On Friday, the company I work for had our annual Christmas lunch. It was held at the Fairfield Hunt Club. It is an extremely rustic facility tucked into the woods of Fairfield County. During the warmer months, the Hunt Club offers horseback riding lessons. During the summer polo matches are held out on the main field. How preppy is that??
The main dining room was decorated beautifully, with a gigantic tree (complete with presents underneath), strings of garland everywhere, and of course a huge stone fireplace with a toasty, crackling fire.
The food is exceptional at the Hunt Club. Our table started with calamari dressed with a balsamic reduction. Typically, I enjoy calamari with a marinara sauce. However, from now on, I think I will request calamari with balsamic! They were cooked perfectly, not chewy or greasy at all.
Post calamari, we were served Caesar salad. This was devoured before I could snap a picture. It was a typical Caesar salad, with huge Parmesan cheese shavings.
Along with the salad, was a mushroom and brie bisque. This was creamy, flavorful, and one of my favorite parts of the lunch. It had a slightly spicy flavor, which was welcomed on such a cold day.
The main course was then served. My boyfriend chose the filet mignon, which was cooked perfectly, and drenched in a mushroom sauce. Served with the creamiest, fluffy potatoes and steamed spinach (gotta get those greens!), my boyfriend devoured his plate in record timing.
I chose the roasted salmon for my lunch. The salmon was cooked to perfection. I am so picky when it comes to fish (so many people overcook it) but this was delicious. The fish was served with roasted asparagus and rice pilaf.
Finally - dessert! I chose the warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream. The crust was light, flaky, and everything you would hope for in an apple pie crust.
Alex chose the oreo crust cheesecake for his dessert, which was extremely rich, creamy, and not overly sweet.
Overall, it was a lovely Christmas lunch spent with my work family, and a perfect way to kick off the Christmas season.
On a different note, I just wanted to say that writing this post was very difficult for me. I know I speak for both Ferg and myself when I say that we are still extremely heartbroken and grief-stricken over Friday's events. It's funny, because after that tragic day - everything that used to matter so much to me, seems much more frivolous and not so important anymore.
Writing a blog post that was focused on something other than the shooting was extremely hard to do. I discussed with Ferg about whether or not I should do yet another post on what happened, or move on. We decided that the blog needed to move on. We realize that our readers don't come here to be reminded of the sadness or hateful things that are occurring in the world. This blog should be seen as an escape.
All we ask is that you please just keep our small town in your prayers. The healing process has only just begun.
