Breton Pirates Lunches
in Norfolk-Virginia Beach (Virginia) by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Using
my Pirate Platter Strategy to get kids to eat vegetables, I told Florence, “The
Bretons from Northwestern France can be pirates, if they do not have enough to
eat.” All Navy children do know that
mutiny and piracy are very bad things for dad and the country.
“The
Bretons make their living from fishing (for the men) and harvesting oysters
(for the women). They eat those things,
but if the eggs run out, things can get very bad,” I said.
“Why
is it bad to run out of eggs?” Florence asked.
“You
use eggs to make pancakes. In Brittany,
they make pancakes called crêpes, which you can fill with all sorts of
delicious filings that are both savory and sweet,’ I said.
“What
kind of crêpe pancakes can you make?” Florence asked.
“Well,
first, Bretons make crêpes with milk (which contains protein and calcium), eggs
(which contain protein), and flour (which contains carbohydrate). There are other kinds, but this kind of crêpe
is my favorite,” I said.
“What
kinds of fillings are there?” Florence asked.
“There
are several including:
-Grated
gruyere from Switzerland or Bavaria (Germany) or Wisconsin Swiss with slices of
prosciutto, baby greens, and vinaigrette
-Sliced
mushrooms sautéed in olive oil and butter with chopped garlic and parsley
-Ratatouille,
a vegetable stew made with garlic, onions, peppers (green, yellow, and red
ones), zucchini, and eggplant seasoned with rosemary
-Chopped
ham with melted, aged cheddar or Swiss.
The commissary in Virginia Beach sold Westphalian ham.
(I
always asked my mother to send Wisconsin Cheeseman cheese logs wrapped in wax
for Christmas. I got three, which lasted
about 3 months. Now Costco carries a
brand called Tillahook, which resembles Wisconsin Cheeseman.
You
can use cheese log cheese to make cubes for bar trays, grilled cheese
sandwiches, and homemade mac ‘n’ cheese.)
-Garlic
shrimp sautéed in olive oil and minced garlic
-Garlic
scallops sautéed in olive oil and minced garlic
-White
asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce
-Sautéed
cabbage and fried, crumbled sausage with ranch or blue cheese dressing
-Sliced
strawberries with whipped cream
-Banana
slices with 1 tablespoon of Nutella
You
can serve crêpes with Southern iced tea, homemade fruit salad, and a pot of
Lavazza coffee.
While
Laurent worked on the crêpes, which you can make ahead of time and take to
work, Florence worked on her art projects with the art box I made for her.
Art
box supplies for a box you create yourself for your child can include:
-coloring
books of famous ballets (Bellerophon Publishers)
-coloring
book of famous composers (Bellerophon Publishers)
-Well-illustrated
origami folding books with origami paper
-Insect
and flower drawing books, using geometric shapes
-basic
color mixing books
-lots
of white and colored copy paper
-crayons
-pastels
-colored
pencils
-water-based
paints
-horsehair
brushes of varying sizes that you can clean yourself
-electric
pencil sharpener
We
made butterflies with paint and folded paper and snowflakes with paper cut-outs
to decorate Florence’s bedroom before eating.
For
a Sunday crêpe lunch, we usually had:
Mushroom
Crêpes
Sautéed
Garlic Shrimp Lunch
Sliced
Strawberry with Whipped Cream Crêpes
Baby
Greens (Mesclun) Salad
Southern
Iced Tea
Lavazza
Coffee
We
listened to reggae music, read a bunch of magazines and newspapers, took walks
along the ocean on a nice cement walkway after eating, and felt quite happy in
the Norfolk-Virginia Beach Navy quarters.
By
Ruth Pennington Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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