Catered Affair

I faced my biggest challenge in my year, eating in with Michael Dickman’s wedding this week. I left the house knowing I would eat food prepared professionally. There was drinking, which makes eating almost a necessity. There was a seated reception with table service. I wasn’t going to be the only one at the table not eating. And I wasn’t going to whip out a brown bag and eat my own. I was in a suit damnit. 

So I ate the first meal of the year from a professional food establishment in 2011, yet I don’t feel I cheated my goal of not eating from restaurant, cart or to-go food this year. My prime directive, the shorthand could be called - not paying for it – apologies to Chester Brown – is still in tact.

On top of not being dogmatic, I wasn’t sure if it was even possible to go a whole year without eating food prepared by professionals, so I tried to stick to the more ascertainable not paying money out of my pocket for food and to a certain extent beverage.

I think I have done a pretty good job of not eating out. Here is a full list of foods I have had outside my kitchen in 2011.

January: Croissant, Coffee, 2 beers.

February: 3 beers

March: 3 beers, 2 with my brother who ate fries in front of me. The closest I came to chucking the goal. 2 slices of pizza at a meeting – I was working. Sandwich at work.

April:  5 beers, shared a dessert from Pix that a friend bought, burrito at friend’s house. A sausage given to me for doing work promoting my brother’s book release party (I should charge more)

May: Pasta at friend’s house, 1 cup of coffee, ran out of beans one morning.

June: Make it yourself burritos – Cathy’s house. Beer with brother.

July: Steak, friend’s house. Egg, no Mc, Muffin at a meeting a coworker brought me, 1 cold egg roll at the Dry Soda Cocktail party.

August: Dickman’s wedding dinner, 4 beers, chicken, salmon and potatoes. Tacos at friends house, 2 beers (I did bring a blueberry mascarpone cheesecake). Blueberry muffins at work. Addendum: 2 donuts, Plus whatever is at Cathy’s tonight.

This list doesn’t include candy – I have a bad sweet tooth. And the Vietnamese instant coffee I love. And I have spent money on food purchasing for others 2 beers, one dessert, 1 lamb sausage.

I have my birthday coming up, which generally means offers of food and dinner. I have two standing offers to be taken out to dinner in exchange for a few hours of work I did – I know I should charge more and sometimes when you are offering professional services to cash strapped food enterprises, the owners offer food. Saying no can seem mighty ungracious especially when that is all they can really trade.

Still with no travel plans to compromise the status quo, an investment of a grill, the occasional batch of French fries and the wise investment in Thai and Vietnamese cookbooks, the last 4 months of the year should be easier than the first 8. Or so I say.