Photo Credit: @welcome_home

While this may seem like a lame excuse to have a margarita in December, let’s just remember that 2020 is not over yet! Sure, margaritas are usually reserved for hot summer days but there are no rules as to when you can have one. Enter the White Christmas Margarita. With the addition of white cranberry juice and coconut milk, Santa Claus himself will wish you left this out instead of milk. You can keep your garnish simple by using rosemary sprigs and lime or you can rack up some bonus points and skewer a row of sugar coated cranberries (you got this!) So even if it doesn’t snow on December 25th, I know I’ll be having a White Christmas. Cheers!

Recipe courtesy of The Spruce Eats

White Christmas Margarita


Ingredients:

• Cinnamon sugar (for rim)
• 1 lime wedge
• 1 1/2 ounces silver tequila
• 1 ounce coconut milk
• 1/2 ounce orange liqueur (triple sec or Grand Marnier)
• 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1/2 ounce white cranberry juice
• Garnish: lime slice
• Garnish: cranberries
• Garnish: rosemary sprig

Directions:

1. Gather the ingredients.
2. Rim an old-fashioned glass with cinnamon sugar: Begin by wiping a lime wedge around the edge of the glass to wet the rim, then roll it in a shallow dish of cinnamon sugar.
3. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, pour the tequila, coconut milk, orange liqueur, lime juice, and white cranberry juice. Shake well.
4. Strain into the prepared glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a lime slice, a few cranberries, and a sprig of rosemary.
5. Serve and enjoy!

Earlier this month, our chef technician Calogero Romano created a gingerbread house version of the 4 Privet Drive house that Harry Potter grew up in from the movies.

Paris Gourmet donated the gingerbread house to Saint Barnabas Medical Hospital in Livingston, New Jersey to bring holiday cheer to the children at the hospital and also donated lots and lots of delicious pastries for the doctors, nurses, and staff of the hospital as well.

The whole process of making the gingerbread house was featured on Paris Gourmet's daily Instagram stories.

In case you missed seeing chef Calogero in action, you can still see it in Paris Gourmet's Instagram profile or in Chef Calogero's Instagram account as well.

From drawings of the house to spraying the sorting hat. Every single detail of this intense process was captured.

We hope that we can continue this tradition every year, where a member of our very talented chef technicians will produce a kid friendly gingerbread house to donate each holiday season.

Any ideas or suggestions for which house to make next year? Do you have a favorite chef technician you would like to see? Let us know so we can start planning for next holiday season!

Again, another huge thank you to the staff at Saint Barnabas Medical Hospital and all the doctors and nurses risking their lives to help others everyday and of course a big round of applause for chef Calogero Romano for sharing his talent and skills and creating a wonderful gingerbread house... we think J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter would be very proud!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Photo Credit: www.pastemagazine.com

Every year in November, family members gather around the table and give thanks while enjoying the traditional turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes etc.

In honor of Thanksgiving, Paris Gourmet has listed 17 random facts about this holiday. So make your plate and enjoy your meal and these random facts.

🦃 In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday due to honoring Sarah Josepha Hale's ( she is known for writing the song "Mary had a little lamb") on going letters, requesting for 17 years that it should be a national holiday.

🦃 It has a rough history, but some U.S. Presidents pardon their turkey from being their dinner.

🦃 The average American eats around 16lbs of turkey per year.

🦃 In 1953 Swanson company had 260 tons of leftover frozen turkeys, so a salesman came up with the idea to make tv/ frozen dinners out of the leftovers

🦃 Cranberries are also known as "bounce berries" due to the method of tossing the cranberry in order to determine if it is ripe. So if your cranberry has a bounce, its ready to eat!

🦃 60 million boxes of Stovetop's instant stuffing is sold each Thanksgiving

Photo Credit: www.goodhousekeeping.com

🦃 The USDA states not to rinse your turkey in order to prevent harmful bacteria from spreading. As long as you cook the turkey to 165 degrees F, it will eliminate bacteria.

🦃 Minnesota produces the most turkeys in the U.S.

🦃 Only male turkeys can produce the "gobble" sound and it ca be heard from a mile away.

🦃 The tradition of football on Thanksgiving began in 1876 with a game between Yale and Princeton. In 1920 the NFL played their first game on the holiday.

🦃 Butterball answers over 100,000 questions about turkey and its cooking techniques every November and December. These questions can be answered via their Butterball Turkey Hotline

🦃 Apple pie is considered the most popular pie in the States.

Photo Credit: www.abc7newyork.com

🦃 The average American consumes 3,000 - 5,000 calories at Thanksgiving dinner.

🦃 There are 4 towns in the U.S. named " Turkey". They are located in North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, and Louisiana.

🦃 There is a National Turkey Federation... it does exist!

🦃 In WW2, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was cancelled due to the war and the rubber from the balloons was used to supply the army.

🦃 The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade didn't even have balloons. Instead they featured animals from the Central Park Zoo.

🦃🦃🦃 For more fun facts about Thanksgiving 🦃🦃🦃

🦃 Mental Floss - 25 Little Known Facts About Thanksgiving

🦃 Mental Floss - 23 Thanksgiving Food Facts

🦃 Mental Floss - Debunking 18 Thanksgiving Myths

🦃🤣🦃 For A Good Laugh🦃🤣🦃

🦃🤣Addams Family Values (1993)- Wednesday's Revolt

🦃🤣Addams Family Thanksgiving Turkey Day Song

Trending on Tik Tok to Instagram, these so called "Chocolate Bombs" and/or "Cocoa Bombs" have gained a huge following and trend for 2020.

Chocolate Bomb/ Cocoa Bomb is basically a hollow chocolate shell filled with hot chocolate mix which usually consists of cocoa powder, some sugar (optional), and marshmallows.

