Getchyo Ass Back in th' Kitchen!

JesusTits.

I've been so strung up with holidays and houseguests and wedding and catering gigs and a reg'lar job (or two)...when's a word slut s'posed to get a thought in around here?

In fact, I've got to run back out the door to scour the island for stuff like orange flower water and annatto paste and am so goddamned scattered my skin feels like it's stuffed with bees.

Tonight and tomorrow, we'll be preparing dinner for about 30 people, people who regularly cook and serve food we love to eat. They have a tapas-style restaurant and have asked us to act as guest chefs at their holiday party, to cook down-home Louisiana+ food for 'em; stuff they don't normally prepare or get to eat. Food that can't be found within a 300 mile radius of Key West, outside of our house. In spite of Otter's ironic warning that "nobody likes a showoff," I feel behooved to reprint our working menu here:
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Bread on the Table:
* Homemade Sweet Potato-Roasted Garlic Rolls with Plugra butter (Mmmm...Pluuugraaa)

Salads:
* Pine Nut and Cumin-encrusted Goat Cheese, Baby Greens, and Poblano-Almond-Lime Vinaigrette
* Triple-Spicy Chilled Shrimp (poblano, jalapeno, chipotle), Avocado, and Hothouse Tomatoes
* Smoked Hearts of Palm, Romaine, Rum-glazed Pecans, and Roasted Shallot-Plantain Vinaigrette

Sides:
* Butter-crusted Crawfish Cheesecake with Crawfish Tail Saute
* Chayote/Mirliton stuffed with rustic Celeriac Mash
* French-fried Asparagus
* Bourbon Vanilla Pralined Sweet Potatoes

Entrees:
* Pig, Alligator, and Rabbit Jambalaya (Otter's four-generations-old recipe & method)
* Ghengis Khan Duck (packed and encrusted in rhubarb and roasted vividly tender)
* Pepper-crusted, Sugarcane-skewered Scallops with Sparkling Rose Butter

Dessert:
* Pecan Pie Baklava
* Cafe Brulot Diabolique (with Grand Marnier standing in for the traditional brandy)
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We'll just roll 'em out the door afterward.
Satiate 'em with food and then set their dining room afire with their after-dinner coffee.

I can't wait to see how we're able to feed people when we live close to real butchers and farmers again, instead of living at the mercy of, godhelpme, Sysco.

Bon appetit.