Preparing for the Feast
Jul 18th, 2008 at 9:26 am by Susie
It’s only 9 o’clock, and I’ve already been up working for three hours. In two hours, I have to meet Somegirl at Trader Joe’s, where she will guide me through the party menu. (Yesterday’s lunch hour was spent at Costco, buying frozen shrimp and chicken. Then I had to carry it all up to the office and put it in our freezer, since it was 95 degrees and I couldn’t leave all that stuff in the car.)
Somegirl suggested a charcuterie - I’m fine with that, since I like cheese and pâté. I already have a couple of nice Reislings and a Merlot, but I think the red’s a little heavy for this so I probably have to get a few more bottles. (My family prefers soda and iced tea, but I don’t know about the bride’s side of the family.)
Tomorrow morning I have to buy several huge bags of ice at the local restaurant supply, put up the canopy and figure out how I’m going to light the new grill - you know, the one that fell out of the back of my car? It seems the electronic ignition isn’t working. (Yes, my brother-in-law already checked it.)
I really should be vacuuming, but it calms me down to write about all this.
Just get one of those little “aim/flames.”(as a backup) They are good to have around…. also they keep for years. In the past, we have had gas cookers that have not worked at all. So we just bought charcoal and stoked it up. I find that everything is built to break nowadays. Stay cool !
Sangria is a good way to make red wine more hot-weather friendly. I don’t really have a recipe–just macerate a lime, a lemon, and an orange, all thinly-sliced, in the bottom of a big pitcher with perhaps 3T of sugar. Dump in a bottle of inexpensive but drinkable red and a couple of cans of sparkling water (if desired). Pour over tumblers filled with ice, and enjoy!
(Or, just let people mix up their own wine spritzers and flavor with citrus slices as desired–even easier!) Good luck with the party–I’m sure it will be a huge hit, and I hope that you even get a few moments to enjoy yourself.
Regarding ice, I don’t know about where you live but here, you can take a large cooler to a local McDonalds and they’ll fill it for a small donation to the Ronald McDonald House.
Good Luck!
Hope all the attendees enjoy all your effort.
It sounds like you have everything under control!
“My wife Eileen and I wanted our wedding to be about more than the two us,” he says. “We also wanted it to be about bringing together our two families. So we invited our moms, dads, cousins, aunts and uncles, and kids all into the kitchen to help us create the celebration from the beginning. By the time we sat down to enjoy the meal, it was really starting to feel like one big family.”
Also an award-winning vintner, the chef emerged from the vines to share – in his own words – his suggestions for a successful DIY wedding dinner:
Don’t go too big
For the average person, I think catering a wedding of 50 to 100 is reasonable, but it all depends on the style of the meal. I strongly recommend sticking to serving family-style or buffet.
Debt Consolidation
Good luck Susie! Just returned from week-long trip to upper upper New England and can’t believe the heat in MD - Hope all goes well