Dinner in France
Oh la la! Notre diner était délicieux!! We had coq au vin with mashed potatoes. J. gets credit for making the dinner while I sat and separated and repotted little broccoli and cabbage seedlings.
Everyone loved it. I'm not sure what there would have been not to love, though... chicken, vegetables, rich wine sauce. Mmmm.
I dithered a little bit about what to serve for dessert. I could go the pâte á choux route and make something such as cream puffs. While I do love a good cream puff, I admit to feeling as though I didn't really want to spend all day in the kitchen making dessert.
During college, I spent a month one summer in Paris going to school with Parson's School of Design and taking classes at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. It was a fantastic month and I ate many wonderful meals, but one I particularly remember was when we were in Reims to visit the cathedral. We were on our own for lunch after our class toured the cathedral. Some friends and I headed to the open air market in the center of town, bought fruit, bread, and cheese, took it to a small park and ate our lunch. It was a beautiful day and the food, while simple, matched the day. With that in mind and remembering that having a cheese course after dinner was a 'thing', I decided that is what we would do for our French dessert.
Going clockwise, starting with the triangle, we had brie, a triple cream soft cheese, goat cheese with garlic and herbs, fontina, and Camembert. Those are fresh blackberries between the cheeses with some cashews added to the center.
I was actually surprised at how many of my children didn't mind the soft French cheese. It is kind of an acquired taste. At their age, I'm sure I wouldn't have even tried it. But most were pretty daring and many enjoyed it. The fontina, a semi-soft cheese, was the least favorite of the bunch.
During dinner we also listened to a Putamayo CD of French cafe music. Am I the only one with a mild Putamayo obsession? I love them. The 2005 sampler CD is my favorite and the children all call it the cooking music because J. and I listen to it while we fix dinner so often.
Today we will add to our travel journals and get our passports stamped on our way out of France. Tomorrow we will be heading to the Netherlands.
Everyone loved it. I'm not sure what there would have been not to love, though... chicken, vegetables, rich wine sauce. Mmmm.
I dithered a little bit about what to serve for dessert. I could go the pâte á choux route and make something such as cream puffs. While I do love a good cream puff, I admit to feeling as though I didn't really want to spend all day in the kitchen making dessert.
During college, I spent a month one summer in Paris going to school with Parson's School of Design and taking classes at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. It was a fantastic month and I ate many wonderful meals, but one I particularly remember was when we were in Reims to visit the cathedral. We were on our own for lunch after our class toured the cathedral. Some friends and I headed to the open air market in the center of town, bought fruit, bread, and cheese, took it to a small park and ate our lunch. It was a beautiful day and the food, while simple, matched the day. With that in mind and remembering that having a cheese course after dinner was a 'thing', I decided that is what we would do for our French dessert.
Going clockwise, starting with the triangle, we had brie, a triple cream soft cheese, goat cheese with garlic and herbs, fontina, and Camembert. Those are fresh blackberries between the cheeses with some cashews added to the center.
I was actually surprised at how many of my children didn't mind the soft French cheese. It is kind of an acquired taste. At their age, I'm sure I wouldn't have even tried it. But most were pretty daring and many enjoyed it. The fontina, a semi-soft cheese, was the least favorite of the bunch.
During dinner we also listened to a Putamayo CD of French cafe music. Am I the only one with a mild Putamayo obsession? I love them. The 2005 sampler CD is my favorite and the children all call it the cooking music because J. and I listen to it while we fix dinner so often.
Today we will add to our travel journals and get our passports stamped on our way out of France. Tomorrow we will be heading to the Netherlands.
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