Last year, not long before Christmas, after thinking about it for months I finally decided to announce that I’d be hosting workshops in my home in the Médoc. I hesitated, I was ambivalent about it, was it actually a good idea? 9 months later the answer is clear. Yes it was and is a fantastic idea. I had worried about letting people down, I had wondered … Continue reading WORKSHOPS 2016
Before summer came and went, or more precisely before August came and went there was talk in the little village of a restaurant about to open in the big house in the center of town. Nobody really knew what it would be like or if it was even true, the annoying little dogs that were guarding the gates certainly didn’t seem very inviting. There was … Continue reading LE PIQUE-NIQUE – A COMIC RELIEF
Let’s imagine … … you are seated in a restaurant or even better, a bistrot. A nice one! You are lunching alone and you order yourself a little “Coupe de Champagne”, just because it’s … Wednesday. It arrives, gloriously cold, joined by the crispiest radishes with the creamiest butter. You sprinkle it with some fleur de sel, take one bite and one sip of Champagne. … Continue reading Food & Wine
Theory of relativity To most people, describing my kitchen as a quiet place would seem a stretch. If you’d walk through the door on any given day of the year you would most likely find me hovering over my pots and pans, often in an excited manner. You’d probaly notice some dogs on the floor or, in Jeanie’s case, on a chair. There would be … Continue reading Oh So Quiet in Saint Yzans
Sometimes the man … is a woman On Wednesday March 13th, a beautiful, sunny early spring day in Médoc, Mr. Carter Inskeep and his associate, Hannah Barry, pulled their white BMW into the driveway at Château Ormes de Pez in St Estèphe. Records show that later that afternoon they shared a bottle of the 2000 Ormes de Pez, an excellent year for Bordeaux wines, and later … Continue reading CAST & CHARACTERS – THE GOOD TIME GIRLS
This is my husband’s annual blogpost, enjoy! Mimi x My grandfather was an austere man who earned his PhD in economics in Germany, dragged my German grandmother kicking and screaming back to Iceland and started a family. Later he served as Iceland’s ambassador to the Soviet Union and finally retired back in Reykjavík where he presided over a very formal household. He wore a suit … Continue reading Mothers & Daughters
I have been thinking that two of my favorite things, when it comes to cooking, are old-fashioned “grandmother’s cooking” and, of course, seasonal cooking. The former is often categorised (sometimes in a deprecating manner) as “comfort food”, meaning not serious food, something warm, tasty, satisfying but ultimately not exciting, modern or inventive. Then we have my other favorite, the much-loved, very fashionable, seasonal cooking or … Continue reading The Granny Lunch
Early last week, as the festivities were slowly winding down, as we had just said goodbye to the big kids who returned to their school in Iceland, France was shaken by terror. I was working on a long overdue new blog post that I planned to publish later in the day when news of the horrible events in Paris reached us. I was deeply saddened … Continue reading Geography of the house
It is with great pleasure and anticipation that I finally announce that I am taking bookings for my cooking workshops here in Médoc. Getting here has been a real journey, a journey many of you have accompanied me on. From starting the blog to making a cookbook – it’s been an enjoyable ride and it seems this adventure is only just beginning. After much deliberation … Continue reading SOON THE DOORS WILL OPEN
Uncle Henry: “Max, have I told you why I enjoy making wine so much?” Young Max: “You don’t make the wine, Uncle Henry – that guy Dufot does.” Uncle Henry: (Reproachfully) “In France it’s always the landowner who makes the wine, even though he does nothing more than supervise with binoculars from the comfort of his study. No, I enjoy making wine, because this sublime … Continue reading In Vino Veritas
