Dorie Greenspan - On the Road and in the Kitchen with Dorie

Baking with Julia and Tuesdays with Dorie: The Adventure Begins Today

2012-02-07T12:31:50Z

I'm running off to man the CookieBar Pop-Up, but I just wanted to make sure that you know that today the Tuesdays with Dorie Group is posting its first recipe from Baking with Julia: White Loaves. The group will be baking one recipe a week until they complete the book ... which will be years of delicious cakes and cookies and muffins and breads and desserts from now.

Each week, one member hosts the group and posts the recipe. This week the hosts are Laurie Woodward of Slush, who founded the group, and Julie Schaeffer of Someone's In The Kitchen, without whom the group wouldn't run. The loaves in the picture were made by Laurie.

It's not too late to join. The fun has only just begun.

World Nutella Day: Spreading the Love Around (and on bread)

2012-02-05T14:49:57Z

Thank goodness for Twitter. Without Twitter -- and given that I've had (and will continue to have) my head in oven baking CookieBar treats -- I might have missed this global celebration. And that would have been a shame, because Nutella is something I always have in my pantry, there for when I need a sweet pick-up-me and there when I want to pick-up the wow factor of a sweet. Spread a layer of Nutella under an already fabulous chocolate ganache tart and it becomes fabulouser. And who doesn't love thinking they're getting one thing and discovering that there's a surprise layer?

Nutella was created in Italy in the 1940s, when chocolate was in short supply in the country and hazelnuts were plentiful. Since then, it's become a staple in countries around the world. In Paris, I have only one friend who, like the rest of everyone I know there, doesn't have at least one jar of Nutella in the house. He says he doesn't stock it because if he had it in the house, he'd eat too much of it. And then he comes to my house and, saying he shouldn't, eats anything I make with Nutella and then has seconds.

So here's my easy, but truly delicious contribution to World Nutella Day, a recipe that comes from Paris and from Paris's most famous pastry chef, Pierre Herme, a Nutella lover.

NUTELLA TARTINE

From Around My French Table, Dorie Greenspan

Makes 4 servings

It is impossible to overestimate the French love of Nutella, the chocolate and hazelnut spread invented in Italy about seventy years ago and eaten with gusto all over most of Europe. If you think about how attached we Americans are to peanut butter, you’ll have an idea of how much the French love Nutella. It’s a perennial at crepe stands all over the country, sometimes along with bananas. Spread on a slice of bread, it’s often the after-school snack of choice.

And just as American chefs have been known to use peanut butter to create grown-up desserts that recapture the pleasures of childhood, so French chefs are always finding surprising ways to make Nutella chic. Here’s Pierre Hermé’s reading of the after-school treat pain au chocolat: the bread is brioche (or challah), the chocolate is Nutella, and the surprise is orange marmalade. For another sophisticated use of Nutella, look at the ganache tart with a hidden layer of the chocolate and hazelnut spread.

1/4 cup Nutella

4 slices brioche or challah

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup bitter orange marmalade

Fleur de sel

Hazelnuts, toasted, loose skins rubbed off in a towel, and coarsely chopped, for topping

Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet (or the broiler pan) with aluminum foil.

Put the Nutella in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and heat, stirring frequently, just until it is softened and warm.

Brush one side of each slice of bread with melted butter, and put the bread, buttered side up, on the baking sheet. Run the bread under the broiler; pull it out when the slices are golden. Spread the marmalade over the hot bread and then, using the tines of a fork, generously drizzle each tartine with some warm Nutella. Top with a few grains of fleur de sel and some chopped hazelnuts.

Serving

Although it’s a play on an after-school snack, this tartine is also made for a strong espresso.

Storing

No leftovers except the crumbs.

Honey + Honey-Wheat Cookies = A Cozy Afternoon

2012-02-01T19:54:51Z

As many of you know, I'm a curator on Open Sky, where I get to share lots of my favorite things, lots of them French. This week's a bonanza -- what I've got is not just French, it's sweet: Honey! You can take a look at the three honeys -- chestnut, orange and mixed flower -- but I want to give you a recipe for a nice way to use orange or mixed flower honey. (I'd save the chestnut for something with spice, or even something simple like a honey poundcake or yogurt cake).

