isn’t it the most beautiful book you’ve ever seen?  nostalgic hue of blue-green, sweet, unassuming cover with simple red font, and profound, thorough, culinary encyclopedia on the inside.  “made with love” is what it should say on the front.

the hub and i are having two incredible people over for dinner next week.  we owe this couple a very special dinner, for many reasons, and i wanted to do something thematic.  all italian?  how many courses?  they deserve a real treat.  i pulled all my favorite cookbooks from my cookbook shelf, including “mastering the art of french cooking”, from which i have made nothing.  my awesome friend, kacey, gave me this book as a wedding gift, and, well, now is the time.  i need to crack this mammoth work of art open and give it a try.

and then, i had a great idea come to me:  i would make the entire meal out of julia child recipes!

so here’s the menu:

try not to have a heart attack from all the red meat, butter and cream…

FIRST COURSE:

cheese souffle ~ made with swiss cheese and egg whites

SECOND COURSE:

a simple green salad with mustard vinaigrette (not in the book, but we need some greens to cleanse us before the onslaught of the third course!)

THIRD COURSE:

carbonnades a la flamande.  this is beef and onions braised in beer.  it’s the same idea as boeuf bourguignon, only made with beer, not red wine.  i always make boeuf bourguignon, so i am very excited to try this new twist.

julia recommends, “serve this with parsley potatoes, or buttered noodles, a green salad, and beer.”  your wish is my command, julia.

i will definitely serve this beef dish with the parsley potatoes, which are smothered in butter.  hallelujah.  and the green salad:  second course.  the beer:  up to the guest.

DESSERT:

i left this up to my guests.  i texted them today and had them choose from the following:

raspberry bavarian cream

pineapple tart

spongecake with orange butter filling

or

chocolate cake with chocolate butter icing

they chose….

the spongecake with orange butter filling!!!  an excellent choice!!!  i believe i would have chosen that myself.  love, love, love orange.  anything orange.  the color, the smell, the taste.

i am so excited and maybe a little over my head.  i’m okay with that.  i was so sad today.  so run down, stressed out, exhausted, beaten down by my performance/rehearsal schedule that just won’t stop for a cold.  no way.  but now, i have this amazingly fun menu to focus on and obsess about!!!

thank you for allowing me to indulge myself today!!!