Back in Action

 I've been gone from my blog for awhile. It wasn't intentional by any means; I do enjoy posting about school, issues in librarianship, my family, and of course the weekly recipes. But it's hard to feel the motivation when you are sick and just want to lie in bed nice and quiet and stare at the wall, hoping that swallowing chicken broth won't be so painful next time. All last week, I was effectively put out of commission because of strep throat. I've had it before (I had it a lot when I was a child), so I know what to expect. That doesn't make it fun, just bearable.

Anyway, I'm back in action and a lot has happened in the last few days. I had the exhausting but exhilerating experience of helping my mother cook a grande dîner for some important church dignitaries. It's a very big deal for her, as she's a very devout member of the Church (and she mentioned how happy Nonni--my great-grandmother--would be to have them there as it was her house many years ago and she also loved the Church). I have chosen a different path than my parents (at least in terms of religion), but that doesn't change the fact that I know my duty to my parents and my family. She needed the help, so I offered mine.

Now, about this dinner. It was a ten-course formal French dinner (although we pushed the last three courses together because it was getting very late at that point and us poor folks in the kitchen were getting exhausted). French dining is very different from American dining, even formal American dining. A formal French dinner can easily take 4-5 hours, especially if the courses aren't rushed (something which Americans tend to do). And the French have made a sort of religion of eating--there is a ceremony to the way the courses are planned to allow a person to fully enjoy and appreciate the flavor of every course. Here's a break down of our menu:

Course 1: two kinds of paté with toast points and fig preserves, all served with a black muscat (a wonderful sweet wine)
Course 2: a potage, a type of soup that's made with vegetables in a very specific way that really brings out all the subtle flavors of the vegetables (I'll see if I can convince my mom to let me post this recipe!)
Course 3: bouché à la Reine, which was shrimp and scallop in a white wine sauce over puff paste
Course 4: lemon sorbet with a few drops of brandy over it. The sorbet is to cleanse the palette between the fish and meat courses; the brandy helps to make the flavor of the sorbet pop out even more.
Course 5: the main course (the meat course)--pork with a creamy sauce of wild mushrooms, served with beets and roasted potatoes
Course 6: a simple salad of butter lettuce tossed with oil/vinegar and salt/pepper
Course 7: a selection of 4 French-style cheeses including chevre, a bleu cheese, a Saint Andres, and a hard cheese (I forgot the name of it)
Course 8: whole pears cooked in red wine
Course 9: coffee
Course 10: cognac and port with chocolate truffles

One big difference you may notice between this and American cuisine is that the salad is served after the main course. I don't remember the reason the French do it this way, but my older brother--a true francophone and French culture expert--would know. I will ask him. Another difference is that coffee traditionally gets its own course--it's served solo without any dessert to accompany it. Also, the reason that cheese is served after the majority of the meal is to "close the stomach," as my brother puts it; the cheese helps with digestion after a big meal. A dinner like this is something that many French would only have a few times in their life; Americans probably never have a meal like this presented with the ceremony and ritual of formal French dining. It is a wonderful experience; I would recommend that you try it once.

For the cooking crew, it is a lot of work. With the guests that we had, I don't think that they realized what was coming. I don't think any of them had any idea what a formal French dinner is before now. Regardless, they very much enjoyed it, and one of the dignitaries (a bishop) called it Babette's Feast. So it was a very special night for all.

The other thing that has happened is that a wiki I helped to inspire is up and running. One of the topics that had come up in my class is homelessness and librarians' de facto role as social service providers, which led to my comment on a reading that said no list of social services resources being used in libraries yet exists. My question was "why not?" So my instructor talked to someone she knew who started work on getting a wiki up to act as a resource where people can post those services, resources, and information about social responsibility in libraries. I'll post the link after the semester since we're not advertising it quite yet; right now, there's not a lot up, but as more information is added it will continue to grow. I'm so excited that it's up; I've already made several contributions and plan to continue to do so on an ongoing basis. I really hope that it can grow into a valuable resource for all public libraries (and even academic or school libraries). The people that can benefit from these services and resources are the ones that are most often shoved under the carpet by society, and it's horribly cruel and degrading to them that it should be this way. Libraries should be the leading force behind helping these people to feel valued especially since many libraries are seen as and behave like community centers; this wiki is another step towards that goal. Please don't disregard this part of the population; they are people just like you and me. I'll step down off my soap box (for now).

I'll be posting a recipe for the cheesecake I'm making for Thanksgiving later today or tomorrow (I don't have the recipe with me right now).