December marked yet another exciting first for Ceangal as we hosted our Christmas Cuisine retreat chez Maggy, in the beautiful home of our resident French Chef extraordinaire.  As all our guests were returning clients, Charlie and I decided to join the course and have some fun in the kitchen ourselves…an early Xmas pressie and a real treat! 

Following Maggy’s masterful lead, together we produced a bounty of French specialities! From “cappuccino de champignons et cèpes avec chantilly au café », “Fondant aux marrons glacés” to “Blanquette de saumon au crémant” and the local délice “Bûche de Noël aux arômes de Charente”…the menu was mouth-watering and we savoured it all…morning, noon and evening!

In keeping with the season, everyone delighted in a delicious “Chocolate Workshop” which began Saturday and continued into Sunday. Stage by stage, we produced a wonderful selection of sweet-treats for friends and family back home.  While it may sound like a busy weekend, there was lots of rest and downtime too, including a visit to the local Christmas market…a really peaceful experience and far from the commercial chaos that so often surrounds us at that time of year.

The most beautiful gift we had this Ceangal weekend was the magical warmth and welcome of Maggy’s home, where we came together, learnt loads, enjoyed each other’s company and had so much fun together.  And while it was sad to say farewell, we’ve so many happy memories of our special few days together, as you can tell by the feedback we received…

A huge success all round, the Christmas Cuisine retreat will definitely be repeated and as we already have bookings, if you fancy joining our yuletide workshop , just pop us a line below.