December 18th Chapter Christmas Gala:

Host Chef: Johnathan King
and the Culinary Staff of  Gaylord Opryland Hotel

For this warm social evening, the Delta Lounge was draped in festive attire, ready for the chefs and members of the Middle Tennessee Chapter. As you can see, jet black tableclothes with red satin runners adorned the stations. The center buffet featured the platters of brightly colored fresh fruit and an exotic assortment of cheeses. The chafers were filled with garlic shrimp wrapped in won-tons and taquitos. Two hot food stations were arranged at either end of the lounge balcony. The right station glowed with a brillant crimson of the heat lamps as they kept the braised short ribs and garlic mashed potatoes warm. Truth be told, these were so popular, that a constant stream of cooks were kept busy refilling the platters. To the left, two chefs prepared a-la-minute Kung Pao Shrimp over Jasmine Rice. I made the mistake of saying "my goodness, those shrimp look like U-12's" - I stand corrected, they were U6-8 - they were giant and so succulent.
Sugar-plums were rock-n-rollin at the dessert buffet. Brightly festooned sugar cookies danced around the various mousse's - there was a chocolate raspberry mousse, a white chocolate cherry mousse, and a pumpkin cream mousse. Chocolate bon-bons stood in tight little ranks, ready for deployment into the awaiting troops of guests. It all made you feel like a kid again. There were two beverage stations, one with hot mulled wine, and the other with coffee and all it's entrements. Inside the lounge, the bar was busy with cocktails and fine wines - and a festive staff of servers took very good care of all. It was apparant that Gaylord Opryland had gone way beyond a token courtesy in providing a Christmas Social. They had crafted an elegant evening for all who attended - and I hope our Chapter can express its gratitude throughout the coming year to Gaylord and the Chef members who made this possible.

The Holiday Social was Classic, Exquisite and most of all,
greatly appreciated by all those who attended.

A Happy Holiday to All
See you next year!!

January 28th Awards Banquet
The Marriott Hotel at Vanderbilt
Starting from 6 pm Cocktail Reception
7:00 pm Dinner Banquet followed by the Awards Ceremony

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