HONEY-WHEAT COOKIES

From Baking From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup wheat germ

1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1 stick (8 tablespoons; 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup honey

1 large egg

Whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup of the wheat germ (you’ll use the other 1/2 cup right before baking), the baking powder and the salt and keep nearby.

Working in the bowl of a mixer, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist. Using the paddle attachment, if you have one, beat the lemon-sugar and the butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until creamy and smooth. Add the honey and beat another minute or two. Add the egg and beat for about 2 minutes more, until you have a smooth, light and fluffy mixture. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in two portions, mixing only until each addition disappears. Scrape the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap, seal and chill the dough at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days.

Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have a pair of lined baking sheets (page 000) at hand. For convenience, you can shape the second sheet of while the first is baking.

Put the remaining 1/2 cup wheat germ into a bowl and keep it near you. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and working with a spoonful at a time, roll the dough between your palms into 1-inch balls. Drop each ball into the wheat germ, turn to coat, then place the balls on a baking sheet, leaving about an inch of space between balls (these don’t spread much). Use your palm or the bottom of a glass to gently flatten each cookie.

Slide the sheet into the oven and bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies are just firm to the touch. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to room temperature and repeat with the remaining dough.

Serving: With honey and lemon in the cookies, tea is a natural go-along.

Storing: The dough can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Once baked, the cookies will keep at room temperature for about 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Almost Valentine's Day = Almost CookieBar

2012-01-31T16:56:02Z

If it's February, it must be time for our annual CookieBar Pop-Up at Mizu ... and it is! Here are the basics:

February 6 to February 10

At Mizu: 505 Park Avenue, NYC (between 58 and 59 Streets (call 212-688-6498 if you want a hair appointment during our pop-up -- we'll bring cookies to your chair!)

Hours: 10 to 6, or until we run out of cookies -- we'll tweet to save you the trip (follow us on Twitter)

CookieBar Faves, of course, and CookieBar Newbies, including a cool as a York Peppermint Patty cookie

Cocktail Collection Cookies sporting new stickers designed by Kyle Poff

Menu and more coming up soon. I just wanted to get the word out and share our swell new flyer, designed for us by Greig Bennett.

Paris Bake Sale/New York City Dreams

2012-01-25T10:57:14Z

If I ever passed a bake sale without buying something, it could only been because I didn’t see it. I love bake sales and I love them pretty much indiscriminately, although I love them most when there are kids involved, as there almost are.

Bake sales are not as prevalent in Paris as they are in my other hometown, although they’re not unheard of. Boy Scouts are known to hold sales – and the American-style brownies I bought from Scouts on Place St. Germain-des-Pres were pretty good – and there’s often a January sale of galettes des rois by famous chefs to raise money for charity, but the sales are few and far between. Not at all the monthly sales we ran at The Kid’s nursery school to help keep the tots in crayons.

I might have missed Saturday’s sale at the Francois Villon school had Michael not turned me around to see it. There, in the middle of the madness that is the flea market at Porte de Vanves, was a bake sale and crepe stand manned by a gaggle of teenage girls and their enthusiastic teachers. There were the expected brownies and chocolate-chip cookies – yes, even in France – but there were also financiers, hazelnut cakes and an almond-apple cake that was dense, moist and delicious, even eaten from a floppy paper plate under a fine drizzle.

Because I’ve never been to a bake sale that wasn’t raising money for something important, I asked what this one was in aide of. As the girls giggled and nudged one another to try to get someone to speak up, the teacher finally explained that the class – 23 students and 3 teachers – was going to New York City! And that it was part of a ‘twinning program’ – their Big Apple twins from the ISchool in Soho would be coming to Paris in a couple of weeks and they’d go to NYC in April.

To say that they were excited would be to short-change their ardor a thousand fold.

So, if you’re in Paris from February 11 to 25 and you see a bunch of American kids wandering the streets, say “hi”. And if you’re in New York City from April 7 to 21 and see the French students, don’t forget to say “bonjour”.

