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Holiday Survival Guide: Julia Child Style

Elizabeth Bastos

Staff Writer

Elizabeth Bastos has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, and writes at her blog 19th-Century Lady Naturalist. Follow her on Twitter: @elizabethbastos

1) Preliminaries: Frying pan. Wine. Small pig. Vacuum the guest room.

2) Attitude: Softened butter. Hand towels.

3) Unmolding, flambeeing, and serving? Avert your face, when igniting the rum, likewise, when cousin Constanza waxes poetic about the Tea Party, and your son Gregory has been occupying Portland in a tree.

4) With French puff pastry you can make free-standing shells of any size and shape that you wish, and you may wish to encase the entire living room.

5) Your sole problem – which need be no problem at all – is to keep the dough cold while you are working it.