LIVING, Recipes, baking-in-france, baking-in-the-vendee, bread and hot chocolate, bread. home-made bread, European style milk bread ingredients, home made bread, homemade bread, how do I make bread, how to bake bread, how to bake brioche style bread, I-love-baking, is milk bread just brioche, milk bread, why is milk bread so good, wintery bread
12/12/2022
Delicious Milk Bread
LIVING, Recipes, baking-in-france, baking-in-the-vendee, bread and hot chocolate, bread. home-made bread, European style milk bread ingredients, home made bread, homemade bread, how do I make bread, how to bake bread, how to bake brioche style bread, I-love-baking, is milk bread just brioche, milk bread, why is milk bread so good, wintery breadWinter always makes me a bit nostalgic for my mother's milk bread. The air was not only filled with the aroma of yeast and baking, but permeated with the expectation of homemade bread, fresh from the oven and served with butter and...
13/05/2022
Market Days in the Vendée
Itineraries, LIVING, TOURISM & LEISURE, France-fanatics, France-tourism, french-culture, French-People, Green-Living, holiday-vendee, life-in-France, market-days-vendee, Markets-in-the-Vendee, Moving-Overseas, produce in france, spring fruits and vegetables, summer fruits and vegetables, Sustainability, Travel, Travel-to-France, Vendee, Vendee-Markets, vendee-travel, what are fruits and vegetables grown in france, what fruits and vegetables are in season in france, why do people eat by the season in france, winter fruits and vegetablesOutdoor markets in France are typically held in the mornings from 8h00 to 13h00. Which isn't to say that all vendors are up and running by then! Arriving by 9h00 you'll find the markets in full swing and the locals are out in droves to...
06/10/2020
Butternut pumpkin soup
Recipes, butternut, butternut-pumpkin, butternut-pumpkin-recipes, butternut-squash, butternut-squash-recipes, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, easy-winter-travel-recipes, european-home-cooking, fall-cooking, fall-recipes, fontenay-le-comte-saturday-market, home-cooking-france, recipes, sky-news-announcement, vendee-in-de-winter, vendee-in-winter, vendee-winter, winter-cooking, winter-meals-in-france, winter-sightseeing-vendeeThe sweetness of autumn I do love autumn, don't you? When the leaves on the trees have turned their darkest green and there is a little sensation of coolness on the morning breeze and the air smells just a little more earthy you know...
09/04/2021
Asparagus for breakfast, lunch & dinner
Recipes, asparagus-a-la-flamande, asparagus-cream-sauce, asparagus-cream-soup, asparagus-for-breakfast, asparagus-seasonal, asparagus-soup, asparagus-white, asperges, european-cuisine, european-home-cooking, home-cooking-france, local-cuisine, recipes, regional-cuisine, seasonal-cuisine, vegetarian-carbonara, vegetarian-spaghetti-carbonara, Vendee, witte-aspergesBefore I share these simple meals there are three things you should know: I love an elaborate breakfast, try to limit my meat intake and [un]fortunately I'm the only one in the house who really loves to eat asparagus! Which means I...
26/11/2020
Pumpkin Tart (v)
Recipes, autumn-cooking, butternut, butternut-pumpkin, butternut-pumpkin-recipes, butternut-squash, butternut-squash-recipes, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, cooking-with-vendee-ingredients, fall-cooking, home-cooking-france, thanksgiving-expat-traditions, vegetarian, vegetarian-france, vegetarian-recipe, vegetarian-vendeePumpkin pie ... Just one of the things to look forward to each year for Thanksgiving for 24 years of my life! Along with sweet potato pie and my sister-in-law's wonderful squash casserole. Yummy! But guess what. My husband HATES any of...
20/12/2021
Why oyster shells should be recycled
LIVING, Vendee News, environment, expat-life-france, expat-life-vendee, faute-sur-mer-oyster-banks, ile-de-re-oysters, oyster-banks-vendee, oyster-recycling-vendee, oyster-shell-recycling, oyster-shells, recycling, vendee-expats, Vendee-living, vendee-oystersDo you enjoy a meal of oysters on the half-shell at your favourite restaurant or at home? Recycling programs in coastal regions world-wide, including the Vendée, are popping up just about everywhere to ensure the shells are redeployed...
04/11/2020
Broccoli Pie with Vendéen Jambon Blanc
Recipes, autumn-cooking, baking-with-broccoli, bioporc-jambon-vendee, broccoli, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, cooking-with-broccoli, easy-winter-travel-recipes, jambon-blanc-vendee-bioporc, producteurs-vendee, savory-pie, vendee-ham, vendee-white-ham, winter-cookingI fell in love with this incredibly tasty broccoli pie from the very beginning but adding the beautiful Vendée (white) ham makes it extra special. It's a lovely meal on it's own, served with a salad in summer or with buttery mashed...
