Fabulous Food Day

Not only was I able to enjoy delicious food at the tasting, I had an incredible exciting package waiting for me when I got home...Can you guess???

That's Right!! I am FINALLY the proud owner of two jars of the Infamous Barney Butter!! Of course I ordered 1 smooth and 1 crunchy. Even though we were minutes from leaving my apt for the tasting I HAD to try this ASAP. I broke open the crunchy and grabbed a spoon.

LOVES IT!!

As much as I love the not-as-smooth texture of natural Peanut Butter...I have never had the same love affair with most Almond Butters...I like them, but never LOVE them. I LOVE this! I know Almonds aren't the only ingredient...

Ingredients: Almonds, Evaporated Cane Juice, Palm Fruit Oil, Sea Salt.

However, I think the additional ingredients are necessary to get that super creamy texture...Heather said it perfectly when she compared it to the consistency of Skippy! Now I grew up with Skippy and still crave it from time to time (ummm PB and Fluff anyone?), but since college I have grown to love natural PB. I am Loving the Barney Butter because it's got the delicious roasted Almond taste but creamier and slightly sweeter characteristics. I knew immediately what breakfast today would be...more on that later.

Wedding Info: Tasting at the Caterer!

Background info: We are having our reception at a beautiful historic Mansion in the Greater Boston area...and therefore you just rent the space and bring in all your own vendors (catering, flowers, rentals...etc). Some people don't like this and prefer hotel type places where things are included = less work. I am the opposite...I wanted to pick and choose every aspect of my wedding and have enjoyed every minute of it.

I LOVE my caterer, they are out of Charlestown... Wildflour Catering, Inc. I'd highly recommend them if you need catering services in the area! They have been great to work with...even did a full tasting before booking, which most places will not.

We had already chose a few of the hors d'ourves based on our first tasting, but I wanted to pick 2 more, and then change the entrees.

We walked into a lovely table setting in the office, complete with Brown linens (what I want to use...not these exact ones but I want chocolate brown table cloths)

Rolls! (the company is located in this big industrial building...sharing the same space as a BREAD COMPANY!!...more on that below).We just had some white rolls...but for the wedding we are going to take full advantage of this bread company and have a beautiful bread basket with lots of different yummy breads!!

Then she brought out 4 new hors d'ourves to try:

• Lower left - Cashew Chicken Spring Rolls with an orange aeoli
• Lower right - prosciutto and white truffle oil pizzette
• Middle right - Mini BBQ Chicken calzones
• Top right - three cheese wontons with a red pepper dipping sauce
  
  First of all I'd like to give a HOLY YUM to ALL of them!!! Honestly I really just want to give everyone at the wedding a plate of like 10 different hors d'ours because they were all SO SO good.

Already decided from the last tasting were:

• Lemon & Herb Crepes Stuffed with Asparagus, Red Pepper & Goat Cheese
• Tenderloin Crostini with Horseradish Cream
• Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce

Amazing, Amazing, Amazing!

We all agreed that we MUST have the Cashew Chicken Spring Rolls!

Then it was down to the pizzette or the wontons...both amazing, but since we will still be having lots of cheese on stationary displays, we went with the Proscuitto and White Truffle Oil Pizzette! Not that there was anything wrong with the BBQ chicken calzone...it was delicious, but the others were just out of this world delicious.

So there are the 5 Winning Hors d'Ourve!

Onto Dinner!

We tried 4 dishes, two chicken, two fish...they just brought out all 4 plates and we rotated, shared..etc.

Chicken #1 - Pan Seared Chicken with Warm Basil Vinaigrette & Pear Tomatoes , with a grilled vegetable kabob and Crispy Potato Leek Cakes Chicken #2 - Mediterranean Chicken with Roasted Peppers, Fennel & Artichokes, with the same vegetable kabob (we picked this out at Tasting #1), and roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes. Both chicken dishes were great, however I really loved the flavor of the marinated artichoke, red pepper, fennel slaw on top of #2! The basil vinaigrette of #1 was good but I think I was hoping it would of tasted more like pesto...just wasn't as flavorful. So we went with #2, but I asked them to add more seasoning and perhaps marinade the chicken...I am like terrified that the chicken might be dry!!

Fish!! - Brian and I love fish, and that was another big reason, aside from cost, I went with it instead of beef.

Fish #1 - Chilean Sea Bass with a green tomato and caper sauce, served with the vegetable kabob and creamy herb risotto! (note: I definitely asked for a Risotto option!!)Fish #2: Chilean Sea Bass with Mandarin Orange, Tomato and Basil, served with the veggies and same Risotto.

Somehow I managed to miss the picture of this one, but it was obviously really similar to #1 but with a beautiful colorful mixture of the mandarin oranges, tomatoes and basil on top!!

