M.F.K Fisher and The Menu

"It has long been an amusing trick, played by such gastronomical wits as Paul Reboux, for instance, to plan menus for imagined occasions: A May-Day Luncheon for Six Nubile Virgins About To Be Queened, A Light Midnight Supper for Three Stage-door Johnnies and an Actress Called Frankie, or An Intimate Dinner Prepared in the Full of the Moon by an Aging Private Secretary for her Boss.

All such ambiguously labeled meals are, of course, concocted with one end in view, whether on paper or in reality. They must, by their combinations of flavor and color, light and shade, lead to the accomplishment of some desired fact. There is no doubt in my mind that they will, for I believe firmly that hearts as well as heads can be turned through subtle cookery."

- M.F.K Fisher, Little Meals With Great Implications

Two simple paragraphs and I fell in love with planning menus. You see, I've always been excited by cooking. Loved trying new recipes, experimenting with an unfamilar ingredient, even simply shopping at the farmer's market, but to plan a menu has always been the best part.

There is something so enticing about starting with an end result in mind - a casual dinner with friends, impressing the boss, etc. - and working backwards to create the perfect meal.

In this blog, I hope to share my menus, those planned just for me and the husband, and those planned for large parties. Of course, I'll include the recipes too. After all, what good is a menu without recipes to go along for the ride?

I hope you'll visit me frequently; I've so many good stories to share. There was my salmon dinner party recently, my all local dinner, and, of course, we must plan for Thanksgiving sooner rather than later. Are you planning a dinner party? Stumped on what to serve? Please email me with details and I'll be happy to suggest a menu.

I suppose I can't leave you without a menu for this first post. To continue with the original inspiration for this blog, in M.F.K Fisher's short story Little Meals With Great Implications, Fisher describes a February evening at home with her two young daughters making valentines.

"We will drink our soup slowly from solid little brown casseroles which cannot possibly tip over, and sip cool milk from silver mugs. And for dessert each will eat a heart-shaped open sandwich of dark, moist whole-grain bread, sweet butter, and red currant jelly..."

Potage Bonne Femme

As printed in A Stew Or A Story; An Assortment of Short Works by M.F.K Fisher

3 tablespoons butter

5 good springs parsley

4 leaves of green lettuce

1 small onion

1 pint (or less) of sorrel

dash of salt, pepper, grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons flour

2 quarts good veal stock

a little chervil if possible

4 egg yolks

1 cup cream, heated

Melt butter in a generous kettle, add finely chopped parsley, lettuce, onion, sorrel and add seasonings. Cover and let wilt ten minutes without scorching. Add the flour, mix well, and gradually add the boiling stock. Add the chopped chervil if available, cover, and let boil moderately for another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks, gradually add the heated cream, and stir well. Add this liaison to the soup, taking care that it does not boil, and serve at once, either as it is or strained through a fine sieve.