june 30, 2012

I kindof like this place.

june 29, 2012

Intern Ben on quality control while I serve up honey-sesame roasted carrots (another Bekah Dreisbach recipe).

june 28, 2012

Remains of the day: cheese course leftovers and some extra chicken pastilla (Morrocon style meat pie). One of the best parts of this job.

june 27, 2012

I thank whomever invented the onion-goggles with all of my heart!

june 25, 2012

The beautiful Lori helping us out with about a million tomatoes!

june 24, 2012

We're happy to have our good friend and previous intern, Kathryn's, parents here visiting us! Lori and Barry jumped right in and helped out in the kitchen; here we all are having a break after serving up lunch for the group.

A Bekah Dreisbach-snitched recipe: spicy chocolate-gingersnap tartes with candied ginger garnish.

june 23, 2012

Intern Ben, about to have his first bite of pear ever, excepting perhaps baby food or some other pre-memory consumption. As it was poached in sugar syrup and smothered in caramel sauce, he said it tasted okay, like candy really. 

june 22, 2012

Group arrived today---it's going to be a crazy week of cooking! Dessert #1: recipe stolen from Anna Wilcoxson---tofee-hazlenut tuiles, ready for a scoop of chocolate ice cream and garnished with hazlenut oil & sea salt chunks.

june 21, 2012

Another of my favorite flowers...all in bloom around our little house.

june 20, 2012

Two of my favorite musicians in the world---Joel & Martine! They've been singing together since back in their hippie days, and grace our local church with their beautiful voices, guitar, and percussion. So thankful for this amazing couple!

june 19, 2012

As if there weren't already enough varieties of cheese in France, they now have wasabi-flavored Gouda. 

june 18, 2012

During June, the gym class that Lise & I go to on Monday evenings goes hiking instead of doing our normal calisthenics.

june 17, 2012

Two interns arrived today to help out for the summer: Crissy and Ben---yay!!!

june 16, 2012

End of the school-year town parade in Paray-le-Monial. This was one of those "I feel like I'm in the movie, A Year in Provence," moments.

june 15, 2012

The van broke down just outside of Geneva...thankfully after we had dropped the work team off at the airport. So we spent the day nursing the van from garage to garage, and finally taking the train back home, as parts needed to be ordered.

june 14, 2012

Boy, do the French love their cheese!

june 13, 2012

Wallpaper removal. So glad we have a work team here to help with this project, I'd surely never get it finished on my own.

june 12, 2012

Chillin' with the work team in the evening---what a great group!

june 11, 2012

Brave souls re-doing a roof---pretty sure many prayers were whispered watching those guys up there on that scaffolding! 

june 10, 2012

A visit with the work team to one of my favorite places in France, the medieval village of Brancion.

june 9, 2012

Finished!

june 8, 2012

Cakes are all baked, tops are trimmed...let the frosting begin!

june 7, 2012

Building a wedding cake: going to bake 12 different cakes, 4 different flavors, and many of those cakes have multiple batches per cake. I am SO glad in this moment that I have a commercial kitchen I can borrow, and I hope I am never crazy enough to try to do this at home.

june 6, 2012

Our neighbor, Jean-Luc, serving up a bit of French hospitality at its finest (Mâcon Blanc, bien sûr!).

june 5, 2012

Marlin brought a work team to the Château! They're doing all kinds of projects for us...and some of them are kindof scary, like this one. I'm pretty glad I didn't have to be up on that rickety roof---they're brave!

june 4, 2012

Unloading the van after Château grocery shopping. 

june 3, 2012

I love this floor lamp that Paul and Bekah gave us, it makes our home feel so glowey and cozy!

june 2, 2012

That sad moment when the flowers we've planted suddenly turn into weeds and have to be pulled up. Necessary, but still feels somewhat wrong!

june 1, 2012

Mmmm...cake!