Buffet Table

Banner by Lissy Longbottom

What's a party without food? Here you'll find a number of classy dishes - everything from finger food to desserts. Please be sure to grab a napkin and don't make a mess! That's not very classy at all.

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Appetizers
-Crab Cakes
-Bruschetta on toasted baguettes
-Mini bagels with flavored cream cheeses
-Mushroom ravioli

Main Dishes
- Mini Ham, Cheddar and Apple Paninis
-Lamb, Chicken and Beef Kabobs
-Sticky Rice Balls w/ Soy Dipping Sauce
-Swedish Meatballs
-Coconut Shrimp
-Pigs in a Blanket

Desserts
-Fruit Kabobs
-Apple Turnovers
-Baklava Bars
-Strawberry Cheesecake Tartlets
-Fudge Brownie Bites
-Chocolate Cannolis

Please feel free to eat your food here at the buffet table or in the appropriate dining area, but not on the dancefloor! Thank you!

Uuuuuuuuuuuuurghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Derek was most definitely NOT happy. He hated Orientation day, meeting new people and 'mingling'. He just wanted to get back to work as soon as possible and not talk to anyone ever. Was that too bad?? Of course not. They were Ministry empolyees, they were supposed to work and not chat and socialize. Urgh.

The former Gryffindor did not 'dress to impress' or anything. In fact, he wore the simplest outfit possible for a black tie event. He wasn't wearing anything non-black tie-ish either, otherwise that would call too much attention, which he most definitely did not want. He also avoided everyone on his way in, looking at the floor pretty much until he reached the Buffet table. At least Ministry food was good and there was no one else around the table yet. Good. If he was fast enough, he could grab some food and rush to hide take a seat by himself at one of the tables all the way over THERE.

Still recovering from an awful amalgam of shame, embarrassment & hurt, Jasper made his way over to the buffet table and reached immediately for the napkins and began sponging away the champagne that had been tossed onto him. Although he'd managed to score an ideal job as a prophecy collator for the department of mysteries and things were generally focused upways, Jasper felt entirely like a loser. Syndil didn't forgive him anymore than he'd forgiven himself for his past actions or inactions. What a horrible way to start the new year.


Ooh, look. Crab Cakes.


But he was too sad to eat at the moment.

Claire walked over to the buffet table and noticed a man wiping himself off and walked over to him, "Here let me help." she said grabbing a napkin. "Scourgify." she said after she had blotted whatever he had spilled on himself. "There good as new." she added with a smile.

Jasper, being the more passive man he unenergetically went along with ...well it wasn't so much an offer of help as it just sort of took place with or without acceptance. But that made it easier, truth be told. He would've debated and insisted on being alright and perfectly fine even in the face of the obvious truth.

"Thank you." He said through a listless sort of smile. "I had almost forgotten about my suit. Well, actually it's not my suit. It's my brother's suit, but...thank you." He said a little awkwardly and stopping himself before he babbled on with any more useless facts.

"Are you a new hire?" He asked wondering if she'd be a regular face he'd see around work.

Claire smiled as the man babbled about the suit not being his and thanked her. "You're very welcome." she said as she placed the napkin she had in her hand on a nearby table.
"Yes, I am." she replied to his question, "Claire Fayard. Just transferred from the American Ministry. And you are?" she asked him.

"Jasper Mitterbill." Her smile made it easier to smile back a smile more genuine, though he had not forgotten the source of his grief. "I'll be working in the Department of Mysteries." Should he tell her what he'd be doing? Would she think him a complete nutter if he said he'd be sorting and collecting prophecies? Maybe later. They hadn't even had small talk yet.

"The American Ministry?" He asked with a small, but sincerely fascinated smile. "What's that like?"

Claire thought for a moment, "Well I suppose it's like the ministry here but I'm not really sure since I haven't officially started yet." she said looking around, "Although the American Ministry isn't nearly as nice as this and we never had any balls. Just an occasion department party." she said as she motioned to the surrounding room.

