Fête des Cousins

Philipp is watching the Formula 1 Grand Prix, so I thought I'd use this time to catch up on my blog. (with the whirr of the engines in the background ...)

Last Sunday, Philipp and I attended an annual family party, the "Fête des Cousins". This is a get-together for all of Philipp's cousins and their families. It was nice to see members of his family that we hadn't seen since the wedding, as well as his brothers and sisters who live here in Angers. In all, we were about 40 people or so. It made for one long table ...

Everyone brought some dishes to share. I made a cold salad, which turned out to be really yummy (if I do say so myself ...). I made it up as I went, so I don't really have a recipe, but this is what I used:

Cold Summer Salad

• wheat*
• tomatoes
• avocado
• sweet corn
• imitation crab legs
• fresh parsley
• garlic
• shallots
• dressing (balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, olive oil)
  

*You can also use couscous, rice or another grain, but I prefer the plumpness and texture of wheat.

We had good luck for the weather at the beginning, although later in the day, it started to rain. This wasn't much of a surprise, since we've had a lot of rain this summer. After lunch, most of the men wanted to go play "pétanque" (also known as "boules"), and although I was the only woman to join in, that didn't phase me. I enjoy playing, even if it is typically played mostly by men. I didn't always throw well, but I didn't have the worst toss of the day, and I even managed a few really good tosses. Here's a picture of Philipp playing:

All in all, it was a fun day. We spent the entire afternoon and the beginning of the evening there, and were sleepy when we got home at 10:00. A little sunburned from the beginning, and somewhat damp from the rainy end. But happy of a nice day spent with family.