Charity Auction

Ok so usually you pay a lotta money and you go and you wear fancy clothes and you have engaging small talk conversations with people who golf and vacation on Alaska Cruiselines, and usually usually, the food is meat. You cannot request a veggie dish, there's no box to check on the invitation, you cannot ask the chef to prepare something off menu for you. You just spend the big bucks for a slab of almond encrusted salmon or steak au jus (Ok or your sister pays and you just eat for free). That may rock your world, but not mine, friends, not mine.

This happens at weddings, too. Occasionally you get the veggie bride who has the "check here for veggie dish" box on her RSVP, which totally rocks, but usually you get the standard fare. Friend from HS had a 700-person wedding at the Coronado (we're talkin' millions) and that was the case. I asked the waiter to kindly arrange a dish of whatever sides were available and just leave the boeuf in back, and he obliged, brining me a plate of snap peas!! Hundreds of snap peas!!

But I digress. My point is that I'm used to this; I do not begrudge a charity organization or a wedding for not meeting my food requests; I figure I'm not the purpose for the evening, I'm just a participant, and as such, "I'm easy." right? right. [as a side note, however, even at my own event, the one that begins with a W and ends with an ING, they screwed up the veggie dishes and we were served white rice and brocolli... sad, but true...]

So at the charity event, I waved over the server to request an extra salad, perhpas, and a plate with sides and no meat. I was surprised, however, when she asked me if I'd like the veggie dinner! Wha? Wow!

And it was fabulous. Let me tell you why:

1) salad with a a healthy bed of greens, a really nice cider vinaigrette, and a whole pre-salmonella tomato!!
2) wild rice cake with sauteed mushrooms (lots and lots of mushrooms), baby grape tomatoes, peppers interspersed in the cake, and a lovely creamy mushroom sauce on top. I devoured it!
3) bread, but not just bread, olive bread. I mean, seriously, it's like I'm a freaking stranger. I'm eating olives on my salad, I'm not picking them out of my bread. Someone call the authorities--we're witnessing a change here. A live change. Right here on blogger.

Then dessert: I'm kinda over chocolate lately, which is so weird! I mean, I've harbored a full-fledged chocolate addiction for a good 30 years. I eat it daily. I panic without it. I've had to run out at midnight for a chocolate bar just to calm my nerves. Even my nutritionist thought I shouldn't give it up; it might upset my internal balance. And my doctor gave me strict orders to keep consuming chocolate after I quit smoking; he was afraid of the ill-effects of too many restrictions. But not so much any more (note this, people! The scales are tipping! chocolate 10, olives and berries, 20.) Nevertheless, this was tasty. It was chocolate and raspberry and ice cream. You can't go wrong.

The best part though? The wine was flowing--they kept my glass full to the brim all the way through to the blue teeth.

By the end of the night I was juggling; apples? Oh, golf balls. That was it. Thankfully, there were enough parking attendants to catch my strays and hand them back to me, so no one was wounded. But all in all this charity was all-right.