The One Snack Julia Child Set Out Every Single Thanksgiving

While some party hosts and home cooks stress over placing planned menus onto dining room tables for the holidays, Julia Child took a more relaxed approach to entertaining. Child made sure to set out a bowl of Goldfish crackers for guests to nosh on before courses were served. The salty, crunchy crackers complemented the cocktails Child liked to serve to guests, setting the stage for a relaxed gathering and loosening the inhibitions of those present.

Dorie Greenspan, an author who spent a summer with Child in her home to observe the goings on in Child's kitchen, noted that the TV cook liked to snack on Pepperidge Farm Goldfish while sipping on martinis. Child tweaked the standard cocktail recipe to make her martinis, however, dumping in more vermouth than gin to make a boozy sipper known as a reverse martini. Reverse cocktails invert the proportions of ingredients associated with a classic drink recipe. Bite-sized pieces of crunchy Goldfish offer just the right balance of salty or cheesy flavor that can complement such a savory, herby drink like Child's chosen martini.

Should you want to put your own twist on Julia Child's hosting tactics, you can try to make your own baked Goldfish-style crackers to set out and serve to those attending your holiday dinners. If you simply want to take the fast-track to hosting success, do as Child did and rip open a package of Goldfish crackers to pour into a pretty dish to display. Match the flavor profile of the pre-dinner drinks you are planning to pass around with the various flavors of Goldfish available for purchase. Salt and vinegar or sour cream and onion flavored crisps provide alternatives to the familiar bags of cheddar cheese crackers, or you can get generous and offer an assortment of flavors for your friends to choose from. When the snacks first hit the market back in the 1960s, the flavors available were original (lightly salted), smoky, cheese, pizza, and barbecue.

We're not sure which flavor Child liked best, but we hope she set out the crackers just as much for herself as for her guests to enjoy. With more time to focus on mixing up and serving cocktails, both you as the host and your attending guests may feel a bit lighter going into the evening.