Tarte aux pommes et à l'amande / Apple Tart with Almond Cream

We were invited to a potluck dinner party this past weekend, and Thomas had volunteered us to bring dessert.  I never pass up a chance to bake (my eyes get wide like saucers with excitement) and this dinner had presented me with the perfect, long-awaited opportunity to make this apple tart, published in Food & Wine magazine in 2009.  They have also published it on their website.

France - Paris - Restaurants - Le Garde Robe

When Thomas and I were in France this past summer, we found ourselves a bit unprepared as to what we should do during our stay.  We had been busy getting our belongings ready for moving, and thinking about what to do in Paris was sent to the backburner.

So I did some internet research while I was there, including reading referencing the blog by David Lebovitz, a former pastry chef at the famous Chez Panisse in Berkley, CA, and cookbook writer, who now lives in Paris.  One of his posts led me to Le Garde Robe, a wine bar in the 1st arrondissement.  Since it is a wine bar, it does not serve full meals, but it sounded perfect for going at the end of the day, when you just want to eat something small and sip a glass of wine.

Truffes au Chocolat / Chocolate Truffles

The holidays always evokes an image of baking and candy-making.  For the past few years, I have made cookies, biscotti, and marshmallows to give away as gifts, but I think one of the cutest and easiest was the chocolate truffle.  It is a bit messy (chocolate will get on your hands as you roll it into balls), but it is fun and if you really love chocolate, you will enjoy being surrounded by the intense aroma of quality chocolate.  A chocolate truffle is a mixture of solid chocolate and cream (called a ganache) that is then chilled to set, and then cut into pieces so that you can roll them up into individual balls.  The pieces are then rolled in a topping of your choice: cocoa powder and ground nuts are common.  What is also great about them is that steps are best separated over a three days; this makes it easier to make around a busy schedule because the individual steps do not take that long.