I use to be afraid to try new things and I would avoid putting myself in situations that required me to be adventurous, but as I have grown older (even though I'm still going to say I'm young!) I have become much more willing to try new things. Maybe it's partly because I have tried to teach my kids not to turn their noses up at something if they haven't ever tried it. (Practice what you preach, right?!)
Well, on Friday night Mike and I had the opportunity to go to a tasting dinner for an upcoming event. I was excited to be invited to this one after hearing about Mike's experience at the last tasting dinner he went to.
We went to the Mayflower Hotel in DC, beautiful hotel!! (and I'm not just saying that because they had purple flowers out!)
We started out in the appetizers and hors d'oeuvres room, where we had about an hour to sample quite a few different things. The had hot appetizer section and a cold section, then a Mediterranean section, a pasta bar and also a tapas section. (They also had an alcohol section, but we didn't have to worry about that one.)
Here's one of my plates from the appetizer room.
My favorites on this plate were the scallop, the pecan encrusted chicken stick, the shrimp with the mango salsa and the blue tortilla chip with the salsa.
I did not care for the crab cake or the cherry pastry thingy. The beef tart was just so-so.
I did not care for the crab cake or the cherry pastry thingy. The beef tart was just so-so.
I couldn't resist trying the purple potato with caviar on top.
My first taste of caviar. It was ok.
After the appetizer portion of the evening was finished they took us into the Grand Ballroom for the dinner tasting. It was a beautiful room! I could totally envision a beautiful wedding reception in there. (Maybe by the time our girls are old enough to get married, we can afford something like that...who knows!)
We then proceeded to taste 3 different salads and 10 different entrées
(2 chicken, 3 fish, 3 beef and 2 vegetarian.)
salads
My personal favorite was B, but C was good too and more unique so it won out.
I didn't like A at all and I also thought raw peanuts would be a bad choice since so many people have peanut allergies.
I didn't like A at all and I also thought raw peanuts would be a bad choice since so many people have peanut allergies.
the beef dishes
The one on the far right (the short-ribs) was my favorite, though the filet in the middle was also good.
After that, we sampled desserts from their dessert table. Tough job...I know, but we had to do it :)
My favorites were
the crème brûlée
(though it wasn't the best crème brûlée ever,
it was still good and better than jello, ha ha!)
the mint chocolate cheesecake (the mint was very subtle, it was tasty)
and the edible white and milk chocolate cup filled with chocolate cinnamon mousse
(again the cinnamon was very subtle)
It was a fun night and we got to eat a lot of good food without having to pay for it, and our valet parking was validated too, yay!
*For anyone who wants to know, here are some of the things that I tried for the first time.
Purple potatoCaviar
Edamame potstickers
Crab cakes
Chocolate bbq sauce
Forbidden rice
4 comments:
Wow, you are amazing me with your adventureness - if that is a word. I like to try new things also, sometimes. I certainly have had that opportunity here. Ever tried bread fruit, callaloo, dasheen, salt fish, sugar apple, lambie etc.
Um...yummy...You look amazing BTY!
That's so cool! How do you get invites to these things? Mike must be in the know and on special VIP lists!
I love trying new things. Way to go by trying new things!
wow, what fun!! I am envious of those food writer who eat for a living.
Edamame potstickers...that sounds so interesting, I should try to make it I think.
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