oh, lots of fun today!

 

Not too long ago, not too far from here, there was a mom...she didn't live in a shoe, but you get the idea.  Miss Charlotte Claire, standing behind Jonathan, was NOT thrilled that she had to stop swinging to come over and get in the photo.  And Jonny, the lonely little petunia in an onion patch, or the rose among the thorns?  No wonder he's grown up to be such a nice guy though...

So yesterday was my kitchen day at our church...I went shopping on Friday for the food, for 36 people...started putting it all away, and oops, the number went up to 50...okay, had to go back to a store and buy more stuff.

Kathryn and little Rhys came with me, and we stopped at Chipotle.  (Achilles stayed here with Sonja, Char, and Cam)

Anyway, kitchen yesterday:  Camille helped, along with my friends Karen and Linda.  Taco salad for lunch, 26 pounds of burger to cook up and season, then the chopping of all the peppers and tomatoes ect.  Surprise, 60 were there for lunch.  There was enough, thankfully, just barely enough burger, which is astounding, but I think they all were working hard and were just hungry.  And shh, it was good, ha.

Dinner:  BBQ chicken (marinated in vinegar and cajun seasoning, baked to 145 OOPS 158, got busy and didn't take it out when it beeped!, then grilled with a generous slather of sauce), fresh corn on the cob, salt potatoes, and salad with tomatoes from our garden, mini cucumbers, radishes, diced peppers, and sliced strawberries.  Oh, and croissant dinner rolls, the pop and fresh ones.  

Dessert:  brownies, boxed brownies:  four boxes all baked into one big deep pan, with milk chocolate chips and mini dark chips sprinkled on top, some before baking and some when it came out of the oven...the pan was lined with parchment, so when they cooled, I simply lifted the whole thing out of the pan, and sliced and squared them up...I tasted a little crumb, mmm good!  (Hershey's brownie mix)

My dear friend Karen...too much fun, we had!

While all this kitchen fun was going on, there was work going on out back...there's ongoing construction on a ski/sledding lodge, and some new cabins, plus maintenance work.  There are trailer sites, dorms, suites, and cabins because so many people come from so many places for different conferences throughout the year, so people pay the young people for things like redoing their deck...and the money goes toward the kids traveling to other conferences in Norway.

Margaret, Sonja, Evelyn, and Charlotte Claire working on a deck...it's good for them to do hard work, and earn money for things that are important to them.  I also think they had fun!

So it was a day, a good day, a tiring day...by the time I walked up the steps to the deck when I got home, I was a hurtin' unit, as we used to say in the old days.  I told Camille if anyone wants to come over tomorrow, I am NOT cooking.  

But guess what?  I feel fine this fine sunny Sunday, and out on our family chat, I said...come on over, and I'll rustle up some dinner...   so I guess I'm cooking!

...a new rug for the dogs...at least that's what THEY think.

XI Van Fleet, a survivor of Mao Zedong's communist revolution in China....something to think about, right?  

Ah well, off I go to marinate some pork chops...