éplucher (ay-ploo-shay)
1. to peel, to pare (fruits, vegetable); to shuck (remove corn husk)
2. to comb through (documents, files)
Listen: hear the French word éplucher:
Audio File from Wikipedia:
For more pronunciation help, check out the guide Exercises in French Phonetics!
A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
Today's cozy word is éplucher – therefore I thought we could sit down together, at the kitchen table, and peel some potatoes while I tell you a little story.
First, here's a picture of the kitchen table, so as to set the scene:
The table, a gift from Maggie and Michael, who sold us their home, is not really in the kitchen–it's beside the kitchen–but it so close that you can do kitchen prep work there.
Bon, bref–on with today's story! (And have you picked out a paring knife yet? What? You thought *I* was going to peel this mountain of patates all by myself? Didn't your social sciences professor teach you the word "reciprocity"–or do you need to reread Chapter 12: Yanomamo Culture)? Reciprocity = I do this for you. You do this for me, i.e. I tell the story. YOU peel the potatoes!)
Now for the story… it began night before last when I noticed the front door was ajar. Next, I saw the empty dog bed!!!
"Max! You left the door open and now the dogs have run off!"
(Hang on a moment, to tell the story from this point in time would take two pages. Let's get right to the action! By the way, dear reader, who taught you to peel potatoes? Pick up the pace will you. The oven is pre-heating and we don't want to run up the electric bill!)
As I was saying, it all began this morning with a knock at the front door. There, on our doorstep, my neighbor Annie looked exhausted.
"Come on in!" I said, ushering Annie to the kitchen table.
As she passed by our two golden retrievers (who were passed out on their bed, having returned from an all-nighter), Annie wagged her finger. "Les vilains! You are bad dogs!"
Yikes. Something was up. I took precautions offering Annie the best seat at the table and proposing coffee or tea.
"Rien. I'm just in a bad mood," she explained. "Contrariée!"
Annie went on to tell about how a couple of golden-haired dogs had wandered up to her place after midnight and torn down her chicken wire fence and almost feasted on her hens!
"Sensing the trespassers, my own dogs went berserk inside the house," Annie said, "doing almost as much damage to my own nest!"
"Oh no!" I'm so sorry, I said, wagging my own finger at the dogs to prove with whom my sympathies now rested (I didn't dare tell Annie how I'd rejoiced, earlier, when the dogs returned home from I didn't know where. No, I wouldn't tell her how I'd lain down on the gravel driveway, hugging my dogs close while singing 10 choruses of Hallelujah. Or how I remained on the ground, in a tight human-dogs grip, grateful for the way the near-tragedy had dragged me outdoors to experience a beautiful winter's day. How the countryside seemed to fill with color, right before my eyes! And the yellow of the daisies and the purple of the irises! The world was so alive and bright outside of the internet, the new Smartphone, and my cozy bed! It took a near-catastrophe to wake up and hear the birdsong that only a day before was but a muffling in my ears.
I might have shared this back-to-life thunderstrike with Annie, but this was not the right time to preach the gospel! It was time to assure my neighbor we would do our best to contain our dogs.
"I'm determined to do whatever I can to keep Braise and Smokey from wandering off. We built a large dog pen for them to run around in during the day–and we keep them locked up in the house at night–but sometimes they manage to slip through the loops! I'm so sorry ! Thank God they didn't eat your goose!" I knew Annie was particularly fond of her female oie–having lost the male goose last summer.
As I sat there, apologizing profusely, I noticed Annie eyeing a box of clementines. "Take these," I said, pushing the oranges towards my tired neighbor.
"I'll just have one…" Annie said. The look of delight in her eyes reminded me of my mother-in-law's post-war childhood. To get so much as an orange for Christmas was like receiving a bar of gold! Michele-France often tells me the orange story during holiday season, and I could imagine Annie knew the same hardships, being of the same generation as my belle-mère.
"No harm done," Annie said, and it was as though her own memories–released along with the citrusy scent of that orange–called her back to grittier times, which in turn brightened her current perspective.
As Annie got up to leave, I kissed her on both cheeks. And I took the opportunity to slip several more bright orange clementines in her coat pocket, wondering how else to improve the situation.
It occurs to me now, dear reader, that if we had any courage at all, we'd hurry up with this potato prepping and get these patates into the oven–in time to cook this gratin dauphinois–and offer the comfort food to the dear soul who suffered a sleepless night!
…Yes, but for the courage it takes!
* * *
Video
Pancho, Braise, and I made you a one-minute motion picture (if "motion picture" is a stretch, at the very least the footage will give you a sense of atmosphere).
Introducing "Slow Food: A Quiet Moment Peeling Potatoes." To watch the following picture, you may need to click over to the blog. Sorry about the vertical video frame. To see more scenery, click "full screen" (see the icon in the lower right corner of the video)
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kristin,
I loved the video-very zen like! Love to all your family!
Dave
kristin,
I loved the video-very zen like! Love to all your family!
Dave
First of all, I am a late well wisher, Meilleurs Voeux pour une excellente annee, pleine de Sante, Bonheur et Joie!