Oh, thank Merlin. They were talking about work. Not that it had done much to completely wash all thoughts of Syndil from his mind, it at least reminded Jasper of what he was here for. To celebrate a step in the right direction after a lifetime of mishaps and mistakes.

"Yes, it's quite lovely, isn't it? They seemed to have spared no expense." He commented sounding appreciative of that fact and pointing to the buffet table. "And look! Crab cakes." He stated whimsically. The man loved his seafood.

Claire looked to where Jasper had pointed, "The crab cakes look delicious. I wonder if they're anything like the one's we have back home." she said her gaze wandering to the dessert table, "Ooh look they have cheesecake thingies too." she said with a little laugh.

So she had stood in her secluded corner thinking things over and something occured to her. She could let this go and continue on and avoid him at all costs, which would have been what the old her would have done. Or....she could walk right up to him and demand an explanation. Not to mention that she had a sinking feeling ignoring him might be easier said then done.

The fact that he was here most likely meant henwas now working here and given his talents the positions for him were limited. Which lead her to the conclusion that he would most likely be working in the same department as her. This all lead her to the decision of confronting this situation head on.

Syd weaved through the crowd following the emotional signature to the buffet table. She was so determined that she had tunnel vision and walked right up to Jasper, planted herself in front of him, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why?"

Claire looked over when a woman approached and stood directly in front of her and said something to Jasper. She was completely thrown off by the woman's approach so she tapped the woman on the shoulder, "Excuse me." she said to the woman, "I may not be from here but I'm pretty sure it's rude to just walk up and interrupt a person's conversation."

The tap on her shoulder was a bit of a surprise. Images flashed through her head in rapid succession though she forced herself to ignore them. Her amber eyes scanned ovef the women speaking and it dawn on her that she might be interrupting something.

She smiled st the women. "Im sorry. I didn't mean to be rude." She held out her hand. "Syndil Rivers."

"You mean like Maryland and Maine crab cakes?" He was enjoying this. This calm and peaceful conversation about normal things like food and work and he wouldn't ve said so just as he was about to grab a sherry from a tray, when Syndil had entered.

"It's alright, Claire. Really. Would you excuse me for a moment?" He said letting his emotions get the better of him and looking more scared than he had wanted to. He reached a hand around Syndil's shoulder and walked her over and away from present company at least far enough that he thought they might be outside of earshot. Aka over by the The Photo Station.

Claire returned the woman's smile, “Claire Fayard." she said holding out her hand. “Sorry for being so harsh." she apologized to the woman Jasper obviously knew her. She turned back to him and answered his question, " Either one they're both good." she noticed he wanted to speak to the woman alone and nodded to them as he pulled the woman away. She watched them for a few moments and then turned back to the food to decide what to eat.

A moment or two later, Jasper had returned to the buffet area. This time fully intending to eat and definitely try the elf-made wine. He found Claire and wore an apologetic smile as he approached. "Terribly sorry, Claire. I just, I had to make sure my friend was alright." He was going to spare her the long and #complicated saga.

"Have you eaten? What have you tried?" He asked quite sincerely curious as to what was good.

As much as GinaMarie loved people watching she couldn't deny that her stomach was now growling almost continuously from the smell the buffet table gave off. She approached it slowly, tying not give off any reason to believe that she could probably eat the whole table by herself because she was that hungry. Where to begin? The brunette asked herself.

"Hello there." GinaMarie smiled at the woman she approached. Really the only reason she was even speaking to the woman was because she was standing in front of more food...but she didn't let that show. "Don't think I've met you yet." She said with another smile. That's because you haven't spoken to anyone yet. "I'm GinaMarie." Good introduction, GM. Forget the food. SOCIALIZE. Shaking hands was good, right? Good, because she stuck her hand out for the woman to shake.

