When is the right moment to buy a Christmas tree? Too early and the needles will have fallen by New Year’s, too late and you miss out on what could have been an extra week of pine scented Christmas beauty. Over the years I’ve figured that around the 10th is a good moment but my impatient heart stole a march on reason last week when … Continue reading ”Almost Christmas” Lunch
If Sunday afternoon had been a Grimm’s adventure this is what would have happened: A cunning sorceress (me) would have seduced a tall, dark-haired (read grey) and gullible man (my husband) into gathering some delicious fruits and nuts and bringing them to her house in the forest. She would have asked him to crack open all the nuts and almonds and in return she would … Continue reading A dark tale of sweet & savory
More than anything this is the story of a soup. But it has other characters. A sleeping lion, a few roses stubbornly refusing to go to bed, delicious quails, beautiful pears, a curious château and, of course, a dog. Let me take you back to last Sunday evening. It was cold and grey and humid. The kids were taking their baths and preparing their schoolbags … Continue reading The sleeping lion & my grandmother’s soup
It’s November again, and predictably the rain has started. These day Médoc is damp and chilly, the frogs are having a ball and I deal with it all by making fires. I love lighting a fire, then I make myself a strong cup of tea and let the flames warm me up as I sit on a little chair as close to the fireplace as … Continue reading What goes well with rain?
Once upon a time there was a prince in Médoc. He was actually a marquis but as he owned so many châteaux (all the best ones) king Louis XV declared him, “Prince of the vines”. In those days my favorite Médoc village, Saint-Estèphe, was known as Calon and the “prince” once famously declared “I make wine at Lafite and Latour (the most famous wines in … Continue reading A mountain of gold and other delights
“Don’t tell my husband”, Madame Petit said, with a hesitant smile, “Don’t tell him about your recipe”. I thought I knew what she meant, my recipe sounded so tempting that her husband would request it immediately and perhaps his wife had other plans for the evening. But that was not it. It was the opposite, my recipe had too many herbs, too much garlic. He … Continue reading Milky chicken & butternut squash pancakes
By the gate of our garden, alongside the little road that leads to the house, there is a wild patch of land that we seldom visit. It’s filled with thorns and thistles, ferns and more distressingly, snakes. The dogs like to go there to hunt for rabbits or mice and once we found Sky, a fox terrier bitch, under the trunk of a dead tree … Continue reading Paradise reclaimed
A few weeks ago we had a big storm here in Médoc. After days of glorious sunshine the weather hit us around midnight with torrential rain and ferocious winds. Soon after the electricity left us. We stumbled around the house, with iPhones and candles, frantically searching for the raincoats and hats that had previously been made redundant by the sun. The kids enjoyed the adventure … Continue reading Local is lovely, seasonal is swell
Last Sunday I got an early morning phone call from my neighbor Bernadette. She asked if I could pop by her house before lunch, she didn’t say why. I was excited, I wondered if the tomatoes she had promised me were ready and ripe. Recently I baked her a box full of canelés, her favorite, and when I brought them over she mentioned that some … Continue reading Les courgettes de Bernadette
Cooking is my passion. This summer, I’ve been cooking more than ever before in my life. Not only am I preparing meals for my big family (all 9 of us), but I have also been cooking recipes for my upcoming cookbook. I am very excited to finally announce that my book will be published by Clarkson Potter in New York, the publishers of some of … Continue reading Plenty of mussels