PS: If the idea of a bake sale gets you thinking, don't forget Gretchen Holt-Witt's book, Best Bake Sale Ever. It will tell you everything you need to know about organizing a successful bake sale and, because all good bake sales have good causes, the profits from the sale of the book go to a really important cause: Cookies For Kids Cancer.

NPR's Talk of the Nation: Tuesdays with Dorie, A Community in the Kitchen

2012-01-18T07:17:13Z

While the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers have finished every recipe in Baking From My Home to Yours, news of their accomplishments goes on. First, there was the story in the Washington Post, and then yesterday the online baking group was the topic of my conversation with Neal Conan, host of one of my favorite NPR programs, Talk of the Nation.

When what you do is considered the 'talk of the nation', you know you've accomplished something! Congratulations -- again and again -- Laurie Woodward, TWD's founder, and Julie Schaeffer and every baker who joined the group. And thank you Neal and your producers for recognizing the extraordinary nature of the group, its accomplishments and the communtiy it created.

You can listen to the segment or download it from Talk of the Nation. You'll also find the recipe for my Prune-Amagnac Cake, also know as The Cake That Got Me Fired.

For those of you who missed the fun of baking along with the TWD community, you've got another chance:

Starting next month, February, Tuesdays with Dorie will begin baking through Baking with Julia, the book I wrote to accompany Julia Child's television series. It's a book I love and one that I think will be a terrific bake-through because it's got both breads and pastries and even a few savories treats, too. Sign up and join the fun.

Again, thank you Neal Conan and Talk of the Nation - it meant a lot to me that you highlighted this wonderful group.

PS and just for fun: I talked to Neal from a recording studio just outside of Paris and as the taxi whizzed past the Eiffel Tower, I took this picture. I'm been living in Paris for 15 years and I don't think there's ever been a time when I've passed the Eiffel Tower without being wowwed. It never gets old for me.

Galettes: So Many Kinds, All So Different, All So Delicious

2012-01-08T16:16:10Z

January 6, Epiphany, was the official day for the French Galette des Rois, or King’s Cake, but Parisian pastry shops and bakeries (this picture was taken at Gerard Mulot) had been offering versions of it, crowns included, since the day after Christmas and will still be offering them in the days to come. But here’s the thing – the word ‘galette’ has so many meanings that even though the galettes des rois will come off the shelves, there’ll always be one kind of galette or another that we’ll want to savor, even when we might not be able to figure out why it’s called a galette in the first place.

A galette can be so many different things and all of them – at least all that I’ve tasted – are delicious.

The galette des rois is probably the best known. It’s a ‘cake’ of sorts, a construction of two rounds of puff pastry filled with almond cream, the same cream that’s used as the base of so many French fruit tarts, glazed with an egg wash and then decorated with the edge of a knife. Originally, a bean, or ‘feve’, was hidden in the almond cream and whoever found it was given a crown. These days, the ‘feve’ is often an elaborate mini trinket made of porcelain and often lovely enough to be saved and put into a collection. Similarly, while almond cream is still the filling of choice, the best known pastry chefs in the city have created fillings based on the cream, among them pistachio and cherry, chocolate, caramel and Pierre Herme’s now iconic Ispahan: rose and raspberry.

And the crowns can be pretty swell, too. But if you win the crown, you’re not supposed to keep it – you’re supposed to place it on the head of your loved one. At least that’s what I was told. Although today, someone told me that the person who wins the crown, wins the obligation to host a party. I’m okay with that.

Just to confuse things, here are a few other galettes.

This one’s a lacy crepe filled with egg and spinach, what I’ll always think of as a Popeye. Everything that we know as a crepe is, indeed, a crepe, except that in Brittany, when the crepe isn’t sweet, it’s called a galette; it’s also made with buckwheat flour. And at my favorite Parisian creperie, Breizh Café, there’s a dessert that’s a buckwheat galette topped with salted caramel ice cream … so much for following the rules.

