If you look at the top of this page you will see one of Dorie Greenspan’s books, Baking: From My Home to Yours, in the book shelf. I bought that book on the recommendation of people I trusted and it quickly became one of my favorites (try the “World Peace Cookies”).

So I was beyond excited to hear 1. that Dorie had come out with a new book, and, 2. It was about contemporary French cooking. Dorie is one of those cookbook authors you can just trust. As they say (ad naseum) on “Top Chef,” she stands behind her dishes, and she is careful about what she includes in her books. Careful that the recipes are correct, do-able, and intriguing enough to get you to try them.

Like Dorie, I am a Francophile.  I think it’s because Paris was the first foreign place I ever visited (when I was 22). I remember the plane taxi-ing to the gate at CDG and looking at the airport workers swarming around and thinking “They all speak French!” It was an epiphany and a revelation wrapped in an awakening.  It made a deep impression on my Midwestern psyche.

Paris feels different. It smells different. The light is different  And God knows it tastes different. It’s old. It’s stylish but in a timeless way that is maddeningly hard to deconstruct. Bien sur, it’s romantic (has anyone else formed their idea of a perfect birthday inspired by the end of “Something’s Gotta Give”?). It’s magical.  And since French Women Don’t Get Fat, well, let’s all eat a la francaise!