Holiday Traditions: Fondue, Baby!

 

 

Bonjour! Welcome to the holiday season!

I thought it would be fun to spend the next few weeks blogging about holiday traditions. Yours and mine.

Today it’s all about fondue. My family never made fondue because my mother hates cheese, therefore fondue was obsolete at our house. However, when I met my French husband nine years ago, fondue became a big part of my holiday tradition. My husband, David, also known as Bunny, is the master of fondue and we always have fondue during the cold holiday months. I thought it would be fun to share his recipe with all of you! And then, I thought I would share a few other fondue variations… The Barefoot Contessa’s take on fondue, a smoky cheese fondue with garlicky croissants and a twist on the classic chocolate fondue.

Let me tell you something…Bunny can cook. He learned everything from his mother who is a marvelous cook. I have been trying to convince David’s mother for years to let me help her write a cookbook. She has refused unfortunately (probably because she hates me) and will take her recipes to the grave. However, David’s fondue recipe is at least based on his mother’s original recipe… but David took it to a whole new level. Check it out:

 

This is David and his little boy, David.

Bunny and Bunny Jr.

 



Bunny’s Fondue

Let’s start with the cheese. I think that the secret to David’s fondue is the three types of cheeses he uses. Equal parts Beaufort, Comte and Gruyere cheese. Next up, David uses a dry sparkling white wine, a Brut Sec. David gets his dry sparkling white wine, Vin d’Ayse, from a little village in the French Alps, his mother’s hometown of Bonneville, but you can use any good dry sparkling white wine. His next little secret is to throw in two girolles clou mushrooms. Cube a delicious loaf of crusty French baguette and put into a couple of different baskets to pass.

 

 

 

 

Okay, those are the ingredients, now let’s talk about how to make it. Cut up all the cheeses into equal rectangular shaped thin slices and put in a nonstick pot, add enough sparkling white wine to cover the cheese, and start cooking… Medium to high heat for 10 minutes. Do not boil the cheese! A big non, non! Just get the cheese to a liquid consistency. Lower heat to medium and continue cooking for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, throw in the two mushrooms for a pop of earthy flavor. Add salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Pour all of this into your fondue pot and enjoy!

Now, here’s the special part. At the end of the fondue when you are thoroughly stuffed like a French pig and when you have about half an inch left of cheese left in your fondue pot, take an egg and crack it into the fondue pot. Use your fondue fork with a piece of the crusty baguette on it and start stirring the egg and cheese mixture, cooking the egg. At our house, this is everyone’s favorite part because it makes a little cheesy egg omelette on your piece of baguette. Divine!

Okay, now let’s take a look at some other fondue variations:

 

 The Barefoot Contessa's Baked Fontina Fondue-ish

Click HERE for recipe.

 

 

 Smoked 3 Cheese Fondue with Toasted Garlic Buttered Croissants

Click HERE for recipe.

 

 

Caramel Fondue

Click HERE for recipe.

 

What? You don’t have a fondue pot? Have no fear, I’m here to help. David’s favorite fondue pot is from a company called Emile Henry. Click HERE. My favorite fondue pot is from a company called Mauviel, it’s copper and it’s gorgeous. Click HERE.

 

 

 

What are some of your cooking holiday traditions? Leave your thoughts in the comment section! Stephen, we are waiting…

 A toute!

 

BBQ Fixin's: Pineapple Upside Down Cake! happy 4th of july!

 

Just a quick blog today because I am getting everything ready for my big fat Have Some Decorum Home sale on Monday.

However, I couldn’t let Fourth of July go by without giving you my great-grandmother’s pineapple upside down cake recipe! This cake is the perfect complement to any summer barbecue.

Speaking of Fourth of July and summer barbecues, what are all of you making? Do you stick to old favorites or do you try something new? I like to do both.

Okay, here are two recipes for pineapple upside down cake. First my great-grandmothers via my mother, Anne, and then second, a delicious one from Saveur magazine.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is really easy and taste great.  Best served warm with Ice Cream.

1 package of yellow cake mix

1 can of slice pineapples

1 jar of red cherries with stem

1 cup of brown sugar

1 stick of butter

In a heavy skillet melt the butter.  When melted add the cup of brown sugar.  Might need to add more brown sugar to have it like a paste texture.  Not to thin. If you would like to add a little cinnamon to the brown sugar you can or nutmeg....Pat it down flat.   Remove from burner.  Add the pineapple slices in a circle in the pan until it is completely covered. Put a cherry in the middle of the pineapple rings. Without the stem.

