December 19, 2018

The White Dog Party food committee, Bailey, Opal, and Tizenegy, were gathered around the phone. "Damn," I thought, "note to self. Remove butcher from speed dial. Thankfully between Bai's Siberian Woo accent and Henry's Central American one, communication was taking longer. I gently took the phone.

"Hi Henry, I will call you right back with our order. Sorry for the difficulties." He laughed; he loves the White Dog Army and I knew there would be "a little something," in the package once I picked up the order.

 I turned to face the team. "Tell me what you are trying to order and I can help you." Opal pushed her notes toward me. The food budget was approaching four digits (in front of the decimal point) and was very impressive. White Dog would indeed be honored.

"Let's go over tis and maybe trim things a bit. It is a very thorough and creative menu. But to start, I think we could cut back on the 45lbs. of lamb shanks." "But they are White Dog's favorite, we ALL love them," said Tiz. "And it is only five pounds a piece." I made a note next to the shanks. "SIX lamb shanks. Henry can split them for us."

"And I think baby lamb chops, lamb kebobs, AND kibbe might be a little too much. You do not want the partiers to all be sick from over-eating." Bailey was set to argue. "But White Dog loves lamb." "Too much of a good thing will ruin your plans."

"Three jumbo shrimp would add a nice counterpoint for midday," I complimented. "let's cut back from ten each." "Is White Dog going to think we are cheaping out?" Opal asked concerned that there be enough to go around.

"If you switch out rabbit stew for breakfast to something a little lighter...you don't want to sleep all day. Maybe a fresh sardine omelette?" They all agreed that the egg dish...along with mini croissants would be a good substitute.

We called Henry back and placed our order for six split lamb shanks, forty jumbo shrimp and a pound of fresh sardines. He was very excited that we were shopping for White Dog's birthday meal and, as expected, added, "look for a little something extra just for her."  We arranged for Steve to stop and pick up the meats and stash them in our refrigerator in the studio so WD would not get a hint.

"Maybe when you are ready we ought to go over the desserts you have planned," I suggested to the committee. Opal wagged happily. "We are not quite done with that yet but it is REALLY GOOD!"