Category: Recipes

Red wine poached pears

Poached pears with whipped mascarpone

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Poached pears are the most versatile dessert, don’t you think?  They’re like the perfect little black dress in a wardrobe made up of fall recipes.   Just think about it this way: Poaching them in Champagne is like accessorizing the dress with a pair of satin Manolo Blahniks . . . the ones with the diamond swans lacing gracefully up the side of your foot.  You need nothing else to complete the outfit.  The silk hem of your black dress whispers gently around your knees as you head out the door and slide into the cool leather seat of your Mercedes, on your way to Continue reading “Poached pears with whipped mascarpone” →

Espresso Madeleines

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On a quiet corner in le Marais was a little café called Café des Feuilles d’Or.  I’m not sure what it’s called today, or if it still even exists.  But at the time it had a lovely patio that stretched out along the tree-lined street.   There, at a lacy, iron table, sat a man in a grey overcoat which almost perfectly matched the leaden sky that cold, autumn morning.  Had you been walking by at the time, you surely would have missed him, as he blended in so well with the other patrons in their grey overcoats sitting on the patio with him.  I imagine they were all trying to pretend that
winter wasn’t just around the corner. Continue reading “Espresso Madeleines” →

French 75

Published on by Rebecca2 Comments

I’ve talked a lot about our Friday cocktail tradition.  If you follow me on Instagram then you know it’s somewhat of an institution and nearly every week I post the recipe for whatever we happen to be drinking at the time.  I have my old standbys, my favorites like a gin and tonic with lime or a wet martini with three olives.  I’m picky when it comes to cocktails.  I don’t like anything too fruity or sweet; anything that can be garnished with an umbrella is automatically out.  For me, the point of a cocktail is to highlight the flavors in each of the individual spirits.  Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to gin – there are so many different flavor complexities.  In time I’ll share the recipes for all my favourites here, but today I want to talk about the French 75, which I think is one of the classiest of the classic cocktails… Continue reading “French 75” →

Brown Butter Apple Crêpes

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If I threw a dinner party and invited all the seasons as guests, Spring would arrive late, flutter between the other guests like a social butterfly, disappear here and there, then run back out to her car to reapply her make up, leaving just as quickly as she’d come.  Summer would sprawl out on the couch and stretch his long legs across the coffee table with his feet in the air.  He’d very likely spill a glass or two of Rosé on the new rug, then apologize loudly, while dabbing it up with the cuff of his shirt.  Winter, no doubt, would over-stay his welcome, howling with laughter long into the night.  I would refill his mug with hot mulled wine over and over until his cheeks were rosy and he was far too drunk to make it home, so he’d stay even longer in the guest bedroom until morning when I’d serve him a hearty breakfast and send him on his way.   Autumn, however, would arrive Continue reading “Brown Butter Apple Crêpes” →

Triple Chocolate Pavlova

Triple Chocolate Pavlova

Published on by Rebecca5 Comments

Can I just talk for a minute about that certain magic you find only in chocolate?  You know, the one the Mayans knew of and harnessed millennia ago?   The one that has been firmly embedded in our collective human consciousness ever since?  That craving that can be suppressed but never fully satisfied?  Chocolate is at once an aphrodisiac, an antidepressant, a stimulant to fuel passion and to excite creativity.  It’s the food of the gods that’s also known to lower cholesterol, increase life expectancy, prevent heart attacks, and boost the immune system.  Now, if you’re someone who likes to look at the facts, then you may find yourself wondering if dessert, rather than breakfast, is actually the most important meal of the day.  But, if you’re like me and tend to think with your stomach, then you already know that it is. Continue reading “Triple Chocolate Pavlova” →

Pear and Honey Tart

Published on by Rebecca3 Comments

Pears are the perfect “transition” fruit.  Ripe at the end of summer when peaches and plums are just beginning to fade but apples are still maturing on the trees.  They bridge the gap, carrying us gracefully from summer into fall.  I always have several big bowls of pears on the kitchen counters and table starting in the first days of September, both as a way to decorate and to tempt the kids into having a healthy snack when they get home from school.  I love all the different varieties and colors, and find them so captivating, so beautiful… Continue reading “Pear and Honey Tart” →

Vanilla-Ginger Mojito

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This drink makes me think of the saying, “They go together like _____ & _____!”  Of course, you get to fill in the blanks with just about anything – everyone has their favorite combinations.  They go together like bacon and eggs!  Like salt and pepper!  Like copy and paste… or peanut butter and jelly… or Fred and Ginger…  Speaking of Ginger, I have a new combination to add to that list! Continue reading “Vanilla-Ginger Mojito” →

Sophie’s Secrets

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I’m a sucker for a good love story.  I can’t help it, there must be a hopeless romantic somewhere in me.  Here’s one from long ago; the details are a little blurry because I haven’t heard it since childhood.  It’s the story my grandmother would tell when I couldn’t sleep.  “Please, Grandma,” I would beg late at night, “tell me the story of Sophie!”

“Again?!” She’d exclaim.  She’d probably be standing at the stove, heating a small pot of milk to help me sleep.  But there was always a twinkle in her eye and I knew she love to tell it just as much as I loved Continue reading “Sophie’s Secrets” →

Late Summer Berry Tart

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I’m still trying to convince myself that summer’s not almost over, even as the leaves are quickly starting to blush and the nights are turning so cool that we’ve had to add extra blankets to the beds (instead of turning on the heat – it’s too soon for that!)  It started off imperceptibly enough, with just the slightest hint of yellow in the top branches of the trees that line our street.  But just yesterday, as I drove through the neighborhood I was shocked to see that the branches are suddenly more gold than green.  When did that happen?  And then the urgency struck.  To make summer Continue reading “Late Summer Berry Tart” →

The Summer of the Zucchini Tart

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Every summer has its signature dish.  It’s the one thing I find myself making over and over.  That one dish that we completely forgot about over the winter, but in the heat of summer we can’t get it off our minds. Like waking up with that song stuck in your head.  You love it but you can’t stop thinking about it until you listen to it again…as loud as possible…on repeat!   Last year was all about Continue reading “The Summer of the Zucchini Tart” →