Weddingbee Blog

A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Cucumber Sammie and I trekked up to Cape May for our menu tasting. It was an epic food-coma-inducing evening, whose story should best be told through the use of pictures. At Congress Hall they do a tasting “party.” They invite all the brides and grooms who are getting married during a certain time period and have kind of a mock wedding complete with DJ. There were centerpieces from various local florists and different linens on all the tables. I must have gained five pounds, but it was worth it!

It wasn’t until about halfway through the appetizers that I realized I should probably take pictures. And at that point pretty much everything that was worth eating was gone. Oops! But I think it’s just a testament to how delicious everything was.

For our menu we get a total of five passed hors d’oeuvres appetizers (who am I kidding—I can’t spell that). Congress Hall provided a tasting of their top six. They were: seared sesame tuna, smoked salmon pinwheels, roasted red pepper hummus on toasted pita, French onion soup boule, garlic-crusted lamb chops, and truffled potato croquettes.

Yum yum

All gone!

Everyone at the table agreed that the lamb chops and salmon pinwheels were phenomenal. But that is where the consensus stopped. I loved the little bowls of French onion soup (so cute—you can still see the bread bowl on Mr. CS’s plate…I ate mine, of course), but most people thought the soup was too salty. Mr. Cucumber Sammie loved the hummus, but I thought it was just meh. Thankfully Congress Hall has about 20 more appetizers on their menu that we can select from. Now we just have to figure out how to narrow it down!

Along with our apps, we get two stations for the cocktail hour. Mr. Cucumber Sammie and I are descendants of mice and can’t imagine not having CHEESE!!

I just want to bury my head in there.

Salad comes next!

Goat cheese, pancetta, and dried cherries

Pear, walnut, and stilton over baby spinach

Yes, I am a terrible blogger and can’t remember to take a picture before shoveling food in my face. There was one more salad, but I didn’t get a picture. We are probably going to go with the mesclun greens with crumbled goat cheese, crispy pancetta, and dried cherries. Mmmm, goat cheese!

I am feeling full just remembering all this food I ate, but don’t worry—I powered through it.

Grilled citrus salmon with spinach and wild rice

Chicken stuffed with spinach, roasted peppers, and smoked mozzarella

Maple-cured pork chop with mashed sweet potatoes

Petite filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes

Shrimp and crab cake with mashed potatoes and spinach

So good! The mashed sweet potatoes were a-mazing. Seriously, I don’t know what they did to them, but they were so good. Even better than the garlic mashed potatoes, and I didn’t think I would ever say something is better than garlic mashed potatoes. The filet mignon was everyone’s hands-down favorite. Everything else was delicious but not blow-me-over amazing, so we are still searching for our second option.

Finally, dessert. I was away taking pictures of centerpieces when the dessert tray came, but don’t worry—they started without me. So chivalrous.

We are not having passed desserts since we are having the cookie table. So don’t get too attached to that picture.

I had to be rolled out of Congress Hall because I ate way too much. I am not kidding about the food coma; I promptly fell asleep on the car ride home.

Anyone else have their tasting yet? Was it a private tasting or a “tasting party” where they gave you only a sampler of the menu? How did you decide on the items you didn’t taste?