Milestone #1

Guy Kawasaki doesn't know it - yet - but his is SUCH a member of my tribe!  I know he describes himself as an evangelist, but in my tribe he is the soothsayer, seeing into the future through his ability to see & stand in the unfettered now.  Guy extols the value of having milestones that mark our passage into a more aware intentional on-purpose future.  Real goals with actual heft - things that I'd call up or over to John to shout out, "Keet, I just got THIS done!"

Milestone #1 was passed last night.  With an immense assist from John, I threw the bash of my life (our wedding weekend was in a class of it's own).  Not because the food was so epic or the beverages rocked.  Because the preparation were, on my part, stress-free & hit each of my goals.

The solidly comfort food dishes were easy to do, there was a good balance of gluten-free/dairy-free with glutinous & mooovelous choices, 24 cans of Yuengling lager & 12 of Y's Black & Tan were the backbone with others bringing additional beer & wine.

Lovely way to start - spent 30 mins (6:30 - 7:00) just smooshing with Angela Heldon Caldwell.  Claudia had set up for her niece to help me set up, but things were on an even enough keel we could take the time to visit instead of bustle.
The kitchen was clear & clutter-free when the first guest arrived.  The rain held off & it was a lusciously cool evening (rain was forecast).

Claudia & Brian have an ideal house for entertaining, making my job super easy - and we loved our rare glimpses of Max, their mega handsome Siamese.  And although I crashed before the end of the party, regretfully leaving it to the hosts to clear up, most of the food was served in dishes that could be tosses along with any left-overs;  I don't know about Claudia, but I would have been ruthless in chucking out left-overs.

Since we left them with the mess, super glad we'd given them what was declared a spot-on hostess present - beautiful napkins featuring sailing boats.  And Claudia, being treasurer, will be happy we did it under budget!

Among my take-always - - we could have used the family-sized Stauffers lasagne & double the number of meatballs and my now famous mac & cheese; for the mac & cheese,  had doubled the Betty Crocker recipe, using a combination of Trader Joe's Cheddar w/Gruyere, Cheddarw/caramelized Onion, NY Cheddar, also doubling TJ's Party-sized Meatballs, served in half & half hickory-smoked bbq and sweet & tangy sauces.  Finally got the greens right - just two smallish bags of field greens with two types of dressing.  Desserts were a family-sized conyptaier of chunky Chips Ahoy cookies & one box of Butterscotch Krimpets each piece of frosted cake cut into three bites-size portions, sectioned mandarin oranges & apple slices dredged with fresh lemon juice. Only need one batch of the g-f pasta w/marinara (recommend using the 2nd half of the box for add'l mac & cheese).  Got kudos for the sommer veggie g-f pasta salad - a ton of different veggies & ranch dressing.

The chili dip ringed with cheddar cheese with a super-sized dollop of sour cream in the middle was a hit, with the dairy-free version went untouched until dolling it up like its companion.  Trader Joe's spinach dip was doctored with a splash of Worcester Sauce & two tablespoons of diced water chestnuts.  Smoothed out TJ's onion dip with sour cream, added two tablespoons of French's fried onions, with another generous tablespoon sprinkled on top.  Hummus, d-f cream cheese with chutney & with cocktail sauce/tiny shrimp rounded out the offerings.  I held off on the guacamole & mild salsa, since I *forgot* to get Tostitos scoops (duh); when one of the guests ( <3 ) brought a bag & salsa, I couldn't get into the fridge to find the guac - it was not missed.  A bag of Doritos, rippled & sour cream/chive potato chips worked out; glad I got two bags of Frito scoops, because we needed both.

The popularity of the crackers - original Triscuit & Wheat Thins, a plain round, g-f rice crackers - took me by surprise.  No sorprise the cheeseboard was a hit - a triple cream Brie, a creamy blue, NY cheddar, Muenster, pepper jack & pub cheese, all from Trader Joe's.

The sheer exuberance of the evening, the wonderful mix of ages - from middle school to way beyond middle age.  Everyone has such an energized, happy time.  THE GONDOLIERS was an unforgettable experience, from the WOW production to the last potato chip.