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The following constitutes the terms and conditions (the “Terms of Use”) and the Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”) governing your use of this web site located at mycancalekitchen.com and any content made available from or through this web site, including any subdomains thereof (hereinafter, the “Web Site”). BY USING THE WEB SITE, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE AS APPLIED TO YOUR USE OF THE WEB SITE. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you may not access or otherwise use the Web Site.

1. Proprietary Rights. As between you and us, we own, solely and exclusively, all rights, title and interest in and to the Web Site, all the content, , code, data and materials thereon the look and feel, design and organization of the Web Site, and the compilation of the content and materials on the Web Site, including but not limited to any copyrights, trademark rights, patent rights, database rights, moral rights, sui generis rights and other intellectual property and proprietary rights therein. Your use of the Web Site does not grant to you ownership of any kind of any content, code, data or materials you may access on or through the Web Site.

2. Limited License. You may access and view the content on the Web Site on your computer or other device, and make single copies or prints of the content on the Web Site at your own risk and for your personal, non-commercial and internal use only. Use of the Web Site and the services offered on or through the Web Site, are only for your personal, non-commercial use. You may not use the Web Site for commercial purposes or in any way that is unlawful, or harms us or any other person or entity, as determined in our sole discretion.

• Prohibited Use. Any commercial or promotional distribution, publishing or exploitation of the Web Site is strictly prohibited unless you have received the express prior written permission from My Cancale Kitchen. Other than as expressly allowed herein, you may not download, post, display, publish, copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, modify, perform, broadcast, transfer, create derivative works from, (However, you may, of course, prepare food and drink in accordance with recipes contained on the Web Site for personal use and enjoyment without violating this Terms of Use) sell or otherwise exploit any content, code, data or materials on or available through the Web Site. You further agree that you may not alter, edit, delete, remove, otherwise change the meaning or appearance of, or repurpose, any of the content, code, data, or other materials on or made available through the Web Site. (This includes, without limitation, the alteration or removal of any Trademarks (as defined in Section 4 below) or any other proprietary content or proprietary rights notices.) If you make other use of the Web Site, or the content, code, data or materials thereon, except as otherwise provided above, you may be subject to liability for such unauthorized use (including, without limitation, for violations of copyright and other applicable laws).
• Trademarks. The trademarks, logos, service marks and trade names (collectively the “Trademarks”) displayed on the Web Site or on content available through the Web Site are registered and unregistered Trademarks of ours and may not be used in connection with products and/or services that are not related to, associated with, or sponsored by their rights holders that are likely to cause customer confusion, or in any manner that disparages or discredits their rights holders. Nothing contained on the Web Site grants, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, or should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any Trademark displayed on the Web Site without our written permission.
• User Information. In the course of your use of the Web Site and/or the services made available on or through the Web Site, you may be asked to provide certain personal information to us (such information referred to hereinafter as “User Information”). Our information collection and use policies with respect to the privacy of such User Information are set forth in the Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. You represent, warrant, acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for the accuracy and content of User Information.

In addition to the rest of the Terms of Use, you represent, warrant and agree that you shall not upload, post, transmit, distribute or otherwise publish through the Web Site or any service or feature made available on or through the Web Site, any materials which are, do, or could reasonably be construed to be or do any of the following:

• Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Web Site or the Web Site’s services;

• Are fraudulent, unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, offensive, pornographic, profane, sexually explicit or indecent, or that threatens or invites violence, or that is derogatory of others on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual preference or disability;

• Constitute or encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to potential civil liability or otherwise violate any local, state, national or international law;

• Violate, plagiarize or infringe the rights of third parties including, without limitation, copyright, trademark, trade secret, confidentiality, contract, patent, rights of publicity or privacy or any other proprietary right;

• Contain a virus, spyware, or other harmful component;

• Contain embedded links, advertising, chain letters or pyramid schemes of any kind;

• Constitute or contain false or misleading indications of origin, endorsement or statements of fact; or

• Contain sensitive, proprietary or confidential information about yourself or others.

