What to feed a Frenchie

The younger generation making muffins for our tea time in March chez La Brune

My Frenchies are in the plane this very minute.  They left for the airport at 7:00 am France time (1:00 am EST) and are now headed across the Atlantic Ocean.  They will spend two nights in Washington, DC before boarding the bus that will bring them to my doorstep.  Well, actually, the doorstep of our school.  Are they having some of the same thoughts I have when I board the plan for France?  What will the weather be like?  Did I remember to put everything I should have in my suitcase?  And most importantly, what will I eat this time?  Will I go back to tried and true favorites or will I try something totally new?  

So... update two days later (got distracted and didn't finish the blog).
My Frenchies are now in a bus heading to Durham!  I still haven't solved the complete dilemma of what to feed them while they are here.  I asked my students for advice.  In French 7, we are studying food vocabulary.  In French 8, we've covered that a couple of times, but hey, it's French class.  It always comes back to food, just as almost every conversation in France does.  (Point that out to a real Frenchie and, once they think about it for a few minutes, it's like the cartoon where the light bulb goes off over the head...)

Mon dieu bon dieu, c'est vrai.

(Image courtesy of my amazing Skitch-ing ability and

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/karikatur-gl%C3%BChlampe-20860908.jpg)

Here's the list the kiddies came up with--  (We do this en français, of course!)

Hamburgers
Hot dogs
Chicken parmesan
Pizza
Spaghetti
Quesadillas

See where this is headed?  What's American cuisine?  I asked that question and that's what I got for American specialities.  Let's try again.

Bojangles
McDonald's
El Rodeo

(Big sigh)

Next try.  Okay, let's say I am making lunch on Easter Sunday for my house guests.  What should I serve?  (Brilliant, n'est-ce pas?)  Finally...

le jambon - ham
les pommes de terre en purée - mashed potatoes
les haricots verts - green beans
le maïs - corn
Cornbread  - no French equivalent here...  but great idea!
la tarte aux pommes - apple pie

So, the long and short of it at this point in time is that tonight we are ordering Chinese take-out, in little white cartons just like in Friends episodes, from the restaurant near my house, served with chilled Tavel rosé that Mlle de Tavel sent back with me in March.  With IronWoman's killer cookies for dessert. Tomorrow night, baseball park food at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (could we get more American?), a cook-out chez IronWoman on Saturday night, the above-mentioned feast on Sunday in honor of Easter, and that's as far as I've gotten.  I have to ask my guests of honor what they would like to try that they haven't already tasted and we will plan from there.  La Brune makes a fabulous pasta dish with fettuccine, mushrooms, cream, onions, and bacon.  I've tried to replicate it, but mine just is not as good as hers.  I will try to pay more attention this time and be the world's best assistante.
Oui, chef!

La Blonde et la Brune will soon be reunited.  In less than two hours.

Here we are in March with Jean-Marc Roubaud, M. le Maire of Villeneuve-lez-Avignon.  We had an official welcoming ceremony.  Trop cool, hein?  And François Hollande, M. le Président de la République française, is looking over us from the wall.

Bon appétit and happy eatin' to my Frenchies!