New Year's Magic

How much do you wish you were sitting at this banqueting table? A lot, I assure you. Myself and 12 friends rang in the New Year with a delectable banquet. Some recipes of features have already been posted by Thomas below. And I know that the Last Supper involved Christ sitting at the head of a large table overseeing a delicious meal with 12 of his followers, and although I sat at the head of the table (or the foot, depending on your view of things), I can assure you this was just coincidence.


I'm not sure where to start! Thomas, Orianne and I had a sumptuous time at Granville Island Market selecting the groceries, having created the menu the previous day. It is a wonderful treat to select each and every mushroom with care in such a food-positive environment. I was already having fun by 11am, and things only got better when we cracked open the wine while we prepared each dish. Look out 2008...there's a gourmet food-making party in my kitchen and everyone was invited. Just look at that dish.


Appetizers:

• Arugula salad with roasted tomatoes and boccocini
• Cilantro-lime shrimp (recipe in Thomas' post below)
• Carrot-ginger soup with yogurt design (that's Vince's art work...ahem)
  

Main dish:

• Sauteed baby bok choy
• Chevre mashed potatoes
• Cilantro-lime halibut (recipe below)
• Mango-apple salsa
• Wild mushrooms in endive leaves

Dessert:

• Cheese plate (apple smoked cheddar, pepper gouda, and pear-apple stilton)
• Sticky toffee pudding (due to the abundance of chefs, I found myself mixing up this deliciousness on the living room floor).

And although I accidentally set the oven to "self-clean" instead of "bake" (this explains the flames, by the way everyone), all the food still turned out beautifully, with that je-ne-c'est-quoi "charred" flavour.

I had such a good time. It was a well-choreographed dinner party, and I felt like a gourmet performance artist by the end (perhaps this is why I took this photo of Cristina's high-quality silver lying artfully on the carpet at 3am when all were satisfied and cleaned up). We all moved together in rhythm in the kitchen and throughout the house, really. Around the table, those feasting took a moment to speak of a grateful moment of 2007 and select a "fortune-cookie-style" piece of wisdom for 2008.

Mine was "It always takes longer than you expect." Aha. So let's take some time with our food in 2008.