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

Mes Petite Cherries in a Galette with Almonds

I love cherries. I've been waiting all winter long to hand pick cherries in the Spanish sunshine. On a recent trip to the Andalusia region, we hiked the Sierra Nevadas and picked pocket ( shirt, shoes, anything!)  fulls of cherries dripping off the abundant trees scattered throughout.  If you are in the mood to make a scrumptious little dessert, try making some Cherry-Almond Galettes.

INGREDIENTS

2	Organic butter puff pastry sheets, rolled to 1/4 inch-thick

Cherry compote

2 1/4 cup (approx. 200g)

cherries

1/4 cup (60g)

organic cane sugar

Almond crumble

1 cup (approx. 100g)

blanched almonds

1 tbsp

organic cane sugar

Soured cream

2 1/2 cups  (approx. 250g)

crème fraîche

1/2 cup (approx. 150ml)

whipping cream

2 tbsp

pure icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp

vanilla extract

1	Preheat oven to 425 F (220C). Cut six 5 1/2 inch (14cm) rounds of the puff pastry and place on a parchment paper-lined oven tray, top with parchment paper and another baking tray and bake until deep golden (10-15 minutes).
2	For cherry compote, halve and pit cherries, leaving 8-12 whole. Combine with sugar in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and liquid seeps from cherries (3-5 minutes). Keep warm.
3	For almond crumble, roast almonds until golden (2-4 minutes), chop in a food processor until coarsely ground, add sugar and pulse to combine.
4	For soured cream, whisk crème fraîche, cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl to soft peaks, cover and refrigerate.
5	Serve puff pastry rounds topped with cherries and almond crumble scattered over and soured cream on the side.