The Spanish meal had to be postponed from April 28 because of tornado threat. Let me tell, you, it was worth waiting for!

No, the azaleas were not on the tables Monday night. I took this photo some weeks back and hadn't gotten around to using it. On Monday night the flowers were feijoa blossoms. Chef Seaborn's father has a large stand of feijoa bushes, and since they produced several hundred pounds of fruit last year, I guess he figured he could spare a few blossoms for this occasion. http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feijoa

Incidentally, I've become quite fond of feijoas in my old age.  Scooping out the fruit, as described in the link, works for me, and it tastes great with oatmeal or Fiber 1. But the preserves and chutneys made from it are wonderful, and just recently I had my first feijoa mincemeat pie (managing to eat the whole thing myself).

I would love to take photos of the meals themselves, but one does hate to take out a camera at such a time.

The Pie Lab wasn’t nearly this empty on the evening of March 10, when Seaborn and Kelley Whatley served a German meal to a crowd of more than 85. That blue wall on rollers had been pushed back and the space filled with tables covered with tablecloths on which stood square bamboo containers holding an array of freshly-cut spring flowers, a different kind for each table. And all those bottles of wine that the guests had brought in! A happy crowd that got happier

And was it good? You silly goose!

The corn chowder: Seemingly simple. Lots of corn kernals at that wonderful point somewhere between tender and crisp. I assume there was milk in the broth. Sweet, gentle, and topped with generous amounts of chunks of crisp bacon, and the crunchiness and saltiness and fat of that added wonderfully to the effect. Actually 3 more cups of that chowder and a good salad and I'd have been happy enough.

This time it was the New Orleans-themed meal. Crowd of 75. And a happy crowd, too, starting with the seafood gumbo served as a first course. Lots of wonderful shrimp. Lots of wonderful sausage.  Nutshell: the best seafood (or any other kind of) gumbo I’ve ever had. It was so good that I was almost sorry that I couldn’t just get more of that and more of baker Kelley Whatley’s great bread instead of moving on to other courses.

Had a tasty lunch there today. Friday is Cajun Day at the Pie Lab, something I hadn't realized until earlier this week. I think I know where I'll be spending a lot of Fridays now. Today it was crawfish étouffée, and let me tell you it was delicious! It was served in a crisp but delicate pie shell and accompanied by a salad of romaine. When I was paying, I told the co-chef Kelley Whatley that if the multi-course New Orleans meal scheduled for the evening of January 27 was half this good, it would be worth the price. Kelley said just wait, it'll even be better!