A Lil' Cake.

How could I forget to wish Madame Munchies a Happy Birthday? February 27th marked my blog's 2nd birthday! And while I didn't sing a song or do a dance, this past weekend I did bake a cake, but it wasn't in honor of my blog's birth.

Over the weekend, I had an impromptu baking session - I was invited over to hang out with some friends and we had a last minute potluck. I offered to make a dessert and after perusing several cookbooks (of which I'm still organizing and finding a home for), I came across Molly Wizenberg's French Yogurt Cake featured in her memoir, A Homemade Life. I know what you're thinking, haven't I babbled enough on Molly, her fabulous blog and book??? Well, dear friends, no I have not!

Of course given time constraints as well as purse constraints, I was looking for a recipe for which I had the majority of ingredients listed and it just so happened I had 95% of the ingredients for this one. Plus the name of the recipe was intriguing. I've had alot of success with cakes that utilize the moistening power of yogurt or sour cream, so I was pretty confident that this would turn into sweet success!

The recipe called for whole yogurt and my fridge was fully stocked with greek yogurt and instead of using a silly old regular lemon I used a meyer lemon, which added a delicate sweetness to this otherwise mild cake. What I love about this recipe is its flexability. Molly suggested using other citrus fruits if you have them on hand, she even recommended using a fruity olive oil to replace the canola oil that the recipe calls for. You could add ground pistachios or almonds, or even dried fruit and I think it would compliment the flavor base for this cake.

Either way you slice it, your friends and family will thank you, I've been told it could be the key to meeting my future husband.

The Sweet Life in Paris.

I literally just finished reading David Lebovitz' memoir of living in Paris, The Sweet Life in Paris. Once a pastry chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Lebovitz moved to Paris and chronicles the ups and downs of acclimating to the Parisian lifestyle. Witty, clever, and laugh-out-loud moments pull you into this "slice of life" vacation from your worries and woes. It's in the number one destination slot for me (followed by Spain) and this memoir only cements my desire to travel there sooner rather than later. In addition to entertaining reading, David includes some to-die-for recipes (if your mouth doesn't water or if you don't drool after perusing the recipes, perhaps you should be committed for psychiatric evaluation. If you enjoy a foodie/travel memoir, you are sure to enjoy this one. You should visit his blog too (Link is above) to check out more of his adventures while living Paris.

a homemade life.

I want to plug the heck out of this book, and perhaps the above photo of the Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Crystallized Ginger will do the trick! It's the first recipe from Orangette's, A Homemade Life, that I made and successfully, I might add. Folks at the office really enjoyed it, especially with a cup of freshly brewed coffee (that was the buzz around the water cooler). Last night after a laugh-out-loud telephone conversation with my friend, Lydia, I snuck into bed, bundled underneath purple flannel sheets and finished the book. I've had the book for about a week and it was my intention to make it last as long as possible, but a week later, here I am, done with it. I tried my hardest, I really did, but each chapter was so deliciously enjoyable, I couldn't resist but read some more, which is truly a high compliment. An added extra bonus is that I want to make at least half of the recipes included, which says alot. Often memoirs offer a few recipes I'm interested in trying, but the real reason I read the book is for the "story". In this case, I read it for both. I'm a regular over at Orangette and the book has inspired me to continue blogging, writing restaurant reviews, etc. So thanks, Molly!