The first badge I earned as a Girl Scout was Storyteller — a portent of things to come, indeed. My second badge was Cook — definitely NOT a portent. My campfire meals were a total disaster. (But everyone in my troop will tell you I made killer S’mores.)
So it is with a big smile that I add this to my writing resume — RECIPE BOOK AUTHOR. Regardez: A Garden of Recipes from the Restaurants of Giverny.
Although I’m not a cook, I enjoyed working with Giverny’s chefs who shared with me their interpretations of Normandy cooking — from traditional recipes to haute-cuisine variations, all of which feature regionally sourced products and more than a little Calvados (Normandy’s famous apple brandy). There’s even a fish recipe from Claude Monet’s household cooking journal. He wasn’t a cook either — so I’m in good company.
How all this transpired is a story for another book that I’ll write someday about my life in Giverny (actually, it’s already in progress). But I must say, despite the challenges I’ve faced in the kitchen over the years, I was the perfect editor for this project. I asked all the stupid questions so that novice home cooks wouldn’t be befuddled. I must admit that when one chef told me, “Put this in the salamander,” I looked around expecting to see a lizard-y creature slinking across the kitchen floor.
I wrote the recipes in conversational English (in complete sentences, heaven forfend!) so that cooks everywhere who have minimal English — or perhaps have phone apps that can translate text for them — don’t miss an article. Why do cookbook writers delete the word “the,” I’d like to know. Whisk in olive oil to make dressing. Not only is that sentence ambiguous, but English-speakers don’t talk that way!
With my limited French (learned many years ago in high school), I managed to translate the recipes into English, which was an entertaining game of pantomime and sound effects. With one recipe, as the chef and I struggled to find the right word, BRING TO A BOIL became BRING TO A “BLUB-BLUB-BLUB.”
Measurements are in both metric and U.S. equivalents — a giant math problem that went on for weeks. I excelled in math in school, fortunately. But who knew that equivalents for salt, sugar and flour aren’t the same? (Okay, smarty pants, it was news to me.)
Like Monet, who loved a good meal, I have come to appreciate the local cuisine — though I don’t need to indulge in blood sausage or cock testicles (the image THAT conjures!) more than once. I enjoyed sampling every dish in this book — and I’d definitely make every recipe, if only I could cook. 
My one contribution to the book is the photography, which I hope will provide Giverny’s visitors with a lovely souvenir — even if they, too, are clueless in the kitchen.
A Garden of Recipes from the Restaurants of Giverny is now for sale on Amazon — and by special order at bookstores everywhere. It will be in Ingram’s catalog, so ask your local bookseller to stock it. (I’ll come sign copies and we’ll hire someone to do a cooking demo.)
My physiotherapist here, who eased my tension headaches during the conversion-calculation phase of the project, suggested that I put the number for Poison Control in the back of the book. Such a cheeky guy — but I hand-wrote that number, along with the number for the local ambulance service, in the copy I signed for him.
I really do deserve a modicum of respect in the culinary world. I’m a woman who still makes Killer S’mores, after all. And then there are my TO-DIE-FOR margaritas!
I hope you enjoy this little garden of Giverny recipes. I wish you bon appétit— and bon courage! 😉
