It’s a family tradition as old as my parents – maybe even before their time – where, on New Years Day,
\nall the aunts, uncles, first and second cousins and any associates, dates, spouses or\u00a0 passersby swept into
\nthe event horizon of our collective mass – go out to the buffet, and catch up on life and put a hearty dent in the restaurants offerings.<\/p>\n
For the last 20 years or so, our buffet of choice has been a reliably awesome Chinese all you can eat –
\nthat rhymes with Shmandarin,and even though you can make as many trips as you like with your plate,
\nthe younger generation (by no means the youngest anymore..) have a tradition of stacking our plates as
\nstrategically as possible.\u00a0 This involves some Jenga\/Lego inspired ingenuity, not to mention the consult of
\na cousin who’s now a UWO Enginerering student.<\/p>\n
Walls and dividers made of cucumber slices and those long breaded shrimp, respectively, for example.
\nCold, un-peeled shrimp retaining walls and second level floor foundations\u00a0 made of mussels on the shell,
\nlayered with celery and carrot sticks to hold the kung-pao chicken above the pepper beef stir-fry with
\nminimal intermixing. We’ve got it down to a literal-science.<\/p>\n
Tiny ice cream bowl for dessert? I don’t think so.\u00a0 One must grab a large soup bowl for maximum sundae
\npotential. And those dessert plates are for rib bones only.\u00a0 Full size plates from the hot table are the only
\ndessert plates that can accommodate the “Ark Principle” aka “Two of Everything”.<\/p>\n
However – should you find yourself faced with a traditional ONE TRIP salad bar and\u00a0 wish to make the most
\nof it, leave it to the Chinese whose Pizza Hut stores reportedly did away with the salad bar after some MAD
\nENGINEERING SKILLS led to massive towers of food like so….<\/p>\n