Technology & MSG

I was in Columbia last night for a potluck dinner. There was Italian bread with two plates of seasoned oils to dip in: Parmesan and a Tuscan spice blend. There were baked meat/sausage roll type things which reminded me of pigs in a blanket, except less flaky. Very yummy. The main course was the two-pot self-service fondue table. One pot had a garlic/lemon broth, excellent for vegetables. The other had plain oil and a huge bowl of tempura batter. Oh yeah baby, tempura. All sliced to be skewered was chicken, shrimp, onions, green and red peppers, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, and anything else that we felt like dipping in tempura (read: the rolls, chocolate, and anything else we could find).

I really like fondue. The whole experience is very social. We weren’t seated, so everyone gets to mingle around the table while preparing and cooking their food, the whole time munching on appetizers and chatting. I like that. Even though you’re eating a lot of small pieces, you end up eating a lot more than you think. If that’s even a downside, that’s the only one.

After we ate, the gentlemen escaped to the basement for some Halo 3 on the 360. I’m not very coordinated when it comes to modern video games (there’s just too many buttons on the controllers), so I mostly watched. The 65″ HD was impressive and nice for split screen gaming, but still a little bit much. The ladies were left to talk about whatever ladies talk about when the men aren’t present.

I brought double chocolate chip cookies, which firmed up a tad more than I would have liked. Nothing that seven seconds in the microwave couldn’t fix, but I feel they could’ve been better. Someone brought Ghirardelli chocolate brownies infused with mint and topped with fudge. It took every bit of willpower I possessed to keep me from taking the entire tub with me when I left for home.

Thanks to our gracious hosts, we always eat very well when at this particular house. Last night was no exception.

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