The reason why it is gaining so much attention is because the experience is both delicious for the mouth and entertaining for the eyes to see.

Each "bomb" is slightly different depending on where you purchase it or make it yourself. The chocolate bomb can be experienced by either pouring hot milk over the chocolate bomb and watch it melt from the top view or place the "bomb" into a a cup already filled with hot milk and watch it disperse from below.

The item has gotten so popular that even Costco is selling a 16 pack of chocolate bombs with different flavors and the product is flying off its shelves. Some people are even taking advantage of the popularity and using the profits towards donations such as a local baker from North Idaho who sells it to raise money for Autism Speaks.

This tasty trend is going viral and hope it is a trend that will stay mainstream just a little bit longer and return every year. So cheers to those who are drinking the chocolate bombs!

My question is... who will be making the "Irish" Chocolate Bomb version?!? 😁

Photo Credit: newmediarockstars.com

With Halloween just weeks away and more holidays around the corner, chocolate has been a huge staple to celebrate the holidays. To the majority, chocolate is apart of our daily lives so why not learn some fun facts of chocolate!

Photo Credit: foodnavigator.com

🍫 Chocolate was first consumed by drinking not eating. 90% of chocolate consumption history was drinking "hot chocolate".

🍫 September 13th is International Chocolate Day and Milton Hershey, founder of Hershey's chocolates birthday.

🍫 The chocolate industry is worth $110 billion per year.

🍫German chocolate cake is not from Germany. The cake is named after an American named Sam German who developed a sweet baking chocolate in 1952.

🍫100 pounds of chocolate are eaten each second in the United States.

🍫 The average person from Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, and Great Britain consumes 24 pounds of chocolate each year and China 99 grams of chocolate each year.

🍫Ghirardelli brand is the U.S. portion of swiss confectioner Lindt.

Photo Credit: americanhistory.si.edu

🍫The United Kingdom sells 200 million Cadbury Creme Eggs each year and produces 1.5 million a day.

🍫A week before Easter🐰 , Americans purchase 71 million pounds of chocolate candy, 48 million pounds for Valentine's Day💟 , and 90 million pounds for Halloween 🎃.

🍫Harry Barnett Reese, the founder of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups was a former Hershey employee and created the famous candy in the 1920's.

🍫The scientific name for the cacao tree is "Theobroma Cacao" which literally translates to "Cacao, food of the Gods".

🍫It takes the whole years crop from one cacao tree to produce a half kilo of cocoa.

🍫Milton Hershey, founder of Hershey's Chocolate company expanded so rapidly that Milton built an entire town for his employees to live in.

🍫Napoleon always had chocolate with him. He ate it as whenever he needed an energy boost.

🍫 Chocolate producers worldwide use an estimated 20% of the world's peanut crops and 40% of their almond crops.

Photo Credit: lindt-home-of-chocolate.com

🍫 In 2020, Lindt Chocolate introduced the world's largest chocolate fountain that pours from 30 feet high with 1,500 liters of real chocolate pouring into a giant Lindor truffle at their latest Lindt shop, museum and factory.

🍫 Rodolphe Lindt, founder of Lindt Chocolate invented the conche press

🍫It takes about 400 beans to produce a single pound of chocolate.

🍫Each cacao tree produces approximately 2,500 beans

🍫Nutella was invented during World War Two, when an Italian pastry chef mixed hazelnuts into chocolate to extend his cocoa supply.

🍫The French celebrate April Fool's Day with a chocolate shaped fish also known as "Poisson d'Avril"

Saving the best fun fact for last!

🍫CaCao Noel is named after the founders of Paris Gourmet, Xavier and Dominique Noel!

More Fun Facts About Chocolate:

Mental Floss - Food History of Chocolate

EatThis.com - Chocolate Facts

Mental Floss- 30 Facts About Chocolate

Insider.com -Worlds Largest Chocolate Fountain Opens At Lindt Chocolate

Mental Floss - 38 Sweet Facts About Candy

CandyUSA.com - Story of Chocolate

Since July 14, 1789 the French have celebrated on this day as it became The French National Day and the anniversary of Storming of the Bastille. It was a turning point of the French Revolution and celebrates the unity of the French people every July 14th. Paris Gourmet has celebrated with their customers in the past with games of petanque, drinks, and delicious food to consume. Listed below are links on articles on how to celebrate this years Bastille Day. Bon apetit!

Celebrate Bastille Day Links:

Tres French Ways to Celebrate Bastille Day- Time Out New York

Celebrate Bastille Day- FrenchCulture.Org

Le District - The Go To Spot For All Your French Delicacies

It may look different, but the celebration is the same.

Parades. Remembrances. Family Barbecues. Theses are all the hallmarks of a typical Memorial Day celebration. But how we celebrate Memorial Day 2020 with be very different from years past. How will it maintain its special place in American hearts, not only as a day to remember America's heroes, but also as the unofficial start of summer? 

"It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. And some records show that one of the earliest Memorial Day commemoration was organized by a group of freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day." (History.com)

In the beginning , the day (known at that time as Decoration Day) was celebrated every year on May 30th, regardless of the day of the week.  In 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.

And as with any holiday, food (and group celebrations) have always played a large part. Whether it's with typical cookout fare of "burgers and dogs," or more traditional barbecue like ribs or briskets, Americans have used this day to come together. 

If you're going to have a small gathering of people over for a cookout, here's a great discussion about how to do so safely. If you'd rather bring in food from a local restaurant, there are great options available. Our friends at Eater have covered a lot of barbecue over the years. Here's a link to some of their recent coverage of great barbecue around the country that may help you get your fix this weekend.

Whatever you do, and however you celebrate, stay safe, eat well, and raise a glass to the brave men and women of our armed forces.