Oui Oui – World Market Takes Us to Paris

Can I tell you how much I’ve been loving World Market lately?  Not only are they opening up a store around the corner from me (merci,World Market), but it’s been my home away from home since I’ve been in my new home.  From decking my halls to filling my wine glass at the end of the night, it kinda seems like World Market was made for me (and you).  There’s a song there. I feel it.  🙂

Most recently, I ventured to World Market in search of inspiration for an “à la bonne franquette” I was hosting.  Oh, you need a translation? So did I.  It’s, quite literally, a simple French dinner.  I knew I wanted to have a variety of French wines and cheeses.  For the main course I was to serve a summer-produce laden Ratatouille, and then wanted something sweet to finish off the night.  I knew I would find these things (and more) at World Market.

I find it slightly ironic that I happened to conduct my shopping trip on the day World Market was celebrating Bastille Day.  And, for them that means sampling French wines.  For me, that means I walked out of the store with a cart full of French wines.  And tons of other goodies:

Don’t you just love that table cloth?  To me it sings farm table dinner in France (or South Charlotte).  And, I felt like the occasion merited some a fresh set of old-fashioned, old fashion glasses.  In plum, of course.  I picked up a cheese baker (because I’ve always wanted one),and because it was less than $8!  Place a round of brie at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, and it’s heaven.

I also picked up pretty much everything else that said it was from France – a delicious finger-licking good caramel sauce, a pear-vanilla jelly that worked perfectly as an accompaniment with the cheese course and as a topping for the shortbread cookies I served for the dessert course; I threw in a whole grain mustard that I mixed with honey to serve with cheese, and of course… wines!  I picked up the standard French wine varietals, and something a little more unusual.  Chocolate Sparkling Wine.  More about that later.  Finally, when I think France, I think Lorina.  I picked the sparkling soda in the lemonade and bloody orange flavors and started dreaming of cocktails.

So now that you know what I got, it’s time to show you how to pull this off:

First the table setting – I hosted an à la bonne franquette for a reason – simple.  So, the casual stem ware, simple flower arrangements, and white tableware worked perfectly.

Second the cocktails – I like to have a signature cocktail at my parties.  For this one, we had a Lorina Vodka Spritzer.  Mix4 parts Lorina Sparkling Soda flavor of choice with 1 part vodka and 1 part Limoncello.  Stir and serve over ice, with a rosemary swizzle stick and twist of lemon.

Third – The grazing food – cheese, crackers and more cheese works for me! 🙂

Fourth – The dinner.  Being that it’s mid-summer, Ratatouille worked well for us.  Served with a crusty (French) bread, a dinner party has never been easier to pull off.  See the recipe at the bottom of the post!

Fifth -The dessert.  World Market helped out tremendously with this part.  I pulled the ol’ unwrap and serve on a cake plate trick with this one.  I found some delicious shortbread caramel and coconut cookies and served them with a caramel sauce and pear jelly.  Plates were licked clean.  In addition, we had a Chocolate Sparkling Wine.  This is where things got interesting.  Coming from this bottle, I expected something that looked brown.  Or brown-ish.  But, no.  White as white wine can be.  But the taste?  Hot cocoa.  As my sister described, it’s kind of like eating a handful of skittles, then being surprised when you bite down on an M&M.  Not sure it was my favorite wine ever, but definitely a fun party trick!

Yes, fun was had.  And, I can officially say, my appetite for a trip to Paris has officially been whetted.  Fortunately, World Market and Lorina have paired up to offer one lucky couple the dream trip, plus a World Market $1000 shopping spree.  Um, yes please.  I’m mean oui merci!  The food, the wine, the culture, the quiet time on the air plane to get there…  Click through for more details, and don’t miss our Ratatouille recipe below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ratatouille – my recipe for à la bonne franquette

Ingredients
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 large onions, sliced
2 medium orange bell peppers, cored, seeded and sliced
6 medium tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces
3 medium eggplants, cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds
3 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds
1/4 packed cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 cup packed oregano, roughly chopped
6-8 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt, to taste

Instructions:
Add the olive oil and garlic to a large heavy bottomed pot, and sauté over medium heat until the garlic starts to brown. Turn down the heat to low and then add onions and bell peppers. Cover the pot with a lid and let the onions soften, stirring occasionally.  Uncover and sauté the vegetables until all the water released has evaporated and the onions start to caramelize.

Add the tomatoes, cover the pot, and simmer until the tomatoes are soft and have released lots of liquid.  Gently mix in the eggplants, zucchini, parsley, oregano,  thyme, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and then cover, and allow the vegetables to cook until tender (30-40 minutes), stirring occasionally.

When the vegetables are soft, remove the lid and let the ratatouille continue to simmer until it’s nice and thick. Adjust the seasoning and serve with bread, or over your carbohydrate of choice!