Swept floors. Made cream cheese frosting (for Saturday). Made strawberry trifle (for Friday). Make steak pies (for tonight). Made bacon strata (for Saturday morning). Cleaned strawberries (for Friday and Saturday). Sliced peppers (for Saturday). Took a nap. Helped the bride and the father-of-the-bride and the brother-of the-bride rehearse the Wedding March.
Picked up brother-of the-bride and sister-in-law-of-the-bride at the airport at midnight.
A good day!!!!
My brother’s new movie, SAVAGES, is coming out July 6:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1615065/
He’ll be on the “Late Late Show” with Craig Ferguson Friday night, June 15th. I’m setting my dvr!
And watch for an interview with Charlie Rose on the CBS Morning Show, too. That’s being taped Monday, but we haven’t heard yet when it will air.
“There’s something wrong with your love story, baby.”
I love that line in the trailer. I can’t wait to say it to someone. Anyone. While wearing bangs.
I need to practice.
Yep, it’s a little hectic here. Three trees bit the dust. Banjo Man declared it must be so. And so it was.
Many, many limbs were trimmed. I forbade Banjo Man to do it himself. And he obeyed.
I said, “Our toilets shall flush all weekend!”
Hallelujah.
I have five more days to worry about flowers. Some need shade, some need sun and others don’t know what they want. We’ve had a lot of rain, so we move these pots from under the deck to the patio several times a day.
I can do this.
The father-of-the-bride created this for the wedding. Well, not really for the wedding. He’d wanted to make a place for the garbage cans and a beloved old sink (go figure) for twenty years and the wedding forced him to get busy.
I am going to make a skirt for it. A skirt of white tulle, of which I have 27 yards.
A wedding website said, “Tulle is your best friend.” I will keep you posted, as tulle and I intend to wrap the crappy old porch railings before the bride makes her entrance.
What do you do with a bride who wants a very, very small wedding?? A bride who doesn’t want to be the center of attention, who prefers an intimate family luncheon at her favorite restaurant?
Why, you throw her an enormous bridal shower, of course! SURPRISE!!!!!!
As Mother-of-the-Bride and Matron-of-Honor (and what an honor it is!), I knew what I had to do: invite everyone I know, organize tons of food and wine and iced tea and figure out a story to get the bride in the right place at the right time while wearing the right outfit.
Her grandmother hosted the shower, planned the menu and cleaned like crazy; Grandma’s house was the perfect setting for twenty-two women to party. The bride’s future mother-in-law made the special favors. Harley Chick and her daughter Jackie took over the kitchen (bless their hearts) and Ellie (aka Dancing Mandolin Player) spent days decorating. Lillian created a flower centerpiece to match the napkins.
Leah’s party favors
Chandelier by Dancing Mandolin Player
Flowers by Lillian
Banjo Man valet-parked everyone’s cars so there would be no trace of visitors in Grandma’s driveway. He hauled tables and chairs and punch bowls and food all afternoon. The man deserves a special place in heaven.
I made the women play the what’s in your purse game (Angela won with 89 points, far and away the top score, with a key to a Tuscany rental in her possession). We signed quilt squares (yes, I had to stick a quilt in there somehow) and ate a lot of cupcakes and chocolates.
Chocolates by Sweenors
And the gifts were amazing. Handmade photo albums. Purple nightgowns. Knives. A red blender to lust over. A Betty Crocker cookbook (raise your hand if you got one at your bridal shower a zillion years ago!). Glassware. Cookware. Blankets. Dish towels!!!!
Harley Chick Karen, Mary and Grandma
And here are more pics, thanks to Harley Chick:
Thank you so much, everyone. You made it such a special day.
Some of you know my youngest son, Sarge , is in the Army (which he loves). We’d all hoped he could join us next weekend for his sister’s wedding, but the Army had other plans for him.
He’d been getting his men ready for Afghanistan. Their mission? Clearing bombs from roads. Sarge would be manning the bomb-probing equipment.
Gulp.
Needless to say, this is not a job description a mother wants to hear details about, but Sarge was looking forward to going down range and assured me he was prepared and well-trained.