21/05/2021
Gumbo with Mogettes de Vendée (v)
Recipes, bumbo, cajun-food-in-france, cajun-fusion-gumbo, Cajun-spices, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-on-vacation, cooking-with-mogettes, gumbeaux, home-cooking-france, mogettes-de-vendee, regional-cuisine-mogettes, vegetarian-france, vegetarian-gumbo, vegetarian-vendee, what-is-a-great-dish-using-mogettes, white-bean-gumboCajun food, starring the humble Vendée mogette As a long-time expat and having lived many places, multi-cultural meals are a normal part of what I cook. Secretly I think it's one of the reasons my husband is fond of me. 😉 We enjoy an...
20/12/2020
Préfou de Vendée – garlic bread (v)
Recipes, baking, baking-appetizers, baking-in-france, baking-vendee, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, garlic-bread, garlic-butter, historic-recipe, homemade-garlid-bread, homemade-prefou, I-love-baking, local-cuisine, medieval-baking, medieval-cooking, prefou, prefou-de-vendee, regional-cuisine, regional-cuisine-prefouMaking Préfou from scratch surprised me! Until this moment we had only ever bought the pale préfou at the supermarket... well... never again! This homemade garlic bread, a Vendéen delicacy although we're relatively sure that the term...
30/07/2021
Baked falafels with homemade pita bread
Recipes, cooking, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, cooking-on-vacation, cooking-with-vendee-ingredients, falafels, greek-yoghurt-cooking, groupe d'achat solidaire, home-cooking-france, hummus, Pois chiches de Vendée, red beet shoots, tabbouleh, vegan, vegan in france, vegan recipe with chickpeas, vegetarianA 10-minute job and super healthy That meals can be associative experiences that stand as pillars along our life's journey has long been established. I vividly remember the very first time I tried falafels. I was vacationing in...
01/05/2021
Springtime coral lentil soup (v)
Recipes, african-soup, are-lentils-fattening, are-lentils-healthy, are-red-lentils-good-healthy, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, cooking-on-vacation, easy-soup-with-lentils, how-to-cook-red-lentils, lemon-soup, red-lentil-soup, spring-soup, vegetarian, vegetarian-recipe, vegetarian-soup, vegetarian-vendee, vendee-cookingHealthy and refreshing Cool mornings and warm afternoons can be a bit of a puzzle when it comes to figuring out what to eat. It's too warm for hearty winter fare yet, too cold for summer food. If you're the go-to cook at your house,...
04/12/2020
Baked salmon roll with endive and leeks
Recipes, baked-salmon-roll, belgian-endive, butter-white-wine-lemon-sauce, cooking-endives, cooking-for-two, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, cooking-with-endive, cooking-with-leeks, cooking-with-lettuce, cooking-with-salmon, cooking-with-vendee-wine, endive, home-cooking-france, leeks, oven-baked-salmon, oven-dish, vegetable-stuffed-salmonLeeks and endive are two veggies that we love at our house. Growing up, they were regularly served in one way or another and even as a child, I loved it all. Both leeks and endive are vegetables are incredibly versatile. If I could...
08/05/2021
Guide to Fishing on Foot
LIVING, TOURISM & LEISURE, beach-holiday-vendee, beaches-vendee, beautiful-beaches-world, best-beaches-in-france, best-french-beaches, camper-van-holiday, camper-van-vendee, camping-holiday, clam-digging, collecting-shellfish-on-the-beach, cooking-on-vacation, dyou-need-a-license-for-peche-a-pied, Fishing-on-Foot, foot-fishing, footfishing, fruits-de-mer-vendee, hand-gathering, holiday-vendee, oyster-shells, peche-a-pied-in-the-vendee, shellfish-vendee, shore-fishing-vendee, unspoilt-beaches-france, vacation-island-noirmoutier, vacation-vendee, vendee-oysters, what-is-peche-a-pied, wild-beaches-in-the-worldFood and the outdoors are probably among the most beloved activities in France. In the Vendée we are lucky to be near the Atlantic coast. On sunny days we can flock to the beaches at low tide, armed with wire baskets, spoons, shovels...
30/10/2020
Safe and sustainable mushroom foraging
LIVING, Bois-des-Girondins, foraging-mushrooms-in-france, La-forêt-d-Aiznay, La-forêt-d-Olonne, La-forêt-de-l-Hébergement, La-forêt-de-Mervent, mushroom-foraging, mushroom-foraging-Vendee, mushroom-poisoning, mushrooms, mushrooms-in-france, Parc-de-Pierre-Brune-Mervent, Responsible-wild-mushroom-picking, safe-mushroom-foraging, sustainable-mushroom-picking-world, wild-mushroom-picking, wild-mushroomsMushrooms are beautiful and mysterious organisms that live mostly as a mycelial mat in the soil. The functional structure we see growing above ground is the reproductive, spongy structure that grows by soaking up water and disperses...
