Last night was the annual Christmas open house (Christmas, not "holiday". It's Texas so to them everyone celebrates Christmas and they don't care) at the country club we belong to. I know how that sounds, it's not as snotty as it seems. We don't hang out there much. Just use it for kid activities and Hubs plays tennis in a tennis league. Anyway, the food is always good an plentiful as are the antics of buzzed older white people, so we usually go. This year was no exception. Now that we have the layout down, Hubs and I can run our pattern on arrival vs wasting time milling around. In the front is always cheese and crackers and a beer and wine bat that never has a line. Hit the door, get a drink, snag some cheese b/c I am starving, and head to the back corner dining room. On the way scope out one of the carving stations and some other apps. The back room is the first stop because of this:
Yes, my friends. A giant table of ice and shrimp and crab claws. The club boils them fresh so they are actually good and have a nice flavor. Crab was sweet. shrimp was just right. cocktail sauce nice and spicy. So we had a plate of those and chatted up some people we ran into--who are legit crazy rich and kind of can't have a conversation about normal things. Instead we talked about the dude's jet he owns b/c going to the regular airport is too much of a pain in the ass, and his piloting. So, I don't know. At least he flies it himself? He talks about it like its one of the cars in the driveway. Kind of nuts. Unless of course I am ever to benefit from knowing someone with their own jet in which it is THE BOMB! Shrimp a 4.5
After the shrimp we headed back out to the main dining room and the carving stations. Last year they had a phenomenal smoked tenderloin which we were hoping to partake of again this year. And, they had it! yay! The tenderloin is a 5. I would eat this any and every day of the week if I could. I swear this is the only time of the year when they pull this out. A little Christmas magic I suppose. Had two helpings of that. Nice and rare.
We also tried some of the other appetizers. Hubs had some egg roll and we tried the lobster dip with bagel chips. Yeah, not so much. It was velveeta with rotel tomatoes in it and chunks of lobster. Verdict was guilty for subjecting lobster to this treatment and ruining it. On the other hand, the mussels were again-out of this world. Another 5. Yodi had herself a big 'ol bowl of them and was super happy.
Next stop- dessert room. Last year we missed this because we were still novices and all the desserts are downstairs. They have a whole room and hallway with nothing but dessert tables and bananas foster. That is not my thing but boy was there a considerable amount of geriatric members lined up for that! I just went with a sampling of the small things. the tarts were not very good. crust was soggy. The little mocha cake bite things were the best. Gingerbread cookies also good. I wrapped up two to take home to the nippers but now I can't find them. Hmmm.
The fancy bar with the liquor, and ice sculptures!
It was a quick hit more or less but a successful evening with the added bonus of meeting the MOST adorable old guy who visited with us for quite a while over dessert. At 74 my man just came back from climbing Mount Everest to the 18,000 ft level. He looks like your average grandpa, but seems to be quite the outdoorsman. He also had lots of other great stories about working the back country at Sequoia National Park as a college student and then going back for a 2 week riding and camping excursion in his 70s. Just a charming delightful little guy. Cheers to him!
Oh and the people with the jet invited us to their New Year's Eve party again this year so obviously they aren't that bad! hehehehe.
Good crispy coating although for me it was a bit overdone. Good spicy flavor that didn't overwhelm. Very subtle. Chicken meat was also great Brined before frying which is the way I like it. I thought this was great chicken. Hubs, just ok. we got 8 pieces for $6.99 which I also thought was pretty good. However when you consider that none of the kids would touch it for whatever reason then it's not such a great deal. No. 3 Son wound up pulling the container of chicken onto the kitchen floor and the dog went after it faster than I think I have ever seen him move. At that point I think there were 2 pieces left. He grabbed one and and ran around with a giant thigh hanging out of his maw until I shamed him into dropping it. After that No. 2 Daughter ran around all night yelling at him to "release" whether he had anything to release or not. Poor dog. :(
