Salmon Crepes

For our stay in Paris, we rented an apartment for a week. I thought it was the best way to travel. We ate breakfast (mostly consisting of croissants) at the apartment most mornings and we made a couple of meals there as well. One of the meals were smoked salmon crepes.

I loved our little kitchen. All these copper pots and pans, dark wood beams, really adorable. Although actually, you should probably use a iron skillet for making crepes.  

Mandel Bread

I'm back!  I was in Paris all of last week and this week I have been trying to return to functioning normally.  I had plans to get these posted sooner and then work and jet-lag got in the way.  But I promise I have lots of food and pictures and inspiration from Paris, so I'll be posting a lot more.

But first, before Paris, here is a recipe I made before I left and ran out of time to post.  But it relates to Paris because it is a recipe from my aunt Leslie (my mom's twin) who came to Paris with me.  My aunt Leslie made a cookbook with our family recipes, which I love.  In keeping with my family about 50% of it is food and 50% of it is baked sweets.  This recipe is for mandel bread (basically Jewish biscotti) which is from Leslie's husband Charlie's mother Lela.  It is super easy and delicious, the criteria for any recipe.

French Chocolate Cake

I am going to Paris!  I am so so excited.  I leave this Saturday.  In preparation, I am reading David Lebovitz's Book "The Sweet Life in Paris".  I am enjoying it a great deal, although I feel like it is always a little dangerous to read the impressions of someone else right before you go, lest your expectations are skewed.  It does seem to reinforce a lot of stereotypes.

One of the best parts of the book is that he has interspersed recipes throughout books.  This is pretty brilliant and I think all books should have recipes in them: fiction, non-fiction, even textbooks.  I think I would have enjoyed some of my math textbooks more if they had along side proofs for Stokes' Theorem a recipe for a smooth manifold cake.  (Don't worry, I don't expect anyone to actually understand that).

Dutch Oven Bread

Last Sunday, for Mother's Day, my mom came out for a visit.  We went to see Carole King and James Taylor and had a lot of fun.  She also brought me presents and cleaned my apartment.  I think she might have the holiday backwards.

Key Lime Pie

Or: if this dessert was any easier it would come in a box.

Seriously, it is taking me more time to write the blog post than it did to make the pie.  First the graham cracker crust is crushed graham crackers, sugar and butter.

Strawberry Shortcakes

I have been positively remiss with my posting.  And I have no good excuse.  I will try to make it up to you, and I begin with these:

I got strawberries in my weekly produce delivery (yay!).  I love strawberries.  The amount of strawberries was too small to do much with so I decided on strawberry shortcakes.  Plus, biscuits and whipped cream as so easy to make, I was able to whip them up in the middle of a hectic Saturday no problem.

Meringues

My first encounter with meringues was at my aunt's house, where she had purchased some Trader Joe's meringues for one of my families visits.  We went through the entire tub in no time.  They are so tasty.  Meringues are one of these things that seem so much more fancy than they are.  These meringues have three ingredients: egg whites, sugar and vanilla.