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| Welcome to our Culinary Retreat |
We just finished our 2nd culinary retreat here in France. We had 6 lovely women from Los Angeles come to cook with Chef/Instructor Carol Cotner-Thompson, who is also from Los Angeles. Carol works at The New School of Cooking in Culver City, CA.
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| Shopping at the Vide Grenier in Caussaude |
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| Hanging at l'halle during the Sunday market |
The day was split between sight-seeing and cooking classes. Bruce and I were the tour guides, taking them "medieval village" hopping (St. Antonin Noble Val, Cordes sur Ciel, St. Cirq Lapopie, etc...), visiting cheese farms, open markets, vide greniers, museums, etc. Then we'd come back to the house, have a couple hours to chill and then cooking lessons would start at 5:00 pm, around 8:00 pm we had our amazing dinner.
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| Cooking class with Carol |
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| Busy in the kitchen |
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| Beautiful strawberry tart |
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| Our first nights dinner |
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| Lovely dinners on the terrace |
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| Carol and the ladies in Bruniquel |
The day was split between sight-seeing and cooking classes. Bruce and I were the tour guides, taking them "medieval village" hopping (St. Antonin Noble Val, Cordes sur Ciel, St. Cirq Lapopie, etc...), visiting cheese farms, open markets, vide greniers, museums, etc. Then we'd come back to the house, have a couple hours to chill and then cooking lessons would start at 5:00 pm and around 8:00 pm we had our amazing dinner.
We had the most incredible meals. The ladies baked bread, make puff pastry, duck, lamb, flat bread, beautiful desserts, wonderful appetizers and super side dishes.
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| St. Cirq Lapopie |
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| Lunch at Lou Bourdie in Bach |
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| Visit to a local goat cheese farm |
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| Albi |
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| Peas for the pea soup |
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| The ladies made flat bread on the grill and then a green olive tapinade, served with fresh goat cheese. |
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| Almond cake |
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| Just in time for cherries |
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| Goat cheese from the market |
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| Fresh walnut bread, served with fava bean purée |
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| Stuffed artichokes |
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| Visit to the abbey at Beaulieu-en-Rouergue |
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| Our amazing chef/teacher |
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| Here I am with Megan and Rachel in Cordes sur Ciel |
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| Making puff pastry - then apple turnovers |
Carol is a great teacher and the ladies that came loved to cook and loved food. We all had a great time. Lived together in a 200 year old farmhouse in the French countryside, like one big happy family.
We'll be having another culinary retreat in September with
Pamela Salzman and we can't wait for that. But, we are hoping to bring Carol back again next May. You can check our website
Raison d'Art for more information on our retreats.
