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24/02/2008, 10:57 5-element Joined on 28/10/2006 Languedoc Posts 691 Re: Evening with friends and neighbours Rose - the key words, for your French neighbours and friends, are "aperitif dinatoire". I was introduced to this by our slightly younger French neighbours. Since neither of these friends likes cooking, but both like to have friends around (half the night sometimes), that is what they do regularly. So all you have to do is to serve drinks and titbits, finger foods, maye bits of pizzas and quiches, some people drinking wine or alcohol, others fruit juices, usually sitting around a table in the garden, kids playing to the side, etc, i.e. very informal, people can move around and mingle, or not, unlike the usual production that comes with a "real meal". If you invite people with the magic words, they will know roughly what to expect, and it gives you free rein.    Report

24/02/2008, 11:05 Clair Joined on 23/08/2004 ------- Forum Moderator ------- Lot Posts 6,264 Re: Evening with friends and neighbours Very good suggestion 5-E! Rose, you should try offering little Tikka bites... they will be a hit and you'll be the talk of the village (in a good way!) Clair, a Real Virtual French Person La vérité est si obscurcie en ce temps et le mensonge si établi, qu'à moins d'aimer la vérité, on ne saurait la reconnaître. (Blaise Pascal)    Report

24/02/2008, 13:31 Rose Joined on 06/02/2007 Dordogne (24) Posts 647 Re: Evening with friends and neighbours Dear all... thank you for the great ideas!!! I now feel confident about my plans and will have a go at Tikka Chicken... always good to be talked about (in a good way!)   I'll let you know who we get on! I just have one more indecision that maybe you can help with... almost everyday I pop into the village shop and the lady behind the counter always talks and corrects my french (in a nice way) and encourages me to talk.  We chat in the best way we can and from the first day she has always been really kind... she's also really sweet with my son.  I was thinking of inviting her too but learned yesterday that she is the Maire's wife!!! ... I've never met the Maire and am now worried that it may seem odd to invite them?  or am I worrying about nothing!  he's been Maire for 30 years so I guess he must be popular in the village.    Report

24/02/2008, 13:40 Clair Joined on 23/08/2004 ------- Forum Moderator ------- Lot Posts 6,264 Re: Evening with friends and neighbours Don't worry! Ask her if she and her husband would like to come over for an apero-dinatoire you're having on such and such day... Bear in mind the dates of the local elections though (9th and 16th March)... Clair, a Real Virtual French Person La vérité est si obscurcie en ce temps et le mensonge si établi, qu'à moins d'aimer la vérité, on ne saurait la reconnaître. (Blaise Pascal)    Report

24/02/2008, 13:43 Russethouse Joined on 23/08/2004 Forum Moderator Posts 9,495 Re: Evening with friends and neighbours Rose, might it be better to invite her than to risk them being upset if you don't ? www.quimperclub.org 99    Report

03/03/2008, 0:25 Jill Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 554 Re: Evening with friends and neighbours When we visited French friends a few months ago, we went for an Apero Dinatoire.  I must say, I wasn't very impressed although I'm sure other French people would serve very good ones.  It was mainly things like cubes of Edam (not even Emmenthal - but there are other better French hard cheeses), surimi (the French seem crazy about that awful stuff), gherkins - you know, it made so little impression on me that I can't even remember what else there was!  There wasn't even any decent French bread.  We had been told that although it was an apero, we wouldn't need to eat when we got back to where we were staying, and this was true.  It was a bit of a surprise though, because she has always served very good meals in the past.  To be fair, she has recently adopted two children, and this was her reason for not having time.  However, as she was on "maternity leave" but was leaving the children at a Centre Aeree all day, I fail to see how she couldn't have at least sliced up a baguette and spread it with a bit of pate, rillettes or tapenade.  Having had two children of my own, I've still always found time to prepare food.  As you mentioned, pizza's and quiche would be good finger foods.  Also, what about vol-au-vonts?  I've seen the big bouche's in France, but I've never actually seen vol-au-vonts.  Do they actually have them?  At Christmas, I buy frozen vol-au-vont cases and in the time it takes for them to bake, it is easy to make a white sauce and saute a few mushrooms to go in them, or thaw out some prawns or chop some smoked ham.  I used to do the pastry myself, but they kept turning into slinkies!  Also, what about good old English sausage rolls?  French people might like to be introduced to them.  Cheese scones are also an idea - they could be made small.  Mini quiches could be easier as finger food.  At a wedding I went to in France in August, the father of the bride and his colleagues did the catering (used to have his own restaurant and traiteur business) and he made some sort of pinwheels for the apero (not a dinatoire, a proper meal came afterwards).  These seemed to me to be pastry which had been spread with something - but I'm not sure what (varied)  and then rolled up so that when they were sliced and the slices were flattened before baking, they were like small palmier biscuits.  I'd guess that they had had grated cheese in some and others - perhaps tomato puree, herbs?  Also, what about borek?  These are a Greek pasty - either shaped like samosas or rolled up.  The filling is either mashed feta, mint and egg, or feta, spinach and egg.  You need filo pastry and paint it with melted butter before rolling up.  We always do those at Christmas too.  Gougeres - these are a sort of choux pastry which has cheese in it.   Depending on where you live and how much you want to spend, what about a few prawns?  Also, taramasalata, houmous, other dips and some veg to dip into them.  Sorry, a bit apt to get carried away when thinking about buffet food!  I realise the event has gone by but it might just help for another time.  It just goes to show though, that French people's expectations are not always as high as we think they are!  Another point on that - my penfriend, who is married to the afore mentioned chef, once served a fondue Bourgignonne to us - the vegetable accompaniment to it being a giant packet of crisps!  No wonder she married a chef! Jill (99)    Report

03/03/2008, 0:48 Tressy Joined on 26/02/2008 Charente-Maritime Posts 182 Re: Evening with friends and neighbours Jill your posts are really interesting but please, could you chop them up into paragraphs? I'm a good and willing reader, but it's very hard to stick with such a big, solid, 'block' of text. I hope you understand the point I'm making.    Report

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