spring Leeks and Progress at the Chateau

    Spring Leeks and Progress at the Chateau

    I got a bucket of spring leeks on the farmer’s market the other day, fresh from the green grower around the corner, juicy and spicy, just the way they’re supposed to be. It’s just so wonderful so see all the fresh products coming in right now, strawberries and artichokes, asparagus and fresh garlic! Cooking strictly… Read more