The men played golf on Wednesday. They were quite a group this year. Jim is the ring leader, of course, as he is the avid golfer. He, Phil, Gregg & Michael used to be the foursome. This year, they added 2 more. Brother Chris was with us this year and he drove the cart as he doesn't play and isn't interested in learning. Newish grandson-in-law-to-be, Derrick, was invited to go along. I think he had a good time and I heard that he really improved as they played.
The women/children split up for the day. Jenn, her kids, Amy, her kids and Grandma Grace all hung out at the beach on the lake that dominates Alpine Resort. Another crew took off to Swallow Falls State Park over the line in Maryland to hike the trail back to the falls. They wanted to play in the Youghiogheny River and stand under the falls. The hikers were Phyllis, Shannon, Olivia, Andrea, Kimberly & baby Sophie, Jess & baby Elijah. The young moms had those baby carriers that fit on their backs. Making it easier to carry the load. I didn't go but stayed home to knit, read and enjoy the quiet.
A great thing that we've done for years is a different family each night cooks a hot meal. Thus, we all get one good meal every day but only have to cook once during the week. We had some very good meals. On our night, Phyllis made Taco Salad, I made a fresh salsa and Shannon made a chicken/salsa dish. I didn't get any of the last as she hasn't gotten the hang of cooking for a crowd yet. But everyone said it was delicious. She owes me. LOL The experts said my salsa was good, too. I'll put the recipe at the end of this blog.
Oldest step-son, Jim, is a professional chef with his own restaurant. He usually treats us to a shrimp dish. This year, we go a double treat. Lobster tails! It was cooked in a creamy sauce with pasta. Oh my! And there was tons of it so that we got to nosh on it for lunch a couple of days. Lisa made a huge salad. That woman can open the door to an empty refrigeratior and produce a meal fit for a king. She also makes killer salads. They are a good pair in the kitchen. Here are the shimp & lobster before cooking:
Chez Garland
Fresh Tomato Salsa (Hot)
9 tomatoes, chopped
1-1/2 cups finely diced onion
5 serrano chiles, finely chopped (I removed the seeds on all but 1 chile)
1-1/2 cups chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons lime juice
In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients. Chill for 1 hour before serving.
Enjoy!!!
And we even had a breakfast cook. 11 year old Brett made French toast twice during the week. It was soo good!! I don't normally care for French toast but he used cinnamon bread instead of plain and it made all the difference. Yum yum. Needless to say, nobody starved during the week. The only downer was the dishwasher in #1 broke and we were left with either washing them by hand or toting them to the other kitchen to use that dishwasher. I think they did both.
Saturday night, the larger part of the group took of on a Quest for Culture. A sort-of annual event. I didn't go as I planned to take Olivia her friend, Andrea, into McHenry for the rodeo. Neither has ever been to one. Just the Quest group were leaving, I started coughing and coughed till I choked and gagged. It was awful. After I settled down, Phyllis & I drove up to McHenry to check out the fairgrounds where the rodeo was being held. I've been to some low rent fairgrounds/rodeo arenas in my time and this one was near the bottom of the list. Due to the fact that we had quite a bit of rain during the week, everything was a muddy mess. I could see that getting in and out of there would be a problem. Plus it was right across the highway from Black Bear ski slope where they hold the fireworks display. Delayed from the 4th to the 5th because of the aforementioned rain. I just wasn't comfortable with the situation and, frankly, didn't feel too hot. Phyllis ended up taking the girls and going to some of the places the Quest group were going. They never met up but dogged each other's footsteps for a couple of hours. Olivia said they had a good time, anyway, and bought some WV t-shirts.
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