Just Baking

I was recently engaged with my parents in a discussion about traditional desserts in Algeria and North Africa in general. If you were here, although you wouldn’t understand a word of what we were saying, you would hear my father say, in a very serious manner, that Algerian desserts are very simple and tend to […]

Somehow every Wednesday, and sometimes Friday, I find myself in the kitchen baking. I love baking. I really do. When my mother would entertain a crowd, I was the one in charge of baking dessert, setting the table and frying Dauphine cheese. My brother always teases her about her redundant dauphine cheese and how he […]

A few years ago, back when we were dating without even dating (that’s a long story!), my husband told me that he didn’t like bread pudding. He dropped it just like that, in the middle of our conversation, between a sip of half-an-hour-cold espresso and him thinking about having a goatee. I didn’t know what […]

Breakfast has a precious place in my life. I can’t imagine a single day without it. I just can’t, both for the good sake of my body and my mood. I can’t leave my house without my breakfast, even when the purpose of my outing is to have breakfast. (Got it?) Until now nothing to […]

When I was about four years old, I used to wear glasses. I had a slight squint (my siblings used to call me cross-eyed).
I used to go to the eye doctor every week, and every time we would come back from his office, my father would show me a building on the far left side […]

Warning:
You shouldn’t make or even read this recipe if you are a Vampire, a mosquito, a dog or a cat (garlic apparently causes anemia in cats and dogs), Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Silvio Berlusconi, or if you are on your way to a job interview, a meeting or a club.
Side effects may include: dependence, happiness, […]

I don’t remember which one came first: cooking, or the words that came with the recipes.
My mother had a small collection of pocket size French Cookbooks that I loved reading. The cookbooks had no pictures and no stories, just recipes, words and may be some drawing here and there. Yet, these books played a major […]

Friends, meet my latest addiction: Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Sparklers.
Oh my, are these ever easy. The cookies are really just French Sablés, the best ones I’ve ever had. The secret to a perfect sablé is not to overmix the dough once you’ve added the flour. After that, all you have to do is roll, chill, slice, […]

When I was thirteen, I started writing recipes in an agenda that my father had given me. The agenda wasn’t my favorite. When I think about it, I should have chosen a prettier one, a real recipe notebook; yet I’ve decided to go with this one. A small blue agenda with aluminum covered corners and […]

Where are you autumn?
We haven’t heard from you in weeks. You are supposed to be here. The calendar says October, but the warm sun on my shoulders says spring. I look outside my window and even with orange trees and crunchy leaves on the street, nothing says you’re near. I see pumpkins and witches dressing […]