Food as Celebration

You've been to parties, right?  We all have.  At almost every party I have ever been to, food is served.  Birthday parties, holiday parties, prom, weddings, christenings, family reunions.  I could go on and on and on.  Sometimes the food is good, sometimes it's just OK.  Sometimes it's rubber chicken that you secretly wish would bounce right off your plate and back to the kitchen.

Chris and I went to a wedding this weekend of good friends of ours.  We've shared a few meals; mostly crawfish and its accompaniments on warm spring afternoons.  This past spring they announced they were getting married.  A few weeks later, Chris and I received a save the date and then the invitation.  Chris and I are many years beyond the time in our lives when you would have 6 or 7 weddings in a year so we were excited to be invited.  Plus the wedding was going to be in the Crystal Garden at Navy Pier which is a beautiful room when not decorated for a wedding so I knew it would be breathtaking all done up for the wedding.  Once I secured a hotel room, dress, shoes, wrap and clutch, my mind drifted to my favorite part of going to weddings; the food.  I have been fortunate that rubber chicken at a wedding has only happened to me once or twice.

Let me tell you that Kenneth and Kelly's wedding did not disappoint.  I will happily accept the "dork" label for taking as many photos of the meal as I did.  I knew that my descriptions would not do it justice.  Below is the dinner menu.

Before I start in on dinner, I should probably mention the appetizers.  I have mentioned once or twice in this blog that goat cheese belongs everywhere.  It is delicious on little tiny pears.  I ate 2!  I think the waitress with the platter thought I was nuts because I was so taken with those pears; so much so, I didn't get a photo.  You're going to have to trust me, the were little bites of heaven.  I think Chris will attest to the fact that the little lamb chops (or lambsicles as we called them at our cocktail table) were outstanding as well.  I only heard about the scallops, I never actually saw them and the rumors I heard involved grabbing waitstaff the instant they appeared and tossing those scallops back like shots of fine tequilla.  I am not a giant seafood lover but I do like scallops.  I guess next time I will have to be more assertive during cocktail hour. ;-)  Below is a photo of my favorite appetizer of the evening.

The shot glass held velvety tomato soup and YES that's a grilled cheese sandwich on a stick.  Yes, I dipped; double dipped too!  Mr. Campbell better look out...this was the best tomato soup I have ever had and I have made a few different tomato soup recipes.  It's funny how your tastes develop as you get older.  When I was a kid, a can of Campbells and a Kraft Single on a slice of white bread was gourmet!  Thankfully my tastes have developed for the better!

Ah, dinner.  If there was a prize for being a member of the clean plate club, I would qualify for each course.  As I mentioned before, I am not a huge seafood fan but when the invitations came and our response cards showed a choice of filet and sea bass or pasta, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try the sea bass.  Nothing against the pasta chef, but I have made homemade pasta, make my own marinara and have made pretty decent vodka sauce, bolognese, and carbonara.  A pasta dish has to be pretty amazing to rock my world.  I figured this way, if I didn't like the sea bass, I could trade it to Chris for his filet.  He's a reasonable guy and he's into fantasy football so he's used to making trades.    I was sure he would not let me starve.

That was my dinner plate.  At first I was grateful that the sea bass was small.  After 2 bites, I was wishing the sea bass was as big as the filet!  Sorry Chris!

Dessert was the beautiful wedding cake.  It's not my best shot, trust me, it was beautiful.  It was also delicious.

Too often I have had wedding cake that is dry, or had too many flavors going on or had so much liquor in them, I didn't need to visit the bar for a while.  This cake was simple but so, so good.

After dinner, there was dancing.

 Now you know after some dancing, you get hungry again, right?  Perhaps you could try some of these on for size.  I had 2!  Creme brulee spoons!

  What a fantastic idea!  We were like kids in a candy store when the sweet table was assembled.  Creme brulee is one of Chris' favorites.  I won't throw any of our table mates under the bus but I think we had more empty spoons on our table than I have in my silverware chest here at home. :)  Like the cheese TV commercials say, "but wait, there's more!"

Key lime pie shots

Chocolate mousse

 Yes, I took close ups too!  You'll notice that I couldn't wait to nibble on the key lime pie before I snapped the photo.  You'll also notice my purse getting in on the shot as well!

At the far end of the sweet table, we watched a different type of set up.  An homage to tailgating at a football game.  I am of course assuming football...I think there were 1 or 2 fans at the wedding.

Pulled pork sliders and fries w/ truffle salt.  Now that's a tailgate party I want to go to!

I have been going on and on about the food we enjoyed at Kenneth and Kelly's wedding.  I am sure my family and friends are tired of listening to me.  But think about it for a moment, do you remember your first date?  A wedding of dear friends?  The tailgate at your alma mater on a spectacular fall Saturday afternoon?  I bet you can tell me what you ate.  I bet if you think about it now, it will bring a smile to your face; unless of course you are recalling rubber chicken and if you are, choose a different celebration!

Now, you might be thinking, "Wow, Kath's fairly obsessed with food."  That may be the case but it wasn't just the food that made this celebration so beautiful and special.  There were too many small details to mention here...but lets just say the evening glowed with tiny candles and there was the scent of beautiful flowers where ever you went.  The mini lights in the Crystal Gardens twinkled like stars.

Special thanks to the bride and groom Kenneth and Kelly for letting me share the story of their beautiful wedding meal.  We had such a fantastic time.