In October we have a nephew getting married in Chicago. He and Clara are having a small wedding with immediate family and a few close friends. Since most of Aren's family is in Iowa they decided to have a pre-wedding reception/picnic. What a great idea. Saturday, August 14th was the big day. I offered to help my sister-in-law Laurie get ready for the big day.
BUSY DAY ONE -- I arrived at Mike and Laurie's about 9 a.m. ready to get to work. We decided to start the day with me pealing potatoes and Laurie mixing up the brownies. Laurie put the eggs (5 dozen) on to boil and got busy mixing the brownies. I got started pealing 35 pounds of potatoes. I pealed and pealed and peeled. Laurie baked 3 double batches of brownies and I was still pealing potatoes. Laurie even pealed the eggs before I was done. As soon as the eggs were done Laurie stated to boil the potatoes. We had two pans on the stove at a time. While the potatoes were cooking I started in on onions. I chopped 5 pounds of onions. By the time I was done with the potatoes and onions I could hardly straiten my fingers, because it hurt so much. I had to flex them for a while, before I could start again. I'm not sure why I got all the hard and smelly jobs. :-( I guess Laurie was a good boss and great at delegating jobs. :-) While Laurie was cutting up potatoes and and eggs I started in on the cheese. I sliced and cubed 17 pounds of cheese. Ate a few chunks. We had to make sure the cheese was good. By the time I finished the cheese I had a blister in my finger and my hand was getting a little tired.As I finished the cheese Laurie started mixing the salad dressing. She didn't measure a thing just dumped in a couple of jars of mayo, squeezed in some mustard, sprinkled in some sugar, and poured in some milk and mixed it all together. Laurie you make the BEST potato salad!!!!!! Somewhere in there we did take a lunch break.
Now that the brownies were baked, the potato salad made, lunch over, the kitchen cleaned and a short break we had one more major project left -- hamburger patties. Right after we started making the burgers Mike came in and started telling us how to make the patties. Not the best of moves to make little brother. He did have a point when he said to make the center of the burgers thinner than the edges. Still, you don't start telling two females what to do after they have worked in the kitchen all morning. We sent Mike outside to work in the yard and plant some flowers. Back to the hamburgers. First we had to find something big enough to put them on, because we made 67 hamburger patties. Then we had to move things around in the fridge so we could get them in, but we made it. While Laurie was cleaning up the kitchen again I frosted the 3 pans of brownies.
We got everything done that Laurie had on her list and a few other little things. We got the serving spoons around and found trays to put the brownies on. A job well done.
Laurie you had me working like a slave :-), but I did have fun. We don't see each other very often, so it gave us lots of time to visit. Work and all it was a great day.
BUSY DAY TWO -- I was helping with the serving tables along with my sisters Linda and Jana. At least Saturday the work wasn't hard and time consuming. We were able to keep watch on the tables and still visit with family and friends we haven't seen in years. It also gave us time to visit with Aren and Clara. Best part of the day was when Aren kissed my blister. :-) Things went really well. The day was still hot and humid, but we would take breaks and go inside the house and sit in the AC for awhile. Mike and Laurie have a swimming pool, so a lot of the kids and adults cooled off in the pool. They also put a tent up so there was some shade to sit in. The had the bean bag toss game and boccie ball. It was a fun day. I also had a chance to hold a 2 week old baby. The mother was helping her other children fill their plates, so I offered to hold the baby. So tiny and cute. My sister gave me a bad time, saying that was some excuse to get out of working.
Aren and Clara it was great seeing you and congratulations again. I never did sign the card. :-) Have a great wedding day.
Jeremy and Sally great to see you. Will we do this again next July?
Cortney and Josh it was great seeing you and the kiddos. Congratulations on the new Devine on the way and good luck in all the new things going on in your lives.
Mike and Laurie it was a great day. You did a fantastic job.
Love to all of you.
No comments:
Post a Comment