Notes from a French Kitchen
June is Cherry Time! By Marie-Christine Perry The two cherry trees I planted four years ago, a sour cherry and a sweet cherry grafted with 5 different varieties, have been in full bloom for the first time! I had small crops from the sour cherry every year—mostly eaten by birds the day before I was […]
Notes from a French Kitchen
Enjoy Citrus Flavors in Winter By Marie-Christine Perry Winter is here, and although I do not have in Norfolk the Meyer lemon trees of my Northern California yard, I still stock my pantry with countless citrusy delights that we will enjoy through spring, summer and fall. Citrus fruits have a way of waking up the […]
Notes From a French Kitchen
Of Smoke and Burned Sugar I am in the kitchen and, as I put things away, wash in the sink what needs to be washed by hand, and inspect the contents of my pantry, I get lost in familiar tasks as usual, gathering all the baggies from the freezer and starting the weekly pot of […]
Notes From a French Kitchen
Pesto and Dressings By Marie-Christine Perry Having been gifted a huge bag of cilantro recently by a gardening friend, I started to think about what I could do with it. My partner is one of these rare people who cannot abide the taste, or the smell, of fresh cilantro and ginger, apparently because of an […]
Notes From a French Kitchen
Brioches and Croissants By Marie-Christine Perry For the French, brioches and croissants are bought in the morning, warm from the oven, from your local boulangerie. You simply would not think of trying to make them at home, for all the time and trouble. So there will be no recipe this month, but you should find […]
A Citrus Feast in the Midst of Winter
Notes From a French Kitchen By Marie-Christine Perry In winter, citrus is king. Oranges, tangerines, lemons, limes, grapefruit and a few hybrids are displayed in our markets in great colorful pyramids, ready for eating out of hand, but also offering us chances to transform our meals into memorable winter feasts. I saw, and bought the […]
Celebrating the Christmas Season
Notes From a French Kitchen By Marie-Christine Perry Thanks to the years I spent in Provence, I have many memories of the advent Marché des Santons on the Canebière in Marseille, where all the Santonniers of Provence come to sell their wares for people to buy for their Christmas crèches. Once you have the basic […]
July Brings the Peach Truck
Notes from a Summer Kitchen Text by Marie-Christine PerryPhoto by Danielle Whitaker July brought us to a day I had been waiting for – the arrival of the Peach Truck from Georgia. A couple of years ago, we had heard about the Peach Truck from our friends Hartley and Janet, who waxed lyrical about the […]
A Spring Picnic with Fresh Peas, Asparagus and Rhubarb
Notes From a Franco-American Kitchen By Marie-Christine Perry After the first few hot days of spring, it always seems to me that the time for picnics has arrived. The garden offers asparagus and peas, rhubarb and the first strawberries, sprigs of chives and basil—all conducive to delightful dishes easy to transport, such as vichyssoise, fresh […]
Morning Coffee and Cake with Friends
Notes From a Franco-American Kitchen By Marie-Christine Perry There are few American culinary customs I like as much as I do a morning coffee meeting, where friends gather around the accoutrements of a well-made cup, and the table is laden with morning pastries, often brought along by the participants. This is very different from the […]
