In Paris, a city full of spectacular pastry shops, it really takes something major to grab me by the shoulders and shake me to attention. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the other ones, but when you see something as jaw-dropping as the pastries at Café Pouchkine, you can’t help but stop and stand at full attention.
There are a lot of things I like about living in Paris. There’s shopping at the outdoor market and knowing the vendors and having them give you the good peaches, and not sticking a few icky ones in the bottom of the bag. Picking up a still-warm baguette and ripping the end off the very moment you step outside the bakery. And getting to go…
I was browsing through my archives this weekend and landed on a post that I wrote back in 2005, about Vandermeersch. The bakery is really out in the middle of nowhere and for most visitors and even local, whether you’re going by foot or even by métro. But I was looking at the pictures I’d taken back then, which didn’t do the kouglof justice, that…
Here are some recipes from my website for sweets and treats that I hope will make your holidays a little happier! Nibbles & Drinks The Best Holiday Nut and Pretzel Mix: This is the best snack I know of to go with festive drinks. I can’t get enough of it. Make this for your next cocktail gathering! Spritz: Want a holiday drink that’s lighter than…
When is a cake not a cake? When you’re in France. These ‘cakes’ (pronounced kek) are what we might call ‘quick bread’ in the United States, although we usually make them sweet. So I’ll have to give one to the French and say that they’re right—this actually falls more in the category of a cake rather than a bread. People often ask what people in…
There’s one thing difficult about living in France. And that’s getting recipes from a French woman. It’s not because they closely guard their secrets (which every woman has the right to do), but it’s because they frequently use recipes as guidelines, rather than making them by following exact proportions and fixed preparation times. So if you ask a question about a recipe, you may get…
Laura Adrian is half of the team behind Verjus, a wine bar in Paris that she runs with her partner Braden. With a little help from an adorable Boston Terrier that pops his head into the action every once in a while. Laura worked for one of my favorite bean-to-bar chocolate makers in America, Theo chocolate in Seattle, before moving to Paris. Due to word-of-mouth,…
I’m happy to be taking care of two things with this recipe. One is that about a week ago, my neighbor gave me two bunches of bananas. He’s in the photography business and needed a few large bunches for a photoshoot. When it was over, he sent me a text message asking if I could use any bananas. Free fruit? I ran over there to…
I’ve been making these Fruitcake Bars more and more as the holidays approach. Not only are they incredibly simple to put together, unlike other fruitcakes, these really do taste great. They can be made up to a week in advance, which will undoubtedly help alleviate holiday stress. It’s from my archives but thought it worth sharing again since folks enjoyed them so much at a…
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