Recipes & Stories from Normandy's Rabbit Hill Farm
Travel to a farmhouse in Normandy to learn to cook with the seasons, shop at the green markets, and adapt traditional French cooking techniques with modern twists.
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French Kitchen Lessons is a celebration of food, farm life, and the seasons—not only the seasons of the year, but the seasons of life: starting over, finding a place, trying new things, and gathering.
In 2010, Cat Bude and her husband left their jobs in the Pacific Northwest, packed up their house and their kids, and moved to Normandy, France. After much looking, they found a run-down, rambling farmhouse, overrun with wild rabbits, and Rabbit Hill Farm was born. As Cat and her family settled into life on the farm, an urge to share the joys of country life led Cat to start the website Rabbit Hill Lifestyle, and eventually she began hosting vintage shopping tours, guided market trips, lavender harvest parties, and cooking classes for readers of her blog traveling to Rabbit Hill.
French Kitchen Lessons begins with classic French staples like pastry doughs, mother sauces, and stocks, then teaches you how to transform them into dishes to share at your table every season. Recipes range from traditional like Croques Monsieur and Bœuf Bourgignon, to those with modern twists like a savory Paris-brest and Lemon Poppy Seed Crêpes, and are all inspired by the French market-to-table tradition.
I have only visited France through Cat’s delicious photography and stories of life in Normandy, and I’ve only tasted French cooking in my Mississippi kitchen from Cat’s copper cookware. Cat's recipes and inspiration make my mouth water, make me want to book a flight to France, plant a garden, and cook a feast. Her writing is transporting, so much so that even without visiting, I feel that I have. What a gift French Kitchen Lessons is for us stateside!
