19 August 2002

Preparing Mexican Food for a French Party

Today I spent the afternoon making Mexican food for a party we are having tomorrow night.  We are calling it a “Cat Housewarming” because our cats have just arrived from the US. 

I took a picture of the cats sitting on the stairway and put it in a frame on the mantel.  Those cats are not about to venture down with  strangers here.   Actually it’s just an excuse to invite new friends and a few acquaintances over to see if we would like to know them better.

The reason I decided on Mexican food is everyone around here said they hadn’t had that type of food before.  I think most of them are coming to the party to eat the Mexican food.  I am sure you can get that sort of thing in Paris, but not in little 'ol Senlis.   It’s kind of like Zanesville:  you can’t buy really good Mexican food there but you can drive to Athens and eat at CASA where the food is devine.

It is possible to buy corn tortillas in the exotic food section at the “hyper marche” in Chantilly.  I hate to go there because there is so much to figure out with strange words for products, and the check out is a nightmare if, for some reason my credit card doesn’t go through.  I can’t write a check because I don’t know how to spell the French words for numbers like One Hundred Twenty Two.  Even if I did know how to spell them I can’t figure out how the checks are written so my credit card makes things easy…that is as long as the bank isn’t down or the card won’t swipe.

Slim fast is in the health food section of the big supermarket along with soy milk, Chinese food and peanut butter.    I had to laugh the first time I saw the selection in a location where I would normally think I could trust that the food is healthy.  Slim Fast and health food seem like an oxymoron to me.

My new best friend is a food processor that also doubles as a blender.  The machine can actually be either a food processor or with another attachment it becomes a blender.  I am mesmerized by how it works.  I use it to grind up turkey for tacos and kidney beans to make refried beans.  You can’t buy ground up turkey or chicken here.  You can buy horse meat and goat.

Of course in Southeast Ohio nobody would eat horse meat.  I can’t imagine going to Kroger’s and seeing a big sign, “Horse meat in the frozen and fresh food section”.  Yuck!  Although I do remember back in the 1970’s in Athens, Ohio there was talk of being able to buy horse meat for humans to eat.  But then you know those people around Athens.

The healthy food in France is not found in the exotic food section.  It's the produce.  You can't believe all of the lovely vegetables and fruits that are available everywhere:  raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb.  It's amazing!

The real miracle of this afternoon’ cooking session is that I can create all of the food to feed 32 people and manage to fit it into the refrigerator along with food for the next two days.  That refrigerator is so tiny and yet I manage to get a lot into it.  When the little thing gets too full it freezes up some of the vegetables in the lower section of the frig.  Does that make sense?

So tomorrow is our first party.  Every single person I invited is coming.  I’ve never had everyone I’ve invited agree to come to a party.  I guess they want to see how Americans live.  Boy, are they going to be in for a big surprise.  We don’t have a single fancy thing, unless you count the quilted wall hanging my sister-in-law Pris made for my husband before we were married.  It’s the one art object we own and it has hung in every house we’ve lived in.

I didn’t even have enough pans and serving dishes.  In a little bit of a panic I walked through each dish I was serving and what I would put the stuff into.  One day I even drove down to Paris and bought more dishes to match the ones I bought earlier.  When I realized 32 people were coming I gave up on matching real dishes and bought Chinette-type plates with paper napkins.  What the heck!  After all I am an American and we are much more informal then the French.

The French seem to have courses to their meals which include wine at different stages.  The children eat before the adults.  There are several types of glasses, silverware and plates.  AND this is just at an ordinary person’s house.

In the end I am more relaxed not trying to compete.  My grandma would have given me a good talking to about all of this because as common a woman as she was, she knew how to set a lovely table, and cook the best food I ever ate.

If it’s fit to tell, I’ll send you an update.