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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With rich and transporting photography, a back-to-basics approach to French cooking, and an inspiring story of starting over, French Kitchen Lessons is your passport to the abundance and beauty of the French countryside.
In 2010, Cat Bude and her husband packed up their house and kids and moved from the Pacific Northwest to Normandy, France. Uprooted and longing for connection, the search for a home base began. They found that and more in the form of a run-down, rambling farmhouse, overrun with wild rabbits. Now restored, and lovingly named Rabbit Hill Farm, this is the center of Cat’s world, and her vehicle for sharing the joys of country life with others, from guided market trips to lavender harvest parties, and cooking classes.
Following the seasons, French Kitchen Lessons begins with classic French staples like sauces, and stocks, then teaches you how to create simple, satisfying, and elegant dishes like Steamed Mussels with Pernod, Summer Vegetable Tian, a Wild Mushroom Omelet, Cider-Braised Pork, and Lemon Poppy Seed Crêpes—all inspired by the French market-to-table tradition.
Finding a common language in food and feeding others, 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 your place, and creating new connections.
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!
