The After-Party

So I'm finally doing a recap of my adventure into hosting a surprise party, almost a week later.  Ah well, I'm sure that you guys will all forgive me, since I just know that you were waiting at your computers for my post to publish.  Hahahaha.  I can dream ;-)

Well, he was actually surprised.  And the fact that he didn't know there was a party for him until he walked in the door surprised me.  And this was despite the fact that he walked in 45 minutes before the party started to pick something up!  He still didn't know.  Gotta love a man's brain, so focused on one thing he missed realizing what was going on before his eyes.

So, one thing I learned, or rather realized anew, was my horrible lack of judgment regarding, well anything like estimating the amount of food needed.  We had TONS of leftovers.  And I mean TONS.  Granted, though, that there were a few couples who didn't make it, so if they would have come, we would have had slightly less than a ton.  And I had way too much punch.  Almost everyone had coffee or tea.  So instead of a punch bowl, I really needed a second coffee machine.

Seating.  I didn't truly think of seating until the day before.  But since we had a few less people than planned, I actually had enough chairs without having to borrow.  (Though my dear friend did bring some over just in case, without even asking! Yay for friends!)

I think that everyone had a good time.  This is what they have told me, and they've always been honest with me (as far as I know...) so I believe them.  I worry that I could have done more, like party games or something!  Do something hostess like.  I can make food, and place it in a convenient place for people to reach it, but I am such a social dud (it seems to me) that I don't want them to be bored.  'We ate food, now what?'

But that's me just over-analyzing.  I love our friends and I know they love me and my family.  And that was what the party was about, showing my hubs that we love him.

A Happy Birthday to my Hubby!

Today is my hubby's 30th birthday.  Hurray!! Happy Birthday Hun!  (I just said that for the sake of saying it publicly.  He doesn't read my blog.)

I have a desire to make birthdays in our family a special time, maybe starting some traditions that carry on through the years, but I have yet to reach anything close to my ideal picture.  Last year definitely didn't turn out like I thought it would, as I shared with you.  But this year I have a plan.  This year I am throwing a surprise dessert party.  With people invited.

Yes, I have chosen to host my first, more-than-just-best-friends party this Saturday.  And a surprise to boot.  I'm nothing if not ambitious (actually I am quite a few things more than ambitious, but I won't get into that now!).

Since the party is Saturday night, I am not doing anything huge today.  I am making a cake for him to have, and supper will be...well actually supper isn't super special since we didn't get our pay-cheque until yesterday so I haven't been able to replenish our meat supply.  But the cake he requested is a Lemon Chiffon cake.  I have never made one before.  Things that I haven't made before sometimes go very, very wrong.  So I'm crossing my fingers and praying that it turns out.

I have been busy cleaning the house and baking all the desserts this week.  I had a nice plan where I would make one dessert a day this week, but that flopped since yesterday I had a really bad headache, so I didn't get any baking, or any cleaning at all done.  So now I'm bunching up a little the last couple days.

I am a little nervous about having all these people in my house.  We've had Biblestudies here, but this is different.  The only purpose is to come socialize and eat our food.  I don't want everyone to be bored!  I don't want them to hate my food!  What if there are large amounts of awkward silence?!  Oh goodness.  I think I'm just going to not think about it.

I love the idea of hospitality, but am definitely a little more socially awkward than not.  So this is a big leap for me.  But Mark loves being social.  So I knew that he would so appreciate having all his friends with him.

Oh My Aching Back

That sums me up right now.  My back feels like it is trying to kill me.  I have been on my feet all day, or most of it.  And I have a cold, so that makes all the standing-on-my-feet even more miserable.  Wah, wah, wah.  Poor me.

Okay, so enough whining.  I did spend a lot of today standing in the kitchen, but I got most of what I wanted to do, done (sort of).  I have been given a box of plums, so I wanted to make jam with them today.  My first time ever.  Last year I canned peaches and pears, so I'm branching out further this year.  So far I have done cherries and peaches, though those stories have little success.

All but 2 of my cherry jars failed to seal properly and therefore spoiled (I had 12).  And I only had 3 jars of peaches, and one of them broke while in the water bath.  So now I only have 2.  (In case you can't do basic math...)

Wow, is making jam a lot of work, or else I'm just doing it wrong!  Hahaha, no.  I actually like it, just once I was started I couldn't really stop, though I wanted to.  And the girls sometimes wanted to.  Over all they were good today.  I brought out our Mega Bloks (I think that's what they are, giant duplo) and they played with that for awhile since we haven't had them out for months now.  But eventually they got a little whiny.  So I popped on a show.  (The Great Muppet Caper for the millionth time.)

