Friday, December 4, 2015

Sneak Preview of Books & Bakes (adult version)



MENU

French Cheese and Crackers
Olives
Champagne Cocktail


Wild Mushrooms in Puff Pastry

Green Bean Soup

Supreme de Volaille Agnes Sorel

Asparagus with Parmesan

Glazed Butternut Squash, Carrots and Pearl Onions

Mixed Greens 


Vacherin


We have read and are discussing the great P.G. Wodehouse's light and hysterical novel Right Ho, Jeeves. We also have a guest chef who recently returned from Paris where he attended the Cordon Bleu. The menu is in keeping with what the characters of the novel might have eaten -- in fact, the Supreme de Volaille Agnes Sorel is mentioned in the novel. Agnes Sorel was the courtesan of Charles VII of France. Here's a brief description that I found online when searching for the dish:

She was extremely bright, politically astute, exceptionally beautiful, and was known to have had the most beautiful breasts in 15th century Europe. Agnes Sorel came to the attention of Charles VII of France when the monarch ws forty and she was twenty-two. Charles was fascinated by her uncommon beauty, her sky-blue eyes, golden hair, and magnificent decolletage emphasized by her low-cut diaphanous gowns that scandalized stricter moralists such as the Flemish poet George Chatelain who lived up to his name by complaining that when he first met Agnes at the French court he could see her nipples.

Of course, this has very little to do with Right Ho, Jeeves, but if you want to learn more about her, the website suggested reading Agnes Sorel: The Breast and the Crotch That Changed History by Tim Desmondes. The entire Los Angeles Public Library system has neglected this volume, so if you find it, I'd very much appreciate borrowing a copy.

Now I'm off to put on my diaphanous gown before putting the finishing touches on the Vacherin. Reader, I'm just doing my part to educate the world with my tiny little mother mind.™

8 comments:

  1. Agnes sounds like an interesting woman. They must have been quite the breasts, although I'm guessing a sharp mind went along with the breasts. Hope you guys had a good time.

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  2. Wow, scandalous nipples!!!! Aren't they all?

    The menu sounds divine.

    XXX Beth

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  3. What fun! I hope it was as light and funny as the novel. Your house looks beautiful!

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  4. I love that you do this! Wish I lived closer...

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  5. Loved that line: "was known to have had the most beautiful breasts in 15th century Europe."
    I hope your Books and Bakes was a success and wish we had somebody as gifted as you doing the same here.

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  6. Wish I could attend these things, they sound like so much fun! I love your header...

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  7. LOL! I kind of want to read that book too! I guess if you want to sell a book, putting "breasts," "crotch" and "scandalized" in the title couldn't hurt. Although apparently that technique doesn't work on librarians...

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    Replies
    1. Oh, sorry, "scandalized" isn't in the title. I imagined that part. NO WONDER the librarians didn't but it!

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