Fleur de Fall ... From My Diet

Last night was Mary Queen of Peace's 3rd annual Fleur de Fall, a fundraiser of food, music and auctioning. I have never, and I mean NEVER, seen that array of food anywhere else in my life. And I partook of most of it. From station to station, I noshed on pecan crusted fish; vegie spring rolls and mini chicken tenders with hot mustard sauce; an incredible (worth 2 servings) roasted sweet pepper and smoked chicken bisque with cilantro cream; fried catfish and garlic fries (decadent!); turtle soup, salad remoulade (3 servings worth -- amazing!); chicken and andouille gumbo; jambalaya; a variety of cheeses; some wonderful chocolate truffles; and several tastings of dry red wines. For a church function, this felt rather gluttonous, but all for a good cause, and I intend to work off those calories and concomitant sluggishness in a few minutes.

Despite a little gastronomic over-indulging, I can at least congratulate myself for not being tempted by all those odd-colored drinks I saw making their way about. Bright blue liquor -- especially with food -- just doesn't hold much appeal. I understand they fit in with the "sailing the high seas" theme, but those kinds of beverages would likely find their way into the high seas of my bathroom commode at some point in the wee hours of the morning. "Let's not and say we did," is my motto for such whimsical drinks.

The silent auction was every bit as impressive as the food in terms of quality and quantity. I was particularly impressed by some of the art that the school children turned out. In fact, my sole bid was on a wonderful seafood platter that depicted a large red crab in the shape of a fleur de lis with lots of tiny little crabs created by thumb prints (it was accompanied by a gift certificate for seafood), but I did not let the spirit of the evening let me lose all control of my senses and bank account.

Speaking of bank accounts, I feel like the poor relation of this entire city after sitting in awe, watching numerous high rollers bid thouands and thousands of dollars, with apparent abandon, at the live auction. Trips to sporting events, travel packages for Vegas, the French Quarter and so forth, all manner of items signed by the Saints coach or players ... even a meal for four prepared by Monsignor Bill and served at his home went for something like $5,500! The one thing I especially would have loved to have been sufficiently flush to buy ($4,000 was the winning bid) was a very large, antique icon Father Ronnie brought back from Greece. Having studied Russian architecture and icons while at Tulane, and possessing one small icon from my former ballet instructor (now retired in his homeland of Yugoslavia), I really felt the pull for this item, but it was not to be at this time.

I'll bet a lot of parishioners are sleeping in this morning ...