So I made one batch of jam, which gave me 8 1/2 250mL jars.  And used only 1/4 (if that) of my box.  Now I have a dilemma.  I still have a ton of plums!  So I might have to repeat the process again this weekend.  Though I will need to buy more jars and more pectin.  But I think to myself, why do I need more than 8 jars of jam? We don't eat a ton of it, just a few sandwiches for Leigh and the odd day of toast for the girls and my hubs.  But I think I will try to give some to my family and friends.  Then they can all praise my skills.  Yes, I give so I can receive praise.  I'm nothing if not humble...

What Goes on in the House When Daddy is Away

My hubby is away overnight for work, so the kids and I are on our own.  It's funny, he works long hours in the summer, usually leaving before the kids, and a lot of the time I, are awake, and not returning home until close to 7, which is only a half an hour before it's time to start getting ready for bed.  Yet even though he's only here for those hours in the evening, it still feels different, even during the day, when he is out of town.

It must be the knowledge that he isn't coming home.  It sort of feels like when the boss is out of town.  You know, you can relax a little, not be so work driven, maybe chat with the office ladies a little longer.  For me, it means I don't have to stress over what I am cooking for supper.

Mark eats a fair amount for supper, since he works such a physically hard job.  And on top of that, he likes to take leftovers for his lunches.  This means that I have to make enough food for all of us for supper and at least one more meal for him (bonus if there's enough for me too) and I should try to make the food something that he enjoys.    But we differ in our tastes quite a bit.  My favourite foods are not his, and vice versa. 

I can be very emotionally sensitive sometimes (okay, maybe all the time) (okay and maybe it's more like over-sensitive).  If I make something that he doesn't LOVE and RAVE over, I feel a little bit of a punch to the gut.  Don't get me wrong, he is very appreciative of almost everything I make, whether it's a favourite or not (the only time he is unappreciative is when it's a complete disaster, like Pan-Fried Mustard Glazed Salmon, that both looks and tastes like cat poop).  So because I live to please him (hahahahaha, well I try) I want to make foods that he enjoys.  But man, do I hate planning meals.  I think it is worse than the actual cooking.

So for this reason I try to plan our meals out weeks in advance.  I usually have a four week calendar on the go.  And in it I try to balance out the meals between the ones he likes and the ones I like.  So it is very convienent for me when he goes away because I can make whatever I want and there is no gut-punching regret!  Or, I can eat leftovers for the third time that day.  (he doesn't like to eat the same thing for supper that he ate at lunch.)

Today, for example, I cooked a salmon for supper.  He likes salmon, but he likes it done a little fancier than me, with some kind of lemony-dilly-ish like sauce.  I eat mine with all the goodness of melted butter.  Mmmmmmmmmm.  So I got to cook it plain, and eat it like that.  My kids also get a kind of supper break when Daddy isn't home, since I don't really enforce our dinner table eating time.  They can have what they want, whenever they want it.  Today they wanted toast at 4, and then bread for supper later.  Yes, they ate mainly bread.  Leigh did eat a few potatoes.  Mom of the Year award over here please!

Tomorrow I will be back as a slave to quality(ish) food.  Hubs is coming home, and my in-laws are coming also, so I will really be putting out my best efforts...or just regular ones!  But I have had my salmon, and I'll have it for lunch tomorrow too!  (And maybe breakfast)

Quest for the World's Best Long John

Mark had the day off yesterday, so we took a family day.  The plan was to head over to a neighbouring city and eat some pasta at a restaurant that we have heard good things about and then hop over to a bakery we had tried before and get some donuts and apple pie.  The baked goods at this bakery are beyond my description.  They are simply phenomenal.  I have never had such a delicious long john donut in my life.

The pasta restaurant fell far below our expectations.  We had both heard, from different sources, that they had great food.  Well first off, once inside I thought I was blind.  The lighting was so dim.  Lots of restaurants have dimmer lighting, trying for a mood or something right?  But this was just beyond anything.  There were only windows at the very front, and these were just some small ones up high.  And the lights were only down the aisles, not over the tables.  I am a bit of a light sensitive freak, so this was a huge issue for me. 

Both my hubs and I ordered the 'pasta of the day' which happened to be penne, with two meatballs.  And that's all I really can say about it.  It was just that, nothing great, nothing horrendous, just penne.  Slightly disappointing.  And to top it off, they didn't even have fries.  What restaurant doesn't have fries?  They had "JoJos".  What are "JoJos" you may ask?  This is exactly the question I asked our waitress since she seemed to assume that we knew what "JoJos" were when she explained that they didn't have fries.  "JoJos" are small roasted potatoes.  They are actually quite tasty, but don't really cut it with picky 4-year-olds who only eat fries in restaurants.

