It was not quite cassoulet, copious amounts of goose fat, and cartons of Gauloises, but this year's Christmas party celebrating the food of France went over like Jerry Lewis on a Parisian late-night TV marathon.

One of the greatest things about the holiday season is not only the honoring of old traditions, but the making of new ones. For the past three years, the better-half and I have gotten together with our folks and some of their neighbors for a celebration of the foods of the world. It started off with a "festa dei sette pesci," or Italian "feast of the seven fishes." From there, we moved onto Ireland: whiskey, bi-valves, stout, lamb stew, and whiskey. This year, we just tried to do a meager bit of homage to the gastronomic capital of the world...a tall order, indeed.