November 22, 2013

Produce.



Voilà: a hearty critic of America's produce. "These grapes are the size of my head." You should hear the commentary about strawberries in the middle of winter and their size. Cherries in April. Peaches in November. We do miss les marchés de Paris and our fruit/vegetable vendors, where fruit is generally quite small, seasonally appropriate and sometimes imperfect looking (but tastes like heaven).

Food is probably still the biggest source of tension in our house. A Frenchman's perspective on American food consumption is pretty scolding across the board. It just gets compounded by the presence of small beings, whose food intake is entirely our duty. I readily admit that peanut butter is not the healthiest choice for every snack, but it is not dog food either. And every evening when 7:00pm rolls around and I want to get dinner on the table so little lady isn't going to sleep at 10pm - Xavier feels a sense of impending distress. Dinner before 8:00pm is a frightful way to live.

I do love how he follows the "course" methodology even for an 18-month old. Each thing at a time - there is no large plate, where a main course, a vegetable and other dishes mingle. Colette starts with an avacado, tomatoes, or some other "starter," followed by the main course and then yogurt, cheese and fruit (distinctly and in succession) and then possibly a dessert. (She does say "chocolat" perfectly). Food and children: repositories of culture.

12 comments:

Xavier Joly said...

It looks like I got some Donald Trump advice on my hairdo though...

Xtreme English said...

for all those various courses, does he do the dishes, too?

Xtreme English said...

M. Joly, your hair is lovely--nothing at all like Trump's.

Xavier Joly said...

Not only he does the dishes, but he does the dishes properly.

Anonymous said...

He sounds like a tyrant. seriously.

Xavier Joly said...

tyranny prevents obesity.

Emilie said...

he is. the french are.

Anonymous said...

Je suis d'accord avec Xavier. « Les animaux se repaissent, l'homme mange, l'homme d'esprit seul sait manger. » Mais, je dirais « l'homme ou la femme ».

Not to mention all the health and digestion benefits of eating this way. Enjoy.

RebeccaNYC said...

I thought of Xavier yesterday at work....(even though I have never met either of you!) I had a normal rehearsal at work (I'm in the chorus at the Met) starting at 11:30 am going to 2:30 pm, with 10 minute breaks every hour. During the 10 minute breaks is when we are expected to eat lunch. Even worse is when we have staging in costume with 30 minute breaks. We are expected to change costume, and eat lunch during this time. I think Xavier would not approve.

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