This is one of our favourite French christmas castle Recipes. After all France is the nation that we can thank for foie gras.

If the prospect of yet another dry turkey with all its trimmings leaves you feeling a little jaded, try a French favourite and serve Roast Goose rather than the boring old turkey.

You can have your golden goose and eat it at our chateau this Christmas.

Goose is Gordon Ramsay’s favourite Christmas roast. This is our favourite recipe for Roast goose. We now rent the chateau out for a weekly rental over the Christmas and New Year holidays fully-catered. Last year we received lots of compliments on our roast goose at our christmas castle.

Tips if you are doing this at home yourself:-

For those of us who take on the responsibility of preparing Christmas dinner (voluntarily or not) this can be a very stressful time of the year. But as any chef will tell you, the key to providing a successful meal is mise en place – in other words, preparation and organisation.

If you buy your goose in advance you’ll need to know how to store it. Always unwrap the bird and place it either in a refrigerator or cool larder. Place the giblets into a refrigerator. If you want to store longer than two days (for giblets) or five days
for (geese), it is best to freeze. Geese freeze very well, thawing takes around 24-30 hours. Pat dry with a dry cloth and they will roast to perfection.

The roast goose can be prepared or assembled the night before, so that all you’ll need to do is put it into the oven on Christmas morning.

Make sure that your to go in[spin] the oven.

Do remember to use some of the rendered fat from the goose to baste the potatoes with, as it imparts a wonderfully rich flavour to the spuds. Keep the rest of the fat to use through the winter months.

Lastly you do not have to wait for Christmas for “One Goose A Roasting” you can serve Roast Goose for a wonderful Sunday roast at any time of year.

This year let us spoil you over Christmas. Rent a christmas castle and sit back and relax and enjoy lording it up with your family over the festive season.

Ingredients:-

1 large yellow onion (chopped)
1 large tart apple (chopped)
1/4 cup chicken stock (organic is best)
6 cups toasted fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup currants or chopped raisins
1/4 cup slivered almonds (toasted)
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1/4 teaspoon each salt and black pepper
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 goose – 4 kilos, giblets removed

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Calculate the cooking time (see tips, below). If the goose is ready-trussed, then loosen the string and pull out the legs and wings a little – this helps the bird cook better. Check the inside of the bird and remove any giblets or pads of fat. Using the tip of a sharp knife, lightly score the breast and leg skin in a criss-cross. This helps the fat to render down more quickly during roasting.

2. Combine the onion, apple, and 1/4 chicken stock in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until onion and apple are tender.

3. Combine onion mixutre, bread crumbs, currants, almonds, parsley, sage, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Toss 1/3 cup stock with bread crumb mixture.

4. Rinse goose; drain, and pat dry. Prick the skin on the lower breast, legs, and around the wings with a skewer. Stuff and truss goose. Then, place goose, breast-side-up, on a rack in large roasting pan. Insert a roasting thermometer in its thigh without touching bone.

5. Place remaining stuffing into a lightly greased casserole; cover and refrigerate.

6. Roast goose for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the thermometer registers 175°F, drain fat often. A goose gives off more fat during roasting than most other poultry. Every 30 mins or so, baste the bird with the pan juices, then pour off the fat through a sieve into a large heatproof bowl . You will end up with at least a litre of luscious fat – save this for the potatoes and other vegetables. At the end of the cooking time, leave to rest for at least 30 minutes, covered loosely with foil. The bird will not go cold, but will be moist and much easier to carve.

7. Bake the covered casserole of stuffing alongside the goose during the last 30 minutes of roasting.

8. Let the goose stand for 30 minutes and then serve.

Makes 6 servings.
Preparation time: 20 minutes.
Cooking time: 8 minutes.
Roasting time: 2 hours.
Standing time: 15 minutes.

The Loire Valley in France has the largest selection of fifteenth and 16th century chateaux. With around 60 “must see” chateaux sprinkled on both sides of a 100-mile sweep of the Loire River, the first-time visitor can feel overwhelmed.

Details of 5 of the best-known castles are below.

Chateau Chenonceau

Chenonceau Chateau amazes you with its two-story, 260-foot Great Gallery spanning across the River Cher. Originally “acquired” by King Francois I, it passed to his successor, Henri II, who gave it to Diane de Poitiers his mistress. Diane expanded the castle and constructed a bridge over the river.

When Henri II died, his bittered wife, Catherine de Medici, took revenge on her rival by forcing Diane to exchange Chateau Chenonceau for nearby Chateau Chaumont. Catherine then commissioned the construction of the bridge gallery. Unbelievably extravagant galas were hosted here until Catherine’s son, Henry III, was murdered. His wife, Louise de Savoie, placed the castle in mourning, furnishing it entirely in black and white.

