Every school needs a good library. That is why all thirty-two years of ChezM recipes are going online. Each one is a lesson in itself. They are modeled after the concise but thorough recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking from which I, as a bride, learned the basics of French cooking. Today's ChezM recipes are different; they reflect a leaner and simpler cooking style that has evolved over three decades of classes. Don't forget that these recipes are tested periodically in the classroom. They are all fine-tuned, and they work.
What's more, the ChezM online library will also hold six years of Madelaine's Kitchen Secrets. In the early 1980's before there was cyberspace, I mailed an eight page bi-monthly letter to a loyal following of students and fellow food professionals. Secrets was a diary of my seasonal menus, takes on current food topics and recipes from readers and guest chefs. These "golden oldies" will soon be available for you to download.
In exchange for unlimited access to all these recipes, all I ask is that you register your contact information and select a password. Having your email address will let me contact you whenever there is a new posting at ChezM. (I promise not to sell your name to a nude wrestling club site - unless you ask me to!)
Another feature of the new Chezm.com website is a blog which I will update monthly to let you know what's happening in my kitchen. It replaces a newsletter and will help keep us in touch during months when I'm not teaching. You are invited to respond with comments and information. I'm hoping we can have online the same relaxed conversations we enjoy around the table after a cooking class.
Also new is a gallery of photographs from our recent tours in Montmartre. You've seen some of them framed on my kitchen walls. Now they are going to available for viewing at your convenience. As I'm sure you will agree, photographs answer questions that it might not occur to you to ask. Tour specifics and dates for 2010 are also under this icon.
The centerpiece of the new Chezm.com website is acurrent listing of my Tuesday evening and Thursday morning cooking workshops. Did you know that I also teach Saturday morning classes at the Alliance Francaise in Chicago? Take a peek... click on the link to their website, http://www.af-chicago.org/ . The Alliance occupies a brownstone at 810 N. Dearborn Blvd on Chicago's near north. I've been teaching interactive classes (in English) once or twice a month in their spacious kitchen for the past five years. Anyone who loves and wants to learn more about the language, food and culture of France will find this cultural center an exciting resource.
Now's a good time to start your first class. Go ahead and make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, pick up a biscotti, (if you don't have one, you know where to find a recipe) and enjoy wandering the Chez Madelaine online school. Think of the time you'll save not having to drive and park.
I look forward to staying in touch. 