Life has intervened to the point that I haven't done much in the way of mini work for the past few months. Part of that time we had the pleasure of entertaining some of Lloyd's French cousins here in New Orleans. One of the highlights of visiting New Orleans is the food, which was a total surprise to the cousins, who admitted well into the visit that they'd been apprehensive, since they expected to be eating nothing better than fast food.
The thought of bread pudding really put them off until Lloyd ordered it for dessert one day and asked for five spoons. The plate barely hit the table before the entire generous serving disappeared!
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| The happy cousins, Fabienne, Bernard, and Romain. |
The cousins developed a new respect for American cuisine. By chance the spoons were arranged this way. From then on through the end of the visit, we ordered at least one helping of bread pudding wherever it was served. We recognized a symbol -- and a tradition was born.
Sometimes the design got a bit more complicated. The more wine we drank, the more ambitious the design. This one was done after a very relaxed dinner cooked by Bernard in the house they rented for their stay.
Others stayed true to form. We decided that this must become the family crest.
This one has six spoons to include another cousin who dined with us one night.
The crest became such an integral part of the visit that I felt moved to note it in some way. One day in an art supply store I found two 3-inch frames, each holding a 2-inch stretched canvas and about a half inch deep. Perfect! The frames were black resin, so I painted them red and then used a gold wax to spiff them up. I found the plates at the Black Butterfly in New Orleans, and the Chrysenbon spoons on line at the Miniature Market Place.
I love how the red, white and blue reflect both the US and French national flags.
I can't wait to mail one of them to the cousins but I'm going to give the E-6000 glue that holds the spoons to the plate and the plate to the back of the frame a day or so to set. The other one will remain here.