History leaps out as you tour the rooms and the gardens. In world war I the Great Gallery was converted to a hospital. In WWII the castle marked the boundary between free and Nazi-occupied France and became the site of prisoner exchanges. Today the castle and grounds are maintained at their height as if they were at under Catherine de Medici.

Chateau Clos Luce

Not more than a half mile from the village centre is Chateau Le Clos Luce, a castle built and designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Under the generous sponsorship of Francois I’ he lived the last three years of his life here. The rooms are filled with 40 models of Leonardo’s inventions so you can marvel at his impressive mental powers and foresight five hundred years earlier.

Chateau Amboise

The narrow cobbled streets of Amboise wind at the base of the huge Chateau Amboise. Although only 25% of the original castle survives, the fortress walls with flying banners look down river and the village at its feet. It was here that King Francois I hit his head on a low arch, bringing an early end to his life.

Chateau Chambord

King Francois I was not content with just the castles at Amboise and Chenonceau. He acquired over 10,000 acres of hunting land and decided to build the world’s most incredible “hunting lodge.” Chambord was constructed over many decades by Francois and his successors, Henri II and Charles IX in the 16th century.

Fully restored now, Chambord stands as the most extravagant of all the Loire chateaux – 500 feet wide with 440 rooms and 365 fireplaces. The central grand staircase was supposedly designed by the great Italian, Leonardo da Vinci. It has double spirals which enable two parties of people to descend and climb simultaneously on foot or horseback without meeting. Chambord will reward any visit with its grandeur and extravagance.

Chateau Chaumont-sur-Loire

Built in the fifteenth century by Lord Amboise on the site of a tenth century feudal fortress, Chaumont has incredible views of the Loire Valley. It was later the home of both Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici of Castle Chenonceau fame. Enjoy this castle for its furnishings, drawbridge, fortress feeling, tapestry, and incredible vistas.

Rememer whilst castle hopping to take the time to happen upon some local wine cellars, for tasting or “degustation”. Take the time to relax and soak up the atmosphere and enjoy your vacation.

We run a luxury castle in the Loire Valley, perfect for a wedding castle and for visiting vineyards, castles and relaxing with family and friends. A french wedding castle is a wonderful location for a wedding.

Go ahead and spoil yourself with a wedding chateau

No visit to the Loire Valley is complete without visiting the magnificient gardens on display. The kitchen garden in the Loire Valley is a veritable art form and is incredibly inspiring. What better way to enjoy the splendours of the Loire Valley than to rent a castle for a family vacation. Whilst you enjoy your castle rental visit the many beautiful gardens dotted along the Loire and the Cher and Indre River. There is a good reason the entire area is listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. You should rent a castle and enjoy what this heritage area has to offer.

Visitors flock to Villandry for its harmonious vision of gardens and architecture.

Fifteen kilometres west of Tours, and nine kilometres west of Azay-le-Rideau, Villandry built in 1536 is the last in the series of the great Renaissance chateaux of the Loire. It was the seat neither of a king, nor of a king’s mistress, but of one of France’s ministers, Jean Le Breton.

Le Breton’s had considerable architectural experience and he oversaw work for the Crown for many years and directed construction of Chambord. Earlier in his career he had been stationed as an Ambassador in Italy and he had the opportunity to study the art of gardening.

The gardens were designed by Joachim Carvallo a spanish doctor and laid out between 1907 and 1920. He drew his inspiration from local tradition and the remains of the original layout.

At the highest level is a large basin in the shape of a Louis XV mirror. It is called “Le Miroir d’eau” Its water feeds the moat, the fountains, and the irrigation system. The fountains at Villandry play an important role bringing music to the gardens with the gentle splashing of water on stone andd lending a freshness to the air.

In the middle is the ornamental or pleasure garden – “Jardin d’ornement” with flower beds framed by box hedges.

Under the windows of the west wing and on the same level as the outbuildings, is the third garden – the ornamental kitchen garden.

Each of the three gardens is surrounded and overlooked by a raised and covered pathway. Limetree-vaulted pergolas on the top and grapevines trailingover a trellis below.

One of the premiere design features of the gardens of Chateau Villandry is that gardens should be viewed from abvoe, either from contiguous buildings, or from raised terraces surrounding the beds.

Gardening techniques

In total, the gardens at Villandry cover 5 hectares tendered by only nine full time gardeners. This is an incredibly low ration of gardeners given the density of the planting.

Rigorous planning and a precisely organised timetable is implemented. The kitchen garden uses some twenty thousand flowering plants, sixty thousand vegetables in spring and forty thousand in summer.

