Dinner for Twenty One

Every morning in France was a new opportunity. A couple of days I headed up the mountains on a ski lift, some days I stayed at the chalet and read, each day I explored a path or part of the town I hadn't seen before. I had only visited La Salle Les Alpes once in the summer of 2013, but I consider myself to have a decent familiarity with the layout. The winter landscape however, altered the views and the offerings. On Christmas Eve, while wandering through the shops, we came across an open air market. Some booths had clothing, some dried meats, but most importantly, some had glorious French cheese.

My thoughts on cheese? The stinkier, the better!

Christmas Eve night ended with half of the group going to church and half playing Perudo, drinking, and overseeing the finishing details of our dinner. Dinner each evening was seriously decadent with multiple courses, all of them handmade. Seating was always a struggle, and you became closely acquainted with those next to you very quickly as twenty one of us were crowded into two tables each day. To be fair, the only rough patch was when you got seated on one of the two benches near the end. Three people were on each bench, requiring everyone to sit, rise, and scoot the bench in at precisely the same time. There was true strategy to this as well, as it had to be two women and one man. You could not disturb the delicate bench balance! We all had chalkboard napkin rings with our names on them to designate our assigned spots.

Champagne and appetizers on Christmas Eve

The last night of our stay, the 26th, was a really special meal. The menu mirrored that of a Thanksgiving dinner, a true luxury for us this year, with the exception of the appetizer. We began with escargot. I consider myself adventurous when it comes to food, I do like stinky cheese after all, but this was something I had not tried before. After a few failed attempts at removing the snail from it's shell, I finally succeeded in retrieving one and it was delicious. They were cooked in an amazing basil sauce, which was remarkable by itself, and the texture was not as odd as I was fearing! 

Dinner was turkey, cabbage, parsnips of varying colors, potatoes, stuffing, and we finished with a chocolate log I would describe as a Swiss roll covered in powdered sugar and pomegranate seeds. Those pomegranate antioxidants really helped balance out the meal. 

The whole week at the chalet had absolutely flown by and was stuffed full of food and new experiences. Tom and I tried to retire at a decent hour, but wanted to enjoy as much time as we could with everyone. We were leaving at 6:30 the next morning and wouldn't be seeing them before we departed! Spending Christmas in France was an absolute dream and made for a fantastic first Christmas together as a married couple.