As the whole world continues to pray for Paris, I thought it was only fitting that this week’s home be in the gorgeous countryside of France. Despite the awful events of yesterday, Paris remains one of the most amazing cities and no horror will ever dim its lights, EVER!!!!! Today’s home is in Provencal and it was the charming cottage of Julia Child. She called this house “La Pitchoune” – “The Little One”. The most fabulous thing about this property is the original kitchen, the only private Julia Child kitchen in the world. It was modeled after her kitchen in Cambridge, MA and to this day, the pegboard walls still hold the original cooking equipment. Notice that the counters are taller than average height to accommodate Julia’s height!!! VIVE LA FRANCE!!!!
I am going to share a family Holiday favorite recipe that we have been making since my children were little. Years ago, I was researching an alternative to cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Viola! Our Cherry Salad tradition was born. This is a tried and true vintage recipe that has been served with the Thanksgiving meal for decades. It goes well with Turkey and if your guests do not like the traditional cranberry sauce, I can guarantee they will LOVE this and its Gluten Free too!!!! It’s so easy to make, that my youngest started in Kindergarden and has been reminding me to get the ingredients every year since. We started inviting the girl’s friends over, on our cooking day, the day before Thanksving. They all make Cherry salad and we send them home with a batch for thier own feasts. In turn, they also now serve it for their families on turkey day!!! It can be said, and I have read that “Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are not the same without cherry salad” ENJOY!!!
Ingredients:
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 bag mini marshmallows
1 container cool whip (thawed)
Drain the pineapple
Combine the milk, pineapple, and marshmallows
Fold in the cherry pie filling and cool whip
It is best to let it sit overnight in the refrigerator (if you can stand to wait) so the marshmallows absorb the juices and melt in your mouth!
This week’s Book Club Monday is My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life by Ruth Reichl. Ms Reichl was the food critic for the New York Time and most recently the Editor in Chief of Gourmet Magazine. When Gourmet suddenly shuttered, she was left feeling shockend and misplaced, and thus this book was born. It was chosen as Amazon’s Best Book of October 2015. This is not only is a great read for youself, it would be a great Holiday gift for all the foodies in your life.
image Amazon.com