Chti dinner, from the North (of France)

I visited my sister in France this summer on her farm in the country. The 200 +year old farmhouse attracts family and friends and there was not a day with less than 15 for dinner. In most household this would create mayhem but there, everyone takes turns with the cooking and it makes for a lovely experience, almost like a Gourmet Tour de France. The nights were warm and clear of bugs so we ate in an old stable open to the breeze and with a fireplace big enough to roast a lamb. This night was the turn of Marie Castelain and her boyfriend Nicolas and they served a menu from their home region, the North of France. So “Chti” or Picard cuisine it was. They went shopping in the morning, spent hours on the net checking the recipes and started cooking a 3:30pm for the dinner served fashionly late around 8:30. The truth is the wait was well worth it, they outdid themselves. Every dish was home made and delicious. You would not guess that they are not professional cooks or at least parents of a large brood. No, they are not even married yet, she is a school teacher and he is almost ready to start as a landscape architect. How did they do it?