our Franco-American Thanksgiving

Pâte de Fruit Recipe

"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influences of each. Let them be your only diet... Be blown on by all the winds. Open all your pores and bathe in the tides of Nature, in all her streams and oceans, at all seasons.

― Thoreau's Journal, 23 August 1853

Bonjour!

This week, I write to you from the open space of the Rocky Mountains, where I've returned from France for Thanksgiving, one of my absolute favorite holidays:)

Thanksgiving isn't quite the same in France. I've tried. And my French husband's only deep sentiment toward this holiday is my Southern Pecan tart. Alors, I hope to always celebrate it in my native country:)

Giving thanks and gratitude is one of the finest ways I know how to turn a Marcel Proust-esque mood around. In fact, I keep a running list in my daily planner for when that disposition strikes!

As always, I overpacked a bit of France in my suitcase to enliven this season's merriments: Crème de marrons for French Toast, Jacques Genin's multicolored pâte de Fruits (my recipe below), miel de Bourgogne from an unpretentious bee-keeper in Sainte-Pallaye. Nonnettes, small gingerbread cakes from Dijon, found their way into my valise, too, tipping the weight over the max 23 kilos, so I stuffed delicate pink pralines from Pralus into alpaca socks, hoping the Air France gate agent would look the other way:)