Dinner party, Julia Child style

Ever since I moved into my grandmother's house I've been wanting to put the fine china to good use. So I invited a few friends over for dinner on Saturday night and took on an ambitious cooking project- Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon. How very Julie & Julia of me. I found copies of the original recipe as well as instructions for the brown-braised onions and sautéed mushrooms on this cooking blog and went to town. I used regular old American bacon instead of a chunk of bacon cut into lardons, but other than that, I followed the recipe to a T, serving it with the recommended boiled potatoes and buttered peas. It was a pain in the ass to make, and it took all frickin day, and I can't even pronounce it properly so I was just calling it French Beef Stew....but...it was delicious!! Seriously, the beef was flavorful and delicious and so tender- it practically melted in your mouth. The picture does not do it justice.

I also made a plum torte for dessert and it was super easy and very tasty, even though I kind of screwed it up by using regular plums instead of mini Italian ones.