I fell asleep last night while watching a travel show about Paris, a place in Europe I’ve never been to. That evening I had just composed and served my first classic French multiple course meal. It was a wonderful experience and an excellent time to enjoy a date night without spending extra money out on the town. Here’s what I did:

• Entree Course - This is the appetizer - in the US we mistakenly call the main course the entree, but it is really the appetizer. For me, I had soup. My husband had meatballs.
• Releve - I didn’t serve this course but thought I’d share it with you. It’s the fish course, and we weren’t hungry enough for it. Whole fish is usually served accompanied with vegetable.
• Main Course - I had roasted chicken with roasted potatoes and carrots.
• Salad - The salad gets served after the main course in a French meal, not before.
• Cheese course - I actually didn’t feel like eating cheese but I brought out a plate of strawberries garnished with mint. You can substitute yogurt for the cheese.
• Dessert - I had these wonderful dark chocolate dipped cookies from Germany that I served.
• After dinner coffee - I put hazlenut kahlua in this coffee with a little sugar and milk. Yum! If you do this, heat the alcohol in a microwave or with a creme brulee torch.

And of course, wine and bread were out at the table at all times. I served the meal with a red zinfadel. The bread was boring and last minute. Bag a bread slices of whole wheat. But I understood this to be a symbol of my hospitality -  without the bread on the table, the meal would have been missing a traditional element.