Summer Craziness - Diner en Blanc

Yes, as always.  Apologies for the lack of posts.  Considering that last night I fed my kids 2 chicken patties, 8 pierogies and a dozen meatballs (can you say clean out the freezer dinner), I haven't exactly been raising the bar from a culinary perspective.

However, there has been one bright spot on this taste-tundra that we seem to be trapped on, that is the fantastic Diner en Blanc picnic that Michael and I went to on August 9.

What's Diner en Blanc?  It's a secret picnic where participants have to dress in white, bring white chairs and tables, and a gourmet dinner to eat under the stars in a secret location in the city.

When I told my friends/family about this, I got reactions that ranged from excited to incredulous.  I think my brother will be mocking Mike for the next decade about going to this event!

Anyway, as it was my first time going, it involved a lot of preparations, the most difficult being finding a white folding table that would be easy to carry.  Finally found one at Good old Canadian Tire.  Wilhelmina and Eleanor celebrated my finding it by having a "Lunch en Blanc" with Kraft Dinner:

Will aspire to something better than Kraft Dinner for the real thing.

The rest of my energies were spent on menu planning.  What to bring, what to bring?  Had to be elegant, cold, 3 courses and easily transportable.   After much cookbook reading, I finally found the perfect menu for a hopefully warm summer's night.

Well, it was a summer's night, but not warm and not dry.  It rained ALL DAY on August 9!!  The only thing that kept me going was the fact that if you didn't show up, you would be barred from the guest list for next year's festivities.   As a result, I spent all day Thursday cooking.

I arrived downtown at Nathan Philip's Square to meet Mike (He was in the city for meetings all day). I came up from the underground parking lot to see........more rain!   Plus, a large group of gathered people, all in their white finery.  This was where we were going to get on a bus to get transported to the top secret location.


Once on the dry bus, we arrived at Fort York where we saw our fellow 998 diners setting up their white tables while holding clear and white umbrellas and listening to classical music provided by a string quartet.

We set up in our pre-determined location (Table E-25) and with a wave of a white napkin, (the official kickoff), we bagan our meal, with champagne, of course!

1st course:  Green tea crepes filled with plum marinated flank stake, jicama, green onions and spicy plum sauce

This was seriously tasty! 

2nd course:  thai spring rolls, kroepoek (shrimp crackers) in peanut sauce and soba noodle salad with shrimp

Dessert:  Madeleine's (was going to do vanilla cupcakes, but chose to make this simple cookie instead as it had more  of a french twist).  In what may have been my smartest moment, ever, I packed a thermos with espresso in it (served in clear cups, of course).   The looks of envy I got from the other, damp tables was hilarious!

http://www.marthastewart.com/856115/vanilla-madeleines


Cheese course:  Brie, sharp cheddar and roquefort grapes

After the dinner, everyone was giving a sparkler which we all lit simultaneously.  It was a very pretty sight.

And what of the rain?   Well, as soon as we took our first bite of the 1st course, it stopped.  It held off exactly until Mike and I packed up.

It was a fun night.   I will definitely plan to go next year, but I hope to have a group of friends come with us!  Anyone interested, let me know and I'll sponsor you to get on the list.  I'm already thinking of ideas for next year's menu. (the agitator in me still wants to spray paint a bucket of KFC white and slap it down on the middle of the table).

Au Revoir!!