The Simple Apple Tart

As the simple black dress is my go-to evening attire, this simple apple tart is my go-to dessert. It is so easy. I make my own pastry but if you don’t want to do that, get the best quality pastry you can find. Preheat the oven to 425F (220 C) Roll out the pastry, and […]
Concarneau – Brittany’s Best

Brittany. It’s a magic land. I just returned from a few days respite in Concarneau, in the Finistere, a bustling sea port of 20,000 settled around its crown jewel, the Bay of Concarneau. City planners long ago knew the beauty they held in their hands, and specified that houses on the coast could be of any […]
Details from the Week

November and another delicious class has just ended at On Rue Tatin. It is always hard to say goodbye when so much has been shared, even for a few days. It is amazing how attached we become through cooking and eating together, visiting the market and marveling at the details of life in a French town. […]
Tomatoes and Apples

I love shoulder seasons like this moment of autumn. Tomatoes are still hanging on the vine and full of sweet flavor; apples are literally dropping from the tree, and pears are ripe, aromatic, lush. We’ve got new autumn turnips, their skin so fine it almost peels off, and potimarron (kuri squash), those harbingers of short […]
Run, Run to Apples

On Rue Tatin alumna, Jennifer Worick, writer,blogger, and now wonderful apple cook after her experience at the Apples and More class last fall, asked if I’d publish this note, as a testament to her current On Rue Tatin and apple nostalgia. It’s been a year since she was here. Thank you for this, Jennifer, and […]
Some Tour Highlights

Books flew off the signing table at Bastille as guests (and author) enjoyed a lovely kir, then segued into Mushrooms with Chorizo from In a French Kitchen, and a beautiful meal prepared by chefs Christophe and Michelle Poteaux. Everyone who attended was so happy, so filled with questions, so delighted with the moment! A delicious […]
Occupations of a French Teen

I walked in the gate of my courtyard and watched as Fiona (now 16) carefully dug a small hole in the newly tilled soil, stuck a perfectly trimmed and washed radish in it, and covered it so just the green stem was showing. Nearby her friend, Elisa, was filming the process. Fiona then looked at […]
Terroir

I taught a class yesterday to a group of American university juniors that included a discussion of terroir, that term everyone uses and, I am beginning to suspect, few understand. What makes me say this? The total blankness on the face of my smart students as I dove into the subject. Eventually one spoke up. […]
Peanut Butter, Home Made

I am often asked what I miss from the U.S. Twenty years ago I had a whole list of things. Ziplock bags. Plush towels. Good coffee. Tax laws I understood. Ready smiles. Organic cheetos. Tillamook or Cougar Gold cheddar. And that one standby, really good peanut butter. Today, all of those things have faded, excepting […]
Apples Apples Everywhere

Friends recently stopped by with two huge crates of apples that ranged from scrubby green to lush, deep red. When I asked about the varieties I was met with a shrug. “We don’t know; these trees have always been on the farm,” said Francois Bourdon, who brought them. “Some are for eating, some are for […]