I know, I have been a tremendous slacker of late, not keeping those near and far up to date on the happenings at the homestead. Three birthdays in the span of three and a half weeks, two of which were major affairs, plus work, plus the onset of spring – well, let’s just say that things have been quite busy here at Lazy Dog Ranch. It’s also tax season here, and we won’t even discuss that at all.
Instead, we’ll go back in time a couple of weeks, to the big birthday bash for my nephew: one year, and he’s changed from an always-screaming, never-smiling, quite silent baby to a happy, talkative baby (who still has quite stinky poo).
Given that this was a rather momentous event, much like my sister’s 30th, of course it had to be a large gathering (this time, comprised mostly of people I myself didn’t know), and of course, there had to be food. We decided on no hot dogs for the party, since we really don’t like feeding hot dogs to other peoples’ kids (has no one seen Field of Dreams?). My sister specifically requested pulled pork, and we also settled on chicken tenders (both with and without barbecue sauce), and hamburgers, to round out the carnivorous side of the menu.
Some things can be made in advance. Like a double batch of sauce.
Other things must be made in advance, since they take about 19 hours to properly cook.
The rest is a matter of prep so the day of the event doesn’t absolutely kill you with all the things that need to be done. That means pulling some carrots fresh out of the ground…
…and cleaning them up to go along with the other vegetables that are prepped for the roasted vegetables to be served along with everything else.
This gathering called for a triple batch of rolls, so the beginnings of that had to be pulled out too.
Don’t forget to vacuum the dog.
Be sure to pull the rolls out of the cold room for their final proof before they go in the oven.
Some homemade hummus – very garlicky, by Mom’s request.
A bit of potato salad and some corn pudding.
The big stuff: pulled pork, chicken tenders (with and without sauce), and burgers:
Virginia Woolf said that everyone needs a room of their own, but sometimes a cake of one’s own will do. Especially if you’re one.
For some reason, I just find this photo incredibly amusing – probably because it looks like he has the candle up his nose.
Marie Antoinette suggested it. Don’t blame me.
Oh, and did I mention the focaccia?
The kid cleaned up in the gift department, of course. We cleaned up the aftermath, and declared the big party season over until Labor Day, at which point we’ll do all this all over again to close out the summer.