If you’re in need of something to get you into the holiday spirit, nothing gets the job done quite like tree trimming.
{Though I can imagine, if you’re not in the holiday spirit, you might not be looking to get into it}
I think tree trimming needs to happen the weekend after Thanksgiving, and here’s why: I want to get the most out of my tree, my decorations – my favorite time of the year. I totally get it if you’re exhausted after Thanksgiving and the last thing you want to think about is
Christmas decorations…you know, getting those life-sized boxes from the attic, lugging them down and…
Well, maybe that’s what you do. Me, I have it easy…I just have to go under the sink of my second bathroom and grab my Neiman’s shopping bag that holds a couple of stockings, a tree skirt, and a Christmas candle – give or take. Not just any Christmas candle – the Yankee Candle Christmas in Paris. O-M-G. Now, this is a Christmas candle.
So, you see – the weekend after Thanksgiving is just how it has to be. Wanna know what else? There needs to be cookies. That’s what compelled me to make these holiday dream cookies. There should also be, I’ve come to the realization, soup. And champagne. Or Beaujolais Nouveau, and then champagne. Am I confusing you yet? Bear with me here!
Do you remember last year when I decided to create a new holiday tradition centered around the tree-trimming? Well, I had read in a magazine a story about a family who shared a plate of donuts and a bottle of champagne each year while trimming the tree. They would
write the year on the wire cage and then hang it on the tree like an ornament. I fell in *love* with this idea and opted to do black and white cookies instead of the donuts.
At first, I had it in my head that I wanted to make the same type of cookies every year. But who are we kidding? At this point in my life, there are just too many cookies to make. Gots to switch it up. Maybe one day I’ll settle on a single type of tree-trimming cookies each year – maybe, like, when kids are involved and they pick a favorite. Hopefully they’ll be better at making such important decisions than I am.
I added soup to the mix because, well, tree-trimmers gotta eat – more than just cookies, much to my dismay, and I like the idea of a big pot of soup on the stove during this festive night.
The champagne will continue to be a part of this tradition, it was just that our star broke that night, so I mourned its loss over a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau – because this wine is another true sign of the holiday season! – and I may have forgotten to buy champagne that day at the store…so, we made up for it later and enjoyed the champagne as we put the new star on the tree. It’s like getting two bangs for your buck, and there’s nothing wrong with that!
Daniel elected that I make French onion soup that night, so that’s what I did. He’s a lucky son of a gun, isn’t he? He wants, I make. Not a bad gig.
I’ve made Julia Child’s French onion soup and thought it was divine, but this time I tried a recipe that I had bookmarked a while back – I think it was the name that had me: Onion Soup with Loads of Thyme and Giant Gruyère Crostini. That kind of name just makes me weak in the knees…loads of one of my favorite herbs? Giant Gruyère crostini? Sold. Check, please.
In reality, the name is a marketing scheme, because we’re really just talking French onion soup + thyme. It goes without saying that any half-decent French onion soup should have a *giant* piece of toasted cheesy bread on top, don’t you think? In any event, the soup was delicious. You really can’t go wrong when you build a soup from a big pot of caramelized onions and add gooey, golden cheese to the mix.
Do YOU have any holiday traditions for trimming the tree, or otherwise?
{caramelizing those onions}
{pleased with the results – even sans star}
{time to eat, drink, and be merry}
{can’t forget about dessert}
Onion Soup with Loads of Thyme and Giant Gruyère Crostini
Adapted from Jessica Strand via Epicurious
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
- 4 pounds yellow onions, thinly sliced
- Handful fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups beef stock
- 2 cups water
- 4 bowl-sized slices baguette or ciabatta
- 3 cups grated Gruyère cheese
In a Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and cook until the onions are deep amber and exceedingly soft, stirring occasionally, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs from the onions and discard. Add the flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the wine, increase the heat, and let the wine bubble away for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the beef stock and water, and let the soup simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat the broiler. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven. Place the bread slices on the middle rack of the oven and toast until crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Pour the soup into four ovenproof bowls, float the toasted bread on top, and cover each with a thick layer of the Gruyère. Put the soup bowls under the broiler on the middle rack and cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted and golden.
Serves 4.
Love it! I am a champagne lover to the core and that will for sure be a new tradition for my little family! Why didn’t I think of that!?!?
Emily recently posted..Day 342: December 7, 2011
Emily, my thoughts exactly when I first read about it!