Big Shag Big Stout No. 11 (12?) of 12 - A day of eating and drinking and general merriment.

The end of an era?

Anticipating a day of feast and fun, we decide to start with a healthy breakfast - A big heaping bowl of Bob's Red Mill Hi Fiber Oat Bran Cereal. We were feeling very good about ourselves. Very good indeed.

A few hours later, for second breakfast...

...we had a plate of bacon and a sandwich of liver sausage and onions fried in bacon grease. Oddly, we still felt very good about ourselves.

Soon the activity began.
Chirs and Mike, our guest gourmet chefs, arrived first and took control of the kitchen.

Followed shortly by the guest of honor.

On the menu - Thai Dumplings, Pasta in Abalone, Herb and Wine Sauce and...

Emily's fruit salad with hibiscis edible pansies**

Best. Fruit. Salad. Evah.

Key ingredients for the main course:

Hand picked wild Michigan morel mushrooms.

Hand picked California red abalone.

Fresh garden herbs and spices.

Chris works on the Thai Dumplings

Final assembly

Jonah helps.

Too Too Good. Papa had more than his share.

Mike prepares the pasta sauce...
...while working under challenging conditions.

The herb wine sauce underway.

Adding the abalone.

A fitting feast to crack the last* of the Big Shag Big Stout:

The pour.

The toast.

The last sip.

I am not worthy.

A good time was had by all.

After dinner:

A campfire...

Well, more like a bonfire...

...and dessert.

*Although no one at the time of this post claims to possess any bottles of Big Shag Big Stout, the consumption of only 11 of the 12 known bottles have been documented. The mystery of the 12th bottle remains unanswered.

**After a massive letter writing campaign by reader and commenter Robyn, this post was updated to correctly identify the edible flower in Emily's fruit salad.