This rustic tart? A galette too. Don’t ask why I didn’t take a picture of this when it came out of the oven. Did Michael get to it immediately? That must have been the reason. But here’s another one. Untouched.

The Sable Breton made in a tart pan and covered with lemon curd and fruit in Around My French Table is a galette. It kind of fits one of the descriptions of a galette as something puckish. (Sorry, I only had a picture of a slice -- the whole one's in the book.)

And here’s a smaller version of the Breton sable. These cookies are actually very thin and not at all puckish.

Once again, rules, schmules. But once again, delicious.

Tuesdays with Dorie, The End of a Delicious Journey and Kids' Thumbprints

2011-12-26T18:43:36Z

As I was sitting down to write this, my husband walked through the kitchen and said, “Do you realize that it took you four years to write Baking From My Home to Yours and just the same amount of time for the members of Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) to bake their way through every recipe in it?” No, I hadn’t realized it. And, as I look back, I see that there was a lot I didn’t realize. For sure, when I started writing Baking, I never could have imagined that there would be a TWD. And I certainly couldn’t have realized nor even have had an inkling of how remarkable everything about TWD would be, starting with its founder, Laurie Woodward.

Like so many members of Tuesdays with Dorie, I’ve never met Laurie, although I keep a Christmas picture of her with her family on my refrigerator, visible from the oven. Sometimes, when I look up and see her smiling down on my latest dish, I think of her as my own patron saint of the kitchen. I bet I’m not the only one who sees her as an encouraging spirit. When Laurie says, “Bake on!” as she does just about every week, I take it as a command and obey.

For those of you who are not members of TWD, here’s the quick back story, confession included.

Four years ago, Laurie Woodward sent me an email saying that she and a couple of friends wanted to bake their way through BFMHTY and that they would post each week’s recipe on their blogs every Tuesday. What did I think? Well, I thought a lot of things, a lot of conflicting things. The idea was novel. Julie Powell had famously blogged her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Carol Blymire was writing one of the cleverest blogs on the internet as she cooked her way through Thomas Keller’s French Laundry At Home, but the idea of a virtual baking club was new. And the idea that every recipe from my book was going to be blogged was, to be honest, scary.

I said ‘yes’ to Laurie and crossed my fingers.

I’ve considered myself lucky ever since.

What Laurie and her band of bakers have created is more than a virtual club; it’s a real community. True and lasting friendships have been formed. Difficult family situations have been weathered. Happy milestones have been celebrated. When Howie Kahn came to talk to me about the article he wrote about Tuesdays with Dorie in O, The Magazine, his last words to me were: This group shows the best of what the internet can be used for.

Last year, I saw proof after proof of this. When Around My French Table was published (and yes, Laurie and Julie Schaeffer, who's been working with Laurie for the past year and a half, have started a group that’s cooking its way through the book), I traveled across the country and everywhere I went I met members of TWD. I was thrilled to meet them – I can still feel some of the hugs – but what was even better was to see members meeting members. Groups of TWDers would show up and even though they were meeting for the first time, they talked to one another like they were old friends. And truly, they were old friends. They’d shared so much together through sharing recipes, kitchen successes and a few baking flops.

Along the way members learned to bake … and to bake well … but they also learned important things about themselves and what they’re capable of. I know this because of the wonderful letters – letters I cherish – that I’ve gotten from members. I can’t tell you how many times members have written to tell me that when they began TWD, they not only couldn’t bake, they were afraid of baking, and that now there isn’t a recipe they can’t tackle. They’ve learned skills and they’ve gained confidence.

But here’s the very best part and the part that touches me so deeply: over and over, members say that the confidence that comes with successful baking creates the confidence to try other new things in their lives, to dare, to risk and to grow. I can’t think of anything more exciting!

TWD is proof of the power of community and yes, of baking, of learning to make something with your own hands. That you can share what you’ve made with those you love is another gift.

I may be a writer, but I don’t have the words to thank the members of Tuesday with Dorie for all they’ve shared with me, for all they’ve taught me and for all the joy they’ve brought into my life. Each of you holds a place in my heart.

