Last week you may have noticed there was no French Fridays with Dorie Post. My version of the chosen recipe, Quatre-Quarts, a delicious, one-layer, plain-and-simple cake, flopped. It was un désastre. While I have no problem embarrassing myself, and do it often, why do that to Dorie Greenspan?

Let’s just say that you cannot forget to include sugar in this recipe, then, try to add it to the batter as the pan is headed into the oven, stir frantically, and expect to get a good result. If you want to see the successes of other Dorista’s who did include the sugar, according to Greenspan’s instructions, check out:

http://www.frenchfridayswithdorie.com/?p=960#comments

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.

Yes, some of the pieces are missing.

 

Tuesdays with Dorie, Baking with Julia – Join Up

Greenspan has just been interviewed on National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” by Neal Conan, about her on-line cooking groups.

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/17/145349372/the-muse-behind-tuesdays-with-dorie

http://doriegreenspan.com/2012/01/while-the-tuesdays-with-dorie.html

If you’d like to pull on an apron and jump into an international, group-cooking adventure, here’s your small window of opportunity. Now is the time to register for “Tuesdays with Dorie” which kicks off February 1st. This group is going to whip, knead and sift through the recipes, methods and techniques in “Baking with Julia”, a cookbook written by Greenspan in 1996, in collaboration with and based on the memorable PBS Series hosted by Julia Child.

TUESDAYS WITH DORIE, Baking with Julia

 

As of today, 210 bakers have registered to join in this on-line recipe romp – a group living throughout the        United States, eleven countries and six continents. Hey, Antarctica, we need you! The range: a myriad of ages, professionals and amateurs, bloggers and bakers. While channeling Paula Deen and ever conscious that “baking” does translate into extra, unwanted calories, this group will only bake twice a month. Remember, Julia was all about moderation and portion control. She never deprived herself of enjoying good food.

(UPDATE: Wednesday, January 25: Laurie and Jules, the two women monitoring “Tuesdays with Dorie” just gave me this update: ” So now we are up to 258 blogs with about 270 bakers.  We’re still missing folks from nine states (DE, KS, MI, MT, NE, NM, ND, WV, and WY).  Countries with bakers outside the US include Australia, Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Canada, Philippines, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, England, Austria, and India!  Our youngest baker (that I know of) is nine.  Our first recipe posts in two weeks!”

If you wish to be invited into Greenspan’s kitchen, and, lets hear it from the nine states that aren’t represented, go to:     http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com/

My Love Fest with French Fridays with Dorie

Last May, when I joined FFWD, my on-line group cooking its way through Greenspan’s newest recipe book, “Around my French Table”, I held no expectations. Since I had been doing little cooking and no entertaining for the previous six to seven years and never really adjusted to eating alone, I realized my culinary skills were rusty and my cookbooks, dusty.  In other words, joining a cooking group with a weekly purpose would, possibly, “force my issues”.

Whether being force-fed or spoon-fed, a little of both, I think, this nine- month instructive food feast rates 5-stars from me.  After reviewing Basics 101, replenishing my ingredient staples and supplies and purchasing new pots ‘n pans, I am remembering everything I love about kitchen living.

More importantly, each week I also must plan who, what, where, when and how, this food is going to be eaten. If it’s Thursday and I’m knocking at my neighbor’s door, they know it’s food. When I invite friends to share supper, odds are, it’s a “Dorie recipe”. When I’m at Trader Joe’s looking for “weird” ingredients, they realize it’s almost Friday. To their credit and my benefit, my friends have become culinary critics. My shoulders are broad!

An unimagined bonus has been my simpatico with other Dorista’s throughout the world, most of whom write blogs. Because we cannot post until 12:00am, (PST, for me) on Friday, it’s the Australian bloggers who post first, followed by an international roll-out of the week’s recipe. Readers, you cannot imagine the cuisine creativity, innovativeness and ambition in the food blogosphere. These cooks, unlike me, are always tweaking and twisting Greenspan’s recipes into something even more delicious or nutritious or less-fattening. We all comment, suggest, help and encourage each other. Ideas. Light-bulb moments. FFWD has it all.

Meet a few FFWD Blogging Friends:

1. http://crazyworldofcher.blogspot.com/

2. http://foodivakitchen.blogspot.com/

3. http://confessionsofaculinarydiva.blogspot.com/

4. http://fakeginger.com/

5. http://triciaandnanacookingwithdorie.blogspot.com/

6. http://wscwong.typepad.com/dessert_by_candy/recipe-collection.html

7. http://www.kitchenlaw.blogspot.com/       (An Aussie Lawyer)

8. http://oneexpatslife.wordpress.com/         (An expat in Germany)

9. http://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/about-me/  (An Aussie in Canada)

10. http://greatfood360.com/about/        (A Puerto Rican home cook)

 And, think SUGAR!