During the soirée weekend, one of the guests remarked on how lovely it is to sit in an actual dining room to share a meal with friends. (Modern open floor plans often eliminate dining rooms.) It reminded me that ten years ago this month, I had the lifetime delight of renting a flat in Paris (with a dining room!) and enjoying a special time with a revolving cast of friends who came through and spent time with me in this amazing city! This post I had started a decade ago, but never finished, so I’m posting it today for a few reasons. The first is that, for a long time, we haven’t been able to gather around a table with friends, but now we can! So, I’m encouraging you to plan that dinner party you’ve been procrastinating on and give the beautiful gift of a meal around a table. You won’t regret it.
Secondly, with Easter celebrations approaching, both of the following dishes–Beef Bourguignon or Moules Crême FraÎche would make a wonderful Easter celebration. Both of these recipes are available in Around the World with Picturebooks Part II in the French section. Or if that’s unavailable, you can follow Julia Child’s recipe for the Beef Bourguignon or any Moules à la marinière recipe for the mussels (but do thicken with crême fraÎche)! Bon appetite!
From April 2012: Well, as many of my readers know, I’ve been in Paris now for two full weeks, and this is the first morning we are taking a break from tourist sites. It is a dreary Paris day, with intermittent hail, consistent rain, and bracing wind that makes pounding the streets, cobblestone or not, not an inviting option today. We have stood in a number of long lines to see some fabulous sights, despite rain, and biting cold winds off the Seine. A highlight was the Robert Doisneau exhibit–a remarkable French photographer of last century who captured iconic images of French life–particularly the common man. Remarkably, despite having to wait a long time in the rain and cold for this exhibit, the girls have not complained and my traveling companions have been hearty and unflinching! There have been some truly remarkable highlights, but as cooking in Paris has been a long held dream, I’m stopping here.
My dream has been to have a flat where I could cook some traditional French dishes after shopping at the local farmer’s markets. I’ve been able to realize that now in the joy of cooking some fresh Coquilles St. Jacques, Boeuf Bourguignon, and Moules crème fraîche Normandie (my name for mussels cooked in crème fraîche from Normandy). My inspiration for the latter dish came from having had this marvelous dish after visiting Monet’s home in Giverny on a crisp October day last year, and then being given two special gifts. One was a dvd from my daughter, titled “Monet’s Table” after the book of the same name given me by a dear friend (see above). So now, with the aid of the local poissonnier (who sold me both gorgeous coquilles and moules), I have had the distinct pleasure of making them with authentic Normandy butter and crème fraîche. But don’t despair–you can now buy Normandy butter at Whole Foods. While I would not recommend making a habit of it, (it is so delicious it’s impossible to stop sampling it!) but for a special occasion it is truly wonderful! Served with crusty hot French bread with either of these two dishes will make for a worthy feast for a beautiful Easter. Joyeuses Pâques!
!
working on my forthcoming guide Around the World with Picturebooks, I have been writing notes for Katherine Paterson’s The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks. This delightful folk tale of Japan was new to me, having read mostly Paterson’s middle grade and YA works like The Great Gilly Hopkins, The Bridge to Terabithia, and Jacob Have I Loved. I have enjoyed all of these and was delighted to find she had written some picturebooks also. I had known she was raised in China, daughter to missionary parents there, but I wasn’t aware that as an adult she went to Japan for missionary work and grad school. I also wasn’t aware that she had adopted two daughters (as have I) and that she fostered children as well. Recently she was interviewed by Lauren Daley regarding how the story of The Great Gilly Hopkins came to her. The Great Gilly Hopkins, if you haven’t read it, concerns a very angry girl (justifiably so) who has been abandoned by her mother and bounced around foster families until she is completely unattached and out of control. Katherine’s ability to get inside Gilly’s head and portray her so believably struck me deeply all those years ago and has stayed with me. In a recent interview Paterson talks about her inspiration for the book:
All that to say, that if you haven’t read The Great Gilly Hopkins to your family, the Advent season might be a truly fine time to do so. It is a book that will cultivate a “deep trench of empathy” in your children that will help them to see how blessed they are and how much we need to stand with those who have been thought of as disposable. The other great news is that The Great Gilly Hopkins was made into a movie (by Katherine Paterson’s sons–which to me as a #wildandfreemama is the greatest legacy we can have as parents–when our children expand on and extend the work we’ve begun!) and it is available for Christmas giving! You can read more about it 
One of the topics I will be speaking on is: Classic Literature for Character Building (or Character Through Literature), so I wanted to take a moment to give a brief overview of what my session will cover as you make plans for your GHC weekend!
“Words are how we think; stories are how we link.” Christina Baldwin
