Family Fun, Part 2

I got up Sunday morning, shivering. I checked the temperature and it was only 50 degrees F.! So, I closed the windows I'd opened last night. I had to write the rest of the Blog entry and post it, so it was after 8:00 AM before I started watering the grass around the patio. It was chilly in my t-shirt and shorts, running around, setting the hose and sprinkler, so I decided to drink my warmed up cup of coffee in the house instead of on the front porch.

Then, onto today's food preparation! I got a pot of salted water boiling and cooked up a box of mostaccioli to al dente. I drained that, rinsed it with cold water, drained it again and stuck the colander in the fridge.

Next, came cutting up the veggies. I peeled a medium-sized cucumber, leaving strips of green peel purely for looks. I cut it in half, lengthwise, and sliced it about 1/8 of an inch thick. Now, here the recipe called for two cups of cherry tomatoes, quartered. But since I have an abundance of Italian (or plum) tomatoes from my garden, I cored and seeded them, then diced them into 1/4 inch chunks (until I got two cups, BTW).

I sliced up six smallish green onions (four large ones would have worked, too), white and green, after cleaning them. Then I took 1/3 cup of pitted kalamata olives and cut each one in half. I got out my big bowl and tossed the pasta, tomatoes, cucumber, green onions and olives all together.

Using a screw top jar I save for just this sort of thing, I put in 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup of fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons). As my own afterthought, I added the zest of one of the lemons.

Dodging the sprinkler water, I went out to the patio and harvested fresh basil and oregano. I went back inside and diced up two tablespoons of each herb. They went into the jar with a tablespoon of anchovy paste, and three cloves of garlic I minced. I added about a teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper.

During all this, I moved the sprinkler two more times. I put the lid on the jar and shook the hell out of it. You see, I try to never have any hell in my recipes, unless it's a Southwest, Jalapeno sort of thing. I drizzled that on top the salad and, using my two biggest wooden spoons, I tossed it until it was coated. This salad needs to be chilled at least two hours, or up to 24 hours, BTW.

That went into the other tinfoil Lasagna pan, covered with a sheet of tinfoil and was put in the fridge. When I am out at Lake Orion and ready to serve this, I will add four ounces of feta cheese, re-toss and sprinkle some fresh oregano leaves I reserved, on top (again, from up high - it makes a prettier presentation, you see).

Then, I made the coleslaw for the pulled pork sandwiches. I hate to disappoint you purists, but I used a store-bought bag of shredded cabbage and carrots and a store-bought jar of dressing. I think I am ready now and the watering is done so, at 10:30 AM, I rinsed everything that could go into the dishwasher, and then hand-washed the big bowl and the knives. I cleaned the counters and then took a break with the last cup of coffee.

I was just about to go take a shave and shower when the phone rang. It was Luanne, from Virginia, so we talked for a while catching each other up on what's been happening. At her end, her mouth is recovered somewhat from the oral surgery and she will soon be able to have a crown put in. She still has to go to rehab with her leg and she was just fitted for another oxygen machine for her sleep apnea. At my end, well, if you are reading this, lol, you already know what's been happening around here.

So, after hanging up and then showering (I decided to skip the shave due to time constraints), I loaded up the cooler with everything above and two containers of frozen soup: Split pea and New England Clam Chowder (my Mom loves the way I make clam chowder, as does most everyone who's ever tried it!) The frozen soups will help keep the other foods cool, too.

I left home just after noon. Two things bothered me on the way to Lake Orion. One, it started raining (well, sprinkling) about half way there and, two, on Telegraph Road, around Maple Road, I notice that all the stores and restaurants had people, waving you in, with signs that said, "Parking - $20." I thought to myself, "Uh oh, I'm gonna get stuck in one of these damn dream cruises!"

By way of explanation for my foreign friends, Michigan has Dream Cruises on various roads during the summer months (the most famous being the Woodward Dream Cruise) where people bring their antique cars, or restored muscle cars, etc. and drive up and down the street (which is lined with car fans). Sounds pretty silly, I know, but we seem to love them!

But, nothing like that occurred and I got to the cottage just after 1:00 PM. Only one vehicle was there and it turned out to be my nephew Jason, his wife Becky, their 17 year old son and eight year old daughter (haven't seen any of them in years, BTW). Their son carried the cooler upstairs for me and I went in to say hi to Mom, who was eating her lunch.

