THANK YOU FALL

sunrise over Autumnal vineyards in Canale, Italy

I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday. Normally, I like to spend Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara, California, where my mother still lives in the house I grew up in. It's the family HQ, where there have been many feasts and fun competition in the kitchen. Most of all it's where all my epic childhood memories live as well as the many holiday and birthday meal stories. I hold on tight to the golden packages in my mind's memory file cabinet. Especially since moving to Paris 6 years ago. Oh how I miss California.

Growing up in California I fantasized about a true fall experience. I had visions of Vermont and big old wood family houses in the New England countryside. I think a lot of west coasters have a similar romantic dreamscape of the east coast. I often wondered what it would be like to spend both my October birthday and Thanksgiving in the magic of true autumn.

We've just returned from my fall birthday trip over to the Piedmont region of northern Italy. I traditionally go there now to see the vivid colored vines and to eat up white truffles. Talk about a winning combination of extreme nature and food. What a luxury and how thankful I am. Spending my fall season holidays between Noyers and Piedmont are why I never get bummed out about summer being over... I get my true autumn.

This year we'll be spending Thanksgiving once again in the tiny medieval french village called Noyers-sur-Serein. This will be our 4th year going there for Thanksgiving, where good friends ( who happen to be our neighbors in Paris!) have a warm country house that have opened it's doors to us many times. It's also home to La Porte Peinte Centre Pour Les Arts, a gallery and artist residency run by dear friends, that have also hosted otherworldly events such as this medieval age inspired feast.

THANK YOU to all the Trail of Crumbs contributors, readers, makers and inspirers! We are truly lucky to have so many beautiful stories of adventure, wanderlust, and delicious food surround us year after year. Happy Thanksgiving from our little Trail of Crumbs corner of Paris to you.

Here are a few of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes from our trusted archive:

VELVETY PERFECT TURKEY GRAVY (would be pretty sweet in one of these gravy boats)

"Dory Gravy Boat" by Contemporary silversmith Kirsty Eaglesfield & Rebecca Joselyn's "Crushed Can"

SALT AND HONEY PIE ( From the lovely Four & Twenty Blackbirds cookbook)

 WILD MUSHROOM AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH DAUPHINOIS

Trompette de la Mort, black trumpet, mushrooms blooming from a french forest floor

photo of Salty Honey Pie: Milk and Honey

A Kitchen in Every Classroom

Some dear friends of ours at Celery Design in Berkeley, California, have collaborated on a wonderful and noble project that would greatly improve food education for kids in the USA.  After the success of the Edible Schoolyard programs, the need for classroom cooking tools became very apparent and not always easy to furnish.  The Charlie Cart is the solution Carolyn Federman and Brian Dougherty devised: a compact and all-inclusive mobile kitchen that could be easily stored and accessed in any classroom.  The name is a nod to the traditional Chuck Wagon, and it's independent, mobile design has all the pioneering spirit of the original.  We at Trail of Crumbs are wholeheartedly behind anything that aims to build up American food culture and give kids a better daily meal.  With supporters like Alice Waters and Michael Pollan, this could become an amazing reality for countless children.  Check out their Kickstarter page and please help out if you can.

" I serve on The Charlie Cart Project advisory board because when cooking is integrated into the corriculum, academic subjects come alive, and students effortlessly absorb their lessons. With the Charlie Cart, children have the hands-on experience of preparing food and gathering together around the table, where they learn the essential values of nourishment, communication, and generosity." -Alice Waters

Carolyn Federman & Brian Dougherty

During our road trip in Italy last month, we were recommended by Paris restauranteur and chef, Pierre Jancou, to stop by I Tigli pizzeria to try their modern take on traditional pizza. We got lost trying to find it, because the bridge into the center of the village, San Bonifacio, was taken down and our gps had a heyday with that one. Finally, after driving down a private grass path, a friendly farmer told us how to get there. In a somewhat run down, tiny village, we entered a slick, airy and inviting little pizzeria run by chef Simone Padoan.

The water glasses were custom made in nearby Venice, in a traditional glass blowing studio

Pizza with a delicious whole wheat sourdough crust, fresh pomodoro and house made burrata

Their signature tiramisu was the best version of the classic we've ever had!

I TIGLI Simone Padoan
Via Camporosolo 11
37047 - San Bonifacio - Verona
Italy
Closed on Wednesdays
T: 045 610 26 06

A Lunch Break in Modena, Italy

Fennel, squashes, eggplant and onions fresh off the grill waiting to get dressed in syrupy, aged, local balsamic vinegar

On our recent road trip through the north of Italy, we stopped in Modena for lunch. A city responsible for the creation of balsamic vinegar, Modena was a sure to be a sweet pit stop. We set out on a walk and discovered a mellow little piazza called Piazza Giacomo Matteotti. The trees lured us in and we soon spotted a sunny terrace full of tables tucked away beyond the trees. It was Officina Della Senape, a restaurant with wood grill and lots of locals having a relaxed weekend lunch. It was meant to be... and turned out to be one of our favorite meals of the trip.

Gramigna with a ragu of sausage and porcini mushrooms

Fettucini with bolognese .... so nice to have a real bolognese in the Emilia-Romagna region, so close to the city of Bologna! 

Officina Della Senape
Piazza Matteotti, 21
Modena

+39 059 875 6752