You Have to Have a Sense of Humor

Well, a short time ago (when I was younger) I agreed to cook the dinner for the class reunion., I was thinking around 100 people--that's like the familyl Christmas Dinner--ok. Well, it turns out, we are looking at 150! They want BBQ beef and a buffet.

Well, as time goes on (the event is tomorrow night), I have decided to do this you need: A vision and the ability to be flexible, the ability not to panic, and a sense of humor!

So, I started a month ago on the BBQ beef, cooking 6 reasonable sized roasts a day for 6 days! I cut them up, put BBQ sauce on them and inserted them in the freezer! Then my vision: could I visualize them cooking in my two table top cookers with rusty lids? Absolutely not. So I went to every store in town looking for table top cookers--none to be found. I looked in every store in Roseburg (where I was watching Trampis and Ella for a few days)--none to be found. So, coming home, we stopped in The Dalles for dinner and stopped at BiMart-Yes! We bought two. Now, as I began to think about it, how am I going to cook potatoes and ham? How many cookers do I need? Well, for 150 I need one more plus 2 ovens (which they have at the 4-H center). Great! Wait a minute, how many plugs do they have out there? Will that many plug ins cause a fuse to break? Well, I'll find out tomorrow! Like I said, you have to be able not to panic.

So, on to the salads--A green salad bar with things to put on the green salad. So, what does a salad bar have? Lettuce, with grated carrots and purple cabbage to start, On the side: eggs, cheese, onion, cucumbers, coleslaw, potato salad, some sort of pasta salad, broccoli. etc. So, here's the deal on salad: I ended up with all of the above--but for 150: A large coleslaw, potato salad, broccoli salad, pasta salad. Whew, almost done, then here comes dad: "Aren't you having fruit salad? Why did we buy canned pineapple if you aren't going to have a fruit salad. I think you need fruit salad with ham! So, add a fruit salad, and oh, yeah, I forgot the cottage cheese salad! Like I said, you need to be flexible.

On to breads: I hired Shannon and Cristine to each make 9 dozen rolls. Then Cristine is diagnosed with cancer and can't do the rolls! So, I decide to do a variety of breads. In my freezer, I had friendship bread and chocolate bread , so I made banana bread and pork and bean bread. Well, I snuck that one in because you have to have a sense of humor! (new recipe, delicious!). Then, I got out the cookbook and looked for recipes of French bread. So I made 8 loaves of braided french bread (new recipe and new braid technique I'd never tried before! I might as well have a little fun with this dinner while I'm trying not to panic.) The last batch, though was a little stiff--must not have got the right amount of water in it. I'll just attach a sign, "Eat this last, it's a little stiff". 68-year-olds would understand that, don't you think? And, oh, yeah, I'll pick up Shannon's bread Friday or Saturday, she didn't know!

That puts us at desserts. Two weeks ago I made, Rolo cookies (new recipe), shortbread rasberry cookies, chocolate chip-carmel cookies, and maple-vanilla drop cookies (new recipe). I forgot to mention that part of my vision is the opportunity to be adventuresome. So, yesterday, I made 3 peach/pineapple crisps. (new recipe that I made up) Then, I was going to make 3 German Chocolate and 3 Carrot cakes, but got to thinking--those are 3 layer cakes, so why don't I make two of each, but make them two layer cakes and then I'd have 3 two layer cakes instead of 2 2-layer cakes. In other words, I'd have 3 two-thirds cakes instead of 2 three-thirds cakes, which would look like I worked hard enough to have 3 cakes when I only worked hard enough for 2 cakes! Now, hows that for answering those students questions "When am I every going to use math?" so, I made a carrot cake with nuts and raisens and one without. Bu t, wait, that means I'll have on 2/3 carrot cake with raisens and nuts, and one 2/3 cake without, but what about the other 2/3 cake. Ok, half and half one layer with raisens and nuts and one without. but, when it came time to put them together and frost them, I couldn't remember which layer had what so . . . So, I'll just put up a sign. "If you don't like what's in your cake, pick it out and get on with your life" A room full of 68-year year olds would understand that, don't you think? Like I said, you have to have a sense of humor! Well, the GC cakes were another story, The first batch went fine, except one layer tore apart pretty badly when it came out of the no-stick pan (where it was stuck) The second batch got safely into the oven, looking a little runny, when I looked over and saw the 2 cubes of butter sitting on the counter. So, I snatched them out of the oven, poured them back in the mixer and added the butter, then returned them to the pans and the oven For some reason, when they cooked, they cooked really lop-sided and when they came out of the pan, two of them stuck and tore. (in my new no-stick pans) Well, with my ab ility not to panic and my vision of 3 2/3 cakes, I thought, "Ill just patch them together the best I can, and if I can't, I'll ship the pieces to Randy--he'll eat them! Thank goodness the frosting makes a good glue, and I could piece them together with the glue. The low side of one of the two layers matched with the high side of the other so that worked! That one's a little crooked, but I'll attach a sign, "If you don't like crooked cake, just eat something else," I think a room full of 68 year olds would understand that, don't you? Like I said, you need a sense of humor to do this job!

Now getting it all there.... Wish me luck. One things for sure, I'm really glad I have 2 extra refrigerators and 2 freezers! I'm exhaused and may go home after I get that food on the table! I think a room full of 68-year olds would understand that, don't you!

Oh, no, I just thought...how am I going to keep everything hot so no one will get food poisioning, or cold for that matter???? Like I said, I have the ability not to panic. . . . maybe!