Saturday in the kitchen
My little brother is a percussion major, and tomorrow is his junior recital. Sooo ....
Apparently it is expected of the family of the recitalist to throw a reception afterward. My mom has been chanting mini cheesecakes, brownies, bacon crackers, spinach dip, etc., etc. every time I talked to her on the phone or by e-mail for the past several weeks. I made three trips to Party Central this week to pick up an assortment of fall-colored tablecloths (my parents live in a small town and down have the benefit of a Party Central and its diverse choice in tablecloth colors.)
This morning I got up at 10 and made 40 huge chocolate chip cookies. Then I made two dozen pumpkin- and leaf-shaped pumpkin bread muffins and two dozen s'mores bars and two batches of spinach dip. (My breakfast, lunch and dinner today consisted of (in total, not individually) three cookies, a pumpkin bread muffin shaped like an actual pumpkin, one and a half s'mores bars (half of one from the first batch to see if they tasted OK and one in the second batch that broke in half) and four-crackers-worth of spinach dip. And an actual half-gallon of milk. I think it's probably more milk than I've ever had in a single day.) And then I bought flowers because the flowers in my parents town were apparently all wilty.
Now I'm trying to decide what to wear. I can't decide what the appropriate level of dressy-ness is. I could go with the fall theme of the table -- brown cord skirt and a leaf green sweater. Maybe boots. That would be on the casual end. Or I could go dressy and wear my short shiny gray duponi silk skirt and my black cardigan with rhinestone buttons. Ribbed tights and suede pumps.
I want to go with the second choice. I bought that last year at Christmas but don't have many places to wear it. If I were going to an orchestra concert downtown, it'd be perfect. But the audience here is going to be mostly college students, so I might look a little overdressed. On the other hand, my brother will be wearing a tuxedo. We'd look good in photos together ...
Anyway. So up at about 5 tomorrow to make the drive. But all the cooking is done, which is kind of a surprise. I bought an oven thermometer, which has made all the difference. I have just the crappy stove that came with the apartment, and it's a good 25 degrees off. So before I bought it, the cookies would burn on the edges and be raw in the middle. Which is a crying shame because I make truly amazing chocolate chip cookies.
Apparently it is expected of the family of the recitalist to throw a reception afterward. My mom has been chanting mini cheesecakes, brownies, bacon crackers, spinach dip, etc., etc. every time I talked to her on the phone or by e-mail for the past several weeks. I made three trips to Party Central this week to pick up an assortment of fall-colored tablecloths (my parents live in a small town and down have the benefit of a Party Central and its diverse choice in tablecloth colors.)
This morning I got up at 10 and made 40 huge chocolate chip cookies. Then I made two dozen pumpkin- and leaf-shaped pumpkin bread muffins and two dozen s'mores bars and two batches of spinach dip. (My breakfast, lunch and dinner today consisted of (in total, not individually) three cookies, a pumpkin bread muffin shaped like an actual pumpkin, one and a half s'mores bars (half of one from the first batch to see if they tasted OK and one in the second batch that broke in half) and four-crackers-worth of spinach dip. And an actual half-gallon of milk. I think it's probably more milk than I've ever had in a single day.) And then I bought flowers because the flowers in my parents town were apparently all wilty.
Now I'm trying to decide what to wear. I can't decide what the appropriate level of dressy-ness is. I could go with the fall theme of the table -- brown cord skirt and a leaf green sweater. Maybe boots. That would be on the casual end. Or I could go dressy and wear my short shiny gray duponi silk skirt and my black cardigan with rhinestone buttons. Ribbed tights and suede pumps.
I want to go with the second choice. I bought that last year at Christmas but don't have many places to wear it. If I were going to an orchestra concert downtown, it'd be perfect. But the audience here is going to be mostly college students, so I might look a little overdressed. On the other hand, my brother will be wearing a tuxedo. We'd look good in photos together ...
Anyway. So up at about 5 tomorrow to make the drive. But all the cooking is done, which is kind of a surprise. I bought an oven thermometer, which has made all the difference. I have just the crappy stove that came with the apartment, and it's a good 25 degrees off. So before I bought it, the cookies would burn on the edges and be raw in the middle. Which is a crying shame because I make truly amazing chocolate chip cookies.