Creme Fraiche

PARIS -- I had hoped to escape the heat and humidity of the season because we are in Paris, where typically much of summer is mild. How wrong I was! This week the temperature soared into the 90s. I noticed that the heat affected what Parisians were eating. What I refer to as the three "S's" seemed to be the dominant theme for menus. La soupe, la salade and le sorbet were the foods of choice. French restaurants don't always include soups as a first course, but during the height of the hot spell I saw more than one soupe glacee or chilled potage suggested as an opener.

Whenever I am invited to a potluck, I instinctively offer to make dessert, but recently, when a good friend mentioned that she'd like to have us over for such a supper, I volunteered to bring a vegetable. I did this because I was anxious to try a new dish one of my enthusiastic assistants had developed. The recipe was for a sweet potato gratin, which had been fashioned after a similar dish I had created using Yukon Gold potatoes and creme fraiche. My talented helper, Emily Bell, had replaced the white spuds with sweet potatoes, and used rosemary in place of thyme as a seasoning.

Q: Some baking recipes say to cool in the pan; others say to cool on a wire rack. Which is better?A: A method that combines both is usually recommended. As a rule of thumb, cakes and other baked goods should be left in their pans on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. If you try to remove a cake from its pan immediately after baking, it can stick or fall apart because it is so tender. By letting some baked products sit in the pan for a short period of time, the edges begin to cool and pull away from the sides, making removal easier.

My husband, a quintessential extrovert, never met a stranger, so after several decades of living with him, I'm no longer surprised when he mentions that he's invited friends over for wine and appetizers. He often asks a group of his fellow professors who are working on a project together to meet at our house for drinks, or he'll arrive home from work, announcing that he's met some new people I am certain to like, and that they can stop by for cocktails on such and such a day. He reasons that having guests in for sips and nibbles is not the same as a dinner party, so he can be spontaneous.

I have always been amazed by the delectable ways the French have for preparing eggs. Last month, while in Paris, I ordered an oeuf en cocotte au crabe and l'estragon - which translates as an egg baked in a dish with crab and tarragon. After my first bite, I was in heaven. All I could think of while savoring this creation was that this recipe would be ideal to serve for brunch or for a special breakfast when we have overnight guests. It was simple, yet sophisticated, and didn't take long to assemble or bake.

After looking through recipes for easy dishes to serve out-of-town company, I have planned an uncomplicated menu that will give me plenty of time for catching up. A white bean soup with kale and chorizo, an all-in-one main course that can be prepared a day ahead, will anchor the meal, and will be accompanied by an arugula salad and a basket of warm bread. For dessert I have decided to make an old favorite - a plum clafoutis. Clafoutis is one of the simplest yet most delicious French desserts a home cook can prepare.

The sun moves over the Saturday Pico farmers' market in Santa Monica, Calif., filtering through the canopy that protects the delicate herbs and baby lettuces at the Kenter Canyon Farms stall. The salad of market lettuces that we take for granted on the menu these days, an edible bouquet that tastes as good as it looks, effectively began in owner Andrea Crawford's garden. To be more accurate, Alice Waters' garden. Twenty-six years ago, Crawford began growing lettuces and herbs for Chez Panisse, literally in Waters' backyard.

After partaking with abandon during the holidays, my husband and I vow to eat lightly in the first weeks of the new year. Even though we cannot bear the thought of multicourse meals, we still like to invite friends over. However, our post-holiday entertaining is on a much smaller and simpler scale. Soup and salad suppers are the answer. Typically, we invite two to four people to join us for a light menu that includes homemade soup, a big salad and a loaf of crusty French country bread.

Parsnip and celery root are layered with nutmeg-laced cream and two kinds of cheese for this luscious gratin created by Ari Rosenson, chef de cuisine of Cut in Los Angeles. This recipe calls for a 9-inch gratin dish or deep-dish pie plate. Betty Hallock writes for the Los Angeles Times, which provided the recipe analysis. CELERY ROOT AND PARSNIP GRATIN Serves 8 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk 2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper 1 pinch nutmeg 2 large celery roots (about 2 1/2 pounds total)

Never mind if there's still a nip in the air. If asparagus comes, can spring be far behind?To be sure, the globalization of grocery produce means you can't infallibly tell the seasons from what shows up the shelves. But there's something about the appearance of those slender green stalks about the same time as the daffodils that promises warmer days and more flowers in the garden.In fact, asparagus is a sort of flower -- a member of the lily family, according to the California Culinary Academy's "Cooking A to Z."