One of our local, upscale grocery stores recently celebrated their 20th anniversary. This is the type of event I love to volunteer for. Not only that, but the icing on the 20th anniversary cake is that they really did not need outside volunteers. After their own in-house paid employee help, there were no gaps in the 8-month event planning to pull this shindig off. After three impromptu orientations, which turned out to be more ceremonial than necessary, we were given the green light to stroll among the preparations to familiarize ourselves with the lay of the land.
I made a beeline to the fire pits. Although I’d been to this grocery store several times since moving to Austin 5 years ago and this was the first time I’d stepped off the deck onto the lawn.
The first fire pit had smoked salmon.
The middle fire pit had smoked whole pigs.
The third fire pit smoked had whole chickens. All three pits had pumpkins at the bottom. These pits were the bulk of the dinner, which was served later in the evening when the paying guests arrived.
I’d been accustomed to dancing to live music on the deck, but a bigger temporary dance floor and stage were constructed near the pits.
Of the three appetizers that were being served, the paella was the one I was most excited about. I took this picture while the rice and vegetables were still cooking and prior to it being decorated with mussels, jumbo shrimp and sausage. When I returned to this food station, which was run by a local restaurant, one of the owners recognized me from bikram class. Talk about small world. Of course, I gave her one of my business cards. I passed those little gems out like candy during Halloween.
The deck had been transformed to an elegant dining space, unlike anything I’d been used to in the past 5 years of eating, dancing and listening to music. There was a coffee, tea and dessert station in the back and a bar, featuring bottled water, beer, wine and soda to the right.
I witnessed the team orientation, which confirmed that my presence, along with my fellow volunteers, would be totally unnecessary. Yet, I had no complaints. I absolutely love volunteering for special events where I can eat, drink and socialize first before doing any other duty. (I’d like to think that as an interesting conversationalist, I enhanced other people’s evening.)
After four hours of schmoozing, I finally fulfilled my volunteer duty. The Argentine chef, who was in charge of the fire pits and main meal, had a 15-minute book signing. In reality, my presence was not necessary and I noticed that the other book signing volunteers had not bothered to show up. Being the staunch Virgo I am, I wanted to follow through with my commitment, regardless of its duration.
Technically, the chef had already signed every single cookbook that was for sale. So, he added a little personalization to the signature. For most, he chose to encase his signature in a large apple outline and add the person’s name. For one guy who had a crew cut, the chef drew and outline of the guy’s head.
Toward the end of the evening, champagne was passed out and group pictures were taken. I didn’t take part in either, but enjoyed the festive close to a flawless evening.
In addition to enjoying the evening’s libations, I took home two commerative glasses. I tested out the wine glass the following day and will test out the miniature beer glass when I attend an Octoberfest celebration later in the month.