oui oui to french day

A bottle of French Bordeaux inspired me to have company over for dinner. I had given it to Barb for her birthday and being the kind and sweet person that she is...she wanted to share it with me. I suggested sharing it while watching a French movie. So I invited her to come over and watch my favorite French movie, Amelie. Then, what the heck, why not have her stay for dinner? So on Sunday Barb showed up with a French baguette, brie, fresh raspberries, raspberry jam and a bouquet of flowers. Barb had seen Amelie before but she had never seen Moulin Rouge (another Frenchie movie that I own), so we watched it instead. We snacked and shed a few tears for Satine before Barb's hub, Mike, showed up for dinner.


I love setting a pretty table and planning a meal. I saw some cute quilted April Cornell place mats at Wegman's that featured a chanticleer, but they were a bit pricey at $10 each, so I settled for the April Cornell napkins and some much less expensive but bright and cheery place mats. I used Gerber daisies in cream and yellow to make a centerpiece and in tiny vases at each place setting.


I wanted to have a French menu but most of the French entrees didn't really sound that good to me. My menu ended up being a green salad with homemade red French dressing, salmon baked on sliced apples and onions with maple syrup glaze, spoon bread grits with savory mushroom sauce, peas with celery and olives, homemade cheesy brioche and homemade meringue cake. I had never made the cake, the bread or the spoon bread before so I was taking a bit of a chance, but lo and behold, everything turned out delicious. I didn't subject my company to the torture of me taking pictures of their food or of them eating so I have nothing to show you. I can tell you that I have been enjoying the spoon bread for lunches during the week and it is a recipe that I will definitely make it again. B has been enjoying the cake. He actually told me that it is one of the best desserts that he has ever had in his life. What a compliment! It was good. It was a simple cake batter with meringue baked on top of both layers and then the layers were stacked on top of one another with a custard made from Eggbeaters, cornstarch and light sour cream in the middle.


This little bunny was watching us eat dinner while he guarded the tulips.
Barb e-mailed me the sweetest thank you note on Monday. She used e-stationery with a sky blue background and stamps from different countries down the side of it. So clever. And this is what it said.

Mona,

I had the most amazing dinner last night. Mike and I went to this quaint little place in the village with our best friends called Le Schickling. The atmosphere was lovely with flowers and colorful artisan wear. I shared a bottle of French wine, brie with raspberries and jam and a movie with my best friend...who could have asked for a lovelier day...a lovelier evening.

Thank you,

Barb

Thank you Barb and Mike for sharing your Sunday with us. It was a lovely day and we will have to do it again soon. Next maybe we could watch Pan's Labyrinth and have a Spanish theme meal or Girl with a Pearl Earring and have a Dutch theme meal.


Speaking of movies...B and I saw this one last weekend. We both highly recommend it. I'll be adding it to my list of movies that I want to own.