7. Prohibited User Conduct. You warrant and agree that, while using the Web Site and the various services and features offered on or through the Web Site you shall not: (a) impersonate any person or entity, whether actual or fictitious, including anyone from My Cancale Kitchen, or misrepresent your affiliation with any other person or entity; (b) insert your own or a third party’s advertising, branding or other promotional content into any of the Web Site’s content, materials or services or use, redistribute, reuse, republish, repurpose or otherwise exploit such content or service for any purpose or reason, including without limitation, further commercial or promotional purposes; or (c) attempt to gain unauthorized access to other computer systems through the Web Site.

If My Cancale Kitchen has banned you from the Web Site or any of the services on or available through the Web Site, for any reason, in its sole discretion, you may not return to the Web Site for any reason or in any manner. In the event that you do return, or attempt to return, to the Web Site or a particular service offered by or through the Web Site after you have been banned, you will be deemed to have breached these Terms of Use, and we reserve the right to pursue all rights and remedies available to it at law or in equity with respect to such breach.

8. Right to Monitor. My Cancale Kitchen reserves the right, but does not and shall not have an obligation, to monitor and/or to review all materials posted to the Web Site or through the Web Site’s services or features by users, and My Cancale Kitchen is not responsible for any such materials posted by users. My Cancale Kitchen is not responsible for any failure to monitor, review and/or delete any materials posted to the Web Site or through the Web Site’s services or features by users. However, My Cancale Kitchen reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as necessary or advisable to satisfy any law, regulation or government request; and to edit, to refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, that, in My Cancale Kitchen’s sole discretion, are in violation of these Terms of Use or applicable law. We may also impose limits on certain features of the forums or restrict your access to part or all of the forums without notice or penalty if we believe you are in breach of the guidelines set forth in our Terms of Use or in violation of applicable law without notice or liability.

9. Linking to the Web Site. You agree that if you include a link from any other web site to the Web Site, such link shall link to the full version of an HTML formatted page of this Web Site. You are not permitted to link directly to any image hosted on the Web Site or our services, such as using an “in-line” linking method to cause the image hosted by us to be displayed on another web site. You agree not to link from any other web site to this Web Site in any manner such that the Web Site, or any page of the Web Site, is “framed,” surrounded or obfuscated by any third party content, materials or branding. We reserve all of our rights under the law to insist that any link to the Web Site be discontinued, that the link open in a new browser window, and/or to revoke your right to link to the Web Site from any other web site at any time upon written notice to you.

10. Third Party Web Sites. You may be able to link from the Web Site to third party web sites that take you outside of our service and third party web sites may link to the Web Site (“Linked Sites”). For example, if you click on a banner advertisement or a search result, the click may take you off the Web Site. This includes links from advertisers, sponsors and content partners that may use our logo(s) as part of a co-branding relationship. You acknowledge and agree that My Cancale Kitchen has no responsibility for the information, content, products, services, advertising, code or other materials which may or may not be provided by or through Linked Sites, even if they are owned or run by affiliates of ours, and you rely on the same at your own risk. Such Linked Sites are not under our control, and links to other sites are provided solely for the convenience of users. You acknowledge that when you click on a link that leaves the Web Site, the site you will land on is not controlled by us and different terms of use and privacy policy may apply. By clicking on links to other sites, you acknowledge that we are not responsible for those sites. We reserve the right to disable links from third-party sites to the Web Site, although we are under no obligation to do so. Links to Linked Sites do not constitute an endorsement or sponsorship by us of such web sites or the information, content, products, services, advertising, code or other materials presented on or through such web sites. Also, My Cancale Kitchen is not responsible for any form of transmission received from any linked web site.

