Monday, November 16, 2009

Top Chef: Veritas Edition

As many of you know, I am really involved in a campus ministry at MU called Veritas. Freshman year I joined a Bible study, sophomore year I started singing on their worship team, and junior and senior year I lead a Bible study for them. It consumes a lot of my time but I love it. MU wasn't home until I found Veritas... Anyway, every month we have a leader meeting for Veritas and last night was our last meeting of the semester, and therefore, my last meeting ever. (Unless God does something crazy and makes me decide to stay here for another semester... Doubtful, but anything's possible.) The Veritas staff decided to do something special for the last meeting so we were told to meet at the new Hy Vee in town and the rest was a surprise...

So we got there, and they told us we were going to play Top Chef: Veritas Edition! Top Chef is one of my favorite shows ever so I was so pumped. And then they split us into teams and I was put on a team with some of my favorite people so I was even more pumped! The task was to make an appetizer, entree, dessert, and beverage enough to give 25 people samples for under $50 in an hour and 45 minute time limit. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake, especially since they gave me the dessert category... but it was hard! I have never been forced to think on my feet like that, and after yesterday, I've learned that I am incapable.

We decided on a fruit theme (later someone was clever and called it the "fruits of the Spirit") so we made this chilled kiwi/soup thing for an appetizer (still not sure what that was, but everyone liked it), canadian bacon and pineapple calzones, this cinnamon cake with fruit on top (oh man... was THAT a disaster) and our version of a virgin mimosa. We ended up taking too much time and spending too much money... we were even concerned that some of our food was inedible (especially my cake: my team decided to crank up the temperature and cook it for a shorter amount of time... Little do they know, baking just doesn't work that way.) Somehow it all came together though... and we actually prepared a pretty good meal!

We did not win the competition but we did win best entree. I had a great time. It was a great way to end to semester and my time as a leader with Veritas: Top Chef. Good food. Competition. Fun People. I mean... that's a quality time. (I had the intention of taking pictures to document the event, but things got so crazy that there was no time. Here are the few that I took.)
(Lauren and Addison hoping that we're under $50.)
(Bethany and Chris debating meal ideas. They're
acting... they're not really mad at each other.)

2 comments:

Valeria said...

ah how wonderful! i wish someone had videotaped this whole thing. would have made a GREAT tuesday skit. glad it was a good time for y'all though:)

abby! said...

Actually... Kermit did videotape some of it. That'd be funny if they made it a skit!