Make the cake mix according to  the package.  Now pour the cake mix into the pan with all of the good stuff.  Might not use all of it. 

Bake in a 350 oven for what the instructions on the cake have. About 30 minutes?  Take it out when a toothpick comes out clean.

You want it to be moist.

Now take a large plate that you are going to serve the cake on and place it on top of the skillet and invert the cake into the serving dish.  A little tricky but this way the pineapple topping is on up and it looks fabulous!  Don't let the cake cool to long before you invert it on the plate. Best done warm. Enjoy... Anne

Can make great little individual cupcakes this way also.....

 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake via Saveur Magazine.

Click HERE for recipe.

 

 

Happy Fourth of July!

*Something you don’t know about me? My little Graciecakes left early Wednesday morning to fly back to the states to see her grandparents, her second father (long story) and all of her friends in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles for three weeks! I was a nervous wreck thinking of her flying over the Atlantic, let alone flying at all. I didn’t sleep a wink Tuesday night. Gracie, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to leave. Gracie is making this trip her culinary tour of America because, as you know, she is starving in Paris. She has told me at least 300 times that the second she lands in California she will be going to a drive-through In-N-Out Burger and ordering animal fries, followed by a Wendy’s Frosty, a red velvet Sprinkles Cupcake, a Santa Barbara Los Arroyos burrito, and Whole Foods salad bar. She said also that she will is looking forward to going to a “regular grocery store” where she can buy Cinnamon Life cereal, regular milk that is refrigerated, and sliced pepper turkey. As disgusting as all of that is, when it is not available, it’s all you want. Gracie will be visiting with my mother, her grandmother. Let me tell you, she’s in for a treat. Not only does my mother spoil her and cook for morning, noon and night but she also makes Gracie laugh hysterically. Why? Because my mother says the funniest things but she just doesn’t know how funny it is until she sees all of us laughing. I asked Gracie to chronicle the best of my mother this week so I could share it all with you. Even before Gracie left Wednesday, my mother made us laugh. Gracie asked my mother if she could take her to get a smoothie as soon as her plane lands. My mother said, “Of course Gracie, we will go to Jambalaya Juice right away.” For those of you who don’t know, it’s just called Jamba Juice. Stay tuned for a wacky week.

P.S . I just want to tell all of you how much I appreciate all of your emails and all of the comments that you leave on the blog. To be honest, I’m having a bit of an emotional crisis because I want to respond to every email and every comment because you know I never run out of things to say but unfortunately with ALS, my voice may run out of steam so I have to protect it a little bit… So, I cannot respond to every email and every comment. Don’t take it personally. It’s a “me” thing. However, keep the comments coming and keep the emails coming because I read every single one and it makes my day to hear from you. Is it weird that I consider all of you my friends?

Keep It Simple, Stupid. A Very Minimalism Christmas.

Keep it simple, stupid. I try to tell myself this all the time but it just does not sink in. I don’t think I could ever be at minimalist. It’s not in my nature. I never keep anything to a minimum…not my decorating, not my shopping, not my brilliant advice to Gracie, not the amount of friends I have, not the amount of times I call David a douche bag each day, not the amount of perfumes I have, not the amount of gilt mirrors I can stuff into one household, not the amount of Cheetos or gummy bears I can eat, not the amount of times I check Instagram, and certainly not the amount of reality TV that I watch. It’s just not who I am. I like stuff. The more the merrier to me. I like excess. More is more.

However, I am not such an ignoramus that I do not appreciate minimalism. I like to look at it but for God sake I’m never going to do it. I applaud those who can. I applaud those who can refrain…from anything. I totally get minimalism and I respect it. But why put such limits on yourself? Why hold back? I’m starting to think that restraint is a near impossible virtue. I don’t think a minimalist would like to be friends with me. I talk too much, judge too much, buy too much, eat too much and would drink too much if I could. I imagine a minimalist with short hair and perfect lipstick. That’s not me… I am a lot of hair, Carmex as lipstick kind of girl. Don’t confuse a minimalist with a perfectionist though. I am a perfectionist in a weird way. Like, I will throw a mini fit if my gray cashmere sweaters are not folded according to hues of gray. Lots of them. I think a minimalist would throw a fit as well but only with three of them. See the difference?