Okay.
A recent phone call may have changed all those plans. In a base of 900 men with only 1 opening for Ranger school, Sarge was selected to go.
Wow.
We learned that when he was in India, he was chosen to brief the Indian generals on the equipment they brought with them. Back at base, he briefed the visiting Chinese generals. And then recently, assigned to brief the Army Chief of Staff.
The kid knows his stuff.
I guess he’s all grown up now.
Everyone wants them for their weddings. In Austin there are cupcake bakeries and cupcake food trailers and people line up to buy exotic flavor combos of cake and frosting.
I wanted cupcakes for the shower dessert so I could use two of my nine tiered servers and therefore tell myself and Banjo Man I need to keep them because they are oh-so useful and pretty.
I cannot decorate a cupcake. I can’t do much with frosting, period. So far, for forty-two years of baking, I’ve managed to fake it. When I needed three dozen cupcakes for the bridal shower, I asked my friend Harley Chick for advice. She said, “Call the cake lady,” hauled out her three-inch thick mother-of-the-bride notebook and looked up the phone number.
To keep the cost down, I asked the cake lady for a simple white frosting. Then I went to Michael’s and bought three bouquets of silk gerbera daisies for $2.99 (minus 40% off). I clipped off the daisies, leaving a 2″ stem. The cake lady put a simple leaf design of buttercream frosting on the cupcakes and I stuck my daisy “picks” into the tops before serving.
(Some of the guests put the flowers in their hair. Festive!)
They were so cute I might do them again for the after-wedding party, though it might be fun to plop them into colored cupcake papers.
Painting of Virginia, by her daughter Phyllis.
That is the question I ask Banjo Man whenever he stomps to the phone to give his adult children advice. It brings him to a screeching halt, then he flashes me a sheepish look and says, “All right.”
Our children will never know how many times their paternal grandmother’s example has spared them a lecture from their father.
Virginia was Banjo Man’s mother. And today is her birthday. She died at age 94 and her large, wonderful family miss her terribly. As do I. She set a fine example for a mother-in-law by never meddling or gossiping. I never heard her speak an unkind word. Her children were brilliant, her grandchildren beautiful and smart, and thankfully she never flinched at the sight of a messy kitchen.
She taught me how to can, how to make apple butter, told me where pickles came from, and how to make chili. When she came to visit, she brought her apron and her own paring knife.
I will forever be awed by her good nature.
[please excuse the glare of the flash on the painting]
I’ll be posting about the surprise bridal shower in a few days, but I’ve promised to share this recipe I served at the luncheon. For gluten-free and vegetarian guests, it’s especially yummy. I tossed the diced avocado with lemon juice before adding to the salad (made the night before, without the dressing). It’s an easy, do-ahead addition to a pot luck. And it’s pretty (to the left of the flowers, in a trifle dish).
A big thanks to: http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2012/05/quinoa-salad-with-roasted-tomatoes/
Quinoa Salad with Roasted Tomatoes and Avocado
1-1/2 cups Quinoa
1 pint Grape Tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
1-1/2 Avocado, diced
1-1/2 cups baby spinach
Salt and Pepper
Tahini Dressing
Boil two cups of water. Once the water is boiling, add the quinoa and turn the heat down to simmer the quinoa. The quinoa should cook for about 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork when it’s done cooking and allow it cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 425F. Cut the grape tomatoes in half and lay them in a single layer in a glass baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Roast the tomatoes for 25-30 minutes, or until they start to caramelize. Allow the tomatoes to cool slightly. (Make the dressing while the tomatoes roast, see recipe below).
Mix together quinoa, tomatoes, avocado, and spinach. Drizzle with tahini viniagrette (I used about 2/3 of what I made) and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.
Tahini Vinaigrette
1/4 cup Tahini
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons warm water
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 whole lemon, juice (about 4 tablespoons juice)
1 teaspoon honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Make the dressing about 15 minutes ahead of mixing it into the salad.
Fourth of July
Glen the Banjo Man
LIVE at the Dump