It turned out that they live just off of Inkster (as I do) but about 10 miles further South and had driven here by the exact route as I did. Becky cleared up the mystery for me by telling me the people offering parking were there for the PGA tour who's last day is today in Bloomfield Hills.

It also turned out that Jeremy, his ex-wife and Riese where really there, but Mom had sent them on a pizza run (so she would have food to offer her guests). So, I heated up the pulled pork and offered Mom some of the Greek Pasta Salad (after adding the feta cheese and the oregano leaves). She said it was really good.

Jeremy and his crew showed up about then, with three pizzas. So, we started to eat. I'm not sure about this, but all the kids and Jyl ate pizza (hey, who wouldn't? I had some salad, but ate a piece of pizza too!) but I think Jason and Jeremy had some of the pulled pork with coleslaw. I think Jeremy also had some of the salad, but I'm not sure.

Meanwhile, because he had called and let them know he would be out there, members of Jason's family started to show up. First was Terry, Jason's dad. Then came Laura, (his sister), her husband Dave and their son; Johnny and two of his kids and finally Russell and his daughter and son (Jason's two brothers). I asked everybody at various times if they were hungry, but they had all just eaten, or stopped at a fast-food restaurant, etc. So, I finally turned off the pulled pork.

I went outside into the cool wind (and occasional rain) and watched Riese finally brave getting in the water. She told me she would swim out to the raft and back and, by God, she did! She was standing up and saying how cold it was, when I told her it was the wind, not the water, making her cold and get back in the water. Jason's daughter didn't bring a suit, so she contented herself with taking off her shoes and sticking her feet in the water. When Jeremy decide to go swimming, too (hey, he couldn't let his own daughter show him up, could he?), I went back inside.

Mom said that Hannah's mother, Diane, had bought a cottage in Harbor Beach (on Lake Huron) and that, since the Fair in Armada (where Hannah and Kal live) was going on, they were spending the week up there. So, I gave up on my brother Carl and Hannah and Kal coming out.

It was getting close to 4:00 PM and I had visited with everybody (Jeremy had some interesting stories about political in-fighting at his work and having been contacted and asked to write an article regarding Network Security). So, I started to get my stuff together.

I figured neither my Mom nor Cora would really appreciate BBQ pulled pork and coleslaw, so, I packed that up (but I left the open package of sesame seed buns). I split the remaining Greek Pasta Salad in half and put one half in the fridge in a covered bowl (after letting Cora know where it was). The other half went back into my cooler. I carried it downstairs and put it in my trunk, while noticing somebody with a truck and trailer had my Volvo blocked in. I found out it was Russell, and asked him to move it for me. I kissed my Mom goodbye, said my goodbyes to everyone else and left just after 4:00 PM.

Traffic back home was pretty good, it only sprinkled now and then and I saw the Goodyear blimp floating around (again, probably over the PGA tournament) and peeking in and out of the low hanging clouds. I got home about 5:15 PM. I put the Glad containers (the pulled pork and coleslaw) in the fridge and transferred the Greek pasta Salad into another Glad container. Rather than pitching the tinfoil Lasagna pan, I washed it. I can always stick it in the garage and use it as a drip pan next time I smoke something in my grill.

I started the last load of laundry for the weekend and went out to check the rain gauge. I had about 1/4 inch of rain in there so, not the drenching downpour I'd been praying for, but it will do!

Back inside, I caught tomorrow's Blog entry up to date and then threw the laundry in the dryer. I took the steak out I'd thawed to let it get up to room temperature. At 7:00 PM, I used my charcoal chimney and a sheet of newspaper to light the coals. Unlike Carla, who did it in one try, I had to use another sheet of newspaper to get them going.

While that was working (or, not working, depending on your point of view) I watered the hanging plants and the urn. A guy who lives down the road rode by on his bicycle and yelled to me, "Its barbeque time!" I yelled back, "You got it, brother!"

So, by 7:30 PM, the coals were ready, I cleaned, then oiled the grates and had hit both sides of the beautiful one-inch thick rib steak with Emeril's Essence. (I've about used the house seasoning and the Montreal Steak Seasoning to death this summer). I put the steak on and got it medium-rare, with nice grill marks. I put it on a plate with a pat of butter on top and let it rest while I cooked some hot dogs for the coming week.

I shut up the grille, shut the garage door and ate dinner: the steak with a little of the pasta salad. The steak was very good, by the way. It was nice to have that bit of a different taste from the different seasoning. I started watching my Sunday shows but fell asleep before they all were done. But, that's okay, because the DVD-R was recording them for me, just in case...