By Jo Mixon
Auctioned Romantic Valentine Dinner
Debra Coscia, an individual member of the Chamber, and I were brainstorming last December about items to place in the Silent Auction held at the Angel Fire Chamber of Commerce Christmas Party. Her idea was priceless! She said, “Why don’t we auction off a Romantic Valentine dinner? We can seat up to eight people in my home and you and I will be the cooks, servers, and hostesses.” I agreed. We decided to prepare a four-course meal paired with appropriate wines. What we hadn’t expected was the response at the auction. Not one dinner, but two were purchased!
Last night, Chris and Donna Chase, winning bidders, and their guests Shawn and Tammy Devine, and Warren and Sue Gallant, were treated to our candlelight Valentine’s Day dinner. In preparation, we decorated Debra’s home with quaint romantic ambiance. We placed bud vases of red roses, candelabras, rose petals, and heart-shaped crystals on the tables. It was beautiful. Then we began food preparation. We both had our duties and worked well together.
When the couples arrived, we greeted them with champagne cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Once seated, we served them salad, followed by Beef Tenderloin with mushroom gravy, Salmon topped with bearnaise sauce, brown rice, and fresh asparagus tips. The wines we paired with the entree were Malbec and Petite Sirah. The final course was a decadent Valentine’s dessert! We served fresh brownies drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauce along side a dish of Zabaglione, Vivac chocolates, freshly whipped cream, strawberries, and a sweet Port wine. Over all, Chris and Donna and their guests seemed to have been extremely pleased. They asked for us to do it again next week. The dinner was a success! Saturday we will prepare and serve the second auctioned dinner for Ryan Goodman and his employees at Kokopelli Property Management.
The response to our dinners has been so great, we want to branch out and share more. We decided, with the help of our Chamber Ambassadors team we will have “Themed Dinner and Wine Pairings” once a month this summer, as fundraisers for the Chamber. We will prepare and serve three to four course meals. Chamber businesses will be able to sponsor these dinners. Seating will be limited, so reservations will be mandatory. More information will follow as soon as we set the dates! Watch for it in our eBlasts and on the Chamber web page. A super-special thanks to Debra Coscia, Kirsten Roberts, and Wayne Phillips for helping to make this a huge success!
Leave a Reply