French Dining Experience

Back in March, Jr. was supposed to go on a field trip with other French students to a French restaurant in Sandy. Unfortunately, it was postponed and later canceled altogether as things in the state were shut down and the students completed the school year online. Jr. of course was disappointed. He put in some of his own money to go on this field trip (luckily it was refunded) and he really wanted to try escargot.
Jeremy and I really wanted to let him have a French dining experience, even if it ended up being in our own home. We contacted his French teacher even before school was out and she was so helpful in giving us ideas of what we could do for that experience. She suggested decorations, phrases we could say in French to him, food ideas including recipes for a four or five course meal. It took us some time to plan it all out and find a day when we could do it, but it eventually came together and was a nice surprise for him.
We got the other kids involved because it's always a fun idea to do service like this for a family member. We gave Nichole some sheet music for "La Vie en Rose" so she could serenade him on the violin while he ate. She and Jr. Jr. and Lucky all colored papers to look like French flags which we hung up along with Christmas lights. We also added to the atmosphere with a YouTube video of Paris ambience. There was a carousel with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Jr. didn't realize what we were doing cooking in the kitchen all day (Jeremy did most of the work. My hero). It was June 13, Kitchen Klutzes of America Day. Good thing we were making French food.
The other kids knew what was happening but only let on that we were doing something for the library Summer Reading Program (not a lie- we were able to use what we did for one or two of the library activities, even if it wasn't specifically the reason we did it). The boys stayed back in their room playing on Jr.'s device while we finished up preparations. Then we told everyone to get dressed up in their church clothes, Jr. thinking we were still just doing something for a library activity. Bwah ha ha.

Jr. Jr. and Lucky brought Jr. out to where we greeted him and brought him to his seat. Nichole was right there playing "La Vie en Rose" and various other pieces for him.

And he got his five course meal. He ate just a little bit of each (Jeremy commented how he had given him American size portions so it wasn't surprising that he didn't eat everything) with the boys running in to check on him every few minutes to take away one plate and bring him another. They were having a blast. Jet did well, too, not being the center of attention for once. Jr. Jr. did entertain him and I think he was also entertained just watching everyone run around.

Here's how the meal went:
Appetizer: Escargot. Yes, we did. Jeremy found canned snails at Walmart and learned how to prepare them (with a lot of butter and garlic and herbs). We decided not to order shells to put them in, which worked fine because of the brioche bread that turned into a crouton with each snail.

Soup or salad: Salade niçoise with lettuce, egg, tuna, potatoes, green beans, and olives (Jeremy forgot to put the tomatoes on. Shhh. Jr. didn't know).

Main course: Poulet au cidre. Chicken with onions and apples in apple cider with rice pilaf on the side.

Bread and cheese: Homemade french bread/baguette with Boursin cheese.

Dessert: Chocolate mousse.

It turned out well. Jr. appreciated it and was definitely surprised when we served him escargot. He had to ask a couple times if we were serious when we told him they were actual snails.
He also had to deal with us doing things a little more informally (just a little) with the boys running around and me snapping pictures all over the place. "Souvenir photo, monsieur?"
We may have been informal, but Jr. took it pretty seriously and he was so polite. He knew so much more than we did. They had gone over etiquette in his class and so he knew how the place setting should have been. He also let his brothers know how to tell if he was done with a course or if he was just pausing. He also knew how to eat his bread with a fork (I had no idea. My son is so cool).

At the end, I also wanted to get a picture of "the staff."

It was a really good evening. There were plenty of leftovers (including escargot- go figure. Some of us did eat a whole snail each. Not bad. Just don't think too much about what it really is).

 This is me thinking too much about it even before I took a bite.

Thanks to all the family members who helped to make this a neat experience for Jr.
And thanks to his teacher who helped us figure out how to put something like this together. "Merci, Madame Snell."