POTLUCK

I delayed this post in the hopes of acquiring some digital images to post alongside. Alas, a) I was too lazy to ask people with cameras to send me stuff and b) no one posted any on facebook. So, you will have to survive without visual representation and rely solely on my prose.

SO! As I mentioned before, I attended a potluck this past weekend and it was everything one hopes a potluck will be--copious amounts of food, good people, cheap beer, and an impromptu dance party to top it all off. For my contribution, i set off in an attempt to recreate the DELICIOUS Korma I ate with Mundy at Royal Indian Restaurant (3450 Seminole Trail) last week. However, I ended up printing off the wrong recipe, and made chicken Masala instead. My expectations were a little deflated because the Masala used Yogurt in place of cream and the dish lacked the sweetness that had been so satisfying in the Royal Indian version. (Also, because I hadn't felt like spending money on ghee (clarified butter) and used vegetable oil instead, the flavor enhancing qualities of butter were lacking.) Nevertheless, I started to feel better when, to go alongside, I whipped up a batch of Jasmine Basmati rice, the smell of which rivaled that of the curry in terms of olfactory pleasingness. Turmeric, garlic, cloves, cardamom, ginger, and fennel ain't got nothing on white rice and jasmine.

Feeling satisfactorily confident in my dish, I awkwardly carted the giant pot full of curry three blocks to my car and strapped it into the front seat. When I finally made it to the third floor apartment to which i was headed, my glasses fogged with the steam of thirty friends and their thirty dishes crammed into a small room. After finding a spot to dump my pot and taking a chance to survey my surroundings, I saw that the contributions included a stick-to-your-ribs-sorta-comforting chicken, pea and pasta casserole, spicy gazpacho; a salad or two; Kyle's signature meatiferous lasagna and plates upon plates of rice krispy treats with M&Ms. We ate, we laughed, and eventually we danced. It was, in a word, awesome.