A Pig In Provence

A woman and her family give up life in 1970s America for a farmhouse in southern France in this memoir peppered with delicious French recipes. From the publisher of Under the Tuscan Sun comes another extraordinary memoir of a woman embarking on a new life—this time in the South of France. In 1970, James Beard Award–winning author Georgeanne Brennan set out to realize the dream of a peaceful, rural existence en Provence. She and her husband, with their young daughter in tow, bought a small farmhouse with a little land, and a few goats and pigs and so began a life-affirming journey. Filled with delicious recipes and local color, this evocative and passionate memoir describes her life cooking and living in the Provençal tradition. Praise for A Pig in Provence “You can almost smell the lavender as you follow Brennan’s love affair with the province that became her second home and shaped the culinary persona of this cooking teacher and food author. Brennan is a talented storyteller.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Georgeanne Brennan’s captivating memoir reminds me of why I, too, was enchanted by Provence. She beautifully captures the details of living in a place where the culture of the table ties a community together—where everyone knows the butcher and the baker, and everyone depends on the farmers.” —Alice Waters, owner, Chez Panisse “Fascinating . . . Brennan revels equally in the preparation and consumption of the regional cuisine You can almost hear her lips smacking.” —The New York Times Book Review “Georgeanne Brennan’s romance with Provence continues to deepen, and the result of her long residence there is an intimacy with local people, food, and folkways. I would love to pull up a chair to her table.” —Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.

When Jacqueline moves to south-west France with her husband, she embraces rural village life and buys two pigs to rear for slaughter. But as she gets to know the animals better, her English sentimentality threatens to get in the way and she begins to wonder if she can actually bring herself to kill them. This is a memoir about that fateful decision, but it's also about the ethics of meat eating in the modern age, and whether we should know, respect and even love the animals we eat. Threaded throughout is the story of the Sapient Pig, (who was something of a celebrity in late 18th-century England), and an elegy to a rural France whose life and traditions are slowly dying out. At its heart, this book is a love story, exploring the increasing attachment of the author for her particular pigs, and celebrating the enduring closeness of humans and pigs over the centuries.

Picture yourself in the French countryside with this James Beard Award winner's lovely recipes and guide to sustainable living, in the French style. Rich with more than 100 fabulous recipes, lustrous photography, and a compelling personal narrative, this gorgeous cookbook evokes the food, flavors, bounty, and beauty of a sustainable life in the French style. James Beard Award-winning author Georgeanne Brennan translates the tenets of a certain way of living an approach to daily cooking that s rooted firmly in the French tradition for American home cooks everywhere. Featuring recipes driven by the seasons and the outdoors, paired with lovely lifestyle photography, this inspiring cookbook weaves together her personal experience, stories, and tips about how to create a sustainable life one that celebrates the relationship between the land and the table, and among food, family, and friends no matter where you reside.

In his most delightful foray into the wonders of Provençal life, Peter Mayle returns to France and puts behind him cholesterol worries, shopping by phone, California wines, and other concerns that plagued him after too much time away. In Encore Provence, Mayle gives us a glimpse into the secrets of the truffle trade, a parfumerie lesson on the delicacies of scent, an exploration of the genetic effects of 2,000 years of foie gras, and a small-town murder mystery that reads like the best fiction. Here, too, are Mayle's latest tips on where to find the best honey, cheese, or chambre d'hìte the region has to offer. Lyric, insightful, sparkling with detail, Encore Provence brings us a land where the smell of thyme in the fields or the glory of a leisurely lunch is no less than inspiring.

In this extraordinary memoir, James Beard Award-winning author, Georgeanne Brennan, takes us on an intimate journey to Provence--the place of her early culinary inspiration--where she writes in lush detail about the food, people and French festivals she celebrated during her lifelong journeys through the region. As a young woman, she and her husband, with their small children, bought a farmhouse with a little land and some goats, in hopes of realizing the dream of an idyllic existence in the French countryside. Now, these memoires, documented in A Pig in Provence, are accompanied by forty delicious recipes, gorgeous photographs (many are the author's personal photos) and informative, lively text featuring information about seven of her favorite regional French festivals. In these pages, readers will find rich descriptions of warm summer meals, learning to make goat cheese, discovering regional festivals (or f�tes) and more. This evocative and passionate memoir weaves together personal stories of friendship, cooking and living in the Provencal tradition, and will whet the appetite of foodies, travelers and anyone who dreams of packing their bags and taking a delicious romp through the lavender fields and vine-covered hills of Provence.

Provence, France, is justly famous for its dazzling light, vibrant colors, rich history, and flavorful foods and wines. And its markets have been the beating heart of Provençal life since the Middle Ages. In Markets of Provence, Marjorie R. Williams whisks you away to 30 of the best. This pocketable guide, complete with detailed maps and organized by days of the week, gives you all the information you need for your visit to this Mediterranean region. Included are: indispensable advice on timing, navigation, negotiation and payment; tips on etiquette while surveying vendors' produce; and even some French language lessons to help you brush up on your essential français. Complete with restaurant recommendations and other useful tips, this book will help you get the most out of the experience. Supplemented with beautiful full-color photographs and color-coded maps, Markets of Provence is a must-have for every traveler.

Written by the founder and publisher of The Alternative Health Guides, a web and print guide for Vermont and New Hampshire, Green Earth Guide is a one-stop reference that provides travelers in France with tips to stay green and healthy even when traveling. Green Earth Guide contains current, comprehensive listings of health food stores and farmers’ markets, public transit information, alternative health care facilities, green businesses, organic vineyards, renewable energy resources, yoga and spiritual centers, national parks, and other green places of interest. Written in a friendly, accessible style with personal anecdotes, how-to travel tips, and practical information, the book offers an insider’s guide to healthy living on the road. With Green Earth Guide, readers don’t have to sacrifice healthy habits and ecolifestyle choices just because they are in a foreign country. Green Earth Guide helps travelers have a wonderful, fulfilling vacation while leaving a smaller footprint wherever they venture in France. Included is a 16-page color insert. From the Trade Paperback edition.