I didn't eat much lunch, both because I didn't really like it and also to save some calorie room for long johns!  We truck over one block to the bakery and are greeted with a sign saying they are on vacation for the month.  Words cannot express my disappointment. 

We perked up though and decided to try a bakery we saw a block over.  But they didn't have much of a selection, just a few cookies and what are cookies to long johns? 

So we decide to run over to the town next door, so to speak, since it's just 20kms away.  I looked up some bakeries to try and we didn't have too hard a time finding them.  But, no joking, this one was closed too.  So we decided (again) to try the NEXT town, about 50ish kms away. 

This town was so stinking busy and so funnily laid out, we looped the main street blocks a few times, first looking for the bakeries, then looking for places to park.  We tried 3 or 4 there, but none had what we were looking for.  Just cakes and muffins, no DONUTS!!!

I admitted defeat and we went to Safeway and got some donuts and cookies from there, and two frappucinos for us, since I was in need of a huge caffeine burst.  These donuts fell so short of what I had been hoping for, I could only eat a few bites.

But a plus of our three-town-search was that we got to go home across the lake ferry and the girls just loved it.  And while we were waiting for the ferry they got to watch some ducks.  So that was almost worth it.

Meal-Planning Thoughts

I am constantly trying to get my life more organized, and a couple months ago I started planning my meals ahead so that I wouldn't be scrambling around at 3 o'clock with no meat defrosted and no idea what I am going to cook for our supper meal.  And I fell in love with it!  I loved planning my meals out.  I had a whole month written out and probably would have done more except I felt slightly nerdy. 

But nerdy is ok if it works!  But I have discovered a flaw in the whole meal-planning thing.  If you don't keep it up, eventually you run out of meals.  Which is where I am today.  I haven't looked at my meal plan calendar this past week, and consequently I have nothing planned past yesterday.  This is unfortunate.  Now I have to sit down and figure out what I am going to do, and that is the worst part. 

On the upside, it's advance pay-day so I will have some money for grocery shopping!  Hurray!  This means no more chicken soup with only celery and homemade noodles (which we had last Wednesday.  It was tasty, just a little boring.  Not even any saltine crackers to put in!). 

So I can plan my meals without having to seriously consider what we have in the house since I can go shopping again.  But I am also trying to be a little more frugal with my grocery shopping since we have a bad habit of just running to the store whenever we need something.  I want to make more budget friendly meals.  Or just budget friendly meal planning. 

I think my next post I write will be about my lack of effective communication skills, as this post is an excellent example of.

Can It!

I haven't written for the past week because my mom has been down visiting. I love my mom, and I am so thankful that she doesn't ever complain about all the travel she does to come visit us at least a couple times a year. It is a 14 hour drive, but we flew her down here with our airmiles this time. She is such a help to me, always cleaning up, doing the dishes, the laundry, almost everything! She takes the girls for a walk everyday, and always trying to entertain them for me. It is excellent. And I enjoy visiting with her too, though a lot of the time, we just are together in the house, not having depp, in-depth conversations. She will read a book and I will do whatever it is I am doing. (Maybe reading blogs.)

Every fall my mom cans peaches and pears, and this year, she helped me do it. I have never canned before so I was very excited to try. First we went to the fruit stand to buy our fruit, and we decided to only do peaches because the pears were still too hard and we didn't have the time to wait for them to ripen. We only did a 10 lb box. Some were too soft already, and we just used them for pie (which I am baking at this moment). We blanched the peaches to make them easier to peel, but it only worked for some of them. I enjoyed the peeling, even if it was difficult on some of them. We had the syrup boiling beforehand, 14 cups water to 7 cups white sugar. Mom would take our jars as we filled them and pour the syrup in them right away. Once we filled them all and put the caps on we put them in the canning pot, boiling them for 20 minutes.

I actually enjoyed the whole process; it was not as much work as I thought it would be. My mom was obviously there overseeing it, so I don't think I would attempt doing this by myself, but would ask (force) my hubby to help me. He likes to cook and he is the one who likes to eat the peaches. I had borrowed my friend's canning pot, so I think that I will just invest in my own.

Surveying my cans after sealing them, I felt very proud of doing this for the first time. The only down side was that my husband commented that the slices looked small, he was used to seeing canned fruit in quarters. He didn't complain, but I felt like I had disappointed him. Next time I will remember to make the slices much bigger. So maybe next week I will have pears done!