52 Ways to Frenchify Your Life… One Week At A Time
You may be shocked, but French cuisine is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE! I don’t just say that because I love everything else French, but seriously… I love French food! They aren’t known to be such great chefs for no reason! I mean, just look at that heavenly lemon dessert in a delicate sugar shell! 🥰


French cuisine is meant for more than just filling your belly – it’s an art and an experience. For good reason, it is revered as some of the best cuisine in the world.
French chefs focus on high quality ingredients, seasonal produce, flavor of the ingredients, presentation of each dish and creativity to entice the tastebuds. Most restaurants get fresh ingredients from the markets every day! This alone can make a big difference in the taste of the food.

One will notice that many times French courses may seem small compared to portion sizes in America. (It’s no secret that American proportions are known worldwide as being huge. Like it or not, that’s the truth and I have personally heard this from several Europeans.)

I will say that I have never walked away from a French meal hungry. Meals are viewed as a social time and are not rushed, therefore time between courses is much greater, allowing your food to digest leading to the feeling of satiety quicker and with less food. (Hmmm… definitely something I can improve upon. How about you?)
MAKE A FRENCH MEAL
My encouragement to you is to make a French meal to add some “French-ness” to your life – aka “Frenchify” your life. No one expects you to be a Michelin-starred chef, but with a good cookbook, you just may surprise yourself how well your dish will taste.
One of my favorite cookbooks, The Cook’s Atelier: Recipes, Techniques, and Stories from Our French Cooking School, is one that I bought in Beaune. I have been a fan of the mother/daughter duo at The Cook’s Atelier for quite some time and I was so happy to visit their store last fall. It was glorious! Lovely ladies and a beautiful shop.
I’m so excited that they have a new cookbook coming out on April 8, 2025. You can pre-order it here: “French at Heart: Recipes That Bring France Home.” You know I have already pre-ordered mine!
Bonus: The family of The Cook’s Atelier have a golden retriever who was in the shop (and appears in the cookbook, too). In fact, he was looking through the door when we approached. (In case you don’t know why this makes me so happy, read my “About Me” to learn about the “Daisy” part of French Daisy.) 🙂


So, to entice you to make your own French dish(es) at home, here are a few pictures of some of our favorite dishes from our last trip.



Although a lot of these look very fancy, don’t let that hold you back from trying a French recipe. It certainly doesn’t have to look that fancy to taste delicious.
Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Burgundy) is one of my favorites to make at home and it’s really simple. I’ve made this so many times and I’ve come up with my own version from several recipes I’ve tried over the years.

Boeuf Bourguignon Recipe
- 1 Tbsp EVOO
- 1/2 lb thick sliced bacon, diced
- 3 lbs boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 inch cubes
- Salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- 1 lb carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 Yellow onions, sliced
- 2 tsp chopped garlic (about 2 cloves)
- 1/2 cup Cognac
- 2 cups dry red wine (Burgundy or Côtes du Rhône preferred)
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 5 Tbsp salted butter
- 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 lb frozen pearl onions
- 1.5 lb fresh mushrooms, quartered (or whole if using button mushrooms)
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1 celery stalk
- Preheat oven to 250*F
- Heat olive oil in large Le Creuset dutch oven. Add bacon and cook over medium heat until done (about 10 minutes). Remove bacon only and place on a plate to set aside.
- Coat the beef with flour, salt and butter. Add the beef to the pot in batches, cooking 2-3 minutes on each side to brown it. Add additional oil as needed. Once all beef is cooked, set aside with the bacon.
- Add the carrots, celery, onions to the pot. Season with salt and pepper, as desired. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are lightly browned.
- Add garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the cognac and strike a match to burn off the alcohol. BE CAREFUL!
- Put the beef and bacon back into the pot along with the wine, tomato paste, thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer.
- Put the lid on the dutch oven and place in the oven for about 90 minutes until the carrots and beef are fork-tender. Remove from oven when done.
- Combine 2 Tbsp butter and flour with a fork and stir into the stew slowly. Add frozen onions.
- Sauté mushrooms in butter until lightly browned. Add to the stew.
- Bring stew to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
- Serve with a French baguette and mashed potatoes.
So, I’d love to hear how your French meal turns out. Please let me know in the Comments what you made and how well you liked it.
Allons faire un tour…

*This post may include affiliate links. I make a small commission if you purchase items from these specific links. Thank you in advance for enabling this Francophile to keep researching and sharing! 🙂
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