France Week!

Ooh la la. This was a delicious week! Yes, I say that every week, and yes, that might have something to do with the fact we're picking our favorite food destinations. Nevertheless, France outdid itself. 

Crafts

We learned about French impressionism and how artists like Monet changed the style of art through displaying deliberate brushstrokes. We attempted this style on foil canvases with q-tip paint brushes. I got the idea on Pinterest (I don't have a specific link), and this was a huge hit. First of all, it's so easy to do and the kids LOVED it. Secondly, I was really surprised how much information Zahara learned about Monet and impressionism, and how well the art turned out. 

We ended up doing these paintings all week. To make your own, just wrap a piece of cardboard (we used old cereal boxes) in foil. Paint any scene you want using finger paints and q-tips.

For one of our snack times, we made the Eiffel Tower. I drew the tower on a plain piece of printer paper (it doesn't need to be perfect). We used dates, Pirates Booty, baby carrots, and Veggie Straws, but you can use anything. Ideally, one of the snacks should be straight to make up the sides of the tower.

Culture

Once again we turned to our favorite Nat Geo Kids videos to learn more about France. We watched this one about the Eiffel Tower. We also watched the movie Madeline, which was a fun treat since Zahara has read the Madeline books.

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We took a field trip this week too! We went to visit a French bakery near us, The Fresh Baguette, and actually had a nice lunch outside. Our county is starting to loosen restrictions around Covid, and now some restaurants are open. We are still not comfortable eating indoors yet, but are more open to the idea of eating outside at a table that is physically distanced from other tables. We wear masks unless we are eating, and make sure the waitstaff wear one too. It's not an every day event for us, but it is nice to have a little more freedom. Thankfully the numbers of new infections in our area are going down (largely due to enforced mask policies), so we are able to take on this risk. 

Food

We had a hard time narrowing down our food menu this week, as you might imagine. Here's what we ended up with, but I suspect we'll need to circle back to France sometime soon. Coq au vin, duck a l'orange, French onion soup, creme brulee, potato salad with herring, barigoule of spring vegetables, nutella-filled crepes, and macarons (Trader Joe's frozen ones are awesome!).

The coq au vin and duck a l'orange were fantastic. I don't know if I've had either of these dishes before, but I would absolutely make them again. I was surprised how much I liked the duck breast versus the legs. They were so juicy and tender.

French onion soup is one of my favorite dishes, but it's hard to find kosher because traditionally it uses beef stock and cheese. We substituted veggie stock and it still tastes rich and delicious--especially when served in Dan's homemade sourdough bread bowl!

The creme brulee turned out great, and the kids liked watching Dan brulee it with our kitchen torch. To make the crepe experience a little more French, we watched this video of a typical French creperie at work. We made sure to fold our crepe in the traditional style. 

The potato salad and the veggie dish were not great. It's nice to experiment, but these didn't really work for us. The almond croissant, quiche and chocolate eclair we had at the bakery made up for it though.

Au revoir, France! Thanks for the calories memories. Next up, USA!

See our other country week adventures here.