The journey through Baking From My Home to Yours comes to a close today – the last recipe, Kids’ Thumbprints, follows – but the adventure continues when the group (now open to new members) starts Baking with Julia. Baking with Julia is a more challenging book than BFMHTY, but TWD is ready for the challenge. I’m sure of it.

As Laurie says, “Bake on!”

KIDS’ THUMBPRINTS

Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton, Mifflin 2006)

Makes about 60 cookies

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup peanut butter, crunchy (my choice) or smooth (but not all-natural)

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, separated

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg white

1 1/2 cups roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted), finely chopped

About 3/4 cup jam or jelly (cherry, raspberry, strawberry or blueberry are particularly good)

Getting ready: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter and sugars together on medium speed until very light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and the egg yolk and continue to beat until well blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated.

Put the 2 egg whites in a small bowl and beat them with a fork until they are slightly frothy. Put the chopped nuts in another bowl.

Working with a teaspoonful of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms to form small balls, turn the balls in the egg whites until they are completely coated, and then drop them into the nuts and roll to coat. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Steadying each cookie with the fingers of one hand, use the pinkie of your other hand (or the end of a wooden spoon) to poke a hole in the center of each cookie. Be careful not to go all the way down to the baking sheet.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to bake at the midway mark. The cookies should be lightly golden. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer them to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets before baking the next batch.

Put the jam or jelly in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil, stirring, over low heat (or bring the jam to a boil in a microwave oven). Using a small spoon, fill each thumbprint with hot jam. Allow the cookies – and especially the jam – to cool to room temperature, at which point the jam will form a shiny, nonsticky finish.

Serving: Just pile these on a plate and let the kids have at them.

Storing: Covered, these will keep for about 4 days at room temperature or, packed airtight, they'll keep for up to 2 months in the freezer.

Playing Around: Melted Chip Thumbprints. For a chocolate version of this treat, omit the jam and fill the cookies' hollows with chips – chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch or a combination thereof – before baking. Each cookie will only take a chip or two, but you'll know they're there.

JOYEUX NOEL

2011-12-24T17:33:11Z

Wishing all of you, and your families and those you hold dear a sparkling, joyous, sweet and delicious Christmas!

Whoopie Pies: Making Whooping in Paris (of all places)

2011-12-22T12:54:31Z

I was walking through Le Bon Marche, the only real department store on Paris's Left Bank, and was struck by the crazy number of books on the shelf about whoopie pies. Yes, yes, there are many books about madeleines and macarons -- so many, many books on macarons -- and other completely French cakes and sweets, but whoopie-pie books were getting a hefty hunk of real estate.

This isn't brand new news -- I saw (and posted about) Whoopie Pies and whoopie-pie books in Paris this spring. What's interesting today, is that the number of books has grown and the whoopie pie is still around. When the French like something, they like it for a while.

Here's the latest batch of Whoopie Pies from La Grande Epicerie (the specialty supermarket that's part of Le Bon Marche): Whoopies de Noel. Whoopie Pies have never been at the top of my must-have list, but these are awfully tempting ...

Cookbooks by Friends: The 2011 Collection

2011-12-15T17:32:58Z

I was beating myself up for being so late on this list, thinking it would have been so much more helpful to you if I'd gotten this up earlier. And then my husband chimed in: "You haven't done a single thing about holiday shopping (sad, but true), so maybe your readers are in the same spot." Hmmm. Maybe you are.

Whether you're all over the shopping thing, just getting started or even just thinking of getting started, here's my annual list of cookbooks and books (and now apps) related to food that my amazingly talented friends have produced this year.

After you've finished my list, take a look at my friend David Lebovitz's list - it's a really good one.

As always, this is a round-up of books by friends, so it's not comprehensive. That said, I can't believe the number of books my friends have written this year. A think the mathematical term for the quantity is: a lot!

And now, in no particular order, but the one in which I jotted them down, the 2011 List:

PASTRY PARIS by Susan Hochman. I don't really know how to describe this jewel of a book. Susan photographed places in Paris and then, remarkably and wonderfully, found Parisian pastries that mimic the landscapes and objects and art in the photographs. For a sneak peek, take a look at Susan's Slideshow. Five of my Paris friends are getting this for book for Christmas ... please don't tell them.

