I need new feet!

If only I could...I've been on them since 6:30 AM (it's now almost 10 PM), cooking and cleaning for my friend's wedding rehearsal dinner tomorrow night.

Who doesn't like to start the day with a rousing game of "move the family room furniture"?  I had to, as we're setting up 4 tables in the living/dining room area, and the sofa, etc. have to be moved into the family room.

Then, in the next round of "Work until you keel over dead", it's time to cook all day! Yes, this is the most exciting round of the game! You don't win any prizes, but you do get the satisfaction of getting praise for your cooking skills--assuming you live to hear it.  In this part of the game, you showcase your skills in the following:

1. Making pasta salad.

2. Making shrimp dipping sauce.

3. Making coleslaw.

4. I forget, but it's in the fridge somewhere, I'm sure.

5. Baking 24 servings of creamy au gratin potatoes, and cleaning the melted cheese off the stove (bonus points for that in this round).

6. Making gallons of iced tea.

7. Baking a Hummingbird Cake (from scratch).

8. Baking double-chocolate brownies, 2 huge pans.

9. Assembling the dry ingredients for coconut-crusted shrimp. Bonus points if you don't faint from the shrimp-thawing odor in the fridge!

10.Cleaning every room in the house (13, including the cat room/garage).

11.Doing 4 loads of laundry.

12. Scrubbing 15 litter boxes that someone else only dumped out, and then stacked in the laundry sink in the garage... 

13. Killing the silverfish you discovered in the pantry when you were groveling on your bad knees in order to find the stupid bag of sugar...

I still need to take in my bridesmaid's dress. It's at least 2 sizes too big. And the wedding is on Sunday!

Oh my goodness!  Sometimes a caterer is worth it!  I'd be like; how about pizza?

I have to say; I'm impressed new feet is all your asking for!  

I hope the rehearsal, dinner and wedding go wonderfully!

Years ago I went to a rehearsal dinner catered by KFC.  That was in the 70s though, you could get away with something as casual as buckets of fried chicken.  Things aren't like that now.

Pizza & KFC. Sounding pretty good right about now!

Here's the menu:

Lime grilled chicken

Coconut crusted shrimp with dipping sauce (Dijon mustard, orange marmalade, horseradish)

Pulled barbecue slow-cooked beef (I made 7 roasts over the past 2 weeks, and froze them)

Green beans (fresh)

Au gratin potatoes

Green salad, with champagne dressing (I might just start drinking it!)

Pasta salad

Coleslaw

Rolls (store-bought)

Chocolate-dipped strawberries

Double-chocolate brownies (I stole one for dinner!)

Hummingbird cake (from scratch; and, yes, I did lick the icing spoon when I was done! A shame to waste all that good butter and cream cheese!)

Wine, beer and the Blushing Bride cocktail (pineapple rum, cranberry juice & orange juice. These are nice, as they can be made in a pitcher, and in advance.)

I also made party favors for them--tiny, terra-cotta flower pots, filled with Hershey Kisses. I made lavender paper butterflies with the guests' names written on them. I affixed them to the pot rims to look as if they landed there. These serve as the place cards.

I will be so happy when this is over! I want my life back!

No wonder you're ready to collapse! Everything sounds delicious. Mega that the rehearsal, dinner and wedding are wonderful!

It sounds absolutely wonderful! I just love your menu....everything sounds delicious. 

I know you'll be glad when this is all over and I know you've put so much work into this for your friend, but I think, too, that in a way, you've had some fun as well, judging from your posts. 

Are you going for a massage after it's all over? You should....it's well deserved!

You are a wonderful friend.   

MargeCat said:

Pizza & KFC. Sounding pretty good right about now! :lol3:

Here's the menu:

Lime grilled chicken
Coconut crusted shrimp with dipping sauce (Dijon mustard, orange marmalade, horseradish)
Pulled barbecue slow-cooked beef (I made 7 roasts over the past 2 weeks, and froze them)
Green beans (fresh)
Au gratin potatoes
Green salad, with champagne dressing (I might just start drinking it!)
Pasta salad
Coleslaw
Rolls (store-bought)
Chocolate-dipped strawberries
Double-chocolate brownies (I stole one for dinner!
Hummingbird cake (from scratch; and, yes, I did lick the icing spoon when I was done! A shame to waste all that good butter and cream cheese!)

Wine, beer and the Blushing Bride cocktail (pineapple rum, cranberry juice & orange juice. These are nice, as they can be made in a pitcher, and in advance.)

I also made party favors for them--tiny, terra-cotta flower pots, filled with Hershey Kisses. I made lavender paper butterflies with the guests' names written on them. I affixed them to the pot rims to look as if they landed there. These serve as the place cards

I will be so happy when this is over! I want my life back!

Click to expand...

Will you come here for me 70th pretty please.

How did it all turn out? Did you get everything done? I'm sure it all looked beautiful! 

It went very well! Everyone loved the food and the décor. I met so many great people! 

And ditto for the wedding yesterday.  Everything was perfect, not even one hitch!  All the hard work I did paid off!

Here's the rehearsal dinner:




The green "tablecloths" are really curtains!  Please ignore those ugly spots on the bookcases. The knots in the wood are leaching through the white paint. The napkins look silly in the pics! 

