After 6 months of planning, and a week of cooking and preparing, it all finally came down. I'm exhausted! I'm also pretty pleased. The food came out wonderful and a great time was had by all.
I've learned a few lessons too. No matter how well you have planned out a time table, it's not going to work out perfectly. Some things are going to take a bit longer than you expected and others a bit shorter. The written-out itinerary I had for preparing and serving and had taped to a cabinet door over the stove proved as only a rough guide.
I couldn't have done it all without Joe. He knew how very important this dinner was to me and I had his constant support and encouragement from the moment I started planning this back in October. He came over earlier in the afternoon and kept me sane and balanced before I could fall to pieces in the preparing. And of course, he was there to help me clean up. What a guy!
The whole dinner lasted about 3 hours--what I had expected, and I did manage to sit down and join the party now and then.
This is the menu for the dinner (which I presented in French):
1st Course
Champignons Bourres & Gougeres --(Stuffed mushrooms and Puffed Gruyere biscuits)
The mushrooms took a little longer than I had planned, probably because I still had the ducks in the oven. Note to self--next time take into consideration that the more items in the oven, the longer they will take. The Gougeres surprised me by coming out exactly the way they were supposed to come out! They were all the perfect size, and they puffed exactly the way they should have puffed.
2nd Course
Canard L’Orange--(Orange Duck)
Asperge avec Hollandaise Orange--(Asparagus with Orange Hollandaise)
Pommes Au Gratin--(Potatoes Au Gratin)
The ducks also took a bit longer than expected. That's probably because I had to roast two this time. When I did a practice run last week, I roasted only one duck. The Orange Sauce was wonderful but I had to do the caramel sugar stage twice because I was busy with other things and cooked it too long the first time. (Still, making this Orange Sauce involves three pots of ingredients on the stove, all going at once before you blend them together, and I think I did a great job.) One duck was hard to carve. Two of them was a pain but with Joe's help, I got them both carved and served before everything else got too cold.
One advantage of making a "practice duck" last week was that I had a carcass to make a large pot of duck stock. I slow cooked it for 2 days and it was very flavorful.
The potatoes were absolutely glorious and the huge double recipe that I made disappeared.
The asparagus came out great also, and by having everything I needed already measured out and right by my side, the Orange Hollandaise sauce was a breeze.
3rd Course
Salade de Poire et Noyer--(Salad with fresh pears and walnuts)
Brie avec Ail Roti & Pain--(Baked Brie with roasted garlic and French bread)
The salad was very good. I'm so glad that I had the pears pealed and cut, the walnuts toasted, the Honey/Lemon dressing made, and the greens washed and ready early that morning. Putting them together on individual plates took just a little time. I put the roasted garlic around the baked Brie on a plate and got many compliments. They were quite delicious together.
4th Course
Glacer la crème et Congolais
avec Sauce de Chocolat L’Orange--(Ice Cream with Coconut biscuits and Orange Chocolate Sauce)
(Damn!I forgot to take a picture of this course!)
This course was actually small Blood Orange shells filled with vanilla ice cream and small lime shells filled with Raspberry Sorbet along with the Congolais and Orange Chocolate Sauce. I gained a new respect for Joe's mother when I started to prepare the citrus shells two days before the dinner. She prepares this (w/o the Congolais) every Christmas and she makes it for many more people.(She also makes the sorbet from scratch). This was not as easy as it looked! You slice the fruit in half and empty the shells before adding the ice cream or sorbet. Getting every bit of pulp out of the fruit shells without breaking them was a lot of hard work and took hours. The Chocolate Sauce wasn't too hard to make, but I had to be careful not to overcook and crystallize it. I was able to make this last week and can it in sterilized canning jars. The Congolais were delicious and I was able to make them a few days ahead and freeze them. A few minutes in a warm oven and they were perfect.
Other preparations that I took:
~I gradually bought a new set of stoneware dishes and new silverware, platters and utensils over the past month.
~I hand crocheted 8 placemats,and a centerpiece.
~I took pictures of the place settings the night before and made personalized place cards for each guest.
~I practiced almost every dish during the week before the party to insure no surprises!
We had lots of delicious wine! My friend Jen brought a Chateau Saint Andre Corbin that was out of this world and luckily I got a taste before it disappeared. Joe brought three bottles of Boujalais and Cabernet. Kerry and Shawn brought a lovely dessert wine but we forgot to open it. I'll save that for the next dinner--but it's gonna be a while before I undertake something like this again!
All in all, it was surely worth the time, energy, and money I put into it. To do something this elaborate, and have my good friends share it was an experience I will treasure.
And now, I'm going back to bed for a nap before I have to go to work!
