6 Course Dinner

I really must apologize first, and then say thank you.  I am apologizing for being MIA over the past few months.  I have had a lot going on, and I am probably 2-3 times busier than usual, but that will be ending soon, so that is good news.  Then, I want to say thank you, because you are reading this post, so I know that you are still following along with what's going on in my life.  I really appreciate that!

Just so everyone knows, as a small reward for all my hard work (more to come on some of that in the future), I am taking a nice, and very long, trip.  It's mostly vacation, mixed with some education, and a little work tossed in.  The main focus of my trip will include Spain, France and Israel, and I plan to blog about all of it.  During that time the focus of my blog will be just food and travel, with much less emphasis on nutrition (other than when I write about the nutrition conference I am attending).  I invite all of you to tune in and follow along, and if you know anyone that really enjoys reading about travel and learning about International foods, please feel free to pass along the link to my blog.  In total I will be spending time in 6 counties, and with layovers included I will technically be "visiting" 9 countries total, although only in the airport in 3 of those.  Expect to see posts starting in the second half of May.

So I guess it is fitting that the 6 course meal we enjoyed on base last week was called "A Taste of the World".  This was a special meal prepared for a select few (not kidding, even though we had to buy tickets, to even get those tickets you had to enter a lottery).

Here I am with Ryan, my super wonderful husband, who only appears on here every so often.

The neat part about this dinner, other than the champagne and wine included, was that the chef prepared all the foods in a cooking demo, so we could recreate all the dishes at home.  It was like being on the set of Emeril or something, or at least what I would imagine that is like.  Once the demo was well under way, they started serving us the meal.

The first course was a spinach dip in a fresh baked bread bowl.

Let me also mention this was the meal on the last night of Passover, which ended as the sun went down, so I was able to end the holiday the right way by indulging in some bread.  The dip was actually prepared with chicken base, so I did not eat any of that, but from what I understand it was amazing.  I cut off some bread from the outside to enjoy.

Next came the salad.  This was a spinach and berry salad, complete with a nice, homemade dressing.

The next course was also one that had chicken base, but I had spoken with the chef in advance, and much to my surprise, he prepared this amazing dish for me.  This was shrimp, scallops and vegetables in a ginger sauce, with a side of white rice.  It was amazing!

The real third course was this pasta dish with a corn sauce.  Ryan said is was good but definitely different.  He said it was like corn chowder on pasta.

Then came the 4th course, which was the one I was most looking forward to.  This was the lobster.  Since Ryan does not eat lobster, I had one extra, which I took home with me (and I made the most amazing lobster omelet with it 2 nights later).

Yum!

The 5th course was the steak.  Ryan ate some of this, and then brought mine home with him.  He said it was ok, but he is not a big fan of rare meat, and that is how this was prepared.

The final course was dessert.  This was a drunken strawberry cake.  It was really tasty, but I was so full it was almost (yes, I said almost) too much to eat.

Overall, this was a great night out, with good food and good music (there was a live jazz band).

QUESTIONS:  What is the most courses you have ever been served in a meal?  What is our favorite "taste of the world" food?  Do you have any travel plans coming up?  What would you most like to see me write about in my upcoming travels?