Alright, so, most of the time the women in my newest novel are either hungry or making do with peasant food. But that doesn’t mean your book club should suffer! I offer here some fun, thematic ideas for your book club menu
Beverages
If you’re wine drinkers, check out this wine pairing guide for the book by the folks at Chateau Lafayette Reneau!
If you want something stiffer, there’s always a cocktail:
The Cur Non
In celebration of the arrival of Lafayette’s ship, L’Hermione, Hennesy created this cocktail named after the motto of the French Revolutionary, which was cur non, or why not.
Ingredients
2 ounces Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilege
1 ounce apricot brandy
1 ounce dry vermouth
¼ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
Garnish: orange twist or a cherry
Directions
1. Mix with ice until chilled, strain into a coup glass
2. Garnish
Food
Sausage with French Green Lentil salad, with a baguette on the side and marzipan or brioche for dessert – the green lentils come from Lafayette’s native Auvergne where the volcanic soil gives them a distinct flavor, and the sausage, marzipan and brioche also appear in the story.
Music
Anything Edith Piaff but Big Band Music will evoke WWII as well.
Venue
If you’d like to have your book club meeting outside, you can visit any of the nearly 2,000 historical sites on the Lafayette Trail, marking the places that Lafayette visited during his 1824 Farewell Tour