Julia Child Night 2011!

Happy Monday, everyone!  My weekend really could not have been better!!  On Friday night I attended a dinner party with co-workers, which was so much fun.  I was up and at 'em early on Saturday morning as I had a lot to do before my parents arrived!  Before I knew it, it was noon and my parents were pulling up.  I was so excited to show them my condo, my piano, and neighborhood!  We had a light lunch of snacks, did some exploring in the neighborhood, and then my mom and I started to get to work.

I will let photos tell the story for the rest of this post!

This beautiful fruit (as well as haralson apples from my parents' tree) were made into a delicious pear & apple crisp!

My mom peeled & cored 16 apples and 4 pears!  She was a peeling machine!

Of course I had to wear a striped shirt with a French phase while we were preparing for Julia Child night!  We are starting to assemble the crisps in this photo!

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready to go.  Here I am all, wearing stripes (of course)!

My aunt Barb and I got a photo together in our Anthro aprons before we got busy serving the amazing meal!

Our guests feasted upon olives, olive tapenade, gluten free crackers, and an assortment of French cheeses!  We drank French 75's, which is a cocktails made from gin, champagne, lemon juice and simple syrup.  They are divine!!

The tables were all beautifully dressed!

Course number one was Julia Child's Beef Consomme, served with a gluten free bread stick.  I think this soup took over 12 hours for my aunt to prepare.  It was a true labor of love!

The salad course featured a Honey-Roasted Pear Salad with Thyme Verjus Dressing!  It was DELICIOUS!!

My aunt really knows how to cook for a crowd!  Here is the massive amount of Cassoulet that she prepared for our event!

The main course was delicious!  Our guested enjoyed the cassoulet, picked cabbage, and gluten free rolls!

While the crisps baked in the oven, we took a break between the main course and dessert to snap a photo of us ladies in our lovely aprons!!

Last, but not least, was the dessert course.  We served pear & apple crisp accompanied by a homemade ice cream made by my sister-in-law, Julie!  The crisp was warm and delicious - the perfect end to a perfect meal!

So there you have it!  Another successful event for the record books.  In addition to the food, there was much wine and much laughter.  The evening concluded with a rowdy game of Balderdash.  Everyone left with a full belly, but also with a full heart.  I feel very blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.  It is a joy to come together each year and celebrate my love of all things French - and to share that love with family and friends. 

I am especially thankful for my aunt & uncle who hosted the event and prepared the majority of the food. I jokingly said that I feel like I sort of put on stripes and show up at this event!  Next year I want to take some of the workload off my aunt's shoulders, so I will hopefully tackle the main course (with some guidance from my aunt, most likely!).  I am already thinking about next year's menu!

If you could throw an annual event similar to our Julia Child night, what would be the theme of your event?