Definitely much more snazzy than buckets of chicken.  I'm glad things went well.

How beautiful   You did a wonderful job, l'll bet your friend was very thankful.

l'm glad everything was well received and that your feet are probably starting to feel like new.

I'd never heard of hummingbird cake so I had to look it up--yum!!  All of it sounded great.

What a fantastic event you put on--your friend must have been ecstatic.   

It looks wonderful!!  I'm so glad to hear it all went well! 

It is gorgeous! You put so much effort into everything and it shows....it really shows. I love the colors. Did you have to rent anything like the linens or the tables? We have a renter's place here and we can rent chairs, tables, linens, etc. for events. People love to have outdoor weddings around here during the summer or their reception dinners will be in their parents' backyard. We'll drive by on our way to somewhere and see chairs and arbors with gorgeous flowers in the yards. They are so pretty.

Kudos to a job very well done!

Wow!  That looks amazing.

Winchester said:

It is gorgeous! You put so much effort into everything and it shows....it really shows. I love the colors. Did you have to rent anything like the linens or the tables? We have a renter's place here and we can rent chairs, tables, linens, etc. for events. People love to have outdoor weddings around here during the summer or their reception dinners will be in their parents' backyard. We'll drive by on our way to somewhere and see chairs and arbors with gorgeous flowers in the yards. They are so pretty.





Kudos to a job very well done!

Click to expand...

Thank you!

No, I bought the linens from a wedding/restaurant supply place on eBay. The green things are actually curtains, not tablecloths, LOL! The tables are cheap card tables, lovingly and artistically "distressed" by several cats (they now have shredded vinyl padded tops). I don't mind buying linens, because I entertain a lot (I have a thing about linens anyway!). These are easy to wash, require no ironing, and are stain release fabric. The white cloths were only $8.00 each on eBay ; if I ordered $150, the shipping, which would have been $15.00, was free, so I bought many colored napkins for future use, and the lavender runners. As I use those card tables for the family Christmas meal, I needed matching, nice white floor-length ones anyway. We usually put 5 card tables end-to-end for that meal. I couldn't make 90" square cloths that cheaply, especially such good quality ones-- I know, as I spent many hours trying find the fabric!

Can you believe that nobody took the Hershey Kisses favors??? Out of 18 flower pot favors, only a few pieces of candy were eaten!

We have many folding chairs from other parties over the years. The wooden ones belong to DH; they were cast-off church function folding chairs he bought cheaply somewhere before I met him. I wanted to put my white folding chair covers on the chairs, but he talked me out of it.

I'm so glad it's all over with! Whew! However I have a new saying: "Stop me before I cater again!" I know I'll get involved in something like this again...

Oh my
You did outstanding

My parents used to have yard sales years ago and they got tables to set their things out on. My sister and I kept them; they're in our basement. You never know when they're going to come in handy. We use them sometimes when we have large family dinners. My sister and I will sit at two card tables put together with our grandchildren (we have four grandchildren between the two of us) and let everybody else sit at the main table. I always put a nice tablecloth on the card table, too, with a small centerpiece....even children like things to look nice. 

I should check eBay for cloth napkins and such. I prefer cloth napkins for dinners at Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter, when we have a more formal-type dinner. And I love tablecloths and am always checking the stores out for something funky for the table.

We don't have a lot in the way of chairs...we have six chairs to our kitchen table and 4 card chairs. We also use our piano stool (I remember my sister and I having to share the piano stool at my parents', too, when we were kids). My sister has card chairs and she'll bring them over for dinner. We always find ways to work it all out.

It's good to have a few folding tables! I bought the card tables, as we were using 2 Coleman aluminum camping tables, which were basically cardboard on the top, and nasty (and warped). We butted those against the long dining room table. It looked AWFUL. The tables were different heights, and the ugly tubular metal legs showed. We had to prop the Colemans up with books, creating a dangerous situation for the 4 little kids running around. Once was enough--I bought $20 card tables, 5 of them. They've been very handy. I kept the Colemans to use for yard sales or work tables. The tops are warped, so they are no good for anything else. We butt the card tables end to end, in a straight line through the living room, into the dining room. I admit, it does have a Last Supper look to it (!), but it works!

A good time to pick up cloth napkins cheaply is after various holidays. You don't have to use orange ones just for Halloween! Also try eBay.

It's good to have a few folding tables! I bought the card tables, as we were using 2 Coleman aluminum camping tables, which were basically cardboard on the top, and nasty (and warped). We butted those against the long dining room table. It looked AWFUL. The tables were different heights, and the ugly tubular metal legs showed. We had to prop the Colemans up with books, creating a dangerous situation for the 4 little kids running around. Once was enough--I bought $20 card tables, 5 of them. They've been very handy. I kept the Colemans to use for yard sales or work tables. The tops are warped, so they are no good for anything else. We butt the card tables end to end, in a straight line through the living room, into the dining room. I admit, it does have a Last Supper look to it (!), but it works!

A good time to pick up cloth napkins cheaply is after various holidays. You don't have to use orange ones just for Halloween! Also try eBay.