Mmm Cake...

Red velvet cake, made by Martha.
Yes, it is perfect and I want, obvs.

This weekend I get to participate in the part of wedding planning that Dave has been excited about since day 1: menu tasting!

Sadly my funny honey will be studiously studying for exams and won't be able to come (more cake for me!!!), so this is a mother-daughter face-food-stuffing.

I used to be (and sort of still am) a pretty terribly picky eater. But ever since I graduated and have had to fend (and cook) for myself, my tastes have broadened, and I've discovered I really like food--cooking it, researching it, and (duh) eating it. Actually, my first foray into the wild world of blogging was creating a cooking blog, Res-o-puh-leese, and still one of the few things that helps me recover from a bad day is going wild at the grocery store splurging on fancy cheeses and artisan pastas.

But while I love cooking, I know I am a far cry from an adequate chef, and as much as secretly dream of opening up my own cupcake bakery (it will be painted bright yellow with a huge plate glass window and antique French brass accents and be called "Sunshine Bakery"), I am sort of only mediocre. Which is why good food made well is one of my favorite things in the world and why I have been counting down the days (three!) until the menu tasting.

Yes, they cater weddings.
Unfortunately I think to pay them you have to spin a whole room full of straw into gold,
plus Illinois sales tax.

Side note on the good food, because Dave says I have to blog about this in some capacity: Last week we had the best meal in our entire lives at Tru, a restaurant in Chicago and current owner of one Michelin star (wha-whaaat?!?). Last year Dave got a gift certificate to go there from his uncle, and we finally decided to take the plunge and splurge on food (I was proud of Dave for giving good food its due. This is a man whose go-to meals consist of hot dogs and tortilla-wrapped PB&Js). Oooooh man... Thirteen courses later we were lost in a happy food coma. I still dream of the delicate caviar, the caramel-flavored foie gras, the roasted venison, the cheese cart (oh the cheese cart!!!). I never wanted to leave, just to spend the rest of my existence beneath those cathedral ceilings, having dapper young men in red suits continually deposit and whisk away (in sync) plate after plate of confusingly-pronounced, precisely-prepared heaven.

mini cobblers haunt my dreams...

I'm not planning to hold my wonderful caterer up to such ridiculously high standards, but good food at our wedding is certainly a goal. As it should be! How many tough chickens and watery pastas must wedding guests endure? The best wedding food I ever had was at a friend's casual back-yard affair, where, she said, about half the budget went just to the food. It showed. All day today I was thinking about the delicate raw sushi with candied ginger, the gazpacho shooters, the delicate cheese puffs... Was their wedding almost three months ago? Yes, and I can still remember every bite--that's a good menu.

So, I can't wait to dive in to all that wonderful wedding deliciousness, especially cake tasting! Oh man, cake tasting... Hear that fiance? While you are slaving away over regressions and algorithms (that's what you do, right?), I will be sampling piece upon piece of wonderful wedding cake... That's what getting married is all about, right?