As much as I would like to just once in my life have a minimalist Christmas… It’s never going to happen for so many reasons including the main reason which is that Gracie would kill me. However, I do love it… Take a look…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See! How chic is that! God I wish I could do that. Simplicity is sublime. If you want to see more chic simplicity, check out my Pinterest board Have Some Decorum A Very Minimalism Christmas HERE!

*Something you don’t know about me? Maybe it’s time I explain my husband. He is no shrinking violet and an absolute character. It takes a special person to love David. I secretly “stalked” my husband, David, from the time my daughter was in second grade to the six grade. Just ask Yolanda, she witnessed the whole thing. I never spoke to him and I never even knew his name. He would drop his children off at the same school my daughter went to wearing a gray tailored suit with tennis shoes and would be screaming on the telephone in French the entire time. He was so handsome and arrogant it was disgusting. I waited patiently for him to get a divorce. Just kidding, no I’m not. Finally, the day I met him in 2006, I froze. I could not utter a word to him. FlashForward eight years later, and that man is now blowing my nose, putting my pajamas on, feeding me through a feeding tube and loving me more than humanly possible. Want to hear more? Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog…

Bravo to…

Let me start by saying something that you don’t know about me and actually you may not think is true about me. The truth is, I never like to hurt anybody’s feelings. I am overly aware and overly cautious of protecting people’s feelings. I know, I know… Difficult to believe… But it’s the truth. However, if you cross me… I do not hold back and you will feel the wrath. But, on the whole, I am very cautious of people’s feelings. In fact, this girl whom I completely hate and pity has no idea that I hate her and pity her because I’m so fucking polite. That being said, I have been stressing out all week. I kept thinking to myself, “Ellie, how could you have a Christmas tree contest? Someone’s feelings are going to be hurt.” I almost considered canceling the contest. I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings if I don’t choose them. Even if I did not like your Christmas tree, you would never know it… I would go on and on about how beautiful your tree is… And I would be secretly cringing on the inside. So as you can see, this is a very difficult process for me. Let me start by saying that I love and appreciate all of you for sending me pictures of your tree. I love that all of you were so proud of your trees. You can see the amount of love that went into each and every tree even if some of you did use poinsettias in your tree. :-) At least you put those poinsettias in your tree with love. Was that rude of me?

First of all, who am I to judge? My ghetto tree is the worst one yet so in my eyes you are all winners… compared to my tree. However, I do think I have a pretty good eye. Like I said, I like all sorts of trees…colored lights, white lights, lots of ornaments, no ornaments, small trees, big trees…as long as they have some style. If you need a refresher course look at my Pinterest board of Christmas trees HERE. See! I even like a flocked tree! So, I’ll shut up now and show you the top  trees that deserve an honorable mention…and then I will reveal my very favorite tree that will knock your socks off. Here we go…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See how different all of them are! I love all of them. And yet, I’m sitting here feeling bad for the other trees that didn’t make the list. Note to self: never have a contest again.

Okay, here comes the winner...Voilà! The winner of the Have Some Decorum Christmas Tree Contest is…

 

Ron van Empel from the Netherlands!

There are so many reasons why I like this tree. Primarily and obviously because of the tinsel. This is what I intended with my tinsel but obviously I’m not as talented as the owner of this tree because my tree was embarrassing. This is how tinsel is done! It’s magical, chic, sparkly, and oh so Christmasy. Now, Mr. Ron van Empel is no one-hit wonder… No no no… Mr. Ron van Empel has, for lack of a better word, “game” and “drops it like it’s hot.” My daughter’s going to kill me for talking like that but it’s true… Mr. Ron van Empel is the Mack daddy of Christmas tree decorators. Check out his other trees from previous years…

 

 

In case you were wondering where Mr Ron van Empel gets his inspiration… Check out these trees…

 

 

I mean honestly, does it get better than that? By the way, Mr. Ron van Empel and I have been communicating via email and he is officially my new best friend. Sorry Yolanda and Jenny. Mr. Ron van Empel lives in the Netherlands and was formerly an interior designer and now he focuses mostly on lighting, furniture and accessories through his website HERE. Sometimes people forget how important lighting is in your whole design scheme. It’s as important as your freaking couch! It should not be an afterthought and it should be incorporated into your whole budget. Mr. Ron van Empel sent me a photo of a set of lamps that he is working on that will make you have a decorating heart attack. I hope he will let me post a photo with they are finished because they are genius. I just knew I would like Mr. Ron van Empel right away when he told me that he shipped Christmas lights over from the United States to the Netherlands and had to have the voltage converted. That is my kind of friend. So, bravo to you Mr. Ron van Empel. You have completely and totally impressed me. Your prize is on its way!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest… But we are never doing it again because I can’t take the stress. Merry Christmas! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog… Yeah, I’m back.

