How do you say delicious en Français?

Beaujolais Nouveau 2011

Why Beaujolais Nouveau, of course! At the strike of midnight on the third Thursday of every November, France erupts in a massive celebration in honor of the unveiling (or should we say uncorking) of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine.

We celebrated this momentous event with a few friends on Saturday night. We enjoyed all things French! Classic French music sung by the great Edith Piaf filled the air (“Non, Je ne Regrette Rien”) while we feasted on delicious pâté (Country Pâté and Duck) and freshly baked baguettes from French Memories in Cohasset Village:

Assorted cheeses:

along with a Baked Brie (which was to die for from Whole Foods Market). This one had puff pastry and was topped with dried cranberries, raisins and apples. It was delicious. If you want to make your own Baked Brie I saw a recipe on Food.com for a Raspberry Brie en Croute.

Baskets full of crackers:

A friend also brought Ina Garten’s cheese puffs and they were delicious. I couldn’t even get a picture as they were gone in a flash! Here is a photo from the web:

via web

We had a plethora of desserts. Our lovely friends brought cupcakes from one of may favorites – Baked., a decadent chocolate tart from French Memories, homemade profiteroles (to die for), macaroon cookies from Trader Joe’s, a homemade apple tart and we had chocolate fondue (yes, I know it is Swiss, but my 5 year old loves it).

marshmallows, biscuits, wafer cookies for dunking in melted chocolate.

In terms of decorating for the little soirée. I went a little cork crazy. I also have become obsessed with the country look of mason jars.

I filled the jars with beach sand and candles. The hurricane lantern had river rocks, corks and starfish (my favorite) in it.

The moss balls and corks from a previous post were paired with boxwood from our front yard:

The candles were lit in the fireplace:

And this one in the kitchen with more corks:

Conor and I waited for our guests to arrive:

While my husband guarded the wine, desperately trying not to eat the cheeses and pâté before people arrived. This is known in our house as FHB (family hold back):

It was really a lovely evening filled with good food, good drink and good friends. This year’s Beaujolais is delicious and the wine expert at Curtis Liquors in Cohasset told us that he thought it was the best in four years. We have to agree. Very delicious indeed! Hope you host a beaujolais party soon or pick up a bottle for Thanksgiving. You won’t be disappointed.