13. Notice and Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement. We respect the intellectual property rights of others, and require that the people who use the Web Site, or the services or features made available thereon, do the same. If you believe in good faith that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please notify us as such pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(2), named below. To be effective, the notification must be a written communication that includes the following:

• A physical or electronic signature of person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;

• identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;

• Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;

• Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party, including an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted;

• A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

• A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

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WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR MAKE CORRECTIONS TO ANY OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE WEB SITE AT ANY TIME AND WITHOUT ANY PRIOR WARNING. WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INACCURACY OR OMISSION CONCERNING ANY OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE WEB SITE.

WITHOUT LIMITATION OF THE ABOVE IN THIS SECTION, MY CANCALE KITCHEN AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS AND LICENSORS MAKE NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING ANY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PROVIDED VIA THE WEB SITE, AND HEREBY DISCLAIM, AND YOU HEREBY WAIVE, ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS MADE IN PRODUCT OR SERVICES LITERATURE, FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS DOCUMENTS AND OTHERWISE ON THE WEB SITE OR IN CORRESPONDENCE WITH MY CANCALE KITCHEN OR ITS AGENTS. ANY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ORDERED OR PROVIDED VIA THE WEB SITE ARE PROVIDED BY MY CANCALE KITCHEN “AS IS,” EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT, IF AT ALL, OTHERWISE SET FORTH IN A LICENSE OR SALE AGREEMENT SEPARATELY ENTERED INTO IN WRITING BETWEEN YOU AND MY CANCALE KITCHEN OR ITS LICENSOR OR SUPPLIER.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DOES YOUR USE OF THE WEB SITE FORM ANY RELATIONSHIP, WHETHER IMPLIED OR EXPRESS, WITH MY CANCALE KITCHEN. THE WEB SITE HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY SUCH RELATIONSHIP AND ANY LIABILITY ARISING AS A RESULT OF ITS USE OF ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, MESSAGES, COMMENTS OR CONTRIBUTIONS, CONTAINED ON THE WEB SITE.

16. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. IN NO EVENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NEGLIGENCE, SHALL THE WEB SITE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM, OR DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY RELATED TO, THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE WEB SITE OR THE CONTENT, MATERIALS AND FUNCTIONS RELATED THERETO, YOUR PROVISION OF INFORMATION VIA THE WEB SITE, LOST BUSINESS OR LOST SALES, EVEN IF SUCH PROTECTED ENTITY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO CERTAIN USERS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE PROTECTED ENTITIES BE LIABLE FOR OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY CONTENT POSTED, TRANSMITTED, EXCHANGED OR RECEIVED BY OR ON BEHALF OF ANY USER OR OTHER PERSON ON OR THROUGH THE WEB SITE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE PROTECTED ENTITIES TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR TORT, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING FROM THE TERMS OF USE OR YOUR USE OF THE WEB SITE EXCEED, IN THE AGGREGATE, THE AMOUNT, IF ANY, PAID BY YOU TO MY CANCALE KITCHEN FOR YOUR USE OF THE WEB SITE. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE WEB SITE, YOUR SOLE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE WEB SITE.

17. Applicable Laws. We control and operate the Web Site from RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. We do not represent that materials on the Web Site are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Persons who choose to access the Web Site from other locations do so on their own initiative, and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. All parties to these Terms of Use waive their respective rights to a trial by jury.

18. Termination. My Cancale Kitchen may terminate, change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Web Site or the Web Site’s services (including, without limitation, content, features or hours of availability), at any time and for any reason. My Cancale Kitchen may restrict, suspend or terminate your access to the Web Site and/or its services if we believe you are in breach of our Terms of Use or applicable law, or for any other reason without notice or liability. Once you have been banned from use of the Web Site, you may not thereafter use the Web Site under a new username or identity. My Cancale Kitchen maintains a policy to terminate the Web Site use privileges of users who repeatedly infringe the intellectual property rights of others.

