Cooking for 100~

                                 

     

Sooooo much fun.  Great people and happy graduates. We had over 100 people and the day was perfect.
                      
This is a fairly large crowd, many of whom I do not know, but it is not the biggest crowd that I have served.  My son's wedding reception here at home was the largest with 250 guests.  I thought I had two weeks, having lost track of time, but this is the week to bring it on. Brooks, Connor (a friend of Brooks), Daniel and Katlin (Andrew's girlfriend) are graduates who will be honored and Andrew, home from Afghanistan, will be hero- greeted as well. As I have said before, this is a macho menu. So far I have completed: chicken and noodles, ham and beans, chili, pulled pork, meatballs, pasta ears in meat sauce, pepperoni mac and cheese,  riblets (mini ribs.), and pasta- crab in alfredo sauce. I have three servers, one of whom will man the grill, serving mini fillet sliders, hot dogs, a variety of sausages, hamburgers and salmon. He will also create pizzas for the grill and quesadillas.  There will be dips and balls and other starters, the pasta dishes, an entire table of salads and a table of desserts. The Cincinnat Lechlers are bringing three salads, some gin, wine and beer, deviled eggs and some other things that I have yet to read about.  Pluckit bread will be served with drinks for sure.  It is delicious and something most of the guests will be trying in their own homes.  Brooks' father and his wife are flying in from Singapore, Singapore where they live and Beth's parents are coming from New Orleans.  Others across America are planning to be here as well. ( I had better put in my request for good weather.)  There will be plenty of pictures from before, during and perhaps, if I can still push a button, after. Wish me luck.
Doris

Note: This is the night before the event.  Tents are up, refrigerators are bulging, the house is at its best, the weeds have been pulled and I am done!

                                               

Finally!  Someone had the nerve to say, what I have been saying for years: Don't order steak in France. It may look like a steak and smell like a steak but unless you slice and grind for time on end, you will not be satisfied when the ordeal is over.  I would try a steak once a year just to see if they learned their lesson, as they did with coffee, but no, it was the same tough mess as always.  One time I was eating, or trying to, at an outdoor cafe.  I was actually glad when a big dog came along and grabbed the meat right off my plate--the waiter only made me pay for the part that I actually had eaten. David Lebovitz showed this lovely picture of a steak he was about to tenuously try because he craved steak and fries.  He has learned to be VERY careful where he orders this plate and this time a restaurant in Les Halles satisfied his craving.

Since I am turning the rest of this blog (from May on) into a book, as I did before, I want pictures from the party included, so I am adding them here.  They will only be of interest to the family, but this is an easy journal entry, doing it like this.  So please excuse my indulgence.