I missed so many episodes because I was busy moving from a home in the country to a condo in the big city. It is not over yet, I just popped in to say Hello. Your today’s anecdote is so well written, I love your sense of humor, Kristi. I could just sit there to help you peel les pommes de terre and listen to your enchanting stories. Mais non, Braise et Smokey ne sont pas des vilains. C’est leur instinct… animal. Perhaps you could offer Annie to pay for the repair of the fence.
Bonne et Heureuse Annee, dear Kristi!
First of all, I am a late well wisher, Meilleurs Voeux pour une excellente annee, pleine de Sante, Bonheur et Joie!
I missed so many episodes because I was busy moving from a home in the country to a condo in the big city. It is not over yet, I just popped in to say Hello. Your today’s anecdote is so well written, I love your sense of humor, Kristi. I could just sit there to help you peel les pommes de terre and listen to your enchanting stories. Mais non, Braise et Smokey ne sont pas des vilains. C’est leur instinct… animal. Perhaps you could offer Annie to pay for the repair of the fence.
Bonne et Heureuse Annee, dear Kristi!
So pleased the beautiful Braise and Smokey returned home safely!
Thank you so much for your French Word-A-Day
Kristin.
So pleased the beautiful Braise and Smokey returned home safely!
Thank you so much for your French Word-A-Day
Kristin.
Delightful video…thank you!!
Delightful video…thank you!!
Kristin, your stories and your photography are a delight. Like many others I have a love for all things French so your twice weekly blogs give me great pleasure. And your husband is one to keep!
Heather….Australia
Kristin, your stories and your photography are a delight. Like many others I have a love for all things French so your twice weekly blogs give me great pleasure. And your husband is one to keep!
Heather….Australia
Hi Kristi!
Oh dear! I would not suspect that your adorable Braise and Smokey would be up to such mischief! Perhaps there is more to the story!
If not, it sounds like you did well with your neighbor who seems to be settled in the matter now that she had the opportunity to vent her frustration and annoyance. Seems that your listening skills came in handy!
Loved the pics! Seeing your doggies helps me since I still miss our Serena. The kitties are way too cute and of course, the flowers delightful in the middle of winter!
Thanks for your words, pics and that video with the music was such fun!
Hi Kristi!
Oh dear! I would not suspect that your adorable Braise and Smokey would be up to such mischief! Perhaps there is more to the story!
If not, it sounds like you did well with your neighbor who seems to be settled in the matter now that she had the opportunity to vent her frustration and annoyance. Seems that your listening skills came in handy!
Loved the pics! Seeing your doggies helps me since I still miss our Serena. The kitties are way too cute and of course, the flowers delightful in the middle of winter!
Thanks for your words, pics and that video with the music was such fun!
Ha, -:)..
As if.. 🙂
“..she had the opportunity to vent her frustration and annoyance. …”
… 🙂
It DOES look like much more than that for me.. :-)..
There is – Reality. ( no matter if we like or not)..
And there is — the Realization (of what IS Real).
And what works or what does not, to simplify the matters.
After all, it IS talent to simplify matters.
Cuz if you don’t, at some point, it would grab you by your back. Sooner or later.
I wish this statement were not true, but it looks like it is. 🙂
Ha, -:)..
As if.. 🙂
“..she had the opportunity to vent her frustration and annoyance. …”
… 🙂
It DOES look like much more than that for me.. :-)..
There is – Reality. ( no matter if we like or not)..
And there is — the Realization (of what IS Real).
And what works or what does not, to simplify the matters.
After all, it IS talent to simplify matters.
Cuz if you don’t, at some point, it would grab you by your back. Sooner or later.
I wish this statement were not true, but it looks like it is. 🙂
Lovely picture of Smoky greeting a kitten on HIS property.. 🙂 permitting it to enter..
..look at the “asking-to-enter-risen-paw “of the very polite (in the animal sense) kitten.
Heartwarming.
Thank you, Kristi.
Lovely picture of Smoky greeting a kitten on HIS property.. 🙂 permitting it to enter..
..look at the “asking-to-enter-risen-paw “of the very polite (in the animal sense) kitten.
Heartwarming.
Thank you, Kristi.
Hi Kristin,
You probably would have some peace of mind if you installed an electric fence. You seem to go through this scary situation of the dogs running away often.
As soon as I clicked on the video and the music started playing, my husband said, “are you in France right now?” haha…can you share the name of the music or the artist?
Hi Kristin,
You probably would have some peace of mind if you installed an electric fence. You seem to go through this scary situation of the dogs running away often.
As soon as I clicked on the video and the music started playing, my husband said, “are you in France right now?” haha…can you share the name of the music or the artist?
Brilliant storytelling, Kristin. I’ll peel potatoes with or for you any time. -julie-
Brilliant storytelling, Kristin. I’ll peel potatoes with or for you any time. -julie-
It took me five years to learn to walk my dogs on leashes. They never infested the neighborhood again. I was happy and so were they. At least you have a fenced-in yard. My Irish setter jumped right over ours the day it was built.
It took me five years to learn to walk my dogs on leashes. They never infested the neighborhood again. I was happy and so were they. At least you have a fenced-in yard. My Irish setter jumped right over ours the day it was built.