If you’ve been reading All’s Fare regularly, first – thank you. Second, you probably know that I was recently reading Michelle Maisto’s “Gastronomy of Marriage.” Before I begin, I have to say that this book is excellent. I love Michelle’s voice and her story. It’s not like you’re reading a book about a stranger planning a wedding, it’s like you’re a close friend and she’s telling you the story. Plus, it has some really good family recipes in it – both Italian and Chinese. I’m very excited to try them.

While reading Michelle’s book I was thinking back to February 15, 2008. Our wedding day. A cold and icy adventure in the middle of Wisconsin. But the planning was done months before. The one thing Brett and I really wanted to do right and do well was the food. More than two years later, we’re still hearing from our guests how fab the food was.

I have to thank the event planning staff and the culinary team at Hotel Metro in Milwaukee for the wonderful job they did. Also, the fabulous bakers at Simma’s in Wauwatosa for creating a Disney-inspired wedding cake.

Brett and I didn’t want the typical rubberized chicken option. We took it upon ourselves to work with the chef at Hotel Metro to create our own menu. Looking back at the tastings we did, I’m glad we did them because on the day of our wedding we barely had a chance to eat anything due to all the excitement, the emotions and all of the people.

So I went back into my archives of invoices from the wedding and found our menu. Here it is:

Starters

• Vegetable crudite platter with dip.
• Mushroom vol au vent (mushrooms in a puff pastry and a rich wine sauce).
• Asparagus wraps.
• Brie, apple and walnut. (I vaguely remember being on a huge brie and fruit kick around the time of our wedding. I kind of want to make a brie en croute tonight with apricot preserves and pecans now…)

Entrees

• Bourbon pecan chicken.
• London broil with a burgundy glaze.
• Mahi mahi with an amaretto sauce.

Cake

• One layer: Genoise cake with raspberry Chambord mousse.
• Second layer: Devil’s food cake with vanilla mousse and fresh strawberries.

After-hours appetizers

• Traditional Wisconsin cheese and sausage platter.
• Fruit tray.

I can’t say our wedding had THE best wedding food ever. But one of the best wedding food experiences that I have ever had would be our friends Bill and Jen. They were married in Sept. 2009 in Long Island, New York. They had the reception at Villa Lombardi’s. The food was a SPECTACLE. Here are some photos (I just can’t do this spread justice in words…)