On my 1-year wedding anniversary in 2020, instead of finding myself wheels up en route to New Orleans with my husband (as initially planned), I found myself home, sheltering-in-place, with creativity and romance making up for lost adventures. And, as he and I manage to create adventures even in the common day-to-day, it wasn't actually too difficult to find something to make up for the change of plans.
Enter, Paris!
I am a Francophile to the core, and my husband and I actually met in Paris back in high school on a summer abroad French-language trip! So, to recreate our first encounter, we transformed our quaint little Marina SF apartment into a swanky Parisian flat. With French jazz wafting out of the LP, tiny Eiffel Tower key chains on full display, and some delicious truffle chicken from our favorite local French restaurant, it was a wonderful evening. After finishing up our meals and enjoying a dance or two, we began our much anticipated French movie marathon with some modern day classics: Ratatouille, and Julie & Julia.
Fast forward a mere three days later and a bee was securely in my bonnet. I have always loved to cook and bake (baking is a particularly strong passion of mine), but how much French cooking had I actually done? Sure, I could make my way around a complex recipe, but the idea of making mayonnaise by hand or a soufflé admittedly caused my pulse to quicken.
Highly inspired and incredibly motivated, with a hunger for adding just a bit more French-ness into my life, my personal Julie / Julia Project was born! I would cook my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1. I would not be giving myself a deadline (we are already in a pandemic, why add unnecessary stress, you know?), I would in fact be cooking all the dishes, and they would all be made gluten-free. Yes, ladies and gentleman, my husband has Celiacs, so I would be cooking all 621* classic French recipes 100% gluten-free.
(*Many people quote there to be 524 recipes in the first Volume. I will be including the many added variations of recipes written in the book, and intend to include these variations as individual recipes - bringing my total to 621.)
So, without further ado, bienvenue! I hope you enjoy my journey, and cook along!
-- Please see corresponding tabs for the full recipe list countdown, photos, and corresponding blogs. --