Le Plat du Jour

IT SEEMS ODD that we have been here for a month and haven't yet talked about food. After dinner tonight the kids said 'you have GOT to write about this on the blog.' Not because dinner was anything spectacular -- in fact it was quite the opposite: two salads, soup, fresh bread and cheese.

But it's the fresh ingredients that make a meal great. On my way home this evening I stopped off for a few items and decided to buy some fresh tomatoes. I don't know why, but I had a desperate craving for a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad even though we had the same salad two nights ago. [Note: I think my craving stems from the fact that I can by gorgeous tomatoes for about $1.25 per pound, a far cry from the $4.00+ I often paid in Maryland. It also helps that I can get a very large chunk of fresh mozzarella for just under 1 Euro.]

So our simple plat du jour this evening included the following:

• tomato and mozzeralla salad (with fresh olive oil made from the trees on the property where we are living -- a gift from the owner of the house)
• a tomato soup (from a box, no less...but we don't need to mention any more about that)
• a wonderful salad that Kerri made - with greens, apples, strawberries, chick peas, shredded carrots, and a sweet-tangy vinagrette
• two warm baguettes that the kids picked up after school
• a bit of cheese (comtè)

But the reason Patrick and Julia wanted us to mention the meal on this blog was because of the dessert: two crisp, fresh, succulent...Twix bars! Ah, now that's good eats.

CJS