L’Art de Bien Manger

  • Oh Provence

    Oh Provence

    Last weekend we made an escape down South, as we do pretty much every year around this time, mainly for wine but also to fetch spring home. Basking in the sun and first alfresco dinners, admittedly wrapped up in a warm blanket but still, alfresco. Rosé and fougasse and fresh goats cheese. First strawberries of… Read more

  • Yellow Kiwis and 2024 Retreats

    Yellow Kiwis and 2024 Retreats

    Here we are, right into spring, magnolia tree in full swing and the fruit trees just about to explode. It’s kiwi season here in France, which means vitamin C galore and pavlova. Very irresistible. And well deserved, given the drains are done and the bulk of the garden overgrowth trimmed. We also gave up our… Read more

  • Gingerbread No Bake Cake and Beeswax Candles

    Gingerbread No Bake Cake and Beeswax Candles

    There are winters that are ok and then there are those that aren’t. That for some reason or other feel darker and colder and never-ending, after all. When no matter how high you build a fire in the grate and how many logs you shove into the wood eating burner in the kitchen, your bones… Read more

  • Watercress Potage Meditation

    Watercress Potage Meditation

    I catch myself silently moving through the many rooms, brushing my sleeve against odd pieces of furniture, carefully stepping over the many boxes containing memories of other people’s lives. Ghostlike. Then I try and tidy up a little, finding treasures and chests without keys and very peculiar things too, getting lost between the pages of… Read more

  • Late to the Party – La Chandeleur

    Late to the Party – La Chandeleur

    The 2nd of February in catholic tradition is a high holiday, it’s the day Maria presented Jesus at the temple, yet like so many catholic traditions, the holiday has its roots in old pagan rite, the hailing of the sun returning and light winning over darkness, old hat really, yet very powerful. Living in the… Read more

  • January Snow

    January Snow

    The weather has turned eventually, and it’s become wonderfully wintery, snow falling softly yet steadily turning everything into white dusted cake. It’s very cosy inside though, with the woodburner in the kitchen and all those cats sleeping the day away. We’ve successfully introduced our fifth member of the crew into our family, the last of… Read more