Andy and I, along with sixteen to twenty family members had a wonderful, memorable October. On the 11th we drove to Cincinnati and picked up Andy's brother, Joe, and his wife, Glenda. We drove to Hilton Head to a beach house with six bedrooms and seven full baths and several powder rooms. There was a pool and with just a few steps we were on a white sand private beach...at least it seemed private at that time of year. It was in the high eighties all week and no rain, no clouds, no humidity and NO CROWDS. (I would not like it there in the heat of summer with the traffic and the crowds.) This was perfect and I got a great tan to boot even though I cooked every meal except breakfasts. Everything is hidden in the Plantations of Hilton Head. Palm trees and peek-a-boo foliage hide the shops and stores so that you have to really want to buy food to find the stores, and, have you ever heard of a place like that that does not have a whole ham to buy??? Not one place provided an entire ham and I was cooking for over twenty family and guests one evening. So, I bought the biggest half ham I could find and two of those small pork loins marinated in luscious liquids and spices and they turned out to be the hit of the evening, although they liked it all and ate it all.
We actually arrived on Tuesday having spent the night on the road. Everyone else was making it in one eleven hour driving session. (We, however, drove straight through from Florida on the way home which was at least fourteen hours for poor Andy.) So there were sixteen when they all finally arrived staying at the house, with various friends and family members coming each night for dinner. From home, prepared for the first night, I had a spicy lasagna so big I could hardly lift it frozen. I made and froze two kinds of soups, a pasta soup and one that I call hot stuff which is eaten with Scoops. I can never give a recipe for soups because they are made differently every time. After sticking the lasagna in the oven (it had ridden in ice perfectly) we started looking for stores. We went to three different places and our Escalade was packed with food, drink, and happy women. Oh, the din, when we all get to wagging our tongues. Those who did not go shopping had rented bikes for the week and were investigating the area. (Joe's family has been going to Hilton Head in July for years.) HOT, HOT, HOT, they admitted. We ate hot stuff with our drinks and icy beers. Then we had the lasagna with garlic bread and salad. Those men like to eat!
The next day, Wednesday, we were on the beach all day with everyone eating left over lasagna or sandwiches of their own making. Before I left for the beach I got the slow cooker perking with beef stew with red wine sauce, onions, carrots, potatoes and all the fresh herbs I could lay my hands on. Eight hours later, with crusty bread and a crisp salad there was dinner.
Thursday was an all day event on the base called family day. I elected to stay home and cook for the twenty or more guests coming that evening. I had plenty of time in between to sit in the sun, walk the beach, and read...no dogs, no hoopla, peace. Around 3:00 the first tired group got back, starved and elated at seeing the new Marine, Andrew. Boot camp hadn't killed him after all! They took a swim, made drinks and ate the French baguette slices rubbed with raw garlic, and rubbed with a sliced open tomato then topped with a bit of olive oil and finished with Kosher salt. There was a big cheese and fruit platter to nibble as well. The crowd started arriving after five and there went the cheese ball, the tray of cheese and fruit, and the bruschetta. Not to mention the nuts, olives and other sides. Finally, with drinks in hand they gazed at the ham, the pork, the scalloped potatoes with vegetables in cream sauce, the homemade pasta soup, the salad and so they set-to with gusto. Glenda had made brownies and we topped those with ice cream.
Every morning Tom, Mary Susan's husband, fixed a big breakfast. So for lunch on Friday, the day of the graduation, I made the ham and cheese and mustard in puff pastry. We had two big trays of that. I had none of it, but it was gone in a flash. We played cards by the pool every chance we got. It was lovely. That night I made a pasta sauce from the left over hot stuff and a jar of Carfagna's famous pasta sauce and heaped it on a big dish of pasta. The guys grilled steaks, brats and hamburgers.
On Saturday we shopped at the Salty Dog area for tee shirts because on Sunday we, the four of us who had ridden down together, left to visit our son and his family in Florida. I can't remember Saturdays meals, but they enjoyed them. I guess we emptied two refrigerators. (This kitchen, like mine, has two of everything.) Oh, yes, we had a slow cooker of bean soup with the ham bone from the other evening.
The graduation ceremony on Friday on Parris Island where they turn out 500 new Marines every week, 20,000 a year, was moving to say the least.
Florida did not disappoint us in any way either. We had three days to tour the area, make plans for Thanksgivings to come (next year at the beach house on Hilton Head), and to watch J.D., our newest teenager, play baseball. He's an all star. Loved it all and loved the people we were with at all times.
Along with all of that fun, Ina Garten's new cookbook, Barefoot Contessa...how easy is that? came to my house today. This woman REALLY tests the recipes and there is no cause for failure. Now that she has toned down the giggling, I love to watch her cooking shows. She also has a new series showing these recipes from her new book. October is fun after all.