19. Changes to Terms of Use. My Cancale Kitchen reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, add or remove any portion of the Terms of Use, in whole or in part, at any time. Changes in the Terms of Use will be effective when posted. Your continued use of the Web Site and/or the services made available on or through the Web Site after any changes to the Terms of Use are posted will be considered acceptance of those changes.

20. Miscellaneous. The Terms of Use, and the relationship between you and us, shall be governed by the laws of the State of Virginia, United States of America, without regard to conflict of law provisions. You agree that any cause of action that may arise under the Terms of Use shall be commenced and be heard in the appropriate court in the State of Virginia, City of Richmond, United States of America. You agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of such courts. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms of Use is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms of Use remain in full force and effect.

Admittedly, I am late to the blog-writing game. Scads of food writers have been out here on the internet, sharing their recipes and experience for over a decade. So what took me so long?

First, I’ve been busy. Magazine food editing is an all-consuming job with a lot of tasks to juggle. Plus, the role of an editor is to promote your subjects. I’ve spent a lot of time crafting stories that focus on everything BUT what I’ve been doing myself.

Second, I find most food blogs tiresome. The writing is mediocre, the recipes are poorly explained, and the navel-gazing is extreme. And oh….the pictures! The endless, endless scrolling through artfully-placed ingredients snapped time and again. Just to get to a soup recipe. So annoying. I had a hard time imagining myself leaping into the fray of fools who think I have nothing better to do than look at six photos of their heirloom tomatoes or read about how much they love them. (Food bloggers “love” stuff. A lot.)

My way around this second hurdle has been to take a page from the children’s book author, Lemony Snicket. In an interview I read a while back (and now have have no way of fact-checking), Daniel Handler (aka Snicket) talked about his reticence to write a children’s book because he didn’t like the books he read as a child. His agent told him (I’m paraphrasing), “Well then, write the children’s book you would have wanted to read.”

Write the blog I want to read. That’s what I hope to do here with My Cancale Kitchen. I doubt I’ll get a Netflix deal with Neil Patrick Harris as one of the stars, or something similar, but I hope I’ll turn out something I’ll be happy with–and others can enjoy.

Long about 10 years ago, I decided to spend the winter in Brittany. Mind you, Brittany was no exotic or random choice for me; I had lived, and taught English, and worked on my cooking and pastry skills in Rennes, the capital of the French province, for seven years before moving to New York City. As a freelance writer, all I needed was a kitchen, a phone, and an internet connection to work. I decided to find all three in Brittany – preferably somewhere on the coast – so I could get back to my French (and Breton) roots. Meaning: I could spend some serious time there without having to rely on friends’ lumpy couches for lodging.

The house I found was in Cancale, a small fishing port 50 miles due north of Rennes on the English Channel.  Close enough to see my friends in the city. Beautiful enough to inspire me to write the Breton cookbook I planned to work on during my 4-month stint. And oh, it was glorious! The blue-shuttered, stone fisherman’s cottage was tucked back in the old part of the port. I worked, and walked, and cooked, and had friends to stay. Then one day, I thought how nice it might be to own a house on the port in Cancale. A little one, of course. A pied à terre that I could rent out when I wasn’t in France, and stay in when I was.

I began looking at houses. Nothing suited. All the little ones were dark, damp and overpriced. I had all but given up when one of the many real estate agents I’d contacted offered to show me a house that was going to be taken off the market. It was bigger and more expensive than what I was looking for. The stone façade had been covered over with stucco and the shutters were a dingy white. But the interior was bright and airy, and it had a gi-normous kitchen with a view of the water. One thing led to another (house-hunting tales are all so tedious, I’ll spare you the details), and before I headed back to the US, it was mine.

It took a year and a half for the Cancale house to become my home; another year and a half for the gi-normous kitchen to become my kitchen, thanks to a total renovation by a friend who flew over especially to do it. Then several years for me to find the time and patience (Geez Louise but these updates can take a long time to upload!) to share my Cancale experience.

But here I am!