Claire smoked as Jasper returned and continued to look over the food, "It's quite alright.“ she said to him as he apologized. "I actually haven't tried anything yet. There's so much food I couldn't decide." she said sweeping her hand at the table. "I think I may try a little of everything." she laughed.
Another woman came up and introduced herself and Claire turned around, “You are correct we haven't met yet. I'm Claire." she said to her as she shook the woman's extended hand. " Would you care to join us? We're just about to get some food and sit down to eat."

"That would be lovely." GinaMarie agreed. Good. Good. Making acquaintances. Good. She thought. Grab some more food. Yes. That's the ticket. "I've always admired the name Claire." GinaMarie commented. "I used to work with someone named Claire, but she always hated the name. I don't know why." Ah, Claire from the customer support system, GinaMarie really missed her and the witty banter they used to particpate in on a daily basis.

Stepping around Claire quickly, GinaMarie grabbed some coconut shrimp and added it to her plate. Harold would have loved the shrimp. Good thing I didn't bring him...there wouldn't be any left. "Have you tried those yet?" GinaMarie asked Claire as she pointed to the Swedish meatballs. It didn't look like something GinaMarie would have eaten but she was still really hungry and decided it wouldn't hurt to put three or four of them onto her plate. Yep. Hungry she was. Now where to sit?

Jasper smiled at Claire's remark, but he was still emotionally shaken over what had just happened with Syndil. Another deep inhale and he was happy to see that they were joined by a bubbly witch. Relieved, even. As she seemed friendly and open and like someone who might steer the conversation in any manner of ways to make him think about not-Syndil. Jasper took up a plate and followed behind the ladies, but all he seemed to be putting onto it was stemmed glass after stemmed glass...and a crab cake.

M-Squared. Adam laughed at that, knowing that they'd be calling the babies that for a long time. They already had the 'twins', so that would be their differentiation. "They'll be fine," he said, squeezing Lori's arms. "Remember, there's always the nursery here, if you ever need a break from them." Gosh, he did love his kids, but he would not for the life of him want them with him at work.

"Besides, my parents love them, they'll be spoilt rotten." By his mother, of course, there was no denying it. Maybe it was to do with the fact that they didn't have him around any more. Anyone would miss him, it was true.

Leading Lorelai in the direction of the food, or rather, the smell of food, he picked up a menu as they approached the table. "Strawberry cheesecake? Pigs in blankets?" Did that sound tempting or what?

João used to laugh at the idea of 'The stomach is on the road to a man's heart.' but ever since he had started living in England, he understood the power of Brazilian cuisine and the meaning of the phrase.

He could really do with some torresmo. But what did he find instead? Something called 'mini ham'. His face showed just how much he liked the dishes here in general--the border of hatred.

How much would it cost to import Brazilian food?

Claire piled some food on her and looked around, "Lets try to get a seat over here." she said making her way past the other people at the buffet table. She was glad she was meeting people since she didn't know anyone yet and sitting in her apartment alone was getting well lonely.

Lorelai nodded a little, still not fully convinced that she was being a good mother by leaving them. Sure, they were with their grandparents and she trusted Adam's parents with everything she'd ever had, they were practically her own parents. But she felt like a bad mum. "But that involves you bringing them with you...." Because she wasn't bringing them here to drop them off and then leave. Hubster could do it. It was okay with their older children, because they already had places to go. "Maybe once a week...." For now.

She felt herself smile at the comment about his parents and nodded. "I know, I know. I just feel bad, you know? We leave them tonight, and then we're leaving them again when we go to Paris...." She wasn't entirely bothered about Paris, though. She wanted time with her husband and what better place?

Food. She perused over the menu as Adam held it and shrugged. "I'll share whatever you get. It's romantic." It really wasn't, because he ate so much. But it was okay. She'd be cute and romantic tonight. In their corner.

Jasper took a look at his own plate then at those of the ladies and noted the considerable difference in drinks:food. Obviously, his mind was still elsewhere and maybe he needed a moment alone to adjust. "You ladies go on ahead. I'll join you in a minute." He offered then waited for their departure to swig from one of his glasses.