wedding dinner: a blow by blow

The setting was stunning, the bride simply gorgeous and as predicted, there was *a lot* of food.

After the ceremony we were directed towards a bar where bottomless glasses of bubbly awaited consumption and an endless stream of waiters played tag team with trays of oysters, bruschetta, beef wellington, arancini balls and plenty more. I'm so glad all I took was one mini mushroom and tomato bruschetta because it just wouldn't stop coming and wasn't even the starter.

When we were seated I stared for a good long time at my side plate and the turkish bread roll I'd fully intended to ignore. In the end I caved, but only had a small piece and was protected from further temptation by hubby helping me out with the rest. For the real starters we were presented with either beef or salmon. I had the smoked salmon which was served on a small fried potato and corn fritter with a small salad garnish.

Main course was either steak or chicken. I was served a steak bigger than my whole hand, perhaps a hand and a half even, but thankfully hubby came to the rescue again and I swapped for his chicken. The chicken was beautifully tender and served with asparagus and dauphinoise potatoes. The chicken skin was stuffed with something green, which I thought might be spinach or perhaps herbs but didn't taste like either and had the texture of meat... very odd I must see if we can find out what it was.

I left the skin and ate only half the chicken. It wasn't a big plate of food but the proportions of food groups were vastly out. At home my plate is normally over half full with vegetables (generally steamed) and whatever's remaining is halved between lean protein and carbs (beans, rice, pasta or more veg such as corn or green beans). Here the chicken made up about 80%, maybe even more, of the plate. There were three very thin stalks of asparagus drizzled in oil and the half dozen small slices of potato were deliciously covered in cream. The calories per bite ratio would have made an alarming number.

Dessert was a chocolate mousse, beautifully presented with white chocolate pieces, dark chocolate shavings and yet more chocolate pieces around the sides. yuuuuurmmmumumMMUMMUMMUMMM!!

I got through about a third of it before the calorie police stepped in,

"ANI!! put that fork down this instant. Keep your hands where I can see them and walk away from the table!"

Phew!

A good meal. I felt happy with my choices and was able to enjoy it.

I'm not even going to attempt to count how many calories I consumed, think of a number then double it for the amount of oil involved.

As it turned out the food was in fact the least of my worries - the demise of my social skills was of far more concern. The groom was a work buddy of mr. pesto's and so I barely knew anyone. I felt way out of my depth and far from my comfort zone. I sure am looking forward to re-discovering my confidence. I know it's in here somewhere. I suspect I just need to peel off a few more layers of fat before it's revealed to the world once more.