A voucher from The Kitchen in the Castle is the ideal gift for that special someone who can't cook and would love to learn how or loves to cook and wants to expand their repertoire. The Kitchen in the Castle gift vouchers can be bought for a range of any value, from €10 and used towards the cost of all our courses, giving the lucky recipient the flexibility to choose the course type and date for themselves.

 

Great News ! Congratulations to Liberty and Simon, on the recent arrival of their new baby daughter Yasmin Finnegan 

To break up the inevitable routine that October brings, I would recommend a gem of a film "Julia and Julie". It is the story of Julia Child, portrayed by Meryl Streep, a woman from Pasadena, who followed her husband in the early 1950's, to a posting at the US embassy in Paris and had her taste buds fired  up by the discovery of French cuisine. It shows how,  a frankly plain looking,  no spring chicken,  6 "2 tall, pearls and cardigan type of woman can describe a "Beurre blanc" sauce on the phone to her sister in such a way that she would put Nigella and her obvious nightly finger licking forays to shame in the sensuality stakes. This is reflected in the way her husband looks at her; he clearly can't wait for the next roll in the hay. She also possessed an irrepressible "joie de vivre"; such was her enthusiasm for the food, that after learning about it in Parisian cookery schools, she endeavoured to pass on her knowledge to the great American public via a bible sized recipe book. Fast forward to Queens, NY, in 2004, a young woman called Julie, stumbles upon the said book and takes on the project to recreate every single recipe in her tiny kitchen to fill the void left by her daily grind. Make no mistakes, this is no middle-aged chick flick, it is about passion,  and tells the tale that whatever shape or age you are, keeping  in touch with your senses and expressing  your zest for life, is far sexier than this season black leather thigh boots. We all know that, it is just a matter of putting it into practice, the same goes for you, dear gentlemen readers, minus the boots of course.  
P.S Go to this link for a very cheerful little video:
 
News flash!  "La tomate de Marmande" has officially supplanted the "Cœur de bœuf" as the must have tomato in the world of Parisian allotments. I was made aware of this breaking news when my brother came to stay with his mates for a golfing holiday. One of them, Olivier, a well respected television executive, showed me as he walked through the door, a picture on his i Phone of this huge and funny shaped tomato weighing 700g he grew in his garden. He showed it to me with the smile that only a father can have when he is showing the picture of his new born baby. So there you have it, forget about your Louboutin's, the Marmande tomato is the latest trend from the capital of style. Ok, you won't be able to wear them, but a bowl of these tomatoes judiciously placed in your kitchen will get a lot of "where did you get these?" For those of you who want to try their hands at growing these wonders of Mediterranean flavour, the seeds are available on the Amazon website. (What  can't you get there, I wonder) 

Are you stuck for ideas for dinner? Do you have a culinary conundrum? Edwina will be able to help you on our Facebook, all you have to do is become a Fan. She is uploading recipes almost daily and will keep you informed about the latest special offers and courses.

 
Course news
If you can make the time commitment, our series of four weekly evening classes Italian Home cooking starting 20 October priced at €220, offers excellent value. The secrets of an Italian kitchen will be revealed to you over eight hours of teaching and four delicious dinners.