French Thanksgiving With Penny Drue Baird

Even more than serving up the best traditional turkey and all its fixings, minimizing the possibility of chaos is probably the most important part of pulling off an elegant Thanksgiving dinner, at least according to East Hampton part-timer Penny Drue Baird.

The interior designer, who splits her time between New York and Paris, is best known as one of the “AD 100,” an honor conferred on the top 100 architects and designers by Architectural Digest magazine. But she is also an experienced hostess who regularly pulls off elaborate French Thanksgiving-themed dinners every year. This year, she will entertain 20 people for a sit-down dinner at her East Hampton home on Thanksgiving Day, and approximately 60 the next day for an informal buffet.

According to Ms. Baird, the key to gracious entertaining is to be organized and to keep things simple. “Take things in stride,” she said. “Be organized and know what things you have to do and when. The more you do in advance, the better, and keep it simple so you’re not in the kitchen the whole time.”

Her tradition of throwing French Thanksgiving dinners began about 10 years ago, Ms. Baird said, when she and her husband, Fred, bought an apartment in Paris. Throwing a party on Thanksgiving was a special reminder of being back home in America, especially for the couple’s three youngest children, Alexander, Benjamin and Phillip.

French specialties, which don’t need to be prepared at home, figure greatly into Ms. Baird’s traditional American Thanksgiving dinners with a Parisian twist, no matter if her family is celebrating overseas, in East Hampton or in Manhattan. To the turkey—the French preparation calls for boiling it first—stuffing and apple pie, she adds: foie gras with figs; cheese platters from Barthelemy, her favorite cheese shop on Rue de Grenuille in the 7th Arrondissement, near her home in France; bread from Poilane in the 6th Arrondissement, which also is nearby; oysters; and

morrons confit,

chestnuts in a juicy syrup to spoon over the dessert. And she never forgets the cornbread and popovers from the States.

“I don’t like to do a lot of last-minute cooking, but I also don’t like freezing,” she said. “Foods like foie gras and cheese are perfect complements, and they are easy.”

Every year, Ms. Baird will do the basic cooking herself, including a “giant turkey.” Favorite recipes include “Benjamin’s Apple Pie,” Roquefort endive salad, hot carrot cake, and roasted turkey with foie gras stuffing, a recipe created by Gerard Mulot.

But, she warned, special holidays are not the time to try elaborate recipes for the first time.

“I used to get flack for trying to make everything, all the crazy recipes,” she said. “People want their cranberries from a can on Thanksgiving, so I’ll serve that—but sometimes I’ll add the more refined version too.”

When in Paris, finding American food isn’t as hard as one might think, Ms. Baird reported. “There’s a store in Paris called ‘Thanksgiving,’ and it sells American products year-round,” she said, adding that she also orders her favorite French goodies to serve when she entertains here.

Aside from the food, there are other little dinner party tricks that guarantee success, according to Ms. Baird. “I have a lot of props,” she said. “Things that I’ve used all through my entertaining career that make things easy.”

Some of Ms. Baird’s favorite props are collectables, like “little teeny glasses” or hors d’oeuvres plates and silverware, which she picks up during her travels. She is also an advocate of real “wash-and-wear” linen napkins, especially if they are monogrammed, to add a touch of elegance. But she’ll also throw in kitschy props that are distinctly American, like chocolate turkeys, which her Parisian friends especially love.

“If the budget allows, props can really add to the party,” she said.

Ms. Baird said she also used to encourage her youngest son, Phillip, to entertain her Parisian friends with tales of American traditions during dinnertime. “I used to make poor Phillip dress up in an Indian costume and stand on a chair and recite the story of Thanksgiving from children’s books,” she said. “I’m sure my French friends didn’t really get it, but it was always still a great dinner.”

Another fun thing to do at a dinner party is to add in a gaming or activity element, Ms. Baird said. She and her family will sometimes put famous quotes in a bowl and pass the bowl around for everyone to read from and discuss. That sometimes sparks conversations about what is meaningful or important, she said. “Or sometimes it won’t,” she added.

And, of course, lastly, when entertaining anywhere, don’t forget the wine and champagne, Ms. Baird warned. She added that there is only one significant difference between an American Thanksgiving and French Thanksgiving: “You need a couple of bottles in America but a whole case in France,” she laughed.