Today has been a lovely day spent decorating the Christmas tree with my daughter. It is her first official day of Winter Break, so it seemed like the perfect day to decorate the tree (that and the fact that the tree has been up for over a week and has been begging for ornaments). This year is the first time she has had any interest in helping out, so it was a lot of fun! Our house finally looks like it’s in the Christmas spirit.
My daughter selected the placement for most of these ornaments. I love that the two duckies are together!
This week for Cook the Book Fridays, we made the Provençal treat known as Pissaladière. A lot like a pizza, it is topped with meltingly delicious caramelized onions, Niçoise olives, and anchovy fillets.
I successfully cut this recipe in half, and it made the perfect amount of tart. I had to add a little extra water to the dough, which may have been because of cutting the recipe in half, but was more likely because of my very dry climate. Because of the smaller size of my tart, I was able to bake it on my pizza stone.
I loved this tart! The crust was perfectly crisp and the toppings flavorful and delicious.
The French Fridays with Dorie crew made a version of Pissaladière from Around My French Table. I honestly couldn’t remember what I thought of that tart. If you are as curious as I was, check it out: Pissaladière from AMFT. This sentence stuck out to me: “My husband and I both like caramelized onions, but we both agreed we could do without the whole anchovies and would use more olives”. It is interesting because when I was eating David Lebovitz’s tart, I thought to myself that the anchovies were essential.
Despite my spotty memory, I am pretty sure that the Pissaladière from My Paris Kitchen has a slight edge over the one from AMFT. It is the one I will choose if I make it again.
I doubt I will be writing another blog post before Christmas, so I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
From Scratch 
My tree has been sitting in the LR since Thanksgiving when my grandsons bring it from the basement for me. It gives me a month to decide how to decorate. Always fun. Yours looks lovely and nice to enjoy it with your daughter. Your tart looks great, and wasn’t it delicious?
I can feel the warmth and the christmas spirits filling up this post. Wishing you and your family peace and joy of the season. The crust looks remarkable.
What a beautiful Christmas tree! This one was a nice easy recipe, wasn’t it? Loved how quickly the dough came together!
I think this dough is preferable to the dough we used in Dorie’s Pissaladiére. Usually when I make a recipe that I had made previously from AMFT cookbook, I usually prefer Dorie’s version but not this time. I agree with you. David wins out. Happy Holidays. Love your decorations.
Your tree looks so festive! You know, I had the same thought about the AMFT version. I knew we made it, but it wasn’t remarkable. I definitely preferred David’s version. Happy Holidays!
I love your duckies on the tree! I did visit much earlier and left my comment (that’s what I thought I did!). I have not made Dorie’s version so cannot compare, but this recipe was good. I made two versions, with and without anchovies! Both were equally nice!
Beautiful Christmas tree! Your tart looks fabulous, I agree this is one delicious tart!
Wish you and your family a blessed Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
So nice that you decorated the tree together – it looks so beautiful! I hope you had a lovely Christmas. Your tart turned out beautifully, too. I remember enjoying Dorie’s version of this tart, but this recipe is so good and straightforward that I think I’ll stick with it going forward.