The Dinner Party

Bonjour!

As I write this I write this, I am trying to get into the French mindset. Therefore, I am drinking an nice cup of tea and enjoying a slice of tarte aux poires (pear tart) while listening to a great playlist on 8tracks . I suggest you do the same (at least listen to the playlist!)!

Anyways, on to the dinner party! This past Tuesday my landlady, Madame D., was throwing a dinner party at the house to which myself and my lovely housemate, Edwina, were invited to attend.  It turned out to be quite the affair (Please forgive the lack of pictures... I was often too distracted by the food that I forgot!). 

We began in the sitting area for appetizers and sparkling rosé. We then moved to the dining table to enjoy the first course.

For the first course, we had a seafood aspic. I will admit... I was a little frightened (Yes, I realize I am supposed to be the foodie willing to face anything, but it was seafood in gelatin! Seafood Jello! We don't eat that in the U.S. Ever.). A torrent of images of myself forcing each bite down my throat, gagging, in front of everyone were filling my mind. Once I put that first bite in my mouth though, a flood of relief filled me. It wasn't bad! In fact... I liked it!  So much so that I finished the entire thing! I was quite proud of myself!  

The lovely seafood aspic

For the second course, we dined on a very Fall inspired dish:  Veal with a mushroom sauce, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted pears, and roast plums. This was accompanied with a nice red wine.

The third course was the fromage course with three different types of cheese served with slices of fresh baguette. 

 

Next was the dessert. It is Madame D's absolute favorite from a shop called Aux Mervilleux du Fred. They are famous for these meringues that are then covered in and filled with chocolate whipped cream, and then covered in chocolate shavings. Heavenly. I failed to take a picture at the time, but here is a picture of them from the Aux Mervilleux website: 

Following the dessert, we enjoyed some of the famous Pierre Hermé macarons that one of the guests brought as a gift for Madame D. So beautiful! 

I later discovered the one I picked out turned out to be Orange-Carrot. Interesting to be

sure! I never would have guessed that flavor, but it was good.

After all this, Madame D brought out the hard liquor. I passed on that, and moved onto tea. By the time we were finished it was past midnight. On a Tuesday night. Only in France will 70+ year old women have dinner parties go until the early hours of the morning. All of us young'uns were falling asleep, but she could have kept going for a few more hours! 

Great food, good wine, nice company. What a night!

With Love,

Christine