I took the RER from Paris to Versailles on a sunny afternoon in July. Stepping off the train, I walked down Rue Royale to the apartment of Dallas-native Molly Wilkinson. Molly is a graduate of the pastry program at Le Cordon Bleu Paris and she is currently living her dream as a pastry chef in Versailles. Molly travels for different pastry workshops around France and is available for private classes, which she hosts at her charming, light-filled apartment just a few blocks from the palace. When I arrived, the window in the classroom was thrown ajar, and a nice breeze was ruffling the French and American flags on her windowsill. A large wooden table sat in the center of the room displaying our ingredients for the day’s menu: French Tarts. I’ve always had a thing for crusty tarts filled with lemon and topped with sweet berries so I asked Molly for a little tutorial. Luckily, she enjoys making them too — and they’re a favorite of her French beau — so it was a win for all.

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Photo by Quentin Bacon

Ina Garten never fails me. Her recipes cover all the basics in terms of classic comfort food (roast chicken, fish en papillote, ratatouille) and her simple approach using the season’s freshest ingredients means anyone can give them a try. In my early days, I could mess up absolutely anything in the kitchen (ramen noodles included – can you imagine?) Her recipes have given me renewed confidence and made me more experimental in my day to day course. Take for example, Ina’s soups. The ones I’ve tried are very easy to make and don’t skimp on flavor. After combining the raw ingredients, a simple pulse or two in the Cuisinart or blender does the trick! I recently made this gazpacho (from Ina’s Foolproof cookbook – a favorite!) for my mother-in-law and it was a success. I love the tangy flavor of good tomatoes (if canned, I use whole San Marzanos) mixed with bell peppers, cucumbers, celery salt, scallions, and garlic. Served chilled, it’s a great go-to for hot summer days.

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Photograph by Clive Nichols

When the weather warms every spring and summer looms on the horizon, I find myself anxiously awaiting the bounty of the season. Since I was a little girl, blueberries have been my favorite fruit (whether that stemmed from my obsession with Robert McCloskey’s Caldecott-awarded, Blueberries for Sal, or my genuine love for their taste and texture, I’ll never know.) With blueberry season just around the corner, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite recipes for blueberry pie — and a poem as well by Diane Lockward. The recipe was given to me by a dear family friend who happens to be a fabulous baker. Aside from being an antioxidant-rich dessert and a major crowd pleaser, it’s also super simple to prepare. My dad loves this pie so much that it’s become a birthday cake of sorts for him as we celebrate his anniversaire every July. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

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As cooking has become more and more of a passion in my life, I’ve come to find that simple ingredients, when combined, often make the most satisfying meals. This Mediterranean salad – which I enjoyed while sitting in a crumbly old courtyard in Split, Croatia – is a good example of this. Bring together creamy feta, sliced cherry tomatoes, crunchy onion slivers, salty olives, and peppered cucumbers. Then drizzle the ingredients with the best, green olive oil and sprinkle with flaked salt and cracks of pepper. And Dobar Tek! (aka: Bon Appetit in Croatian!) This, my friends, is simple, healthy meal prep at its best.

Since I was a little girl I’ve had a soft spot for sweets. As I have grown up, this temptation never wavered, perhaps only getting worse, I’m afraid. Some of my favorite sugar-coated memories include popping into tiny sweet shops as a study abroad student in Florence, trying homemade lemon tarts topped with fresh berries, or biting into my first raspberry macaron in Paris. Needless to say, sweets make me happy and I love when people find ways to make them extra special. As I was scanning my Instagram feed one day I stumbled upon the most beautiful, whimsical cakes crafted by English baker, Genevieve Frosch. One of her cakes was included in a November 2016 American Vogue spread with author and Vogue writer, Plum Sykes. These are no ordinary gâteaux, mind you. Frosch has a decadent decorating flair that incorporates all kinds of delectable motifs, from fresh flower petals to sugared gum drops, wild berries, fallen leaves, jammy preserves, and stone fruits like apricots and cherries. Most all of her cakes are multi-layered and imperfect, polished and playful, the combination of which makes them utterly irresistible, in my opinion. I had the pleasure of interviewing Genevieve and loved learning more about her process – keep reading to meet the charming baker extraordinaire.

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Since my very first trip to Paris I have come to associate the city with a feeling of discovery. Every time I’m there I find something new. An oyster bar on a cobbled street, a new friend from somewhere afar, a feeling of cultural enlightenment. This depth of discovery is what brings me back to Paris time and time again.

The first time I discovered an Aperol Spritz I was sitting at Cafe de Flore in St. Germain. Years before, my now-husband and I met a wonderful lady from Malibu while sipping old fashioned’s in the bar of Le Meurice. Fast forward a few years later and we found ourselves sitting together with our new friend at a corner table outside of Cafe de Flore, drinking zesty Aperol Spritz’s in the fading afternoon light. Since then, this drink has become my go-to summer cocktail.

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“I want to remember us this way – late September sun streaming through the window, bread loaves and golden bunches of grapes on the table, spoonfuls of hot soup rising to our lips, filling us with what endures.” – Peter Pereira, from “A Pot of Red Lentils”

I’ve just finished reading Nicole Gulotta’s latest book called Eat This Poem, and my was it lovely. This is a short read (just shy of 200 pages) filled with poems by the likes of Mary Oliver and Peter Pereira, plus Gulotta’s own stories and recipes, all of which are stitched together in delightful prose. I love how she explains food and poetry as kindred spirits, where food fills the stomach and poetry fills the soul. I couldn’t agree more.

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