As I've shown before on this blog, my parents really have a great yard for cookouts, but they never really had them. We never had one of those big summer bashes when we were all in high school or college where people would rave about the W family's big bash. People didn't run into each other all over town asking "you're going to the W's cookout, RIGHT????" Sad to see such a great space go unused for all that time.
It all started with my father's retirement party a few years ago and we've had some kind of bash every summer since then. People come and have fun. There was a wedding, a birthday, a retirement, an anniversary and a couple of times, just a good, old fashioned cookout with no live music or presentations.
This past weekend we had our Bauer BBQ. My sister a-ster and family were up for the weekend and the usual suspects were present. If you see a bunch of people in one of the pictures studying the ground very carefully, that would be where the little kids were playing on a big blanket and everyone was watching.
If other people are looking at the ground, well, they might have been sleeping or praying that my kabobs weren't tainted.
It's funny how when you don't have a band and a tent, you also don't rent a porta potty. I think we invited pretty much the same crowd as last year, but we didn't opt for any of the high class decorations or potties and my uncle b-ster wasn't here to set up lights, so we just had a couple of lit palm trees for effect.
The food was potluck except for the kabobs that I made.
Beef in the top picture and chicken on the bottom. I used summer squash and zucchini from my garden and some onions and mushrooms. I marinated both over night. I did this a couple of years ago and it was a big hit. I get tired of hamburgers and hot dogs at every cookout you go to, so I thought this would be something different. And it's fun to try to do math problems at the grocery store trying to figure out how much meat is enough but not too much. And messing with their customer tracking because suddenly there were 4 steaks in my cart and I don't buy steak!
Looks like no one liked my kabobs.
I have no idea what the beef tasted like because I don't eat it, but it was on the plate with the blue flowers and you can see what's left of that. People must not have eaten all week because they devoured those kabobs like it was their job.
I guess I should have carried the 2 when I was doing that math because I hear there was an underground movement stirring to make some hamburgers for the latecomers. Hey, the Bauer BBQ starts at 4pm and food was served at 5pm. If you come late, you get what's left, so bring a straw. I'm not catering to you latecomers who expect a 10 course meal 3 hours into this gig.
The rest of the food was potluck and this time, we had people stake their claim on foods. In my experience, people do not RSVP and when they do, they don't show up. When they claim they will bring a food, they don't. So, last time, I told people to bring whatever salad or dessert they wanted, but I didn't make them tell us. I tried to be all blase about it. We ended up with 2 salads and a lot of desserts and people making eyes at my luscious garden with its bounty of green.
This time, we asked people what they wanted to bring and we had a much better assortment. No one was out in my garden, gnawing on vegetables. I guess my parents' crowd still brings what they say they will. Maybe they should speak to my Table Francaise people about bringing food to potlucks.
Because we started at 4pm, people who needed to get home because they can't drive after dark were able to stay and have some fun before leaving and it was still light out. The rest of us hung around and talked and k-ster and I had that really long drive home.
We will, of course, plan a Bauer BBQ for next summer. Same time, same place, same characters. Same lack of hijinks and drama. But just to throw a curveball, maybe no kabobs. Maybe that will add some drama.
I'll post the marinade recipes tomorrow.
By the looks of those empty plates, you may not want to pass on the kabobs next year--might start a serious riot!
ReplyDelete