SUPER NATURAL EVERY DAY by Heidi Swanson. Having read Heidi's blog for years, I knew I would love her the instant I met her. And I did. And I have ever since. I love her sensibility, her style, the way she cooks, the way she writes and the way she photographs the world around her. And it's all in this book. When Heidi says 'every day', she means it - this is a kitchen book, one you'll use every day and for every meal.

GOOD FOOD TO SHARE by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan. So many of us follow Sara Kate at The Kitchn, but now, with this beautiful book, we get to follow her right into the rest of her home too. It's a winner. And it's filled with food we want to make and actually will.

ODD BITS: How To Cook the Rest of the Animal by Jennifer McLagan. Heads up carnivores - this just might be the book you've been waiting for. Jennifer is not just passionate about using every bit of an animal, she's an expert at getting the most flavor out of every odd bit. The last time we were in Paris together, she made an oxtail and tongue stew that I'm still dreaming about -- and the potatoes were pretty swell, too. All from the beautifully photographed book ... of course.

ESSENTIAL PEPIN: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites From My Life in Food. The Pepin in the title is Jacques, bien sur, and only he can get away with having 700 (count'em) all-time favorites, because only he and a handful of others has had such a long, celebrated, influential and delicious life in food. And, if you'd like, there's a DVD to accompany it.

AS ALWAYS, JULIA: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto edited by Joan Reardon. Joan Reardon is not my friend (although I wish she were), but Julia was a dear friend of mine and reading the correspondence between her and her dear friend, Avis DeVoto, brought her back to me. These are letters from 'the early Julia,' from a woman just discovering what she loves in life and working extremely hard to create the book that would be the bedrock of French cooking in America. Her friend and advisor, Avis DeVoto, is a fascinating woman and together they are a formidable team. I loved their smart, generous, caring friendship and came to look forward to spending time with them. No sooner did I finish this book than I read it again -- I missed their company.

SERVE YOURSELF: Nightly Adventures in Cooking For One by Joe Yonan. I'd probably be happy to read Joe Yonan if he were writing about watching grass grow, but here he's writing about food with both humor and know-how. He's so persuasive that you might just want to send everyone in your household out for the night so that you can cook for one and 'serve yourself'.

THE FOOD 52 COOKBOOK: 140 Winning Recipes from Exceptional Home Cooks by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs. If you, like I, are a regular reader of Food 52, then you know that Amanda and Merrill are the queens of getting the best recipes from the best home cooks from around the country and then showing them off to their very best advantage. Their motto is "The Best Cooks are Home Cooks" and this books proves the point ... beautifully.

COOKIES FOR KIDS CANCER: The Best Bakesale Cookbook by Gretchen Holt-Witt. A great book fora great cause written by a great woman who's a true cookie lover.

RUHLMAN'S TWENTY: 20 Techniques 200 Recipes A Cook's Manifesto by Michael Ruhlman. Whether you're a newbie in the kitchen or an old-hand, each of Michael's chapters will make you think about what you do in a new way -- or maybe for the first time. AR, After Ruhlman, you'll never be on automatic pilot again ... and that's a very good thing, since the more you know about ingredients and techniques, and the more you think about them, the better you get as a cook and the more fascinating cooking becomes. There, that's my manifesto!

SERIOUS EATS: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are by Ed Levine. Readers of Serious Eats know that the site is chockablock with great information on where to go, what to eat when you get there and how to make terrific stuff at home. Think of this as the best of the best of a site that has been serving up the best for years.

COOK THIS NOW: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make by Melissa Clark. I used to wonder how Melissa managed to do as much as she does -- a column for The New York Times, a book a year, so many magazine articles, so many recipes -- but I don't wonder any longer, I'm just glad that she does.