http://www.empelcollections.com/en

An American Thanksgiving in Paris

Okay, it’s official… One would be a fool to spend Thanksgiving in Paris anywhere other than Ralph’s Restaurant at Ralph Lauren in St. Germain. There is simply no better ambience. If you don’t believe me, I will fight you. Just kidding, I won’t fight you but I will definitely question your morals, your American morals. Ralph Lauren makes me proud to be an American. Last night, I was beaming with pride and saying to myself as I looked around, “This is how it is DONE!”

Let’s back up, let’s back up a bit… How did I even get to Ralph’s Restaurant? I think my answer would have to be primarily “by the grace of God” and secondly, “by the grace of friends.” I want to thank all of you who made the effort to get your little Ellie to Ralph’s Restaurant for Thanksgiving. Thank you to everyone who made phone calls, sent emails and used all of your connections. A big Merci! I do however, have a very special person to thank… My friend Rex.

My friend Rex made a little phone call… To his goddaughter, Lauren. Lauren happens to be Lauren Bush, niece of former President George W Bush and granddaughter of former President George H.W. Bush. Lauren also happens to be Lauren Bush Lauren, daughter-in-law of Ralph Lauren. Are you dying yet?

Let’s back up, let’s back up a bit… The year 1990. My first official job is at Ralph Lauren in Beverly Hills. I am 20 years old. I am the official Ralph Lauren… Gift wrapper. That was my job, I wrapped all the gifts. I loved it. Next, I was promoted to cashier. Very important job. Next, I was promoted to salesperson and next, I was being considered for assistant buyer. Ralph Lauren was my life. Here is something maybe you don’t know… When you work at Ralph Lauren you become part of an inner world, an inner society… And it never leaves you. Once a Ralph Lauren girl, always a Ralph Lauren girl. Honestly, you can tell if someone works at Ralph Lauren. There’s just something about them. I was lucky enough to be one of those people. I loved my job. Every morning, I woke up in my cute Beverly Hills apartment, put on my cute Ralph Lauren outfit, and walked the two blocks to Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, grabbed a coffee from Il Fornaio, and then walked a half a block more to the back entrance of Ralph Lauren. I always arrived early. There is something so peaceful about being in Ralph Lauren before the customers. I would walk up the winding staircase glancing at all of the paintings, upstairs to the home department, sit on a couch, sip my coffee and just look and look and look. I was letting it all soak in. In my eyes, it was heaven on earth.

So here we are, Thanksgiving in Paris 2014. My friend Rex makes a call to Lauren… And moments later I receive an email from Lauren Bush Lauren inviting me on behalf of her husband, David Lauren (Ralph Lauren’s son) and herself, to Thanksgiving dinner at Ralph Lauren. I literally had a little Ralph Lauren heart attack. Not only have I always admired anything Ralph Lauren related but I have also always admired Lauren. Why? Because she is the founder of the ubiquitous FEED bags!

 

In case you live under a rock and are unfamiliar with FEED, here is a brief description from her website… “As a World Food Programme (WFP) Honorary Student Spokesperson, Lauren visited countries around the world in Asia, Latin America, and Africa where WFP is operating, and was inspired by the plight of the people she met on her travels. She took a special interest in WFP's School Feeding program, which feeds and educates hungry children. After witnessing the effects of hunger firsthand, Lauren Bush Lauren founded FEED in 2007 with the mission of "Creating Good Products That Help FEED the World. She first created the FEED 1 Bag, a reversible burlap and organic cotton bag reminiscent of the bags of food distributed by WFP, to help raise funds and awareness around these school feeding operations. It was stamped with "FEED the children of the world" and the number '1' to signify that each bag provides enough meals to feed one child in school for one year.”

One bag purchase feeds one child for one year! FEED has provided 85 million meals. And that, my friends, is Lauren Bush Lauren. If you are feeling charitable, which hopefully you are, this is the most worthy organization to support. Click here to donate to FEED. Click here to volunteer with FEED. Click here to shop FEED.

So, with my heart all aflutter… I gleefully accept the Lauren’s generous invitation to Thanksgiving dinner at Ralph Lauren.

