Kara+daydreaming1

Let Them Eat (Extraordinary) Cake

My youngest daughter Kara is leaving tomorrow for a move to the Washington DC area, which means I had to find a cookbook about the White House.  I have a few, mostly about First Ladies, but a lot of those recipes are rather old and boring.  Not so in this book.  Roland Mesnier, pastry chef to five presidents […]

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Carol+Haddix1

A 40-Year Feast

I feel like I lost a best friend.  My heart sunk a little when I opened  my beloved Chicago Tribune’s “Good Eating” section in  last week’s Wednesday newspaper, and read the article entitled “A Farewell to Good Eating and to You.”  Carol Mighton Haddix, food editor extraordinaire, announced that “it’s time to hang up the […]

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Lemon-Glazed Pound Cake

Yesterday’s recipe was also a lemon cake, but when I spotted this one in my recipe box, I had to share it because I am still in a lemon mood. The cake looks so lovely for springtime with the garnishes of fresh mint, lemon twists, and fresh strawberries. Lemon-Glazed Pound Cake with Strawberries Pound Cake: 1-1/4 cups unsalted […]

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A Most Marvelous Lemon Cake

If I had to select a favorite cake, it would be difficult to decide between a chocolate cake or a lemon cake.  I have so many recipes and favorites for both, but for the moment, because I just made it, it would have to be this lemon cake.  It’s incredibly moist and pairs perfectly with […]

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French+Home+Cooking+onion+soup1

Last Day of French Cooking – Day Five: Nobody Does it Better…

After our week of  French cookbooks, I decided to end with this book on the subject of why  French home cooking is still considered the best in the world.  Some believe that there is still nowhere in the world where food and cooking are so passionately woven into the minds, hearts, and lives than in France.  It is […]

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Sunset+French+market+vendor1

A Week of French Cooking – Day Four: Sunset French Cook Book

Don’t be fooled by an American cookbook of French cooking.  The editors of Sunset Magazine traveled over a period of years to French homes, marketplaces, city restaurants, country inns, and riverbank picnic sites to bring you the best of French cooking.  They gathered dishes that would be easy to duplicate in American kitchens without sacrificing flavor or authenticity, and at […]

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Time-Life+France+vineyard1

A Week of French Cooking – Day Three: Time-Life Cooking of Provincial France

If you are not familiar with the Time-Life series of “Foods of the World,” then you must run to the library and check them all out.  It is a fabulous series of cooking lessons from all over the world.  Each book is filled with information about the featured country with some recipes, but the smaller […]

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Gourmet+illustration1

A Week of French Cooking Lessons- Day Two: Gourmet’s Basic French Cookbook

This is a publication of Gourmet Magazine from 1961.  The author and chef, Louis Diat, was a contributor to the magazine over a twelve-year period beginning in 1946.  Chef Diat of the Ritz was something of a gastronomic legend in the tradition of the great chefs who left behind them written records of their culinary […]

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