It’s hard to believe that this marks the start of the third year of French Fridays with Dorie. When I joined the group, that inaugural week, I had no idea what I was stepping into. I had been blogging for almost a year at that point. The people who read my posts were family, friends, and maybe some friends of family and friends. If anyone else was reading, they weren’t commenting, so I have no idea if they were out there, though I doubt it.

In October of 2010, I wrote my first post that was part of a collective effort. That first post was about gougeres. I was more than a little self-conscious, not knowing whether any of the other people in the group would read my posts, or even think they were worthwhile to read. I felt equally self-conscious leaving comments for these total strangers, even though we had the shared experience of making the same recipe.

Over the weeks, then months, now years, I got to know this geographically scattered group of home cooks. I feel a connection to these people though we’ve never met face-to-face. I enjoy the feeling of knowing there are other obsessive home cooks out there like me, who share the same passion of cooking and feeding family and friends, and for knowing some of these people. I like seeing what other kitchen ventures they take outside of the shared Friday recipe. I like being part of this community, even if it only exists in cyberspace.

And so, year three begins with hummus.

I’ve made my own hummus for years, usually using the recipe my mother gave me when I was in college. (Admittedly, in the past couple years, I’ve discovered Sabra hummus. I love the texture of theirs and haven’t made my own in a while, buying large tubs of it as Costco.)

Dorie’s recipe is very basic. The ingredients (all pantry staples for me) are pureed in the food processor, and there you have it. The main difference between this recipe and what I’ve made before is the absence of olive oil. Dorie’s recipe used only the reserved liquid from the canned chickpeas and lemon juice to thin the chickpea and tahini paste. Hummus sans olive oil tasted fine, so some calories can definitely be saved. I enjoyed the ground cumin that spices up this version of hummus.

To serve, I mimicked the Sabra hummus I mentioned before. I poured some extra virgin olive oil on top and sprinkled the bowl with pine nuts and a little smoked paprika for color. I served with another favorite new product (no, I’m not in marketing): Stacy’s pita crisps. I’m already a fan of Stacy’s pita chips, but these are thinner and I prefer their texture.

There’s not much else to say. This is an easy appetizer, obviously. I also enjoy hummus on a sandwich with finely grated carrots or other vegetables. This makes a big batch, so there’s enough left over to make sandwiches for lunch.

As always, we don’t post the recipes for what we make for this group. You can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. You can also see how the other FFwD bloggers’ hummus came out by following their links posted here.

Wishing all my French Friday friends a Happy Anniversary! Here’s to cooking along with in the year(s) ahead! Cheers! XOX