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Sarah Jane's Travel Memoir Series. #3
Our Frugal Summer In Charente: An Expat's Kitchen Garden Journal
Our Frugal Summer in Charente: An Expat's Kitchen Garden Journal
Find out how a woman with a reputation for culinary catastrophe keeps her family fed in rural France, with no money, 2 Australian Cattle dogs, 5 chickens, 4 ducks and a vegetable garden, with some hilarious consequences!
If you have read Two Dogs and a Suitcase:Clueless in Charente or you just enjoy cooking, gardening and expat stories then this book ticks all the boxes for great read.
Find out how a woman with a reputation for culinary catastrophe keeps her family fed in rural France, with no money, 2 Australian Cattle dogs, 5 chickens, 4 ducks and a vegetable garden, with some hilarious consequences!
If you have read Two Dogs and a Suitcase:Clueless in Charente or you just enjoy cooking, gardening and expat stories then this book ticks all the boxes for great read.
- GenresMemoir
115 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 29, 2014
1 person is currently reading
295 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Jane Butfield
23 books94 followersAuthor Sarah Jane Butfield is a UK-based author originating from Ipswich, Suffolk. Sarah Jane is a mother, Registered General Nurse, and an award-winning internationally published author. She has a growing family, with four children, three stepchildren, now grown up with children of their own, allowing Sarah Jane to enjoy playing an active role as ‘nanny’. to them all.
Sarah Jane enjoys a reputation as the roving Florence Nightingale, with a successful career as a registered nurse and nurse educator allowing her to work in UK and Australia. Her publishing portfolio consists of five best-selling travel and nursing memoirs set in the UK, Australia, and France.
Sarah Jane’s most successful memoirs to date make up ‘The Nomadic Nurse Series’, with both books winning awards and Ooh Matron! attracting Reader's Favorite awards and professional writing industry reviews.
Glass Half Full: Our Australian Adventure, her debut travel memoir, and the award-winning sequel Two dogs and a suitcase: Clueless in Charente, are regularly featured in travel blogs and author podcasts, whilst her culinary memoir, Our Frugal Summer in Charente was voted as one of the 'Top 50 self-published books worth reading' in 2015 after publication.
In addition, she has released the 'What, Why, Where, When, Who & How of Book Promotion Series' for aspiring, debut, and established self-published authors, based on her experiences in the independent publishing world since 2013.
Sarah Jane enjoys a reputation as the roving Florence Nightingale, with a successful career as a registered nurse and nurse educator allowing her to work in UK and Australia. Her publishing portfolio consists of five best-selling travel and nursing memoirs set in the UK, Australia, and France.
Sarah Jane’s most successful memoirs to date make up ‘The Nomadic Nurse Series’, with both books winning awards and Ooh Matron! attracting Reader's Favorite awards and professional writing industry reviews.
Glass Half Full: Our Australian Adventure, her debut travel memoir, and the award-winning sequel Two dogs and a suitcase: Clueless in Charente, are regularly featured in travel blogs and author podcasts, whilst her culinary memoir, Our Frugal Summer in Charente was voted as one of the 'Top 50 self-published books worth reading' in 2015 after publication.
In addition, she has released the 'What, Why, Where, When, Who & How of Book Promotion Series' for aspiring, debut, and established self-published authors, based on her experiences in the independent publishing world since 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 12, 2015
I really enjoyed this mix of memoir, growing your own and recipes!
I've read and enjoyed the first two books in Sarah Jane Butfield's memoir series, Glass Half Full: Our Australian Adventure and Two Dogs and a Suitcase: Clueless In Charente. In this third book, they are still in France, doing things on a budget and growing their own produce, keeping chickens for eggs etc. First impressions: the presentation on this third book looks good. Great cover, accurate opening. Some photos are included-in colour-I like this. Structure is such that it is a month by month diary of the garden and the foods she made with the produce from the garden. Photos happen along the way (rather than in a separate section later). There are a few little recaps of things in the other books, reminders. The author has incorporated a little story from her school days, Home Economics classes-some welcome comedy here! There's a few more little sprinkles of humour even though it was quite early on in the book. Word choices seem better in this book and there is less repetition so it flows very nicely and I read it more or less in one sitting. I certainly felt it was good and improved presentation. Cleaning Windows with newspaper and white vinegar-to the bafflement of her French neighbours! It just sounds all so yummy, all these foods they are growing. I'm certainly no gardener but I've still found this very interesting and enjoyed the read. I like how there's a reason for each recipe, it's not just a collection of random ones, eg, if they had an abundance of potatoes at the time, you get a recipe or two for these etc. It's amazing the variety of things she grew-well, to me it is-eg beetroot. Very interesting section on making cider. The mushroom episode! Then-growing mushrooms from a kit-I had no idea you could get these/grow mushrooms from a kit. Some really different recipes for me-different from the norm, using some ingredients you never think of. Many interesting facts, not your normal run-of-the-mill recipes, facts about how they grew or gathered these ingredients. It was all very interesting to me and I read every bit of this book. I realise some people may skim through the recipes and just read the non-recipe stuff but the recipes are all relevant to the other writing: the ingredients consist of what they happened to be growing or picking at the time, alternatives to what one would normally use and so on. Just reading through these recipes and the foods sounded incredibly tasty for me! I enjoyed this book, well presented and nice pics!
