French Fridays with Dorie - Celebration Week #4 - "The Grand Finale”

After having cooked our way through Dorie Greenspan´s cookbook "Around my French Table" for the last four years, seven months, and twenty-one days, our fourth and final celebratory post for French Fridays with Dorie is so amptly entitled ”The Grand Finale“ – meaning that we were asked to „share an original recipe that was inspired by an AMFT recipe or do a recipe that we would like to make-up or just make again“ – giving us a chance to wrap up our French Fridays experience in a very personal way.

Actually, I would like to start out by sending many hugs and huge „thank yous“ to Mary and Betsy for all the hard work they have done for the past three years, keeping the AMFT group interested and dedicated – could not have done it without you lovely ladies! We really do have to meet some day - maybe the European soil will lure you...

Then a big „thank you“ to all you members of the AMFT! You have become my friends over the years and made me feel welcome in this lovely group of bloggers – despite the fact that I am living kind of far away from all of you and despite the fact that I am a bit on the, let´s call it „shy side“ when it comes to sharing personal pictures and information about yours truly – thank you for letting me be me and for never asking me the question that I have been waiting for for almost three years now…there are actually pictures of me on my blog, I just kind of omitted to mention where...

It seems impossible for me to say all the things that I would love to say but there are a few more things that are very dear to my heart and that I would like to write about today.

Never would I have learned all the things that I did learn, never virtually met all you friends that I did meet while visiting your blogs, never cooked so many French recipes or looked up so many culinary terms in the dictionary, had it not been for this amazing AMFT group.

And had it not been for AMFT, our children would not know all of your first names or ask me on a regular basis whether I had already visited your blogs – all of them were on a first name basis with all of you during the last couple of years – they not only know the names of all your blogs but they also know the names of your children, grand-children and your spouses and, yes, your pets.

Our kids patiently tested all of the recipes that I cooked from Dorie´s book – always curious and (almost always) with an open mind – they ate cold dinners and lukewarm soups because they had to wait for that “one last picture“ that was being taken for my post. They have come to realize that the food I put in front of them might be for picture taking, not devouring, and by now they are so used to asking whether this is „for eating or do you need a picture first“ that I almost feel guilty. Poor blogger children, I keep calling them.

And then there is my darling husband who patiently waited in line for hours on end to get the „perfect bread“, or the most „beautiful fruits“, who attended more agricultural fairs with me that he cares to count, just in case there was this "one extraordinary veg" that I "had to photograph" and who drove home faster because the weather was about to turn and I still "absolutely needed" that sunny picture for a post, who taste tested (almost) each and every dish I placed in front of him – so, more heartfelt „thank yous“ are in order here – French Fridays with Dorie was an integral part of all of their lives as well.

And, of course, let´s not forget about the wonderful food – oh, that food – glorious food, delicious food with more known than unknown flavors. We are Europeans after all and although we love all types of different cuisines, we do have a soft spot for French food.

We loved many of the recipes and I have made so many of them on a regular basis that it is not possible to imagine my very small German kitchen without dishes from Dorie happily bubbling away on the stove and filling our house with beloved aromas that we look forward to enjoying, every single time. So, of course, I have Dorie to thank for that!

Although I have not had the fortune to meet anyone in person (yet!) – I still feel as if I have become friends with all of you. I have marveled at pictures of your food, your families, your vacation spots and your props. I made sure to visit your blogs on a regular basis and read through your posts, comment on your creative processes, look at graduation pictures and pictures of your cute babies, beautiful children and lovely grand-children. I have visited your dinner and lunch tables, been part of your parties and invitations and graduations - how could I not feel like being part of your lives in a very special way...Thank you all for allowing me to be part of your lives, I feel honored...

So, dear Doristas, I prefer to look at this Grand Finale not in terms of "Good Bye!" but more in the terms of „Au revoir!“ or as we say around here „Auf Wiedersehen!“ – which pretty much means the same thing really, because I will „see“ a number of you again, I am sure!

Until then, my friends & thanks for all the good times! - Bis bald, meine Freunde, es war einfach unschlagbar!