The green tomato and caper sauce was Delicious!! IF you like capers...it was strong, and didn't look the best but could of been done with red tomatoes, however we thought the sauce may not be loved as much by others. Plus, Fish #2 was Awesome as well...so refreshing and can I just say how AMAZING Sea Bass is!!! So delicate and tender.

The real star of all the meals though, was the RISOTTO!! O.M.G. Freeking incredible...so creamy and flavorful. I originally wanted a butternut squash risotto and was told we could do that instead or some other add-in, but this was so perfect I didn't want to change it.

Final Menu
Mediterranean Chicken with Roasted Peppers, Fennel & Artichokes
or
Chilean Sea Bass with Mandarin Orange, Tomato and Basil

Both served with:
Grilled Vegetable Kabob and Creamy Herb Risotto

Even though we weren't tasting desserts...our caterer was right up my alley feeling that you still need something sweet...

My aunt is making my cake(s), but we will still have a few of these mini pastries as well to nosh on...specifically the lemon tarts (in the pic), chocolate dipped cream puffs (the round chocolate ball in the middle), and some Almond macaroons (not pictured).

The bread! This is what we walked by to get to the caterer's office:
It smells SO amazing in there!! I don't know what I would do being there all day!

Fun Fact: This company, Biga Breads, makes the bread for Trader Joe's! Well at least the TJ's around here. And the pic below is bread for Morton's (fancy steak house).
At our first tasting she gave us this multi grain bread fresh from the oven...I was immediately obsessed, and knew it was sold at TJ's but they have more than 1 multi grain so I couldn't figure it out. Well I asked for more last night...and she even grabbed the TJ's bags so we'd know!
So of course Breakfast this morning was a no brainer: Multi grain bread, Barney Butter, and Banana!I left 1 slice untoasted (it was nice and soft), and the toasted piece got a little butter on one half...I'm a sucker for melty butter on great bread.
Incredibly Delicious!!

I Can't Wait For...

My Barney Butter to arrive!!!!!!!!!!!!
A BIG Thank You to Heather!! She managed to get the lovely people at Barney Butter to make a new free shipping code! Not only that, I learned that the infamous Almond butter will soon be available in Massachusetts! It will be sold at the new Fresh Market that is opening in 2010...hence I ordered some, there's no way I could wait a YEAR!

In other news... Angela at Oh She Glows is doing an Honest Foods give away! This is another product I've been wanting to try but just haven't gotten around to it. I'll be anxiously awaiting the winners!

Finally, I would like to thank all of your for your supportive comments relating to my thoughts/questions about my parents! I agree, that the best thing is to just be supportive...I can't make her change her eating/exercise habits...I can only try to be supportive and inspiring. She's definitely gotten better, and I have introduced her to many new products...Larabars, other bars, new cereals, lunch and dinner, ideas, oatmeal!! So I know I have been influential.

It's also funny because my dad was VERY health conscious!! He used to be compete in professional power lifting competitions, was a personal trainer for a while, and was always into nutrition...although also was a self proclaimed ice cream connoisseur:) When I look back, he was so far ahead of the latest nutrition trends...he knew all about the low carb stuff WAY before I ever heard about it from anywhere else, the same goes for trans fats he taught me about how bad hydrogenated oils were a looong time ago (he was a big Dr. Weil fan). When I think about this now, it's so interesting that he was so ahead of the general public...and I'm sure my mom and I didn't take it too seriously at first, but I always trusted his opinions on most everything :) I guess I know where I get it from :)

Anyways...onto the eats:

Breakfast Switch Up

Yesterday my boss asked me to go to this breakfast meeting for this morning...sweet! So instead of saving half of my banana for today's planned oats, I ate the whole thing yesterday. Well, he messed up...breakfast thing is tomorrow. So I go to buy a banana after work...nothing ripe enough. So I thought about it...and just bought bfast at Dunkin Donuts (I have a gift card).

Medium skim milk Latte, and a DD egg white flatbread!Egg white, turkey sausage, spinach, low fat cheese (forget what kind)
I like their latte's because their coffee beans aren't as strong as, say, Starbucks so it's more mildThis was delicious, however, I usually eat breakfast about an hour or so after arriving at work...but this was hot out of the "oven" so I ate it right away...not very hungry at the time. I have a feeling my eating is going to be thrown off...oh well!

Yesterday's Lunch

Morningstar Farm Spice Black Bean veggie burger, with lite sour cream, salsa, on a mini pitaServed with carrots, dipped into some lite veggie cream cheese found in the fridge from last weeks bagels.
Sargento Colby Jack snack!I'm excited for tea today...I bought a couple new ones last nightOne being...Almond Biscotti Tea!

I also got a blend of two teas suggested by the people at Teavana: Rooibos Chai and Sweet Oolong Revolution. I had a cup of this blend last night and it was delicious! Subtly sweet without adding anything to it. I love going into that store and having them help me choose a fun new tea blend :)