Ceeeeeeeeeelebrate Good Times, Come On!

In celebration of my sister's recent elopement, my husband and I hosted a ten-course Chinese dinner for our family. We had ten people and sat at one of those large round tables with a lazy Susan. It was great fun. I love being able to try so many dishes and the round table allows for great group conversation. We pre-selected the menu items so it would be easy and there would be enough food for everyone to try each course. I highly recommend this type of event if you have something to celebrate with a group that size. It's really cost effective for a large group too.

.

(For all you Seattlites: We went to Sea Garden in the International District. The food was fantastic and the service was great.)

I made menus and place cards using a version of the Chinese character Double Happiness, a symbol often used as a decorative piece for weddings (on invitations for example). The place cards would have been cuter but I was in a rush to get the names written on them. Not bad for how quickly I made them. I also got the little traditional red paper envelopes, used for Chinese New Year and Chinese weddings, and enclosed a brand new one dollar bill for each person for good luck.
.

The best course was the whole crab with black bean sauce. It was delicious. There's no classy way to eat it. You have to get some crab crackers and roll up your sleeves because it's gonna get messy. I even had a Julia Roberts/Pretty Woman "slippery little suckers" moment when a crab claw went flying. Good times!

.

MENU

Salt & Pepper Squid
Hot & Sour Soup
Prawns Sauteed with Honey Glazed Walnut
Crab with Black Bean Sauce
Chinese Broccoli with Cod Fillet
Diced Chicken with Cashew Nuts (Boneless)
Beef with Oyster Sauce
Chinese Long Bean with Black Bean Sauce
Barbecued Pork with Rice
Chicken & Chinese Green Chow Mein