I have recently learned to crochet for the sole purpose of making amigurumi — Japanese-style crocheted or knit toys — and you are looking at my very first project, which is supposed to be a cupcake, after Nimoe’s lovely pattern.

This is my way of wishing you a joyful and delicious holiday season, and it should give you a hint as to what I plan to do with my free time in the coming days, in between last-minute errands and a little baking: I have offered to bring dessert for Christmas lunch and I have a rough idea of what I want to make — I’m picturing a light entremets garnished with raspberries and a fromage blanc mousse –, but I have some thinking and researching to do, to make sure our family gathering does not end on a cake wreck.

I would like to remind you that our Menu for Hope fundraising raffle, which will benefit the school lunch program in Lesotho, is running until December 31. Please consider donating what you can — even $10 will make a difference, and will give you a chance to win one of the fantastic prizes food bloggers around the world have contributed to the cause. Such raffle tickets make fun stocking stuffers, too! Here is more detail about how it works, and a description of the three prizes I am offering: books! lingerie cookie cutters! reusable shopping bags! you know you want them!

If you are looking for more gift ideas — aren’t we all? — you may find inspiration in the C&Z store and this related topic on the forums.

And if you are still putting together your holiday menu, or figuring out what to contribute to your aunt’s/mother’s/generous host’s, here are some recipes to consider from the archives of Chocolate & Zucchini:

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This is part of a series on French idiomatic expressions that relate to food. Read the introductory Edible Idiom post, and browse the list of French idioms featured so far.

This week’s expression is, “Ne pas savoir à quelle sauce on va être mangé.”

Literally translated as, “not knowing what sauce one is going to be eaten with,” it means that one’s prospects are uncertain, not very good, and entirely outside of one’s control. (Any resemblance to global events is purely coincidental.)

Example #1: “L’usine vient d’être rachetée par un groupe étranger et les ouvriers ne savent pas à quelle sauce ils vont être mangés.” “The factory was just bought out by a foreign corporation and the workers don’t know what sauce they’re going to be eaten with.”

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Photography by Mynette Laine; more winged stunners in her bird set.

This is part of a series on French idiomatic expressions that relate to food. Read the introductory Edible Idiom post, and browse the list of French idioms featured so far.

This week’s entry is really an adage more than an idiom. It goes, “Faute de grives, on mange des merles” and can also appear as, “Faute de grives, on se contente de merles.”

Literally translated as, “In want of thrushes, one eats (or settles for) blackbirds,” it means that one must find a way to make do with what’s available. In other words, beggars can’t be choosers.

Example, from the real-life greenmarket situation that inspired this post: “Vous n’avez plus de poires ? Tant pis, je vais vous prendre des pommes. Faute de grives, on mange des merles !” “You’re all out of pears? Never mind, I’ll have some apples. In want of thrushes, one eats blackbirds!”

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Maxence’s grandparents were coming for tea on Sunday. Both had just had their birthdays, and I couldn’t get my mind off Lilo’s recipe* for flourless poppy seed cake, so I decided to bake it for them.

I scaled Lilo’s recipe down to use the four eggs I had, and modified it to use part butter, part almond butter, and a little less sugar. I also flavored the cake with the zest of an orange (instead of vanilla) and omitted the baking powder, which didn’t seem altogether necessary (the whipped egg whites provide sufficient volume).

Finally, I baked it in the heart-shaped pan my grandmother once gave to me, and whipped up a simple orange glaze to enhance the flavor of the cake even further. And all of us enjoyed this marvelously aromatic cake, fine-crumbed and moist, its every bite sparking an explosion of poppy seeds beneath our teeth.

I feel compelled to add this one caveat, especially if you’re considering this for an office party or some such awkward occasion: when you’re done eating your slice, you may want to excuse yourself and check your smile in the nearest mirror. Poppy seeds are sneaky that way.

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* Note that the French use the English word un cake for a cake that’s baked in a loaf pan; a regular round cake is un gâteau.

PS: Last week’s saffron roasted cauliflower was included in Bon Appétit’s holiday slideshow, which features many more inspiring recipes by fellow bloggers. I myself have earmarked Sarah’s rosemary nuts, Ilva’s herb cannelloni and Nick and Blake’s coffee cake.

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