Un dimanche autour de la table...

We spent the afternoon with some friends from church on Sunday. They are a lovely family- an older couple, Bernard and Aline, and Marie their daughter with her husband Romiald, and daughters Alice and Louise. We go to a French church and have been greatly enriched by our friendships there. Interacting with them over the years I have been stretched and amazed at how different we are with regard to perspective, language, and culture yet comforted and encouraged that we know the same Savior and are one in Spirit. This week, we decided to get together after church at the last minute, so some of the formalities were skipped- for example, we did not take a gift to the hostess and Danny and Romiald picked up Domino's Pizza and a bottle of Rose for the meal. This was the first time that our friends had tried Domino's pizza, so there were questions about the recipe, the toppings, etc. It was so interesting to eat a meal with French people which was not prepared by someone at the table. The normal course of conversation in which we discuss at length the preparation of the food was cut short (perhaps because I am not well informed of Domino's recipes). However, the courses carried on and the manner in which the meal was served was elegant anyway. It never ceases to amaze me that elegance and grace is just so much a part of them that they cannot help but serve even pizza in this manner! Everyone's plate was served- no every man for himself like it would have been at our house. :) There was a huge green salad with homemade vinaigrette (no store bought dressings for us!) Then after we finished our pizza, there was a beautiful cheese tray with fresh figs to eat with a delicious red wine. Then it was time for coffee and ice cream after which the conversation turned to the contamination of the food supply in France.

I thought that I was so much healthier living over here, but it turns out that the fruits and veggies are genetically modified here too. There are no hormone or antibiotique injections in the meat though. That is a definite plus. But, I learned that they do feed the cattle "torteau" which is basically a little cake made from the leftovers at the septic treatment plant- Quelle horreur! Romiald told about a program he had seen on TV that showed hundreds of square miles of dusty fields in the US where cows were hanging out and being fed by an airplane that flys over and drops the food. This was unthinkable for Aline and Marie who live here in Auvergne with us where there are miles and miles of farmland where cattle roam and eat grass, nourishing themselves naturally. While the girls played in the jardin, we chatted and picked apples to eat from Aline's tree in order to "equilibrer le repas"- balance our meal. Pizza isn't a nutritionally balanced meal, you know. Guess that's why they fed the children first- an alternate meal. SA held out for the Domino's, though. She is a true blue Amercian girl. CG had a "repas bebe" (baby meal) that was in the freezer, but of course it was homemade too. She loved this little puree of carrots, poireaux, and potatoes. I am trying to recreate it for her tonight. Aline claims that the secret is in the carrots. She buys her carrots from a local lady who sells her vegetables at the market in town. They are according to Aline, "pas comme des carrotes horrible industrielle, amer!!!"- translation- not like the horrible industrial carrots that are bitter. She is right, the carrots in the puree were very sweet. I am tempted to go track down her carrot lady if my veggie guy's carrots from our market turn out to be less tasty! I am having difficulty feeding CG lately. She is not impressed with my homemade babyfood efforts and she doesn't like store bought either. What's a girl to do? Well, I am off to peel more carrots and potatoes. Nothing is fast and easy that's good for you, right? As Marie loves to remind me, "Everything is better that is fait maison- homemade."