According to that Wikipedia article, a solar halo occurs when ice crystals in cirrus clouds are reflected and refracted by the sun. Depending on the angle of the sun, various colors may also be seen. In this case, and it's hard to tell, the inner portion of the halo was a brownish yellow color and it was white on the outer edges. There was also a jet or rocket trail that was heading sound, so it bisects the photo. I didn't take these photos looking at the sun - I ain't an idjut! I kind of pointed the camera at the sky and hope that the shot would come out.
One of my co-workers said, "Oh, that's just a halo" and another one said, "That means it's going to rain!". I wasn't able to get the whole circle in the shot..
Later that day most of us went to a banqet at the local country club. Ooh, yes, a country club with a golf course and all that hoity toity, hi-falutin' what not. Actually, it was pretty nice. I didn't get an exterior shot since the sun was too bright and ruined my shot. There were appetizers like assorted cheeses, crackers, fruit, and even bocconcini (herbed and marinated mozzarella balls).
There was also an assorted vegetable tray with ranch dip. I really liked the olives - they were huge!!!! Mmm, salty too!
Within half an hour, the crackers and cheeses were ravaged and laid bare by the student honorees and their parents, as well as by us and a few teachers. It was a really nice program that honored the top students in this rigorous academic program our school offers.
Here are some views from our table...Nice eh?
Clouds were rolling in by night's end...
More golf course...
The banquet room before everyone started arriving:
Now we get to the serious business - the food. Of the many banquets I've attended in the past, this was one of the best. Most of the time, you get rubber chicken. Instead, carnivores were greeted with the sight of a slab ' roast beef. Carve that.
There was an impressive array of food on the table. As I was taking my snapshots, I was subjected to the withering stares of a few people who wondered WTF I was doing. One of the workers smiled as I asked him if I could take pictures of the food. One teacher asked me why I was doing this (taking pix, that is) and I told her it was for my food blog (which of course, I didn't tell her the name). She had no reply since she probably didn't even know what a food blog was. Fellow food bloggers do you ever feel this way? I hate explaining myself, especially to non-foodies or non-bloggers who don't understand my compulsion.It was so funny a few months ago when I had lunch at Sab e Lee with Lotus, the Food Ho and her friend. Three of us had cameras and were just snapping away at our entrees. No one thought twice about it. It was natural. With my co-workers, who are slowly learning just how wierd I am (ha ha), they are tolerant of my desire to photograph their food during our lunch outings. Anyways, I didn't take pictures of everyone's plate tonight!
This was the fruit display...I liked how they carved up the fruits. For example, on the far left, you can see a series of carvied fruits - canteloup with a lemon, then a lime, which is topped by a strawberry! The pineapple was also pretty cool!
There was also some sort of fruit salad dish that had sliced almonds on it. I didn't get this item becuase I don't really like creamy fruit. I would rather eat my fruit plain.
This was a pasta salad with peas and ham. Hey, this would have been great with SPAM!
This was a carrot and raisin slaw...Love the garnishes on the outer edges of all the entrees! Makes it look so much more visually appealing...
Various salad items like baby corn (I liked that they had that!), mushrooms, sliced beets, carrots, and cherry tomatoes along with spring salad mix.
This was my plate - The slice of roast beef with au jus. There was actually chicken served but I didn't bother taking a photo of it. It was sliced chicken breasts swimming in a really delicious mushroom sauce with bits of mushrooms in it. I took that mushroom sauce and poured it over my mashed potatoes (no rice here, sorry Asians) as a gravy. I could have eaten just that all night!
Dessert was a generous scoop of vanilla icea cream topped with chocolate sauce and garnished with a dollop of whipped cream, a sprig of mint, and a rolled wafer cookie. I only ended up scraping the chocolate covered parts since I was already full.
It was such an exhausting day having to go to the banquet after a long work day...but it was super nice to see the students enjoy their moment in the spotlight and be congratulated for their academic achievements. Plus it was an excuse for us to get dressed up too! Prom is this weekend! I'll be blogging that as well!
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