... thought how I did not like to be a vegetarian, and yet before ces jours maigres it was not much that I occupied myself with the menu except to wish to entertain our guests. I was contented to eat my bread ration and cafe an lait for the petit dejeuner, but ...

... and not to enjoy themselves in a round of banquets and entertainments. As one of them said the other day, It is men and not menus that will win the war. So they are not intending to accept many invitations. Perhaps the contrast with pre-war banquets would ...