Emily in France 🇫🇷 Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy 'American Christmas!'

In over a decade in Paris, I have celebrated Thanksgiving many different ways.

I've hosted a feast at my apartment and waited four hours for guests to arrive and dig into undercooked turkey leg (the only thing I could fit in my oven) due to strikes. I've enlisted friends to help me prepare a potluck at someone else's house when I've had too small a kitchen (twice in Paris, and once in London, the latter of which featured more non-Americans than Americans, Skittles vodka, and chilli paneer that four of us secretly devoured before any of the other guests arrived).

Some years, I've made five pies. Some years, I've made one individual pie in a toaster oven. I've eaten goose and duck; traveled to Riga and to Prague where the only mention of the holiday was a brief "what are you thankful for?" I've attended a celebration in the French suburbs where turkeys were deep-fried; I've filmed a mise en scène cooking a turkey in a baker's oven (something my mother actually did in Paris in the 80s). 

I've celebrated on Thursdays and on Saturdays. I've even made two feasts in the same year.

But at the end of the day, in Paris, Thanksgiving is just another Thursday. Or, as my butcher used to call it, "Ah, yes, of course, American Christmas."

While he misunderstood, it seems to me that he wasn't entirely wrong. After all, French Christmas is more about togetherness and food than gifts. In Paris, on Thanksgiving, Expats tend to gather in pockets, where we can: Friendsgivings are prevalent; ordering your pies from Ten Belles or The Real McCoy is common. Red House is a popular spot for a pot luck; Le Crillon splashes out on a multi-course extravaganza. You can even celebrate a month early at The Great Canadian.

My days of making a massive feast for straggling expats seem to be over, but I still love this holiday and its pumpkin-spice everything. More than anything, I like it as a time to reflect on gratitudes, something I try to do each day regardless.

This year, I'm grateful for my family, who I'm seeing in a matter of short days. I'm grateful for the resilience they taught me, for the fact that, thanks to my upbringing, I never save a stroke for the return journey; I've always got one more swing in me. I'm grateful for my friends, who have become like family, always there to lend an ear, to offer help... and to help me dedramatize when I've decided the sky is falling on my head.

I'm grateful for my health. I'm grateful for the chance to do what I love to do every single day of my life.

And I'm also grateful for pumpkin pie.

Cheese of the Week

This cheese gets its bright green color as it's rolled in crushed pistachios! Inside, it boasts a whipped goat cheese concoction spiked with floral honey. It's a house specialty of one of my all-time favorite cheese shops, Jouannault. It's also going to be featured in a special holiday event I'm hosting with my dear friend Jacqueline Menoret of The Immigrant Book Club! Check Instagram in the coming days for more details (and to discover more of my favorite cheeses!)

What I'm Eating

The Asian-inspired steak tartare with sesame and crispy nori was just the beginning of the small plates that dazzled at Aux Deux Amis. Behind this restaurant's simple, café-like exterior hides a true powerhouse kitchen – and the natural wine list ain't half bad either. (No, seriously, it's one of Paris' best.) More on the blog.

Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france.

What I'm Writing

1. From the archives: the trials and tribulations of my attempts to make Thanksgiving in Paris over the past thirteen years, for Serious Eats.

2. Stuffed squash, oysters, lobster and more: If you couldn't get your hands on a turkey (or just wanted a more authentic celebration), I united a few alternatives for Mashed.

3. You can still find Beaujolais nouveau in quite a few bars and shops throughout France. I did a deep dive into the rise, fall, and renaissance of the divisive style for Pix.

What I'm Saying

1. The French are famous for their flirtatious flair. In this week's episode of Navigating the French, I'm chatting with Anne Marsella, an author, jazz musician, and founder of Madame de Châtelet Productions, a literary salon in Paris celebrating the feminine erotic, about a word linked to the French passion of seduction: coquette.

2. On Chez Toi, Caroline Conner and I pair your home-cooked recipes with the perfect wine and most complementary cheese. This week's recipe comes from my little sister – Madeline Monaco. She's sharing one of our favorite family traditions – soup night!

(And if you want your recipe featured in a future episode, shoot me an email! We're always up for a challenge.)
 

What I'm Reading

1. This deep dive into the evidence in favor of female hunters in the Pleistocene and Holocene periods in Atlas Obscura.

2. This in-depth exploration of the modern members of the Wampanoag nation in the Washington Post.

3. A close look at Swedish candy traditions (including what seems to amount to a culturally acceptable once-weekly binge) in the New Yorker.

A bientôt !

Emily in France