Thursday, November 22, 2007

action de grâce


We set the table with mismatched silver, my grandmother's second-best china, and the etched wine glasses that we bought, years ago, at a store in Normandy with a hand-lettered sign out front reading brocante, a word that we later learned was most accurately translated as junk. L took care of almost all of the shopping and cooking, while I made a cranberry kuchen (which is, I'm fairly sure, the tastiest dessert ever) and whipped a half pint of cream in an enormous bowl.

We had invited some French people and spent lots of time talking about where to get the best ice cream in Paris and how French students tend to cheat on their exams and whether the new French law banning smoking in public places would ever actually go into effect. I did think, fleetingly, about the rest of my family, sitting in my mother's living room, setting the traditional apple brandy punch on fire and admiring the traditional blue flame. But, on the whole, everything worked out far better than I had any right to expect it possibly would.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you, Niobe. I love the glasses.

painted maypole said...

sounds very nice.

happy thanksgiving

Anonymous said...

I thought about you today. I'm glad things turned out okay. Happy Thanksgiving.

Casey said...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good day. Happy Thanksgiving.

Antropóloga said...

I'm quite glad!

EmmaL said...

Happy Thanksgiving Niobe!! I am glad it turned out okay. Mine turned out okay also.

Julia said...

You know what they say about one person's junk... Very nice glasses, those.

And I am fairly sure you win the Great Thanksgiving Battle of 2007.

Which Box said...

It sounds like a very nice Thanksgiving. Or, at least, far better sounds pretty damn good to me.

Lori Lavender Luz said...

Sounds very cosmopolitan, between the kuchen and the French guests.

Hope you're now in for 3 days of delicious leftovers and some relaxing.

S said...

Happy Thanksgiving, my friend.

susan said...

I thought about you this morning and hoped you were making a good day. The kuchen and conversation sound wonderful.

Maggie said...

I thought of you as well. I'm glad that you found a way to celebrate...and the glasses are gorgeous!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Caro said...

Sounds good.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad to hear that!
Would you please, please post that cranberry kuchen recipe? Please?

Anonymous said...

Sounds lovely - and it's their loss, not yours.

Brocante sounds so much more elegant, doesn't it?

thirtysomething said...

Happy Thanksgiving! Sounds like it all ended up wonderful.

Waiting Amy said...

It sounds like it was lovely (and you DO deserve to expect that!). I love the glasses too, although I am a junk fan.

Yes please, on the kuchen recipe!

Beruriah said...

Sounds like a lovely day you most certainly had a right to expect. My dad brought me a pound of cranberries (does it every year from the bog next to our cabin), so I'm going to look up a recipe for cranberry kuchen (unless you want to share yours).

meg said...

It sounds like it was a great meal. I'm glad the day was better than you expected.

I've never had brandy before--is it wrong that the only reason I now want to try it, is to see what a flaming punch bowl looks like? I suspect this makes me a slight pryo, but I am totally intrigued.

Magpie said...

Lovely.

Anonymous said...

Very nice.

niobe said...

Meg: Well, my mother spent her adolescence setting fire to vacant lots, so it's not surprising that she loves the whole setting-on-fire thing. I'll post the punch recipe later -- it's definitely worth making just for the eerie blue glow.

wannabe mom said...

i'm glad that you had an enjoyable feast without having to deal with the family drama, even though it was still a bit sad to be without them.

E. Phantzi said...

Good for you!

Christine said...

i'm glad you had a good day. you deserved it, even if you think you don't.

xoxo

Aurelia said...

It sounds like a lovely Thanksgiving. I'm glad it worked out, even if I didn't get to see you.

S. said...

Working my way back down through my reader, so I'm late to this party, but I'm glad you came up with such an elegant solution!