It all started innocently enough, coffee and pastry treats at 9:30. Five people in Lauri’s kitchen is five people in the back seat of a Volkswagen Bug. All gathered around three sides of a table, all with coffee, all with something to say or add , all on the topics of; American TV, comedy, humor, politics, British TV, cooking, travel, parking tickets and taxes. Oh by the way, the sweet treats just kept the sugar rush of conversation that much more animinated.
After the dust settled and David decided to go to work we decided to go to Le Buisson to the train station and buy tickets for the trip back to Paris. But wait, by the time we get ready to leave it is 15 minutes till noon. The ticket counter will be closed at noon till 2:00.
What to do in 15 minutes, when everything closes for dejeuner. Off to the hardware store to look for sharpening stones? No joy but we did get in and out before noon. And, we were able to stop at the wine store. The wine store is a warehouse with all kinds of wine and 475 different scotches. After being overwhelmed by the wine and a whole wall of “water of life!” We go back to the bulk wine section where you can bring a jug and they fill it with vin de pays, blanc or rouge. What is fun about this is that if you buy a jug from them it is 2.90 euros. To fill the two liter jug is 2.00 euros. We buy 2 liters of rouge, it’s local and it taste good. Cooking and dinner wine all in one.
After our whirlwind 15 minute shopping spree we decide to go over and have lunch while we wait for 14:00 and the ticket counter to open at the train station. Just a few kilometers away we get to Le Buisson to find everything, including food establishments closed too? It is Monday, nothing is open at noon or on Mondays… Finally we find a cafe across the street from the station where we can get lunch, guess they hadn’t read the rule book about not being open?
Lauri has a crepe and cafe
Linda has a mushroom omlettes and salad
I have a cote mister and salad
By the time we finish the ticket counter is open and we find a reallyhelpfulticketagentwhodoesntspeakEnglish until we try French. We purchase our ticket and can now plan our schedule for tomorrow. We have to include closing the house too since Lauri is riding back to Bordeaux with us and going back to Michigan.
By the time we get back to Le Bugue it is almost 4:00 and time to start preparing dinner. We have been invited to Cheryl’s house next door if we cook the dinner. She brings us pork chops, sausage, and vegetables. Tis is clean out the refrigerator time since everyone is leaving for the states soon. Lauri has green beans, romain, bell peppers and tomatoes. We also have fresh bag gets and wine. What can we do with this?
Back to Lauri’s kitchen, the work surfaces are tall enough for midgets, there is a two burner electric hot plate and again it is the size of a phone booth, it all reminds me of reading Julia’s biography and her early cooking in Paris. So Linda and I attack. Butchering the pork into small pieces we decide to brown the meat in olive oil and butter, sauté the onions, add the sausage removed from its casing, add potatoes, carrots, add a large amount of red wine. And let it simmer for three hours. The house smelled wonderful and Cheryl said she could smell it next door. She would prepare the rice we would serve it on.
Our starter was baked figs, from St. jean back yard, wrapped in prosciutto and cheese. Next course was grilled hearts of romain dipped in olive oil , drizzled with balsamic and diced red pepper.
When we served the stew over the rice we topped each serving with sautéed green beans.
Denies and Hugh, two expat engineers. Also from Harbor Springs brought an oatcake with pears that we added fresh strawberries to. Not a bad clean out the refrigerator dinner!
One of the topics other than sharing stories about ourselves to get to know each other was related to the concept of having people to dinner. Two words were used, entertainment and hospitality. What do these two mean to you?
It was proposed that entertainment was an attempt to competitively bring people in and provide an evening that was meant to show off one’s ability or means. Hospitality on the other hand was to bring people together for the purpose of pleasurable interaction and good food, with out pretense. Thoughts?
Julia (Linda) and Tom left early due to an early morning get up. All the food and wine were gone anyway.
raconteur-isms 