The whole gardening team participate in the design of the planting arrangements for the kitchen garden each year. Two plans are needed each year. The spring plan which uses peas, broad beans, radishes, lentils, springn cabbage, lettuce (romaine, red and green). Some perennials are also included – strawberries, sorrel, chives. Various spring flowers are planted in the edging to bring some colour to the kitchen garden like alternating reda nd yellow pansies, large white daiseies, blue pansies, forget-me-knots and stock.

The summer plan fixes the arrangement of flowers and vegetables from June into autumn. the main vegetables are cabbages, pumpkins, spinish, beets, swiss chard, celery, celeriac, carrots, leeks, aubergines, capsicums, tomatoes, chives, parsley, basil, round or long beetroot, gourds, endives and cardoons. Petunias, verbena, purple sage, marigold, begonias, tobacco plants are used as edgings.

Technical factors for Chateau Villandry.

Each planting for spring and summer for the kitchen garden need to take into account both the technical and aesthetic factors.

Crop Rotation

Careful crop rotation is essential if soil exhaustion and plant disease are to be avoided.

It is not a good idea to plant vegetables of the same family in a bed the following year because they take the same nutrients from the soil and are vulnerable to the same soil-borne diseases. For example you should not plant carrots in a bed used the previous year for celery as they are both members of the Umbellifer family. Similarly cabbages and radishes both Crucifers, should not be allowed to follow each other.

Balancing this technical factor can be quite a challenge given that there are eight botanical families planted in the kitchen garden and it is advisable to wait three years before replanting a bed with a member of the same family and there are two plantings a year for each bed in the kitchen garden at Chateau Villandry.

Originally the kitchen garden was watered from the fountain in the middle of each squaree. Now an automatic irrigation is now used to water all five hectares.

Aesthetic factors

The patterns of form and colour are the second major factor in planning the kitchen garden. The texture, form and colour of each vegetable all contribute to the multicoloured chequerboard of the kitchen garden. It is a difficult exercise because vegetables often offer little in the way of colour contrast.

The gardening team at Chateau Villandry try to bring together contrasts such as the jade green of the carrots and the blue of the leeks, or the red of the beetroot leaves and the golden-tinted green of celery.

The kitchen garden covers a hectare and consists of nine identical sized squares in a square pattern. The square beds were popular in France during the Renaissance period. Each square has a different box hedge pattern. Inside the hedges forty-odd varieties of vegetables and floweres are planted out with their alternating colours making up a rainbow chequerboard. Each of the squares has thirty standard roses, laid out in geometric patterns, and sixteen pyramid-trained pear-trees.

Words can not do the gardens justice and no trip to the Loire Valley in France would be complete without a visit to Villandry and its magnificent gardens.

Burning a Yule log is probably the oldest Christmas tradition there is. Celebrating Yule means no work as long as the special log burns. It does require gathering family, friends and neighbors for feasts and fun and songs and stories, dances and romances.

[/spin]Traditionally on or about Christmas eve, a big log was brought into a home or large hall. Songs were sung and stories told. Children danced. Offerings of food and wine and decorations were placed upon it.

Personal faults, mistakes and bad choices were burned in the flame so everyone’s new year would start with a clean slate. The log was never allowed to burn completely, a bit was kept in the house to start next years log. It was believed that the log brought good luck. Any pieces that were kept protected a house from ligtning or fire, or hail. Ashes of the log would be placed in wells to keep the water good. Ashes were also placed at the roots of fruit trees and vines to help them bear a good harvest.

The log also predicted bad luck. If the fire went out before the night was through, tragedy would strike the home in the coming year. If its flame cast someone’s shadow without a head, supposedly that person would die within the year.

In England the log was supposed to burn for the twelve days of Christmas, from Christmas eve on December 24th to Epiphany on January 6th. Some English Yule logs were large enough that a team of horses were required to drag it to the christmas castle or manor. Some English preferred a log from an ash tree. In the Slavic and other countries oak was the wood of choice. Almost everywhere, the fire was started with that bit of the last year’s log, to symbolize continuity and the eternal light of heaven.

In some parts of France, a special carol was sung when the log was brought into the home. The carol prayed for health and fertility of mothers, nanny-goats, ewes, and an abundant harvest.

Of course the French were probably the first to eat their yule logs. They started out burning them like everyone else, but when big open fireplaces began to disappear in France, they moved the tradition to the table by making a cake roll that looked like a Yule log, called a “Buche de Noel”.

At first, burning a Yule log was a celebration of the winter solstice. In Scandinavia, Yule ran from several weeks before the winter solstice to a couple weeks after. This was the darkest time of year, and the people celebrated because days would start getting longer after the solstice.