IN CONVERSATION WITH EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN: Seeds of inspiration to help you bloom where you are planted, by Monica Bhide. Full disclosure: Monica chose to include me in her collection of conversations and I'm honored to be in such fine -- and inspiring -- company. Monica coaxes wisdom, humor and good advice from 50 writers, among them Ruth Reichl (former editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine), Susan Orlean (New Yorker writer) and Lynne Rosetto Kasper (host of Splendid Table), in a collection that's deliciously readable. (A digital book.)

SIMPLY TRUFFLES: Recipes and Stories that Capture the Essence of The Black Diamond by Patricia Wells. I think of Patricia as the Mistress of Truffledom - she not only loves truffles, she knows just what to do to tease every last bit of flavor and pleasure out of them. If you're lucky enough to find a truffle in your stocking this Christmas, I hope you find this book tucked in there too.

GIRL HUNTER: Revolutionizing The Way We Eat, One Hunt At A Time by Georgia Pelligrini. I am not about to kill for dinner and you might not go hunting either, but my guess is that, like me, once you pick up this book, you will read it to the end. Georgia is smart, funny, insightful and a very good writer.

BITTERS: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, With Cocktails, Recipes, And Formulas by Brad Thomas Parsons. If bitters weren't already the hottest things on the hot cocktail scene, Brad would have made them so -- the man is obssessed with bitters and his enthusiasm is contagious. I got halfway though Brad's book and then ... and then ... it was gone. Pilfered by The Kid. The definitive book on the fascinating elixir.

FOUR KITCHENS: My Life Behind the Burner in New York, Hanoi, Tel Aviv, and Paris by Lauren Shockey. The title tells it all. After culinary school, Lauren, now a writer for The Village Voice, set out on an around the world journey, cooking everywhere she went. She returned, as so many before her have, learning as much about herself as she did about kitchens.

ONE SWEET COOKIE: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes by Tracey Zabar. This is such a beautiful book ... and it's as useful as it is appealing. Tracey did a great job of gathering the best cookie recipes from 50 of the country's best chefs -- among them some of my favorites, like Dan Barber, Michael Laskonis, Daniel Boulud and Sarabeth Levine. The selection's terrific -- you'll use the recipes over and over.

BASIC TO BRILLIANT, Y'ALL: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up For Company by Virginia Willis. Virignia's the cooking pal you want - a woman who knows so, so much about food and wants to share it with you, so that you can be as happy in the kitchen as she is. She's a natural teacher and her recipes are the kind that appeal to all of us, Southerners or not.

ALL ABOUT ROASTING: A New Approach to a Classic Art by Molly Stevens. To call what Molly has done here terrific is probably to give her less credit than she deserves. Anyone who has All About Braising -- and everyone should -- knows how good Molly is at teaching us solid techniques and giving us great recipes to put those techniques to use.

A SPOONFUL OF PROMISES: Stories & Recipes From a Well-Tempered Table by T. Susan Chang. Of course you'll want to take this book into the kitchen to cook Susan's recipes, but not so fast. I'd suggest that the first thing you do is block out a few hours for yourself, make a pot of tea (or pour a glass of wine) and settle in to read Susan's book - it's a charmer.

EASY AS PIE by Evan Kleiman. Not a book, but too good not to include. Remember Evan Kleiman's great Pie-A-Day project? Well Evan's taken her love of pies to the next level: here's her app. It's got 20 recipes and 5 full hours of step-by-step videos. A must for all of us who adore pie.

PARIS PASTRY SHOPS by David Lebovitz. Having started with Paris pastry, it seems only fitting to close with it. This is an iPhone/iPad app that takes you on a tour of 300 Paris pastry shops with David Lebovitz filling in the color commentary. The next best thing to being there with him.

Every year I worry that I've forgotten a friend, and every year I do. Please, please forgive me and please write to tell me.

Hoping this list will help make your holidays even more delicious!

PS: I knew I would forget someone. How could I? And apologies. My friend Kerrin Rousset of My Kugelhopf translated LADUREE: THE SWEET RECIPES from the beautiful patisserie in Paris.