Now I have to get ready! What should I wear, I think? I know… I will wear my Malo camel cashmere dress, black stockings, my Roger Vivier flats, my Yves Saint Laurent gold cuff bracelet, and my teeny tiny diamond pinky ring, and my beautiful scarf that David bought me last year in Paris. Here’s the funny part… Because I am paralyzed, I cannot get myself dressed. I have to rely on my husband and my caregivers to do this. Have you ever had to have someone put your stockings on for you? It’s not cute. It’s actually humiliating. I usually just pretend I am in the Bahamas while they are doing it. After about 45 minutes, my clothes are on and now someone has to do my makeup. Jesus. My two choices yesterday were either to have my husband do my makeup or my caregiver do my makeup. Not to be rude or ungrateful, but an orangutan could have done a better job. But finally, in the end, Humpty Dumpty is put together and ready to go to Ralph’s!

The thrill of driving to Ralph Lauren in Paris past a twinkling Eiffel Tower is not lost on me. I am beaming ear to ear. We arrive to the restaurant and as our reservation is for four people, we invited our closest Parisian friends, Christophe and Ann-Lise. Christophe is chic and demure and Ann-Lise is the epitome of Parisian cool and always, always makes me laugh. We adore them. We await our 6:30 PM reservation in the courtyard of Ralph Lauren. Even though it is Thanksgiving, Ralph Lauren is decorated for Christmas which somehow felt perfect. It was a very traditional American Ralph Lauren theme. Swags of garland with antiqued gold balls, antler horns, pheasant feathers. Big baskets filled with pine branches. French planters filled with fresh Christmas holly with red berries. Huge wreaths. The tables were set with hurricane lamps, the chairs were complete with plaid pillows and leopard pillows. And this was just the outside courtyard! Look look look…

 

The best part about the courtyard was that it was brimming with… Americans. Yes, chic, perfectly dressed Americans. I have never been so happy to hear an American accent in Paris as I was last night. Not to be rude, but I did not want to hear any French. This was Thanksgiving. This was American Thanksgiving. This was American Thanksgiving at Ralph Lauren. You could sense that everyone was so happy to be there.

6:30 PM… The doors open and we are invited inside. Honestly, I felt like Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory… Eyes wide open with awe. I have dined at Ralph’s many times before but Thanksgiving is special. We were greeted by a trio of jubilant Ralph Lauren hosts. “Bonsoir, Monsieur Decret! Bonsoir Madame Decret! Happy Thanksgiving. We are so happy to have you with us this evening.” We were led to our table… The best table in the house… Right in front of the soaring fireplace. Everything was perfect. Everything was so Ralph Lauren and so Thanksgiving-y. I will let the pictures speak…

 

Just as we were settling in, a waiter arrived with a silver standing bucket with a bottle of champagne and said, “Champagne with the compliments of David Lauren.” I had another little Ralph heart attack. Merci beaucoup David Lauren. The menu then arrived…

 

So, as you know… I am kind of a foodie. My family operates around food. Not to sound like a food snob… But I know good food. I might even be an expert if I do say so myself. Let me tell you, the Thanksgiving dinner at Ralph’s restaurant was superb. The butternut squash soup tasted beautifully woodsy. The turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the sweet potatoes, the root vegetables with maple syrup, the Brussels sprouts, the wild rice and the cranberry sauce… All pure perfection. And, here comes my grandest compliment… The gravy was the best I’ve ever had but don’t tell my mother. It was a tad bit perfectly sweet and a tad bit perfectly savory and served in a petite silver server. You are going to laugh but I actually had a dream about the gravy. The desserts were perfectly American because you know I hate French desserts… so the pumpkin pie, the pecan pie and the apple pie were a sight for sore eyes!

 

 

Now, I am not one to gawk because I have something called manners but I could barely focus on our dinner conversation because all I wanted to do was look at every little detail. The paintings, the Christmas decorations, the flowers, the greenery, the table settings, the candles, the other guests, the chic staff, the bar, the plaid pillows, the leather chairs with nail heads, the lighting, the chandeliers, the stone floors, and just the entire building in and of itself!

 

My Thanksgiving dinner in Paris could not have been better. Could not have been better! It almost made me want to move back to America! I kept thinking the entire night, “I wish I still worked here.” The magical world of Ralph Lauren never ceases to amaze me. Thank you Rex. Thank you Lauren Bush Lauren. Thank you David Lauren. Thank you to my David and to our friends, Christophe and Ann-Lise. And thank you to all of you who wanted this special evening for me as much as I did. I am a very lucky girl.