There was a lot of ceremony and ritual tied to the Yule log, for it marked the sun’s rebirth from its southern reaches.

[spin]The Yule log gets its name from the Scandinavian tradition, but the ritual burning of a special log during winter solstice took place as far west as Ireland, as far south as Greece, and as far north as Siberia.

|In the fourth century AD When Pope Julius I decided to celebrate Christmas around the Winter Solstice, the Yule log tradition continued, but the fire came to represent the light of the Savior instead of the light of the Sun.

If you don’t need anymore Christmas goodies around the house, you can light a special candle as they do in Denmark and Norway. Or you can use a decorated log as a center piece like the Italian “ceppo”. However you mark your Yuletide, the spirit of the tradition requires gathering family and friends for a warm and cheery celebration. The burning of the Yule log marked the beginning of Festive celebrations.

[/spin]Traditionally on or about Christmas eve, a big log was brought into a home or large hall. Songs were sung and stories told. Children danced. Offerings of food and wine and decorations were placed upon it.

Personal faults, mistakes and bad choices were burned in the flame so everyone’s new year would start with a clean slate. The log was never allowed to burn completely, a bit was kept in the house to start next years log. It was believed that the log brought good luck. Any pieces that were kept protected a house from ligtning or fire, or hail. Ashes of the log would be placed in wells to keep the water good. Ashes were also placed at the roots of fruit trees and vines to help them bear a good harvest.

The log also predicted bad luck. If the fire went out before the night was through, tragedy would strike the home in the coming year. If its flame cast someone’s shadow without a head, supposedly that person would die within the year.

In Appalachia, as long as the log, or “backstick” burned you could celebrate. Often a very large “backstick” was chosen and soaked in a stream to ensure a nice long celebration. In the early nineteenth century, American slaves didn’t have to work as long as the Yule log burned, so they would choose the biggest, greenest log they could find. If they did have to work while it burned their master had to pay them for the work.

You have a choice. You can burn your yule log like the English. Or if you don’t have a fireplace, you can eat it like the French.

We rent our chateau out over the festive season for Christmas and New Year as a holiday rental by owner. You can experience a christmas castle with all of the French traditions. You can have your yule log and eat your buche de noel as well. Come and experience a christmas castle.

Wayne Rooney and his fiancée COLEEN McLOUGHLIN have plumped for a four-day wedding extravaganza in the South of France in June costing an incredible £3 million. The June wedding was made possible by England’s failure to reach the Euro 2008 finals.

It is believed the wedding itself will take place on June 12 — but guests won’t know until the last minute. Guests, who include boxer RICKY HATTON and a handful of Man United players and their partners, have been told to clear their diaries from June 10 to June 14. The pre-wedding celebrations will kick off earlier in the weekend with a themed ball, with guests invited to wear black or white outfits.

And over the next three days Wayne and Coleen will also treat their family and friends to a champagne lunch and play hosts at a barbeque. A source close to the couple said: “Coleen wanted to spread the event over a few days because people are travelling so far.

Wayne and Coleen follow a long line of celebrities who have tied the knot in France, the latest being “Desperate Housewives” Eva Longoria and Tony Parker NBA basketball champion who rented a wedding castle

Just 60 family and friends will watch Wayne and Coleen take their wedding vows — with private jets ferrying the wedding party across the Channel on June 10.

Coleen chose the venue after months of agonising between Italy and France.

But the actual site remains top secret — the only people who know are the bride and groom, immediate family, oh, and a Manchester-based events company.

”You can virtually guarantee the weather at that time of the year so they’ve gone for lots of outdoor celebrations. Coleen and Wayne take regular holidays in the area, so they’re very familiar with the place.”

Coleen will wear a £100,000 gown by New York fashion house Marchesa. She has already made several trips to the US for fittings for the wedding dress of her dreams.

The wedding costs will partly be covered by Wayne and Coleen’s £2.5million deal with a glossy mag for exclusive coverage of the nuptials — though a chunk of that cash is being given to a Liverpool charity.

Castle weddings are becoming incredibly fashionable and are now all the rage following the weddings of Madonna, Tom Cruise, David Beckham. Undoubtedly Eva and Tony’s wedding will fuel the popularity. But you do not need to be a celebrity to get married in France. Anyone can rent a luxury chateau and have a fairytale french wedding.

When a celebrity wedding in an exotic location makes headlines people see it and want to copy it. While the price tag for a celebrity chateau wedding often runs well over a $1 million your typical chateau wedding can be done for far less. European wedding chateau are being booked by non-celebrities in droves.