12/02/2021
Scampi Diabolique (devil prawns)
Recipes, cognac, cooking-for-two, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-with-cognac, cooking-with-prawns, european-home-cooking, I-love-cooking, no-time-for-cooking, prawns, scampi, scampi-a-la-diable, scampi-diabolique, vendee-cookingFROM BAR FOOD, TO FANCY APPETIZER, TO MAIN COURSE Prawns or scampi diabolique is an absolute staple in any restaurant or pub where I come from. In a restaurant it might be offered as an appetizer or a main course; and in a pub setting...
19/12/2020
Apéro alligator pull apart bread (v)
Recipes, albray, alligator-bread, aperitif, apero, apero-bread, apero-dining, apero-pull-apart-bread, apero-snacks, apero-time, cooking-for-two, home-cooking-france, hors-d-oeuvres, pistachios, pull-apart-bread, raclette-bread, sharing-bread, sun-dried-tomatoesRidiculously easy and delicious It's very simple.... think of your most beloved melting cheese(s), nuts, and ingredients that work well together. Stuff it all randomly into a loaf of bread, bake it and voila. Not only is it super...
06/01/2021
My mother’s Frangipane
Recipes, almond-cake, baking-frangipane, baking-in-france, baking-in-the-vendee, baking-vendee, delicious-frangipane, epiphany-6-january, frangipane, galette-des-rois-recipe, how-to-bake-frangipane, I-love-baking, my-mothers-frangipane, the-best-frangipane-cake, three-kings-feast, what-is-Belgiums-best-cakeNot quite a Gallete des Rois but just as delicious! January 6th - the Christian Feast of the Three Kings or the Epiphany - is coming. Traditionally this is a day when a "Galette des Rois" is consumed 'en masse' in France. It is a puff...
24/04/2021
Green lentil & tabbouleh salad with feta and endive (v)
Recipes, agriculture-vendee, are-green-lentils-fattening, are-green-lentils-good-for-you, are-green-lentils-healthy, bio-lentils-vendee, cooking-endives, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-inspring, cooking-on-vacation, cooking-with-lentils, cooking-with-vendee-ingredients, endive-salad, green-lentil-salad, green-lentils, green-lentils-and-bulgur, green-lentils-vendee, how-to-cook-green-lentils, spring-meals, summer-meals, tabbouleh, tabbouleh-and-green-lentils, vendee-cooking, vendee-crops-lentilsPacked with nutrients Learning about lentils was quite eye-opening. Of all the legumes I love, I've probably cooked with lentils the least. No idea why, but it's going to change. Experimenting with different recipes to bookend our...
11/01/2020
Chicken Chili with Mogettes
Recipes, autumn-cooking, chicken-chili, chicken-chili-with-mogettes, cooking-in-france, cooking-with-mogettes, cooking-with-Philadelphia-cream-cheese, delicious-chili, fall-recipes, home-cooking-france, mogettes, regional-cuisine-mogettes, silvercrest-slow-cooker, slow-cooker-chili, slow-cooker-recipes, white-chicken-chiliWhilst I'm a very selective fan of the slow cooker, there are some meals that just demand to be prepared that way. This chicken chili is definitely one of them, but I would never cook a lovely Texas Chili Con Carne or Spaghetti sauce...
01/10/2020
Carbonara-Alfredo fusion… with a French twist!
Recipes, Barilla-capellini, Barilla-pasta, boursin, boursin-cheese, carbonara, chateau-de-la-preuille, chateau-de-la-preuille-wine, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-with-vendee-ingredients, cooking-with-vendee-wine, cooking-with-white-wine, cooking-with-wine, cream-sauce, creamsauce, european-home-cooking, Herta-poitrine-fumee, Herta-smoked-bacon, home-cooking-france, pasta-alfredo-in-france, producteurs-du-vin-vendee, producteurs-vendee, Tefal, the-best-cream-sauce, white-sauce-spaghetti, white-spaghettiOf legend, World War II & Hollywood In order to tell you how I came up with this dish, I have a confession to make. I can count the number of times I've eaten 'Fettuccini Alfredo' (a staple on many Italian-American restaurant...
26/03/2021
Brownies
Recipes, baking, baking-in-france, baking-in-the-vendee, baking-vendee, brownies, brownies-a-la-mode, brownies-in-france, how-to-bake-brownies, how-to-bake-the-best-brownies, what-are-brownies-a-la-modeOutside of the people who are allergic to chocolate or don't enjoy chocolate... who doesn't love a well-prepared brownie? Since the very first time I tried one many years ago, I have learned and re-learned one golden rule about baking...
