tasting

I've just returned from my first (and hopefully not my last) wedding tasting.  My friend SC from high school is to be wedded in April, and asked me if I would lend a taste bud and opinion on what she and her fiance should serve their guests.  Let me think about this:  free food, lots of food, swanky downtown hotel as venue, all the diet coke I can drink, wedding cake.  Alright, twist my arm.  So I headed downtown this afternoon, windows down, some amazing fall-esque music on the radio, with an empty tummy and a heart full of excitement.

As cosmopolitan I'd like to think I am, I realized on my way down that I have never had my car valeted before.  How could this be?  I can't be sure, but here I was, nearly 30 years old, valeting my car for the first time.  It felt a bit awkward.  Did I get out of my car?  Did I turn it off?  Would I get it back?  (I am happy to report, I did get my car back, albeit with the seat waaay too far forward.  My little valet was quite short)

We immediately went up the escalators toward the Grand Ballroom where one could see an array of possible tablescape upgrades, centerpieces and chair coverings.  (I will take the time right now to say this:I realized right then and there that a wedding of this magnitude will not suit me well.  I'm more of a barefoot in the grass, back yard cookout kind of gal.  All of the fancy centerpieces and covered chair seemed to stuffy to me.  Alas, it's not my wedding).  The hotel offers a beautiful view of the lake, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Science Center.  I can only imagine how beautiful it will be in April with a sun set.  (The one eye sore is that there is a huge construction project going on next door. Like, the new Medical Mart construction project.  And it won't be done by the time the wedding rolls around.)

My main job was to eat and offer an opinion.  I forgot that this was to be a 2.5 hour affair, and went face first into the hors d'oeuvres.  I took my task seriously and wanted to provide the bride and groom with my thoughts about each option.  I realized I also love a food on a stick for an hors d'oeuvres.  You don't get your hands dirty, and you can feel free to take several bites.

The doors to the Ballroom were then opened and we were escorted into the main venue.  The waitstaff was all lined up on either side of the entrance, and each person greeted us individually.  I felt like I was on the Titanic.  It was a group tasting, so there were about 20 couples total, plus their friends and family.  We were then directed to try each of the stations: stationary hors d'oeuvres, main dishes, soup and salad, pasta, starches and vegetables, desserts and coffee, and wedding cake.  The flaw in this (well at least a flaw in my OCD mind) was that in order to keep all 100 guests from going to the same station together, we were asked to sample the tables out of order.  I was panicked as I ate my salad after my main dish, and my wedding cake before my starch and veg.

We sampled everything.  There were 4 salads, 5 soups, 4 fish, 2 beef, 1 chicken, 4 starches, 3 vegetables, a dozen desserts and 6 wedding cakes.  There were 10 difference sauces and 3 butters for the meats, plus 2 vegetarian options.  My major flaw was this:  I went in with the mindset that I would be part of the Clean Plate Club.  This is not the way to go.  I should have been ok with sampling each of the options with one or two bites, and not feeling the need to finish all of my piece of filet mignon, and practically licking the chocolate Kahlua cake from the plate.  I felt like a hog-body and left feeling very full, and very much in need of a nap.

Was the food good, you want to know?  Well, not really.  I mean, it was ok, but it all tasted a little pedestrian.  A bit hotel-foody.  Which, I suppose it was.

We stayed for a while after, going over the different options and narrowing down the menu.  It's not a small task, trying to find a suitable menu for hundreds of guests, each with different tastes and likes.  For example, we all thought that the strawberry salad was the best option, but then settled on the house salad, because the strawberry offering seems like such a specific option to feed the masses (so did the Greek salad, and Caesar was ruled out due to its anchovy content, keeping the vegetarians in mind).  So as a bride and groom, you're stuck choosing between what you want, and what you think your millions of guests will enjoy.  What a hard task!

So here I am, in a food coma, waiting for the day in April when my hard work of eating and choosing will finally be revealed!