[wolf]

Tonight was my first trip to the Bay Pony Inn in Lederach, and I must say I was QUITE pleased.

I went there for a banquet for a volunteer organization I've been a member of for 8-9 years (I honestly forget when I first joined. I'm sure it's in the archives somewhere).

Banquets are usually pretty standardized ... everyone knows the same jokes (which are usually true) about the rubber chicken served with cold peas ...

Not so. I'd heard good things about the food at the Bay Pony, and they appear to be accurate.

I had the chicken piccatta, which was about as far from rubbery as you can get ... moist & tender ... and involved capers, which is something I almost wrote about in the Food Oddities thread ... who would think that something that so resembles a bunny turd could be such a flavor enhancer. It's one of those "who the heck was the first person who ever thought of that ... it sure don't LOOK good" foods.

Reports on the Mahi-Mahi and prime rib were also glowing.

The meal was helped along by the open bar, of course.

I'm definitely going to be going back there for a regular off the menu dinner, given the goodness of the banquet food.

I also ended up with a very nice unexpected bonus. Two, actually.

As with many of the banquety things, there were door prizes. I now have a $10 gift certificate for Blockbuster. I'll have to hang onto it until they send out another rent one get one free coupon to maximize my videogaming enjoyment.

The big wonderfulness, though, was that I won the raffle quilt! One of the team members is a quilter and makes a quilt each year as a fundraiser. We're still trying to figure out how she does it ... she has two kids and works full time yet manages to piece and quilt several large quilts a year, as well as numerous smaller wall-hangings, table runners, placemats, etc.

I'd like to learn quilting myself, except I really don't have room for another hobby right now ... I'm barely keeping up with the batches I'm already involved in.