choir dinner

The choir director at our church has a tradition each spring: every year choir members with 80% and above attendance are "honored guests" at a gourmet five-course dinner.

The kitchen staff?

Those with lower than 80% attendance!

This year's dinner was this past Thursday.  Nathan was an honored guest, and I was a kitchen worker.

{I had missed choir quite a bit in the fall thanks to my lengthy bout of severe morning sickness.}

This year's menu looked like this:

I

Butternut Squash Bisque with Blue Cheese & Pecans

Baguette

Olive Oil, Butter

II

Chick Pea Risotto with Bacon, Almonds, Cilantro

Château La Moutète 2011 – Côtes de Provence, France

III

Steak Diane with Brandy Sauce & Chives

Asparagus

Le Pas de la Beaume 2009, Camille Cayran – Côtes du Rhône, France

IV

Brillat-Savarin, soft, cow cheese – Normandy, France

Ossau Iraty, sheep cheese – Pyrenees, France

Piave Vecchio, hard, cow cheese – Veneto, Italy

V

Raspberry Crisp, Vanilla Ice Cream, Dark Chocolate Crisps

Presidential Tawny Port – Oporto, Portugal

Coffee, Tea

{Impressive, right?  Who knew an organist & choirmaster would possess such culinary skill?}

Fortunately for those of us working kitchen duty, we all got to enjoy the food -- ours was just on paper plates, and eaten hastily while also working on preparing the next course.

I'm sure the "honored guests" had a good time, but I for one am tempted to make sure I always keep my attendance below 80%, because I had such a good time hanging out in the kitchen.

I had Nell with me all evening, in the Moby wrap, so I'm not sure how much help I actually was in all the food preparations, but I certainly enjoyed myself. 

Sarah and Katherine garnishing the butternut squash soup:

Wine! And I'm allowed to drink a bit now that Nell is on the outside!

Gregg stirring the risotto:

The finished product:

The raspberry crisp was one of the best desserts I've ever eaten.

Mmm.  Just looking at that picture is making me want to eat some again.

Like maybe a whole pan of it.