Mastering the Art of a Julia Child Dinner Party

I just celebrated another birthday, but this time, I brought the celebration to my friends - via Julia Child. I've been a longtime fan of hers as I mentioned in a blog post a while back, and after watching Julie/Julia with a glass of wine in hand one too many times, I decided I wanted to spend my birthday with a full Julia experience.

A few cute decorations were in order, but I didn't want to buy a bunch of random items I wouldn't be able to use again, so I got creative. Since our dinner table is small, I pulled out a card table and then just got a nice, clean tablecloth to cover it. On top I have some antique blue mason jars from my grandma that I put some simple roses in. On a trip to World Market I came across a cute little Eiffel Tower replica and chalkboard for a perfect Julia saying - Bon Appetit! Votive candles and wine corks did the rest - along with Edith Piaf playing in the background to set the mood.

Like any dinner party, if you plan well enough, it's quite simple to pull off. Luckily I had a resource for recipes (Mastering the Art of French Cooking of course!). I thought a simple start of french bread and cheese paired with artichokes with a lemon beurre sauce would be a gentle way to start the evening. And, with my sister in town to be my sous chef, she tackled the artichokes from start to finish!

Thanks for the help sis!

For the main course, I went with the tried and true Bouef Bourguignon that I'd blogged about in the past. Although the dish takes about 4 - 4 1/2 hours from start to finish, there's a lot of down time perfect to clean yourself (and your kitchen!) up.

For dessert, I made the Reine de Saba (chocolate almond cake) from her book. It was simple and small, perfect for a dinner party without a whole bunch of cake leftover to stare me in the face for a week!

I had to dress the part of course! Pulling off the Julia look wasn't tough. A simple buttoned shirt, knee-length skirt and pearls were the basis, and I made my own Ecole des Gourmands pin. I had a wig sitting around that a few clever placements of bobby pins gave me the perfect hairstyle for the evening. The finishing touch was of course one of my trusty aprons.
The most important part of a dinner party is the company you keep. Many thanks to my gentle friends for spending my birthday evening with me, bring wine to pair with the courses and for dressing like Parisians!

Cheers to a gentle birthday!

Thanks friends :)

Lemony Shrimp Pasta

Apron's baaack! Sorry dear readers for the long blogging hiatus. Frankly, I was feeling less than inspired lately in the kitchen, and mostly following recipes. Well, I'm back and feeling more creative than ever, so be on the lookout for more tasty recipes!

Warming our tushes by the fire!

Friday was Christine's birthday, and there's nothing like a birthday to celebrate to get me in the mood to cook. We celebrated with a gentle roommate dinner, some spiked hot chocolate, a hot fire and some Muppets videos. A great night!

Lemony Shrimp Pasta

2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
24 ounces spaghetti
1 bunch kale
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup minced shallot
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 - 1/2 cup dry white wine, room temperature
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Italian parsley, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place cherry tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil, and drizzle with oil. Bake in oven 20-30 minutes, until blistering. Remove from heat and keep wrapped in foil.

While tomatoes cook, heat two large pots of water to boiling. Cook spaghetti in boiling water until al dente and set aside. Cut kale into pieces and boil about 5 minutes, also removing and keeping warm.

For the shrimp, heat a large skillet on medium high heat and melt 2 tablespoons butter. Season shrimp with salt and pepper to taste and red pepper flakes. Cook in skillet 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm. Reduce heat to medium, melt additional 2 tablespoons butter and cook shallots about two minutes. Add lemon juice, zest and wine to skillet and stir, scraping up any brown bits, simmering about 5 minutes. Add cornstarch, if needed, to thicken. Mix in shrimp, tomatoes and kale and serve over cooked spaghetti. Garnish with parsley if desired. I served with crusty bread to sop up the delicious lemony wine juice.

Apple and Pecan Salad

1 head lettuce
1 apple, halved, cored and sliced
1/3 cup pecan halves
1 orange, zested and juiced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Tear lettuce into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl with apple slices and pecan halves. For the dressing, combined orange zest and juice in a bowl and stream in olive oil while whisking. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss with salad.

The birthday girl enjoying her meal!