This past Saturday Dad and I had the good fortune of being invited to a friend’s house in Chicago for a lovely French repast. However, we didn’t realize until we had driven most of the way there that we had two stowaways aboard!
What choice did we have at that point, but to cross our fingers and hope that Maryanne’s hospitality might extend to Charlotte and Daisy Mouse as well? —Which of course it did.
As for our girl Charlotte, she was the very model of a perfect guest all evening long. And while her favorite dish was most likely the trout appetizer, she threw herself (literally) into everything Maryanne served with equal gusto: the figs stuffed with goat cheese, Daube de Boeuf, Gratin Dauphinois, herb salad, and warm chocolate gourmandise. (Leaving nothing behind but the faint trail of a tiny cat tongue on otherwise pristine china, all shiny and ready to put back in the cupboard—just like at home!)
After this big, beautiful meal, while the rest of us visited, Charlotte made herself even more comfortable, wandering off in search of milady’s bedchamber, so she might take a wee nap.
I found out later that Charlotte had gotten so comfortable in there, and had grown so fond of Maryanne (and her cooking) over the course of the evening, that for a while it seemed likely that we would be “one less passenger” on the drive home. But in the end, Daisy Mouse prevailed, reminding Charlotte that she lives to torture Max, and that Max lives at our house. And so the four of us made our way back to Chez Tuttle—happy, full, and just a tiny bit fatter.
Dear Maryanne, many thanks from Dad, Charlotte, Daisy and me, for your warm hospitality, the delicious meal, and the wonderful conversation. (Not to mention, the best and funniest Julia Child story I’ve ever heard.) We all had a marvelous time!
To my Cat Doodle friends, I hope you’re all doing great, and have been enjoying some delicious adventures of your own since we last visited. Have an excellent Tuesday, and see you on here again real soon!
P.S. Thanks once again to Karen at The Graphics Fairy for several bits of scanned ephemera used in the drawings for today’s post.
LOVE it!!!!
Thanks, Gayle!
(Btw the links to the recipes aren’t the same ones Maryanne used, but they still sound pretty delicious. I might have to try making that daube sometime soon…!)
I love how Daisy Mouse is holding her nose and saying, “Yeah, our house smells like les chats!”
Thanks, Dorothy…She’ll be flattered that you noticed!
Meanwhile, of course Charlotte wasn’t offended by Daisy’s remark. She doesn’t really consider herself a cat, per se—at least not the smelly kind. She naturally just assumed that Daisy was referring to Max’s feline “bouquet.” (And she might have been.)