Meeting the Extended Family!

So last night when the doorbell rang right before dinner I knew something was up. Aperently without telling me, my host mom and dad had invited over all the cousins (from both sides of the family) for dinner! It just so happened that this random Wednesday in January all the cousins were in Clermont at the same time. What better time then for a cheese party? We started with appetizers and drinks around 7, and dinner and dessert didn't finish until about 10:30 at night! It was really fun to listen to other people my generation talk, and even though I didn't say much it was a good time over all.
We started with pistachios and kirs (a white wine drink mixed with flavoring like Cassis) in the living room all of us talking to one another. Then my host mom asked for my help in the kitchen to make sure everything was ready, we went into the kitchen and we were slicing up HUGE bricks of cheese, there were about 4 platters of cheese, and another 2 of ham, and a bowl of pickles! There was so much food - this is when she announces we would be having Raclette tonight for dinner. Now raclette comes with it's own little apparatus to make table side. There is a large heating system, that is covered with open slots all around. Into these slots you put small pans that you have filled with cheese, or bacon, or whatever you want to cook.
For this meal there were two raclette machines on the table, with about 9 pans to each machine. It was chaos and as always way too much food. You melt the cut cheese in the pans until it is gooey, then you pour it on your plate (with the help of a wooden spatula), you then pair it with ham or potatoes, or both as my host dad did. After wards you can munch on pickles to clear the taste if you so desire to change cheeses. There were 5 different types of cheese on the table that you could choose from. Honestly I couldn't tell much of a difference between them all other than one had herbs in it.
After cheese and potatoes (yum!) we had salad, now in a normal french meal this is the part where you would serve the cheese, so my host mom made the joke that she was going to go get the cheese platter from the kitchen and everyone groaned!! It was hysterical! After some salad, we all got ice cream cones (the pre-fabricated kind) and oranges for some dessert. At this time the younger cousins either left to go to the movies or to go home or to go do some homework, and all the older people (me included) went back into the living room with my host parents to talk over a tea.
Finally, everyone left because everyone was quite tired, and it ended the very long night by me helping my host parents and one host sister clean up the dishes. It was a fantastic evening meeting everyone, and also listening to everyone talk. The food wasn't bad either! Although I don't think I will be eating again for a week!
Peace, Love and FROMAGE!