03/03/2021
Super easy apple tart
Recipes, apple-pie, apple-tart, apple-tart-super-easy, Apples, baking, baking-in-france, baking-in-the-vendee, baking-vendee, baking-with-apples, easy-baking, I-love-baking, wholesome-applesSomeone in my house doesn't love cooked apples (hint, it's not me!). But I've finally come up with an 'apple pie' - actually it's an apple tart - that my husband likes. Hurrah! What's even better, it's super fast and super easy to...
29/01/2021
Three cultures. one meal: Shepherd’s Pie à la Flamande
Recipes, brussels-sprouts, carbonade-a-la-flamande, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-on-vacation, cooking-with-beer, cooking-wth-leffe, delicious-shepherds-pie-with-brussels-sprouts, european-home-cooking, fusion-cuisine, fusion-meals, how-to-make-carbonade-spice-mix, I-love-cooking, make-your-own-carbonade-a-la-flamande-spices, parmentier-beef, parmentier-boeuf, shepherds-pie, shepherds-pie-leffeTwo cultures, one meal... it's fusion to make the angels sing! I love jamming two cultures together, combining flavors and textures of meals that I love, that I know for sure my husband will love, AND that I can easily turn into a...
30/11/2020
Easy banana bread
Recipes, baking, baking-in-france, baking-vendee, banana-bread, banana-bread-baking, bananas, what-to-do-with-overripe-bananasIs it time to use up the overripe bananas in your fruit basket? Yes? Great timing! This banana bread recipe is so easy you can do it with your eyes closed. The hardest part about it is that it will be in the oven for an hour or more...
23/12/2020
Apéro honey-mustard dipping sauce
Recipes, aperitif, apero, apero-dining, apero-finger-food, apero-snacks, apero-time, barbecue-fish-marinade, barbecue-marinade, chicken-marinade, cooking, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, greek-yoghurt-cooking, honey, honey-mustard-dipping-sauce, honey-mustard-marinade, marinadeA versatile sauce for many dishes and we've included three! Honey mustard sauce is a very tasty addition to your apéro table. It's sweet and tangy, it's sweet and a little bit spicy, and it's super sweet because it takes no more than...
14/12/2020
Michelle’s Devonshire Farmhouse Apple Cake
Recipes, apple-cake, baking, baking-in-france, baking-vendee, baking-with-apples, Devonshire-Farmhouse-Apple-Cake, I-love-bakingIntroduction Hello everybody! I was so very happy that Michelle Vardy, our Facebook group member who lives in south Vendée, volunteered one of her amazing cake recipes for our Recipe Corner! Here's what Michelle wanted you to know:...
18/12/2020
Apéro-time Empanadas
Recipes, appetizers, baking, baking-appetizers, baking-in-france, baking-vendee, beef-olive-empanadas, beef-olive-raisin-empanadas, cooking, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-with-raisins, empanadas, hors-d-oeuvres, I-love-baking, I-love-cookingThe appetizer that works every time! Empanadas are the Central -and South American version of pasties, crescent-shaped, savory pastries filled with a variety of ingredients. They are usually fried, but we prefer baking them to golden...
23/12/2020
Apéro Mini Vol-au-Vent
Recipes, apero-dining, apero-finger-food, apero-snacks, apero-time, appetizers, baking-appetizers, cooking-for-two, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, finger-food, vol-au-ventFor apéritif we handle them quickly! At our house we are not planning to conjure up a big party menu this Christmas and New Year's Eve. We don't have any guests and actually "apéro dining" is something we do every Friday evening...
22/12/2020
Lettuce wraps with beets, endive, and apple (v)
Recipes, aperitif, apero-dining, apero-finger-food, apero-time, appetizers, beets, cooking-endives, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, endive, lettuce-wraps, pink-lady-apples-vendee, recipe-corner-vendeeSo crispy fresh and delicious It's a salad, yes. How does a salad become finger food? Simple, by cutting everything extra fine and serving it as a wrap. A lettuce wrap - or in this case I also used endive leaf 'boats' - that is at once...
21/12/2020
Apéro fried ravioli and marinara sauce dip (v)
Recipes, aperitif, apero, apero-dining, apero-finger-food, apero-time, bio-ravioli, cooking-in-france, cooking-in-france-together, cooking-in-the-vendee, fried-ravioli, ravioli, super-u-ravioliQuick and easy. AND tasty! Fried ravioli is kind of a finger food staple for as long as I can remember. It's cheap to make, quick and is sure to please everybody around the apéro table. What's more, measurements are not really...
Loading...