I've read and enjoyed the first two books in Sarah Jane Butfield's memoir series, Glass Half Full: Our Australian Adventure and Two Dogs and a Suitcase: Clueless In Charente. In this third book, they are still in France, doing things on a budget and growing their own produce, keeping chickens for eggs etc. First impressions: the presentation on this third book looks good. Great cover, accurate opening. Some photos are included-in colour-I like this. Structure is such that it is a month by month diary of the garden and the foods she made with the produce from the garden. Photos happen along the way (rather than in a separate section later). There are a few little recaps of things in the other books, reminders. The author has incorporated a little story from her school days, Home Economics classes-some welcome comedy here! There's a few more little sprinkles of humour even though it was quite early on in the book. Word choices seem better in this book and there is less repetition so it flows very nicely and I read it more or less in one sitting. I certainly felt it was good and improved presentation. Cleaning Windows with newspaper and white vinegar-to the bafflement of her French neighbours! It just sounds all so yummy, all these foods they are growing. I'm certainly no gardener but I've still found this very interesting and enjoyed the read. I like how there's a reason for each recipe, it's not just a collection of random ones, eg, if they had an abundance of potatoes at the time, you get a recipe or two for these etc. It's amazing the variety of things she grew-well, to me it is-eg beetroot. Very interesting section on making cider. The mushroom episode! Then-growing mushrooms from a kit-I had no idea you could get these/grow mushrooms from a kit. Some really different recipes for me-different from the norm, using some ingredients you never think of. Many interesting facts, not your normal run-of-the-mill recipes, facts about how they grew or gathered these ingredients. It was all very interesting to me and I read every bit of this book. I realise some people may skim through the recipes and just read the non-recipe stuff but the recipes are all relevant to the other writing: the ingredients consist of what they happened to be growing or picking at the time, alternatives to what one would normally use and so on. Just reading through these recipes and the foods sounded incredibly tasty for me! I enjoyed this book, well presented and nice pics!
January 1, 2015
Loved this. So much fun.
The challenge of living a frugal lifestyle can be fun. This author had a lovely year to remember. I wish I had lived next door and learned with her everyday. I especially loved when she discovered peanuts growing in the ground under her peanut tree. A must read for anyone who loves making something out of nothing.
The challenge of living a frugal lifestyle can be fun. This author had a lovely year to remember. I wish I had lived next door and learned with her everyday. I especially loved when she discovered peanuts growing in the ground under her peanut tree. A must read for anyone who loves making something out of nothing.
January 9, 2015
loved it
Besides learning great gardening tips, the recipes were an added bonus. Very interesting read. This is the second book I have read by this author and I like her unique style
Besides learning great gardening tips, the recipes were an added bonus. Very interesting read. This is the second book I have read by this author and I like her unique style
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July 27, 2025Les gens qui découvrent la campagne et la Charente, c'est quand même quelque chose.
March 19, 2015
So, Me!
This is a really charming journal type story of a family, in a year, living 'The Good Life'. When I say that, I mean like the 70's TV show not the high life. Much of the time it sounds like a lot of hard work, but incredibly satisfying when things go right.
The book is also stuffed with recipes, gardening advice, storage tips and how to make the most out of everything you find or have grown.
Follow the family on their brave adventure being as self-sufficient as possible. For someone who doesn't like courgettes, I've learnt a crafty trick with what to do with them. Courgette Wine and Marrow Rum! Yes! There really is a good use for everything.
It's also a very personal story of the family itself and how they worked together and the funny incidents they encountered.
A great little read to get you away from this bustling world of traffic and supermarkets.
This is a really charming journal type story of a family, in a year, living 'The Good Life'. When I say that, I mean like the 70's TV show not the high life. Much of the time it sounds like a lot of hard work, but incredibly satisfying when things go right.
The book is also stuffed with recipes, gardening advice, storage tips and how to make the most out of everything you find or have grown.
Follow the family on their brave adventure being as self-sufficient as possible. For someone who doesn't like courgettes, I've learnt a crafty trick with what to do with them. Courgette Wine and Marrow Rum! Yes! There really is a good use for everything.
It's also a very personal story of the family itself and how they worked together and the funny incidents they encountered.
A great little read to get you away from this bustling world of traffic and supermarkets.
January 27, 2015
Another great book by Sarah. I love the recipes. It is very well written and can't wait to read more of Sarah's work.
August 13, 2017
A very enjoyable and entertaining read.
Sarah Jane and her husband Nigel establish a vegetable garden from scratch at their property in S.W. France.
It is lots of hard work, but producing rewards in the end with an abundance of fresh vegies.
Sarah has included some delicious recipes and hints on how to preserve this bounty.
It certainly is the "Good Life".
Sarah Jane and her husband Nigel establish a vegetable garden from scratch at their property in S.W. France.
It is lots of hard work, but producing rewards in the end with an abundance of fresh vegies.
Sarah has included some delicious recipes and hints on how to preserve this bounty.
It certainly is the "Good Life".
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews