With their vibrant colors and lacy frills, dainty, crisp-crusted French macarons are the perfect Valentine's Day baking project. But these lovely little delicacies are temperamental enough to stump even the most accomplished chefs. Even if you follow a detailed recipe down to the letter, a batch of macarons can go very wrong very quickly. Thanks to humidity, an unreliable oven temperature gauge, or an overly enthusiastic stirring hand, you may find yourself facing macaron-ageddon rather than baking bliss. But before you throw in the tea towel, we've assembled a few tips to solve your sugary conundrums.
I'd hardly turn my nose up at 
To address the elephant in the room, making a soufflé isn't exactly a slap-dash affair, but it's not terribly difficult either, provided you keep in mind a 
Who doesn't dream of owning a cute little pied-à-terre in Paris, combing the markets for fresh French food and cooking it in a tiny European kitchen? Until that becomes a reality, we'll have to resort to watching Rachel Khoo's 
Ever heard of the five French mother sauces? Originally classified by Antonin Carême in the 19th century and later updated by Auguste Escoffier in the 20th century, the sauces include béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato. Most other sauces find their origins in these five types, hence the term "mother." Here's a brief rundown on the ingredients of each sauce, plus common pairings:
If you've ever tasted a gougère — essentially savory cheese-flecked cousins of cream puffs and eclairs — then little needs to be said in order to convince you to head to the kitchen to whip up a batch of these luxurious appetizers. If not, I'll keep it simple: airy and light, with just enough nutty cheese to keep things lively, these pâte-à-choux party favorites will go fast if included in a party spread.
Put off by the slightly strange method of cookery that's outlined in the recipe below? Don't be. It may be a slight step outside of your baking repertoire if you've yet to try your hand at any treats in the choux-pastry family, but their assembly is actually quite simple and intuitive and can be made in large party-friendly quantities in precious few minutes. 
Any American can finagle a batch of pancakes in the morning, but crepes, the French equivalent of pancakes, are regarded highly because making them requires good technique and a lot of practice. However, don't be discouraged. You too can produce paper-thin, lacy, semicrisp crepes, and 
Julia Child's batter for dessert crepes is shockingly easy — just measure out the ingredients and whirl them around in a blender. The tricky part is the actual cooking. Luckily there is a 
If your pan is too hot, the crepes will bubble as they cook and become craterlike, as pictured on the left. They are still edible (and delicious!), but lower the heat slightly so the rest of the crepes will be smooth, as pictured on the right. 
Crêpes suzette is one of Julia's most notable preparations of dessert crepes, but the sauce is pretty heavy and the dessert crepes themselves are already saturated in butter. For a lighter, fresher topping to complement the buttery crepes, try marinating strawberries (or another fruit) in orange liqueur and granulated sugar. The orange liqueur adds an indescribable depth and richness to the berries without weighing down their fruity, ripe flavor. It's about time you swallow any trepidation, pull out that nonstick pan, and 
Believe it or not, tomorrow marks what would have been 
While the grand dame of French cookery mostly stuck to classic French sponge cakes in her iconic tomes, it was still a challenge to narrow down the variety of options. I was tempted left and right by promises of cakes perfumed with orange zest, studded with glacéed fruit, and topped with glossy apricot glaze, but ultimately, only one cake was deemed fitting for the task. Named for the Queen of Sheba, the reine de Saba is quite literally a cake fit for a queen, and while we may have expressed 
Perhaps one of the recipes Julia's best known for is her moules à la marinière, but flipping through Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I spotted another mussels recipe that deserves equal acknowledgement: JC's moules à la Provençal. 
The first step to making this recipe is to split open the mussels: one can shuck them raw, but I prefer to steam them gently, then save the broth to add a saline flavor to my next seafood dish.
From there, the bivalves are stuffed with butter, breadcrumbs, butter, garlic, onions, and more butter, then put under the broiler. Mere minutes later, they emerge rust-brown and bubbling on the half shell, ready to be consumed immediately. 
My mother and I are always bickering about the best way to prepare roast chicken, and when she's decided she's grown tired of fighting, she'll simply say, "But this is how Julia does it." Those swift words silence me, and, ultimately, whatever Julia's method is, it always wins. It made me think, what is it about 
Julia's method involves flipping the chicken, so it cooks on its sides. This browns more surface area of the chicken, but the true caramelization occurs by continuously basting the chicken in an oil and butter mixture. The end result is an charming, crisp chicken that looks like it's been pulled off of a rotisserie. 
My mother admits, the slippery, hot chicken can be difficult to handle and the perfectly caramelized skin is easily ripped. To avoid this, use a large spatula to lift the chicken from the pan very carefully, then ease the chicken onto its side with a pair of tongs. 