Monday, April 26, 2010

Welcome to You've Got Recipes!


Bonjour and Hello from Cleo, Henry and Sophie! If you'd like to buy this book, please click here. For a signed copy with personalized inscription, please add your request when you order with paypal. Merci and bon appetit!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Francoise Kirkman is One Grand Grandparent!

"You've Got Recipes" co-author Francoise Dudal Kirkman was featured in Grandparents.com, where it's great to be grand!



"It's April in Paris! So we're celebrating French culinary delights with a traditional recipe that a grandmother from France shared with us. Our reader Françoise Dudal Kirkman, who now lives in the United States, grew up in France. She is a grandmother of three, a cook, an artist, an art director, and a cookbook writer. Françoise shares with us a favorite dish, tarte aux oignons, or onion pie, made with onions, cheese, and cream in a crisp, buttery crust. It's a delicious savory pie the entire family will enjoy..." Read more about Francoise and her life in France here.

Tarte aux Oignons(Onion Pie)



Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Filling:
2 pounds white or yellow onions (about 4 large onions), or 2 pounds leeks (as a substitute for onions), finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
4 eggs (whites and yolks separated)
1 cup Swiss cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch of nutmeg

Crust:
3/4 stick butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cups flour, plus some for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup of milk

Directions:

1. Prepare the dough (for the crust): Put butter, flour, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few minutes, then add milk. Continue pulsing until a ball forms. Place dough in plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

3. Sauté onions in olive oil over low heat, about 40 minutes. Do not let them brown. Stir in flour.

4. Blend cream with egg yolks and cheese; add mixture to onions. Add salt and pepper; add nutmeg.

5. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites to a peak and fold gently into onion mixture.

6. Remove dough from refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough and mold it to a 9-inch pie pan. Pour in filling.

7. Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees F, then reduce heat to 375 degrees F; continue baking about 35 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.

Serves 6 to 8

Bon appetit!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Meet the Most Intriguing Grandparents...



"From the poet laureate of folk to a pioneering astronomer, and from two of the first ladies of fashion to the inventor of a better needle, we've gathered 21 of the country's most fascinating grandparents. Some are household names; some you've never heard of. All are doing great things. Read on for the winners of our first annual Grandy Awards..."

Jerry DiVecchio and Françoise Kirkman
A Pair of Kitchen Characters
"In 2009, storyteller Jerry Anne Di Vecchio, 74, and designer Françoise Dudal Kirkman, 71, each a grandmother of three, coauthored You've Got Recipes, a book of grandchild-tested recipes that has won the praise of Wolfgang Puck, Alice Waters, and Jacques Pépin. DiVecchio and Kirkman, former staffers at Sunset magazine, center their book on recipes exchanged via e-mail between a raccoon couple in San Francisco and a mouse living in a Paris restaurant, and key terms are defined in both English and French."

Jerry and Francois are in good company along with fellow Grandy winners Warren Buffet, Donna Karan, Peggy Fleming, Bob Dylan, and Jim Carrey to name a few. Read more here.

Monday, February 1, 2010

A Royal Review from the Vanilla Queen



"...You've Got Recipes is such a special book that it deserves all the reviews it can get.

What's more, the book is filled with French words and contains a glossary at the back with both a translation and pronunciation guide. It also includes a real e-mail address where children may write to the the menagerie for assistance and tips.

...It's the perfect gift for the children in your life."

Read the entire review here.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

A Yummy Review from Grace Ann Walden



"Jerry Anne Di Vecchio has been my heroine for about 30 years. For decades she was the food editor at Sunset magazine, primarily when the Lane family owned it...Now, she has teamed up with a wonderful artist, Francoise Dudal Kirkman to produce a cookbook for children ages 7 to 14, "You've Got Recipes".

The book has sage advice for the young cook and very doable recipes like cheese puffs, guacamole, clam chowder, creamy chicken stew and a simple yogurt cake. The cookbook central story is about an online relationship between a San Francisco raccoon, Cleo, and her friend a Paris-based mouse, Sophie. They swap recipes and food ideas across the Internet. An added bonus is that the book has recipe names and tools listed both in French and English. It is simply formidable!"

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

"You've Got Recipes" Featured in OC Register Gift Guide



"Cookbooks make perfect presents. They're the easy-to-wrap, quintessential gift for everyone from grandchild to grandparent, whether they're actual cooks, wannabe cooks or vicarious cooks...

The story and illustrations in this enchanting children's cookbook are enough to pull even the most reluctant child into the kitchen. Geared to kids between the ages of 7 and 14, the recipes teach techniques they can easily use now, as well as throughout their lives.

You may recognize the authors' names. Di Vecchio was food editor at Sunset magazine for decades and Kirkman is a Paris-trained artist.

The story line centers on a ravenous and clever raccoon named Cleo. She lives under the porch of a San Francisco-based food writer; she and her animal friends bone up on their culinary skills and share ideas via e-mails.

As e-mails filled with tips and recipes bounce between Paris and San Francisco, fabulous little foodie details (in English and French) are revealed. Charming colored illustrations of woodland characters (even though well dressed in people clothes) are species correct. Cleo Raccoon was, in real life, Kirkman's pet who liked to play in the kitchen.

"At a recent cooking class, the kids chanted "I love artichokes," says Di Vecchio. "I think we need to recognize that they will try almost everything. They love the recipes in this book. Some may see them as too sophisticated, but they really aren't. It's interesting. Many adults are buying the book for themselves..."

Click here to read more...

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Sunset Praise for You've Got Recipes ~ A Cookbook for a Lifetime



"Jerry Di Vecchio was Sunset's food editor for 4 decades. Françoise Kirkman is a former Sunset art director. Together, they've published a completely charming cookbook for children filled with kid-tested recipes that are extremely easy but never dumbed down.

It's no wonder the back cover bears blurbs from Wolfgang Puck, Alice Waters, and Jacques Pépin (all of them parents).

The premise is simple and sweet. Cleo Raccoon and her brother, Henry, live under the porch of a San Francisco food writer's house. They become fascinated by food from peeking at her computer screen as she's writing recipes and from reading her food magazines. Their friend Sophie Souris is a mouse living in a Paris restaurant; she has (of course) scads of brothers and sisters.

The raccoons use the house's computer to e-mail Sophie about their lives in Northern California, along with recipes for things they like to eat: guacamole, pizza, blueberry crumble; Sophie sends back gougeres and éclairs..." ~ Margo True, Sunset Food Editor

Click here to read more...

Thursday, November 5, 2009

"You've Got Recipes" Teaches Kids How to Cook at Viva



"... You’ve got recipes: On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Viva (7160 Keating Ave., Sebastopol) hosts a cooking class for kids aged 9 to 11. The class will be taught by Francoise Dudal Kirkman and Jerry DiVecchio, who worked together at Sunset Magazine, Kirkman as art director and DiVecchio as food editor. At the core of the class is a delightful new cookbook, “You’ve Got Recipes,” which Kirkman and DiVecchio co-authored. The book focuses on the adventures of Sophie Souris, a Parisian mouse, and two San Francisco raccoons, Cleo and Henry, who exchange recipes via e-mail ..." ~ Michele Anna Jordan

Click here to read more...

Monday, September 28, 2009