You may know Laura Calder from her last cookbook French Taste (Harper Collins, 2010). But chances are you know this 40-year old New Brunswick native from her Food Network cooking show, French Food at Home.

But if you don't know Laura Calder, her latest cookbook, Dinner Chez Moi: The Fine Art of Feeding Friends (Harper Collins, $40) makes for a great introduction because it's so personal. Filled with anecdotes about friends, family, kitchen adventures, swell dinner parties and much more, this book is for those looking for a backstory behind every dish.

As for the style of food she favours, the emphasis is on French cuisine, but it's homey French fare, far simpler than the restaurant cuisine we all fear recreating at home. There are also a lot of dishes that are just sensible party fare, with helpful notes in the introduction of each menu chapter about how to best plan the dishes.

Three cheers for her inclusion of metric gram measures in the baking recipes (like the one here) alongside imperial measure. Smart!

RECIPE

Walnut Squares with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Makes about 16 squares

For the base

1 cup flour

2 Tbsps. brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

For the filling

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

2 Tbsps. flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

For the icing

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

6 oz. white chocolate, melted until completely smooth

1/4 cup icing sugar

1 Tbsps. lemon juice

Heat the oven to 325°F.

Lightly grease a 9-inch (23-cm) square cake pan.

Fork together the ingredients for the base, either in a food processor or using your fingers, to make fine crumbs.

Press into the cake pan and bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together the filling ingredients.

When the base comes out of the oven, spread this over top, return to the oven, and bake until set, about 25 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.

For the icing, beat the cream cheese, butter, and melted chocolate until smooth. Gradually beat in the icing sugar, and lastly the lemon juice. Chill until spreadable, about 10 minutes.

Spread the icing over the cooled walnut filling and cut into diamonds.