“Cerise, chérie?” my grandmother used to say to me, offering a big bowl cherries, freshly picked from the trees in her garden, still warm from the sun.
Cerise Chérie is inspired by the beauty, simplicity and authenticity of French food – and the joie de vivre it evokes. Here I share the recipes that my grandmothers passed to me, as well as kitchen tips I’ve picked up along the way for living la belle vie.
I grew up between two worlds – in one, foraging for mushrooms and wild asparagus in cool, mountain meadows with my paternal French grandparents; in the other, running wild along ancient, sun-drenched footpaths lacing across the mesas of New Mexico, where my mother’s family lived. My childhood was flavoured with an eclectic mix of the spices of Mexico, traditional Native American dishes, pozole and green chile, along with Burgundy soaked meats, garden tomatoes and French classics like poulet a l’estragon or my grandmother’s famous croque-madame.
About Rebecca
At 18, I packed my bags and boarded a plane to Europe where I spent several years travelling between France and Italy, finally settling in a tiny apartment in Livorno, on the Tuscan coast. I spent my early twenties immersed in the market scene and in the kitchens of my Italian neighbours, learning to cook traditional recipes from anyone and everyone who had the patience to put up with my never-ending questions in broken Italian. At 24, I decided I should go to college and “do something” with my life. So I moved back to the United States to attended University; afterwards, moving to the Gulf Coast of Florida. But the mountains were calling, as they say. Now, back in Colorado, I’m cooking all those authentic French and Italian dishes that I came to love so dearly, and sharing them here.
On Cerise Chérie I seek to demystify French cooking using simple techniques and local ingredients that are widely available in the United States and elsewhere. These are my French-inspired recipes for an American kitchen… along with a few of my beloved New Mexican and Italian dishes thrown in there to spice things up.
Looking for one of my older recipes? Visit my first blog, Pure & Peanut Free.
Cerise Chérie 