It was a night to remember…
…at the Donauschwaben Club – this last night of the
year 2010! The festive great hall was a sight to behold. All the
chairs draped in white, plus fabulous bright and festive
palatial decorations throughout the hall and tables.
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| Festive entrance... |
...and a festive hall |
Over 200
guests had decided to join the festivities and were rewarded not
only with a superior festive atmosphere, but also with a dinner
they will not easily forget.
| Together into the
New Year |
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Thanks to a Swiss chef, who also understands French, the menu
was almost something out of this world. “Sumptuous” I would call
it! All right – if you don’t believe me – here it is:
Roasted red & green bell pepper bisque, fresh multi-grain dinner
rolls with butter, Boston lettuce with mandarin oranges & grape
tomatoes – raspberry vinaigrette. Bacon wrapped beef tenderloin
(filet mignon) with Madagascar red wine sauce topped with black
tiger shrimps drizzled with lemon-dill butter and for dessert
pastry dome filled with vanilla cream on a mango chocolate
coulis – and of course the traditional champagne (Henkell
Trocken), at the tables, to toast the New Year with - plus an
excellent goulash soup at midnight.
Kudos to the kitchen and all the helpers that made this event
the success it had become!
The dinner was ‘Surf and Turf’ with an attitude! My own filet
was wrapped in “crisp” bacon and medium well done – just the way
I like it but I rarely get the bacon right. The vegetables,
gravy and potatoes were perfect and the desert something I
 had
never tasted before. Fantastic! A number of the guests I talked
to shared my enthusiasm about the food and the festive ambiance
evoked by the lovingly decorated hall and the festive mood of
the guests. We all felt as though we were in a winter wonderland
palace.
 After the dinner Toni
Baumann greeted the guests and officially invited them to
make use of the well sized dance floor. Almost immediately many
couples, many of them staunch supporters of the club including
Paul
 Schmelzer and his wife of Centre Honda, filled the floor,
enjoying Peter Beck
and his band. The musicians entertained all night with their
seemingly unlimited repertoire of fabulous ‘Evergreens.
It was apparent
 from the festive mood that everyone had
lots of fun and a good time. The rest of the evening passed
relatively quickly and suddenly it was time for the reason of
this celebration – the welcoming of the
New Year 2011.
| Peter Beck and
his band... |
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| ...and a full
dance floor |
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Joe Folk, the president of the club announced the
imminent arrival of the new Year, which was counted down by
Peter Beck,….. six, five, four, three, two,
“HAPPY NEW YEAR”
– we almost missed it by a few seconds. People watched the
balloons with anticipation. They eventually dropped from the
ceiling and there was no longer any excuse not to wish friends
and neighbors good luck for the coming year with a champagne
toast.
“Should old acquaintance be forgot” – Yes, the band remembered
it!
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| The fabulous
goulash soup |
 Now the only thing left for the guests to do was to imbibe in
the fabulous goulash soup and spent the rest of the morning
dancing until the band stopped.
I am sure some of my readers now are sorry they did not attend
this wonderful event – however there is still next year!
As always
Dick Altermann
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