Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Tastiest Tasting

There's a lot of things about wedding planning I wouldn't want to do again: build a guest list; write deposit checks to vendors; (attempt to) register at Williams-Sonoma (it's a nightmare...don't even bother), but doing our tasting is definitely one thing I would do over and over again. We got to sample three cocktails, two salads, four entrees, a dessert, 5 pieces of cake, and a partridge in a pear tree. 

Before we started consuming any solids, we were treated to the sampling of our three cocktail options: this housemade Limoncello champagne number, complete with a lemon sugar rim...

...this Chambord champagne drink...
 ...and this fresh Ginger champagne bevvie.
All three were the kind of drink I'd happily get sick-drunk off of, but ultimately we decided on the Limoncello drink, because it wasn't too sweet and it will be the perfect summertime refreshment to greet our guests upon arrival.

Once we were well lubricated, and I'll be honest, a bit drunkity, the food courses commenced, starting with the salad course options of greens with asparagus, parmesan, and truffle oil...:
...and this combination of greens with strawberries, fontina, and balsamic dressing:
While the strawberry and fontina salad was good, the asparagus salad with truffle oil was the hands-down winner. With drinks and appetizers selected, next came the entree selections. I was expecting this to be pretty easy too, but everything was so delicious we still haven't made up our minds. Then again, it might have been the fact that we were all drunk from the cocktails (plus the two glasses of wine we got to try). Either way, the entrees were delightful. We sampled...

Grilled swordfish with basil pesto breadcumbs over a parmesan risotto:
{This was a surprising standout for me--I usually don't consider fish at a wedding to be this special.}
 North African lamb served with couscous and a balsamic mint demi:
 A duet of sous vide beef tenderloin and crab cake:
 A gluten free herbed lamb chop with balsamic glaze and almond green beans:
I think Kyle and I thought we'd ultimately choose the duet and just not give options for our dinner, but we were blown away with the fish and the gluten free lamb, so now we're not sure what we want to do.  What we do know is whatever we choose will be ah-effing-mazing.

And no meal would be complete without dessert--we sampled the chocolate ganache ring with orange segments and a mango puree (with cilantro microgreens, nbd):
I'm not a fan of rich chocolate anything--I know, I know--but this was delightful! The rich chocolate was cut by the tart orange, so I'm pretty sure this will be a crowd pleaser.

We did taste a few cake options, but I'm getting full just recapping this whole experience, so you'll have to come back to hear more about this one (and the one we're doing on Saturday, because of course the girl with a blog named after baked goods would need options!!!!!!).
Who else has done a wedding tasting? Did you love it? Did it taste the same AT the wedding?? Did you get drunk?!! 

17 comments:

Megan | Freckled Italian said...

Holy hell that first drink looks incredible!

Anna said...

um, can I be invited to your wedding? that is the best-sounding and looking wedding food I have ever seen!

Anonymous said...

This all looks divine! I would love to be in your shoes for the tasting, but not the decision making!

X Kenzie

www.CaveGirlintheCity.com

Annalilly said...

I'm so glad you get great food at your wedding. Our reception food sucked, and almost five years later, I still feel bad for our guests. Oh well. They got awesome cake. And really, isn't that what's ultimately important?

christin said...

I want to eat all of that. But I've heard that generally the food at the tasting is better than at the event.

Julie // Bound said...

I felt like this was, hands-down, the most fun part of wedding planning. So glad you had a good experience!

Mo (New on U) said...

I want that swordfish RIGHT NOW. I do have to say that my ONLY sads about having a destination wedding is that there wasn't any tasting involved. We were lucky though because the food was amazing and I swear to god we had the best cake on the planet. ON THE PLANET.

Jenna | The Eighty Twenty said...

I want it all!! Especially the lamb and fish... I always make James get the other thing so we can both try food at a wedding. So if you do that, I'll get to have both! Thanks.

thenerdykatie said...

This almost makes me want to get married.

when we wander said...

All of those entrees look ah-maze!! And I knew once I read it that I'd also choose the limoncello champagne cocktail and the first salad. If nothing else, your wedding will be a hit in terms of food! And that's always a win!
www.whenwewander.blogspot.com

Blue Dog Belle said...

Wow. This sounds AMAZING.

Unknown said...

Love the pictures of the food, looks delicious!

Lauren
Fashionswirls.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

A word against the duet: if you have guests with shellfish allergies, they might not be able to eat anything on the plate if they get both things together. That happened to me at a wedding and the staff ended up stealing food from another event just so I could get dinner.

Cara said...

Possibly the best part of planning a wedding? I think so.

Chandra said...

My wedding food was the EXACT same as it was at the tasting. It was phenomenal.

Chandra
The Leonardos

whitney said...

no words.

bomb.com wedding coming up.

kt said...

hey girl that looks incredddible. tasting was definitely a win; we got two because our first when was blech. The second totally made up for it; the freaking chocolate truffles at the end put me in a happy place just thinking about them.
Anyway, forgot to tell you this (blog stalker whatevs) but if you need a day-of planner/florist, check out Sweet Root Village. Greatest company ever, sweet girls, and I promise I do not work for them :) Just passing on the best part of our wedding (even better than the food.) (not as good as the husband)

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