You Did It! Gretchen Holt and Cookies For Kids Cancer Won the Extra $25,000 from L'Oreal

2011-12-14T17:57:39Z

Thank you for joining with so many other people to vote for Gretchen Holt. Because of you, Gretchen, the founder of Cookies For Kids Cancer and the author of The Best Bakesale Cookbook, earned an extra $25,000 from the L'Oreal Women of Worth project.

I just got the news and I cried ... of course. And then Gretchen wrote to say that she cried ... of course.

Again, thanks to all of you who clicked and all of you who contribute during the year to Cookies For Kids Cancer. The holiday season just got a whole lot happier.

Just Minutes to Martha Stewart + CookieBar and Madeleines, Too

2011-12-12T14:29:10Z

At 10 am ET and 1 pm ET tomorrow, Josh The Kid Greenspan and I will be on the Martha Stewart Show making cookies. I'll be making madeleines and then Martha talks with Joshua and there are Cranberry-Five Spice Cookies from the new CookieBar Cocktail Collection for all. Tune in, as they say.

CookieBar Cocktail Cookies: Ready to be shipped for the holidays

2011-12-09T20:19:42Z

For a little while, it was touch and go. First the packing boxes weren't the right size and then the CookieBar website had a hiccup on the shipping page, but those glitches are behind us and TA-DA: CookieBar (that would be Josh 'The Kid' Greenspan and moi, his mom) is ready to send its newest creations, THE COCKTAIL COLLECTION, out into the world. Well, the USA part of the world. (Ignore the message that says we deliver only to NYC - we're still trying to figure out how to delete that.)

CookieBar's Cocktail Cookies, some of which were featured in Food & Wine Magazine's November issue, are our grown-uppest cookies: small sweet-savory cookies meant to be had with grown-up Champagne, wine or cocktails. They're chic and sophisticated and, packed in their clear tubes wtih our great-looking logo, very, very giftable.

Available starting NOW! the cookies come in the following flavors:

Cocoa-Cayenne Cocktail Cookies

Dark as midnight and almost as mysterious, these cookies get their flavor from super-premium Valrhona pure cocoa and their edge from Maldon flake sea salt and just the right amount of cayenne pepper, an amount that sneaks up on you just when you thought the cookie’s pleasures were complete.

This is a great red-wine cookie. Try it with a fruity red wine or, for a special treat, an artisan Lambrusco.

Parmesan-Rosemary Cocktail Cookies

To create this small cookie with its big flavor, we use very finely grated Italian D.O.C. Parmesan, finely chopped almonds and fresh rosemary that we hand-rub into the sugar to release its aromatic oils. A sophisticated cookie with a high snackability quotient.

Nice with a dry white wine and even nicer with Prosecco.

Sesame-Sea Salt Cocktail Cookies

The fooler: It looks like a plain-Jane cookie, but the combination of black and white sesame seeds, ground almonds and fleur de sel, rare hand-raked French sea salt, conspires to make this cookie as perfect with wine, or with wine and cheese, as it is as a solo munchable.

Absolutely right with Champagne or a very dry, very crisp white wine.

Cranberry-Five Spice Cocktail Cookies

One taste and you’ll agree: fresh, puckery-tart New England cranberries are meant to be paired with Chinese 5-spice powder. The powder, a blend of star-anise, anise seeds, cinnamon, ginger and cloves, is sweet and spicy, slightly warm and made to go with cranberries. The cookie’s texture is like shortbread; its exotic flavor … like nothing else.

Try these with an off-dry white wine – a Pinot-Gris, a Pinot-Blanc, a Vouvray-sec or a Gewurztraminer would be lovely.

I hope you'll really enjoy them. And I hope that if you discover a great cookie/wine pairing, you'll let us know.

Paris Sweets: Yule Logs from the City's Best Patisseries

2011-12-07T12:37:40Z

Just in time for a little Christmas dreaming, here's a video of the yule logs that some of the best pastry chefs in Paris are making for the holidays. Merci to my friends at Paris By Mouth for putting this together. If you love Paris + Food, then you probably already know Paris By Mouth. If you don't, you should -- it's a great resource for what's good in my favorite city.

Which of these would you choose for your Buche de Noel? What a hard choice, right?