Dinner on the Road to Wellville: Wrap-up!

Last Saturday I hosted the Dinner on the Road to Wellville Party, which was delightful. We talked about our bowel movements so much! Kellogg clearly would have been proud.

The Queen of Puddings was a hands-down favorite--I recommend everyone add it to their recipe books and try it at home. It's delicious! This QoP was particularly special because I used hand made peach jam, sent to me by a friend in Alaska, as the fruit layer.

Other favorites were the Rice a la Carolina and the Eggs Baked in Cream; also, surprising, the toasted pine nuts (now considered extremely underrated by general society) and the radish appetizer: whole radishes smeared with butter and sprinkled with salt. It's a delightful, and very French, way of chomping down on a radish.

I would say there was only one hitch in the food preparation, and it turned out well in the end. I had to go on a search for vegetarian gelatin for the Salpicon of Fruits, a gelled first course of orange and strawberry juices. This required a trip to Whole Foods, only the second in my lifetime, and I have vowed to never go again. I did fine the "Jel" which is advertised as "All natural! Gluten Free! Vegan! No artificial colors of flavors! Unsweetened! Sugar Free! Unflavored!" I bought three boxes, and when I opened the first, it was completely empty. I thought it was a joke--"oh I get it! It doesn't exist." However, the other two boxes were filled with a mysterious powder. I followed the contradictory directions on the back, and to my surprise, ended up with fifteen champagne glasses filled with Salpicon of Fruits. They weren't too bad, either. They were compared to a cross between "Fruit leather and Jell-o."

Below is the final menu, and photos from the evening (or see the set on Flickr). Please enjoy!

MENU

Salpicon of Fruits

Soup
Manhattan Soup

Hors D'oeuvres
Radishes with Butter Toasted Pine Nuts Olives

Poisson
Eggs Baked in Cream

Refeve
Rice a la Carolina
String Beans

Sorbet
Pineapple Sherbet

Entree
Asparagus Tips on Toast
Hollandaise Sauce

Roti
Apple and Celery Salad

Dessert
The Queen of Puddings
Assorted Fruits

Fromage
Neufchatel Cheese on Wafers