French Fridays with Dorie: Marie-Helene's Apple Cake

This week's post for French Fridays with Dorie is going to be short and sweet.  Short because I am rushing around trying to finish preparations (and a massive amount of cooking) for our Halloween party, and sweet because it is cake!  I considered skipping this week's recipe, Marie-Helene's Apple Cake, but the recipe seemed so easy (and, hello, cake), that I decided to give it a go yesterday.

French Fridays with Dorie: Hachis Parmentier

When I first saw the list of October recipes for French Fridays with Dorie, this Hachis Parmentier was the dish I was most excited to make.  The photo in Dorie Greenspan's book is just mouthwatering.  Hachis Parmentier is basically a French shepherd's pie, and, as I discovered when I made this for dinner, it is wonderfully warm and comforting.

The Cake Slice: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

I was looking through my blog last night, and I realized that I haven't posted a dessert since last September.  Also, my last three dishes have been noodle-centric.  I need to switch it up here, people! Well, I am happy to report that I have joined the Cake Slice Bakers, so I will be posting at least one dessert recipe every month.  The Cake Slice is a group of bloggers that bake the same cake each month and post about it on the same day. I wanted to join this group because I love baking and talking about recipes, and because it gives me an excuse to make cake (the whole "buying a new cookbook thing" didn't hurt, either).  Yum, cake!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ah, spaghetti and meatballs.  Just the name makes me feel all warm and cozy.  It is my quintessential comfort food.  Hand me a fork and a big bowl of al dente pasta, topped with a garlic and basil flecked pasta sauce, juicy meatballs, and a flurry of freshly grated parmesan, and I will love you forever.  I will love you even more if you also pour me a glass of wine, but that part is optional (most days).

Spaghetti Risotto with Porcini and Thyme

If you were to ask my family what food I don't like, the universal answer would be "mushrooms."  It is true, I have been an active member of the anti-mushroom camp for, well, ever.  But, because I am a rather strange individual, I see that distaste as a personal challenge and I have set out to try and change my own mind.  This mushroom mission is motivated by a (not-so-attractive) haughtiness about my own open-mindedness toward food.  I figure that if I am going to talk a big game about my lack of food phobias, I better be able to back it up with some fungus consumption.

French Fridays with Dorie: Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

This week, I really did have a French Friday with Dorie.  I had planned on making this Vietnamese chicken noodle soup yesterday, but there was a certain ill-timed nap before my dance class (which I signed up for in a moment of temporary insanity in which I forgot that I am terrible dancer), and I never got to it.  As it turns out, I probably could have thrown this together last night.  This soup, which has a surprisingly deep, complex flavor, came together very quickly and easily.

French Fridays with Dorie: Gerard's Mustard Tart

When I first saw that we would be making a "mustard tart" for this week's installment of French Fridays with Dorie, I wasn't sure what to think.  A tart, with a predominant mustard flavor?  My brief moment of doubt was put to rest when I scanned the ingredient list.  Two kinds of mustard, dijon and whole grain, and copious amounts of creme fraiche are nestled into a tart shell (and oh, how I do love food that uses pie crust as a vehicle) with leeks and carrots.  How could that be anything but delicious?

French Fridays with Dorie: Gougeres

So, I disappeared again.  I had all these grand plans for more frequent posting, but you know what they say about that whole "best laid plans" thing.  At least this time I have a decent excuse: we moved to Boston!  That's right, I am a city girl now.  I am still cooking (constantly), only now it is in a tiny apartment kitchen on a correspondingly small apartment stove.  A miniature stove, however, is a small price to pay for high ceilings and hardwood floors (and I can't forget the Whole Foods within walking distance).

Now that we are (kinda, sorta) settled in our new place, I really am going to be posting more often.  To give myself a bit more motivation, I have decided to participate in French Fridays with Dorie.  We are going to be cooking along with Dorie Greenspan's new cookbook, Around my French Table.  I am really excited about this because I haven't cooked much French food, and I am always looking to expand my culinary horizons.  Also, it gives me an excuse to buy a new cookbook; something that makes my boyfriend and our overstuffed bookcases groan and also something I (kinda, sorta) promised myself that I wouldn't do.  But come on, this is Dorie, and my copy of Baking: From my Home to Yours was looking rather lonely.