I ate dinner outside on my deck this evening, lingering afterward to sip a second glass of white wine (a delicious French Muscadet.) I'm so focused on la rentrée and heading back to school, I haven't been properly enjoying these last summer nights. I decided that I need to celebrate the end of August with a classic French picnic. Un pique-nique français.
Last spring, when warm sunshine and summer vacations were on the brain, I wrote this French Picnic Lesson. I have fond and fuzzy memories of picnics in the French countryside that feel like they are from a lifetime ago. These days, my picnics usually consist of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, goldfish crackers, juice boxes, and my two favorite little boys in the world.
It's still not too late to spread out a lovely grown-up buffet on a blanket in the park. Here are some of my favorite French pique-nique foods and drinks:
la baguette (la bah-GET)– long, thin, crusty French bread
le fromage (ley fro-MAHZH) – cheese (my personal favorite is Port Salut)
le sandwich (leh sond-WEECH)– a sandwich served on baguette
les fraises (lay frez) – strawberries
les raisins (lay ray-zehn) – grapes
les oranges (layz-or-ohnzh) – oranges
les pommes (lay pum) – apples
l’eau minérale (low mee-nare-ahl) – mineral water (I like mine gazeuse--bubbly like Perrier)
le vin rouge (leh vehn roozh) – red wine
le vin blanc (leh vehn blahnc)– white wine
le chocolat (leh show-koh-la) – chocolate
Bon Appétit!
Photo Credit: theswedish at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/191707
la baguette (la bah-GET)– long, thin, crusty French bread
le fromage (ley fro-MAHZH) – cheese (my personal favorite is Port Salut)
le sandwich (leh sond-WEECH)– a sandwich served on baguette
les fraises (lay frez) – strawberries
les raisins (lay ray-zehn) – grapes
les oranges (layz-or-ohnzh) – oranges
les pommes (lay pum) – apples
l’eau minérale (low mee-nare-ahl) – mineral water (I like mine gazeuse--bubbly like Perrier)
le vin rouge (leh vehn roozh) – red wine
le vin blanc (leh vehn blahnc)– white wine
le chocolat (leh show-koh-la) – chocolate
Don't let my list end here. What are your favorite picnic foods? Respond in English if you would like to learn how to say the word in French, or share your favorite specialty en français.
Bon Appétit!
Photo Credit: theswedish at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/191707
5 comments:
Oh oui Diane! Les pique-niques en français, nirvana!
Or course, I bring some red wine (un Bordeaux de préférence)... Les fromages sont de rigueur: un Brie (mon préféré) ou un fromage de chèvre...
Les pâtés de foie gras (un délice)sur une baguette (nothing beats that! given we can find the "real" thiny crusty baguette! easier in Montréal and Québec than in Ottawa!). Did you ever try un magret de canard (to die for!)?... and for dessert, I looooove un coulis de framboise sur un morceau de gâteau éponge! Accompagné bien sûr d'un vin d'Alsace (légèrement sucré)...
That's it! I am hungry now (and I'm on my way to the grocery store, I'll probably buy more than I can possibly eat!)... and, BTW, my guilty pleasure is to eat goldfish crackers while watching TV (loin de la gastronomie française, n'est-ce pas?)...
Great post! Thanks for the yummies!
Oh, I'm getting hungry, too! I've never tried un magret de canard. That's the meat from force fed ducks, right? (Poor things!) Foie gras . . . incroyable!
I have a really hard time finding good French bread. Years ago, I bought bread from a man in my university town here in Michigan. He had converted his garage into a boulangerie, complete with antique French ovens. He baked every Tuesday and Thursday. I still remember eating an entire warm loaf on the way home in the car.
And I'm still hungry! Actually a "magret" is : le filet maigre d'un gros canard... you can marinate it, cook it and eat it as your entrée... sometimes it is used for patés also... It is incredibly GOOD!
And the French bread! I did not dare to say it in my previous comment, but... give me a baguette and I will eat it on my own during one meal!!! Sometimes it's the only thing I eat... it's sooooo good!
I did reply to your comment on my last post inviting you to provide me with some links through my biz email address...
À plus tard! Right now I'm going to start cooking dinner...
I just found your site and I love it. I have been trying to teach myself French and have been doing it miserably. :-) It will be great to learn the right way here. I will definitely be visiting a lot.
Welcome, Dori! So glad you stopped by. Anytime you have a question or idea for a post, let me know so I can help with the 'ol French lessons :-)
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