Dans La Cuisine

Tonight's dinner, endives au jambon.

           Guests arriving for the weekend in about an hour which has placed me in the kitchen to whip up something très, très French. As I prepare, my Reason-For-Living-In-France is laying logs in the fireplace with the help of Charlotte. (She likes to carry the kindling for him.)

          On the menu -- too simple, no way to make a mistake, just the sort of recipe that I need -- is endives au jambon with bechamel and a sprinkling of emmanthal to make the concoction come out of the oven appealingly browned on top.

The grated carrots will be presented on a dish. . .

          We'll start with carottes râpées, another no-brainer, with my viniagrette. I recently bought a little machine -- manuel -- which makes the grating part extremely easy.

My absolute favorite, a chausson aux pommes.

          Dessert is to be negotiated. An apple tart perhaps? We'll pass by the boulangerie for a baguette and breakfast goodies like pains aux chocolat, chaussons aux pommes and maybe even croissants.

         We shall see. . .