Well this weekend was a blast. I went home to help my dad pull off his ambitious dinner menu for the Men in the Kitchen fundraiser dinner. It was a ton of work, but super fun, and I'd take any excuse to be in the kitchen all day, especially with my dad! I have some pictures from the event to share...enjoy!
Our theme was "Dead Men Tell No Tales: a Pirates' Fare". We served a scallop and mango appetizer, spinach salad with shrimp, lobster bisque, coconut chicken/crab cake/black bean salsa as a main dish, and a trio of truffles, key lime pie, and mango coconut pie for dessert. I told you it was ambitious! Seafood, as you know, is tempermental; it needs to be cooked almost immediately before, and if it's overcooked, well, it's rubbery. Somehow everything was perfectly cooked, even though we had to make it a little bit in advance (there was no access to a kitchen...all we had at the venue was a nesco heating thing!).
I arrived home on Friday afternoon (after a lovely tea party with my mother in law and mom :) and we pretty much hit the ground running. My dad made everything; we were just delegated tasks. We then spent 2 hours on how to plate the food; something I had been worrying about, but he never really thought of. It turned out to be a fun and important part of the planning (I just didn't want it to be slopped on a plate, like food you get at a wedding). Our main dish got pretty creative: we made a black bean and rice salsa (similar to the one in my roasted chicken wraps with black bean salsa) and served it in hollowed out peppers. I topped it with blue corn chips (it kinda looks like the sail of a ship, right?).
The table was a sight to behold. My aunt, Tammy (Tete), who is a master party-decorator, came up with the red and black, over-the-top pirate table. There were black chair covers with ruby red bandanas, a treasure chest, a sail boat, a huge flag hung over the table, jewels, guns, compasses, treasure maps...I could go on and on. Just check out the pictures. The other tables at the event were lovely, but my God, this commanded attention.
My dad's crew consisted of three ship mates and 3 pirates (my cousin, my brother, and his friend Carson). Everyone had a blast, but I think the tipsy pirates stole the show. (They bellied up to the bar between courses...). I believe at one point they were threatening the guests with their fake knives to take another slice of bread or something. I'm not super sure what was going on, but they were hilarious.
Everything went off without a hitch, and after hours of dishes, I headed back to Chicago. We are already planning our theme for next year (there are a couple ideas in the works). I'm so glad I could be a part of such a fun event for such a great cause. Thanks, Dad, for agreeing to do this. You did a great job!
On that note, I start my surgery rotation today. Yep, the rotation I've been dreading since I decided to go to med school in the 4th grade (thereabouts). I'm not a surgeon...I hate the OR...it's cold and I usually have to use the restroom like a quarter of the way through a surgery...and I tend to get lightheaded or even get vasovagal syncope (pass out) if I stand too long without water...this will be fun. I am excited to experience it for what it's worth, then run away fast in 8 weeks. These will be seriously long days, so if the blog falls to shambles, well, you know where I am.
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