Happy National Tapioca Day!!!!!

....And what a day it was! Not since my long-lost catering years have I composed such a foo-foo menu, and never has the dining table at Chez Vel-DuRay experienced such a foo-foo repast - a meal fit for the living skeletons who used to grace the various ballrooms of my past, all for a fashion show for this charity, or that disease. The only thing missing was the purging in the ladies room afterward.

The main course was a salade composee of green grapes and last Sunday's leftover chicken, tossed in a curried yogurt and served on a bed of mixed greens (an old Vel-DuRay recipe, that I learned at the knee of the lovely Laura Peterson, who I hear is now lurking in DeKalb, Illinois. Should you read this, Laura Dear, please phone home - Danny longs for your insults). Some delicious hard rolls on the side, just to hold that gossamer offering down long enough to digest, and the whole thing washed down with a cunning little Chardonnay.

But The Star was, of course, Tapioca!!!

Actually, it's a really good thing we have National Tapioca Day, because having Tapioca once a year reminds us of why we never have Tapioca: Even dusted in cinnamon, it is a close second to blancmange when it comes to dreary. But today was National Tapioca Day, so we had Tapioca.

I must say The Colonel was an awfully good sport about this: Being pretty much a meat and potatoes guy, I didn't know how he'd react to cold salad and bland desert, but he ate it up and even had seconds. Now that's a guy!

Here's some pictures to feast your eyes on. You'll notice I kept the table low-key, with just the everyday Franciscan, but the candleabra added a festive touch, don't you think?

And don't forget: July 17th is National Peach Ice Cream Day!!!!!