The Elephant and Butter

20 Course Update: It is upon us. Mahogany has been carved and oiled. Nails have been nailed. Invitations have been typed and sent. The menu has been printed. The shopping list has been amassed. Psychics have been consulted. Foundational texts have been flagged. A 5 lb.-bag of flour has been baked into far, far too much of something. Oranges have been zested. Chef Feld has rigged something worthy of the Swiss Family Robinson. The other night we met to discuss the timing of courses and the complicated traffic of the oven, and realized perhaps for the first time that, despite the massive preparation evident in our color-coded spreadsheets and immaculate recipe portfolios, we are very much in over our heads. Think: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, only with cutting boards, apple corers, and aprons.