Words in a French Life is now shipping! If you have ordered a copy online, expect it in your mailbox in the next day or two. I received my own copy just two days ago. The first thing I did was pull off the book's dust jacket and knock on the hard cloth cover. Next, I checked the spine to verify the author's name before poking my nose deep into the book to smell the ivory pages. "Bravo, mommy!" my most treasured critics cheered, walking into the room, proving that this was not a dream.
Note: the next word will go out on April 24th!
tremper (trahm-pay) verb
to soak, to drench; to temper (glass)
Proverb
Si tu vois la barbe de ton voisin brûler, tu peux mettre la tienne à tremper.
If you see your neighbor's beard burning, you can put your own to soak.
A Day in a French Life...
I search the kitchen for récipients.* I pull a salad bowl from the cabinet--trop gros;* I take a soup bowl from the armoire*--pas assez profond.* I settle on an old wine glass, a jam and a mustard jar, a see-through coffee cup and a tumbler.
As I organize the egg-coloring utensils, Jackie runs up to me wearing a frilly dress with a black velvet haut* and a white chiffon bas.*
"You'll need to change if you want to help out," I say.
"D'accord!"* she agrees, spontaneously obedient.
I measure out ten tablespoonfulls of balsamic vinegar, annoyed when I can't find the 79 cent bottle of clear stuff. Jackie returns with her brother. They are both wearing faded pajamas. Max tosses the orange and blue tablets--one into the wine glass and the other into the jam jar. Jackie plops the yellow and red tablets, one into the coffee cup and the other into mustard jar. Three sets of eyes dart to the remaining green tablet. "That one's mine!" I say, scooping it up and dropping the pill-sized disk into the tumbler.
We watch the tablets fizz. The colorful, effervescent display livens up our vieillotte* cuisine. Next, we take turns emptying one-half cup of eau du robinet* into each glass. "O.K.--stir!" I say, and the kids each take a fork and whisk the water until the tablets are completely dissolved.
I have waited until the very last minute before beginning The Project. I estimate we are only about one-third of the way through. "Allez!" I say, bending the wire egg dropper (one egg dropper--two kids! Who put this egg-coloring kit together anyway?) and handing it to Max. Jackie and I watch, with bated breath, as Max lowers the cooked, brown-shelled eggs into the dye.
"Careful!" I say.
When Max reaches for a third egg, Jackie has a fit.
"O.K. Now it's Jackie's turn!" I interject. "Doucement, Jackie...*"
Time to laisser tremper* the eggs for thirty minutes. (Last year we followed the package's instructions for "three minutes" and the brown-shelled eggs surfaced without color.)
"There's still the painting to do," I think, staring at the tray of messy metallic colors, wishing we could skip this step. Just as I begin to get edgy, Jean-Marc pops into the kitchen. "It's so nice what you do," he says, as if I had always had this kind of patience. I look down, lashes fluttering, and my
cheeks turn the color of the oeuf rouge.*
................................................................................................................
*References: le récipient (m) = container; trop gros = too big; une armoire (f) = cupboard; pas assez profond = not deep enough; le haut (m) = top; le bas (m) = bottom; d'accord = O.K.; vieillot(te) = outdated; l'eau du robinet (f) = tap water; Allez = Come on! (let's get moving); doucement = carefully; laisser tremper = to let soak; l'oeuf rouge (m) = red egg
Terms & Expressions:
se tremper = to have a quick dip
tremper les lèvres = "to wet one's lips," to take a sip
trempé(e) = drenched
verre trempé = tempered glass
avoir une caractère bien trempé = to have a set character
être trempé jusqu'aux os = to be soaking wet
