Old blog revisited

I attended a seminar earlier this week and stayed for the lunch. Lunch is always a guess about what kind of food will be served. If I can avoid it I do so. But I saw several people that I went to OSU with and some other engineers that I had not seen in quite some time, so I stayed for lunch. Depending on the seminar location and sponsor(s), the lunch can be buffet-style or we sit and the meal is brought to the table. Earlier this week, it was buffet-style. As we stood in line, I kept wondering what was in the pans on the table. Mystery meat of some kind, I assumed. Actually, it turned out to be brisket and grilled chicken, so it was easily recognizable. And very good for a change. Wondering about the mystery meat made me think of an entry I put on the old Yahoo blog site on June 18, 2008.


Debbie is at a seminar all day for DHS. Hope she got something besides mystery meat for lunch. If you've ever been to a seminar where lunch is catered, you might be able to relate to this. Sometimes you cannot tell what kind of meat is being served. It always appears to be chicken, but it's an odd cut of meat. Not a breast or leg. Although I got something once that had a miniature chicken leg attached to it. I assumed it was the part of the wing that looks like a small chicken leg attached to breast meat, but the meat attached to the miniature chicken leg did not appear to be chicken breast meat. I wonder if it was some conglomeration of animals kinda like the jackalope. It looks real, but it ain't. Generally, the meat is some strange looking shape that cannot be discerned as having once been a leg, breast, thigh or butt. When the dish is placed in front of us, it is funny look around at the others sitting at the table. Everyone has the puzzled look on their face. All of us asking the same question, "What is this?" while probing the meat with a fork. As fas as I know, the meat has not made a noise or moved when probed. The sauce generally hides the flavor (or lack thereof) of the meat. Sometimes the meat has a rubbery consistency, so you are never sure if it is natural or synthetic. Typically, the meat is accompanied by fresh veggies. Thin cut carrots, brocolli, green beans... something recognizable. Before the main dish, they serve a salad, or so they claim. Most often the salad appears to consist of all the same types of weeds I mowed down over the weekend in my yard. They put enough vinegrette or some other type of salad dressing on it to hide the milkweed flavor. In my opinion, a salad has lettuce. It could be iceberg or leaf lettuce. I have no preference. Maybe throw in some spinach. Carrots, boiled eggs and cheese are a nice touch. Purple cabbage is ok. The seminar caterer will have none of that. I have no idea what type of flora is used for the seminar salads, but I am pretty sure I know what Ole Bessy would have been munching on in the pasture if the caterer had not been there first. I hope Debbie has better luck with her lunch.