France 3 Television Comes to On Rue Tatin (And Stays for Supper)
A couple of weeks ago I got a call from a reporter for France 3 Normandie, Christiane Lablancherie. She’s producing a series on Joy at the Table and wanted to include On Rue Tatin. I don’t hold classes during this season, so I suggested she film our monthly wine tasting and she jumped all over […]
Techniques and Vikings – Just another Week at On Rue Tatin
Bonjour from the warmest French October since 1878, so say the meteorologists. it’s lovely waking up to blue skies every day, watching as the leaves turn slowly from green to all colors, to ride a bicycle wearing shirt sleeves. It’s also ominous, like Ground Hog Day, simply because it’s abnormal. At the market a grower lamented […]
Sweet Potatoes and Eggs – French Grill
I got to thinking about eggs the other day. My thoughts were stimulated by my friend Betty who gave me, as a hostess gift, a dozen eggs from her husband’s chickens. I specify the “her husband’s” part. Louis – the husband – takes care of chickens the way he takes care of everything, with enormous […]
French Grill Fandango
Dateline:Hot Springs, Virginia. Eileen and Betsy are back… with their LABOR DAY FRENCH GRILL FANDANGO “No one really cares that OUR objective is to cook our way through French Grill,” Eileen said. “Every day we got the question “Are we having the Camembert burger today?’ More about that later. We grilled ourselves to…well I don’t […]
Late Season Makes for Happy Meals
Everyone here – everyone being most of the growers I buy from – says we’re three weeks behind the normal season. This means that instead of jumping feet-first into the strawberries, those gorgeous harbingers of spring are trickling in. And in Normandy, where the soil is still cold, they are a pleasure yet to come. […]
Highlights from a Spring Class
As I anticipated last week’s class, my heart fell. Here I’d advertised a spring class and we were still in the throes of winter with the season being at least three weeks behind a normal year. Temperatures hovered around freezing and the most exciting thing at the market was baby endive (finally growing well after […]
A Trio of Soups
My college-aged children arrive home for the holidays like most people’s: mere shadows of themselves, survivors of the semester, starving for mom’s cooking. I am all too ready to comply as I’ve been in the seasonal spirit for weeks. The French build up to the holidays with lovely dinners beginning in early December, […]
Beets – the Least Loved Vegetable
I can’t count the number of times I’ve presented a menu to a cooking class with a beet recipe in it, and gotten looks like I was proposing a final walk to the gallows. I proceed with a lightness of being, however, because I know what will ensue, which involves almost heavenly transformation. That’s because […]
Poached Eggs
What is more wonderful than a poached egg? Many things, perhaps, but not when you’ve been traveling, or you’re in a hurry, or your child has a performance and you’ve got one hour to make and serve a decent meal. Or really at any time at all when you want something delicious and fast. That […]
A Farmers Market Picnic
To market, to market…there’s nothing like a local farmers market to feed the soul and the stomach! It’s a privilege I never take for granted and I love to share it. In fact, one of my favorite cooking class days is our early morning trip to the market. I say early because instead of beginning […]
