I expected to wake to rainy, gloomy weather, but all things considered, it wasn’t that bad. What it was, was warm, windy, and mostly gray. With so much to do, I spent very little idle time. Instead, I stayed focused and busy. I exercised, walked Ykraps, and coffee’d before 8am. I left for my run just after 9am. Meanwhile, the kids tuned into the Macy’s TG parade.
The weather was again very mild but blustery. The streets were predictably quiet, although I didn’t happen upon a few others milling about. Mindy had a sausage and egg breakfast ready upon my return. It was more than delicious. Clean-up went quick. I wasted little time preparing to deep fry the sauerkraut balls. I’ve learned the best way is to create a small assembly line and to complete each step for the entire batch before moving onto the next. I didn’t begin heating the oil until I had the line under production.
It took me about an hour to ready the forty-one ball batch, and then another 20 minutes to deep fry. That piece goes pretty fast. Before wrapping up, I whipped up a batch of chipotle dipping sauce. I finished up just after noon and dashed off to the shower.
We planned to be at Craig’s by 2pm and allowed ourselves 30 minutes for the drive. We left a few minutes early. Along our drive, Mindy made calls to my immediate family members inviting them for another TG dinner at our home Saturday afternoon. Everyone, including mom, accepted. Tommy was the only one on the fence and that was due to his work schedule. That brightened my day.
We arrived at Craig’s around 1:55pm. Judging by the number of cars, we were the second set of guests to arrive. Hmmm? We expected that others would be well ahead of us. We had a load to tote in, and that took a few minutes to get in and then settled. Wendy & Jeff were the only other guests currently present. I’d never met them before. They were very fun & pleasant! Others soon arrived filling the house with lots of feet, food, and family.
One huge side-benefit of having the celebration at Craig & Jeff’s was their tolerance of alcohol. To that end, I brought a jug of Barley’s IPA. Mindy joined most others and drank wine. By my accounting, there were 22 of us not counting the five dogs (Mindy’s sibs brought theirs).
There was a seemingly endless supply of food from appetizers, main course, complementary sides, and desserts. Not only was there plenty but it was top notch, too, as far as TG food goes. Being one who appreciates culinary creativity I was moved by the quality spread. I lost track of time, but know that it was still light when we ate. Must have been close to 4pm. Everything was beyond good. I was careful not to eat myself into a coma.
We sat around visiting for a good hour or so before tapping into the dessert spread. That went over well, too. After dark, some guests, including Jacoby, took a walk to the local cemetery that sits at the end of the road. I opted to stay back feeling more sedentary.
We stayed at Craig & Jeff’s until 7:30pm or so. The temperature dropped significantly through the day. It was quite chilly when we departed – mid 30’s. Jacob fell asleep along our drive. And when we finally arrived home I had to carry him in over my shoulder. He was out cold! The kids went right to bed. For that we were most grateful. After we were settled in I poured myself an IPA and tuned into football. Mindy went to bed early. I fell asleep on the family room floor with my feet propped up on the reading chair. It felt terrific.
The weather was again very mild but blustery. The streets were predictably quiet, although I didn’t happen upon a few others milling about. Mindy had a sausage and egg breakfast ready upon my return. It was more than delicious. Clean-up went quick. I wasted little time preparing to deep fry the sauerkraut balls. I’ve learned the best way is to create a small assembly line and to complete each step for the entire batch before moving onto the next. I didn’t begin heating the oil until I had the line under production.
It took me about an hour to ready the forty-one ball batch, and then another 20 minutes to deep fry. That piece goes pretty fast. Before wrapping up, I whipped up a batch of chipotle dipping sauce. I finished up just after noon and dashed off to the shower.
We planned to be at Craig’s by 2pm and allowed ourselves 30 minutes for the drive. We left a few minutes early. Along our drive, Mindy made calls to my immediate family members inviting them for another TG dinner at our home Saturday afternoon. Everyone, including mom, accepted. Tommy was the only one on the fence and that was due to his work schedule. That brightened my day.
We arrived at Craig’s around 1:55pm. Judging by the number of cars, we were the second set of guests to arrive. Hmmm? We expected that others would be well ahead of us. We had a load to tote in, and that took a few minutes to get in and then settled. Wendy & Jeff were the only other guests currently present. I’d never met them before. They were very fun & pleasant! Others soon arrived filling the house with lots of feet, food, and family.
One huge side-benefit of having the celebration at Craig & Jeff’s was their tolerance of alcohol. To that end, I brought a jug of Barley’s IPA. Mindy joined most others and drank wine. By my accounting, there were 22 of us not counting the five dogs (Mindy’s sibs brought theirs).
There was a seemingly endless supply of food from appetizers, main course, complementary sides, and desserts. Not only was there plenty but it was top notch, too, as far as TG food goes. Being one who appreciates culinary creativity I was moved by the quality spread. I lost track of time, but know that it was still light when we ate. Must have been close to 4pm. Everything was beyond good. I was careful not to eat myself into a coma.
We sat around visiting for a good hour or so before tapping into the dessert spread. That went over well, too. After dark, some guests, including Jacoby, took a walk to the local cemetery that sits at the end of the road. I opted to stay back feeling more sedentary.
We stayed at Craig & Jeff’s until 7:30pm or so. The temperature dropped significantly through the day. It was quite chilly when we departed – mid 30’s. Jacob fell asleep along our drive. And when we finally arrived home I had to carry him in over my shoulder. He was out cold! The kids went right to bed. For that we were most grateful. After we were settled in I poured myself an IPA and tuned into football. Mindy went to bed early. I fell asleep on the family room floor with my feet propped up on the reading chair. It felt terrific.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.