Saffron Pear Cake

Saffron Pear Cake

Like any dessert aficionado, I appreciate a wide range of sweets, from delicate tarts to basic sheet cakes. That said, I prefer to leave the fancier stuff to the true experts. We could all probably make a beautiful dacquoise if we really tried and put the effort into it, but I have a feeling that the majority of us wouldn’t be up to all the fuss that goes into making it. Maybe once, for a very special occasion, but probably never again. That’s why I’m always looking to create and share recipes that are as enjoyable to make as they are to eat. This saffron pear cake exemplifies this concept perfectly. 

coq au vin

Coq au Vin with Quince

One of my favorite aspects of French country cooking is the ability to seamlessly adapt recipes to incorporate pretty much any fresh fruit and vegetable that you like. Take a galette, for example. It’s a classic dessert made with pastry dough and a fruit of your choice. You could use apples, pears, berries – whatever your heart desires, because the simple fact is that with a touch of sugar, any fruit would bake beautifully on a buttery round of pastry. In the case of this coq au vin, I was able to incorporate the delectable quince I picked up at my local farmer’s market and make this dish feel like it had always been made with this seemingly “exotic” fruit.

french pumpkin cheesecake

French Pumpkin Cheesecake

When I share recipes here, I like to give the majority of them a twist that’s unique to my point of view. I wish I could say that I’m a culinary mastermind that dreamt up every recipe here from scratch, but the truth is that most of them have been inspired from another recipe and played around with to make my own. I try not to share recipes that can’t or shouldn’t be tweaked because, well, they’ve already been posted somewhere so what’s the point? But! Sometimes a recipe is just so incredibly delicious that even though it lacks any of my personal twist or originality, I just have to share it. This French pumpkin cheesecake is one of those recipes. 

dark chocolate cake with red wine glaze

Dark Chocolate Cake with Red Wine Glaze

I think most women share a universal bond when it comes to our role in society and the struggles we face. No doubt that each human being has their own journey and their own obstacles, but as women, I think it’s fair to say that we deal with some common issues that men just don’t (or can’t) face. There’s the famous phrase that gets tossed around, which says, “If men got pregnant, the human population would die off,” and many more that refer to the amazing strength and endurance of the female population. I hate to devalue the hardships of men (sorry to my male readers), but I have witnessed and personally felt the unique burden placed upon women to “do it all” and come out of it with a sane mind and sense of calm. The demand to multi-task throughout the day, support, lead, inspire, encourage, compensate, and maintain our own can be overwhelming and unmatched. That’s where this dark chocolate cake with red wine glaze comes into play. 

apple chevre flatbread

Apple Chevre Flatbread

This apple chevre flatbread is the epitome of the kind of food I love to eat. For me, a perfect meal is satiating, but light. It looks a bit fancy, but never at the expense of great taste. It seems that a lot of the more modern restaurants these days tend to sacrifice taste for presentation. I recently went to a well-known restaurant near my home, trying to give their lunch menu another try. This restaurant specializes in the kind of plates that are meant to be shared (tapas, if you will) and are made with simple, quality ingredients. In theory, their menu is everything I idealize and try to emulate in my own kitchen.

spiced walnut cake

Spiced Walnut Cake

I love carrot cake, I really do. But shredding all those carrots? That’s not really my idea of a fun and relaxing baking sesh. I imagine that’s why I’d make a really lousy line cook and why my future in the restaurant business looks bleak. I mean, I’m willing to knead dough for several minutes, or dice pungent onions, but please don’t make me peel and grate carrots.  I love you, carrots, I do…but I just tend to love you more once you’re in a finished cake, you know? And for this reason, I don’t make carrot cake very often. I do, however, love all those wonderful spices that you find in carrot cake, as well as the surprise raisins and nuts you’ll often find in a traditional slice. That’s why I tend to make a lot of spiced cakes when this time of the year rolls around. With this spiced walnut cake, I get all of my favorite things about carrot cake sans the effort of peeling and grating those pesky carrots. 

persimmon harvest salad

Persimmon Harvest Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

I was inspired to make this persimmon harvest salad with a maple vinaigrette after watching a recent episode of House Hunters International. Do any of you watch that show? It’s me and my sister’s favorite “reality tv” show. My sister will often come over just to watch the latest episodes with me, and we’ll gawk, laugh, and scoff throughout each episode. Our favorite episodes to watch are the ones where they travel to France (obviously). On one of the more recent episodes, there was a woman who was moving with her family from Iowa to France. Once they arrived, they visited a French farmer’s market and found themselves in for some culture shock. They were amazed at all the fruits and vegetables that were available, and they were particularly confused over a batch of persimmons.

pumpkin crepes

Pumpkin Crepes

Since I shared a recipe for pancakes this week, I thought it only fair to share a recipe for crepes as well, specifically pumpkin crepes. Like pancakes, crepes are made with a mixture of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, and then cooked in a pan. Unlike pancakes, however, crepes tend to be extremely thin, which is immediately apparent just from looking at the runny batter. 

pumpkin brioche

Pumpkin Brioche with Chocolate Swirl

From time to time, I decide to make brioche. It’s not a weekly habit because, let’s be honest, a girl can’t afford to have bread as rich with butter as brioche is every single morning. But, occasionally, I find myself staring at my morning toast and wishing it was a big fluffy slice of brioche with jam smeared on top. Then I start wishing I was in Paris eating brioche, and then I start wishing I was in Paris eating all of my favorite foods, and then I just curl up and cry. Okay, so I may have exaggerated with the crying bit (well, maybe), but you get the picture.