Bring the Charm of French Living Into Your Everyday Life 👉🏻 Free e-Guide
EAT LIKE THE FRENCH, LIVE LIKE THE FRENCH 🍽️ Free e-Guide
For me, Thanksgiving is all about the sides. I think that a lot of you share the same sentiment. The turkey, as delicious and necessary as it is to a proper Thanksgiving spread, can be brined, seasoned, and even fried to your satisfaction, but that’s not what makes most of us excited for our day of feasting. Because, to be honest, doesn’t Turkey just taste a bit like chicken? I mean, really, it’s not all that different.
Remember the quince recipe I shared last week? I had a couple of them leftover and thought about turning them into a jam. In all honesty, though, I have a lot of jam from the abundance of sweet strawberries we experienced here in California, so I’m sort of over jam at this point (but talk to me in a month or two). I was just about to create a galette with them when I got a better idea. I was writing my shopping list for a gathering I was hosting this past weekend, and was scribbling down cheeses when I suddenly remembered reading about quince paste and how wonderful it is with cheese. And so I created this holiday cheese board with quince paste.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Oh, where to begin with my quest for the perfect gingerbread cookie? I’ve been baking consistently for a few years now and finding a recipe for the best gingerbread men cookies has been difficult. The cookies are usually too spicy or too bland. And the texture? Don’t even get me started on that. Who decided that a crisp cookie that could potentially break a tooth would make for a perfect gingerbread cookie? Well, friends, I’m here to tell you that my quest for the perfect cookie is over, thanks to Cooks Illustrated. I knew I should have turned to America’s #1 source for all things cooking and baking rather than try out all those Google search results for the perfect gingerbread cookie.
Tis the season to be merry and as over-the-top as you can be. What better way to indulge in the Christmas cheer than with a chilled glass of creamy holiday eggnog? When explaining this beverage to French friends, I was greeted with confusion and a bit of amusement. My best friend’s French boyfriend says it’s basically crepe batter in a cup. This may be somewhat true, but I love drinking eggnog during this time of the year.