Chocolate Chip Cookies, With a Difference
My daughter is coming home for spring break so the refrigerator and the cupboard need to be stocked, because wherever she is, a small crowd follows. She loves chocolate chip cookies, because I know already that after the hugs and hellos, her eyes will wander to the cookie tin. These, however, aren’t just any chocolate […]
Bitter Orange Marmalade
I love phone calls like the one I received the other day from my neighbor, Nathalie. “Suzanne, I have too many bitter oranges, would you like some?” I didn’t hesitate a minute. This is the season for bitter oranges (Seville oranges – they come from Spain) and each year I turn them into marmalade. […]
Confit of Peppers
Every year in early September I do the exact same thing, either because I’m crazy, or because I love the taste of pepper confit. I’m sure it’s a bit of both, though the crazy part didn’t occur to me until this morning at 6:30 a.m. when I found myself mincing a kilo (2 pounds) […]
Yogurt Cake Re-Visited
I have a dinner coming up, and I want to make a delicious but simple cake for dessert. I considered plenty of options and settled on an old favorite, Yogurt Cake. This, as those of you who have read On Rue Tatin, is a cake I discovered one day at my son’s school during a […]
How to Test a Recipe – Poached Pears
I have a confession to make. I love to test recipes. It’s creative, it’s finicky, it’s challenging. The aromas are marvelous, the workplace is comfortable and familiar, and you get to taste and share what you’ve just tested. When I talk about testing a recipe, I’m talking about preparing one for publication. It may be […]
Fontainbleau
Today, Seattle friends came for lunch. They’d already been in Provence for a week, eating truffles every time they turned around. This, and the fact that all of these people are part of the Seattle food world, meant that the bar was high. Lunch itself posed no problem. I had magret de canard produced near […]
Quince Paste
I make it every Christmas season, with quinces from my tree if there are enough. This year there were not and I was despondent, until I smelled the quinces coming from Vincent-the-apple-man’s stand. Like the siren’s song, it called me and I was mesmerized into buying a kilo. Never have I smelled quinces like these. […]
Apple and Pear Compote
The apple and pear harvest this year in my small, urban garden is like a treasure hunt, as the fruit is falling faster than I can pluck it from the trees. The ground it falls to is soft, and the fruit is in perfect condition after landing. So it stays that way, I have to […]
