Dinner for Twenty
Last night was an occasion like no other.
A couple of weeks ago at College and Career, one of the student leaders who is our church's chef, Andrew Ere, proposed a small culinary festivus for the first twenty people to sign up. Being a rather avid pursuant of good food, I was the second person on the list. That brings me to last night where I was gathered with 19 other people to watch Andrew and his chef-buddy Markus prepare the most marvelous spread of Spanish cuisine and ambience that I have ever had the pleasure of taking part in.
Sitting at a large, long, candlelit table with Spanish classical music providing a lovely backdrop, very similar to how an extended Spanish family might sit for lunch (minus the candle light... and probably the spanish music as well), we waited for the first course of appetizers to be served to us. Pastor Ezra prayed, and Andrew and Markus brought out some of the freshest tossed salad I have ever tasted sprinkled in a light balsamic vinegar dressing. That was closely followed by fetta cheese stuffed green olives and flatbread topped with a "salad" of tomato, onion and peppers. It was eight o'clock by the time we saw the first of this food, and the last time that I had eaten was 1:00. After a long day on the old construction site, it's needless to say that I had to restrain myself from eating till I was full on appetizers (and believe me, there was enough of every course for me to have eaten till I was full at each setting).
The next course of appetizers were fried slices of spicy Chorizo sausage in red wine oil, complemented very well with a cold Andalusian Gazpacho, which is a thick, cold, tangy, vegetable soup assumably originating in Andalusia... but don't ask me where that is.
After a small wait, our chefs (who were fully decked out in chef hats, and white chef suit jackets... pretty spiffin... kinda like spacemen) brought out dishes filled with mussels in a spicy tomato sauce. This was served with foccia bread to make sure none of your tomato sauce went to waste, Delicious! It was the first time I'd ever eaten mussels and they didn't dissapoint. The next course was a Seafood Paella with Saffron which was phenomenal. I can't really describe it because I don't know exactly what was in it but I'm pretty sure that it was something similar to this http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20011220paella5ap9.asp. It was something I could have very easily lost restraint and filled right up on... but I persevered and saved room for what was to come.
There was then a slight pause in the onslaught of entres and we took some time to sample Andalusian Asparagus, which essentially meant steamed chilled asparagus arranged in a very fancy manner and drizzled with an orange sauce whose ingredients shall remain a mystery.
Next they brought out a Chicken Pepitoria which hands down was the most delicious piece of chicken/chicken dish that I have ever eaten in my life. It was like eating chunks of heaven off of my fork. The final dish was Roast Leg of Lamb drizzled in the most fabulously complementing sauce they could have possilby found. It was the first time that I have ever had lamb, and it was an excellent first impression.
With all of the entres brought forward, nothing was preventing the most heavenly of chocolate mousse topped with a tower of whipped cream and rasperries, from making its way to my place setting. What a way to finish a meal of that magnitude. If only I would have had my camera because not only did it taste magnificent, but it was presented in a way one might experience at a four or five star restaurant. It was imaculate... I'll make sure I bring my camera to the next one :)
To underscore the awesome spread of food, the real point of the evening was to get to know others from our College and Careers group. Arriving at 7:30 and not starting the meal till 8:30 and then eating around a table with these people until 11:30 at night! I definitely was encouraged and gave encouragement and got to know some of them a lot better. I think that is part of the point of "fellowship" between believers... what I would give to share a meal with all my friends again. I love you all, and if anyone is reading this and wants to come meet some awesome people and share in some awesome worship and hear the awesome Word of God on Wednesday night... call me or something because if you start coming you'll have a very legitimate reason to take part in the next "Dinner for Twenty". Have a great week.
S-double-rubble
A couple of weeks ago at College and Career, one of the student leaders who is our church's chef, Andrew Ere, proposed a small culinary festivus for the first twenty people to sign up. Being a rather avid pursuant of good food, I was the second person on the list. That brings me to last night where I was gathered with 19 other people to watch Andrew and his chef-buddy Markus prepare the most marvelous spread of Spanish cuisine and ambience that I have ever had the pleasure of taking part in.
Sitting at a large, long, candlelit table with Spanish classical music providing a lovely backdrop, very similar to how an extended Spanish family might sit for lunch (minus the candle light... and probably the spanish music as well), we waited for the first course of appetizers to be served to us. Pastor Ezra prayed, and Andrew and Markus brought out some of the freshest tossed salad I have ever tasted sprinkled in a light balsamic vinegar dressing. That was closely followed by fetta cheese stuffed green olives and flatbread topped with a "salad" of tomato, onion and peppers. It was eight o'clock by the time we saw the first of this food, and the last time that I had eaten was 1:00. After a long day on the old construction site, it's needless to say that I had to restrain myself from eating till I was full on appetizers (and believe me, there was enough of every course for me to have eaten till I was full at each setting).
The next course of appetizers were fried slices of spicy Chorizo sausage in red wine oil, complemented very well with a cold Andalusian Gazpacho, which is a thick, cold, tangy, vegetable soup assumably originating in Andalusia... but don't ask me where that is.
After a small wait, our chefs (who were fully decked out in chef hats, and white chef suit jackets... pretty spiffin... kinda like spacemen) brought out dishes filled with mussels in a spicy tomato sauce. This was served with foccia bread to make sure none of your tomato sauce went to waste, Delicious! It was the first time I'd ever eaten mussels and they didn't dissapoint. The next course was a Seafood Paella with Saffron which was phenomenal. I can't really describe it because I don't know exactly what was in it but I'm pretty sure that it was something similar to this http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20011220paella5ap9.asp. It was something I could have very easily lost restraint and filled right up on... but I persevered and saved room for what was to come.
There was then a slight pause in the onslaught of entres and we took some time to sample Andalusian Asparagus, which essentially meant steamed chilled asparagus arranged in a very fancy manner and drizzled with an orange sauce whose ingredients shall remain a mystery.
Next they brought out a Chicken Pepitoria which hands down was the most delicious piece of chicken/chicken dish that I have ever eaten in my life. It was like eating chunks of heaven off of my fork. The final dish was Roast Leg of Lamb drizzled in the most fabulously complementing sauce they could have possilby found. It was the first time that I have ever had lamb, and it was an excellent first impression.
With all of the entres brought forward, nothing was preventing the most heavenly of chocolate mousse topped with a tower of whipped cream and rasperries, from making its way to my place setting. What a way to finish a meal of that magnitude. If only I would have had my camera because not only did it taste magnificent, but it was presented in a way one might experience at a four or five star restaurant. It was imaculate... I'll make sure I bring my camera to the next one :)
To underscore the awesome spread of food, the real point of the evening was to get to know others from our College and Careers group. Arriving at 7:30 and not starting the meal till 8:30 and then eating around a table with these people until 11:30 at night! I definitely was encouraged and gave encouragement and got to know some of them a lot better. I think that is part of the point of "fellowship" between believers... what I would give to share a meal with all my friends again. I love you all, and if anyone is reading this and wants to come meet some awesome people and share in some awesome worship and hear the awesome Word of God on Wednesday night... call me or something because if you start coming you'll have a very legitimate reason to take part in the next "Dinner for Twenty". Have a great week.
S-double-rubble
posted by Stewart at
10:17 AM
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