Yesterday, I got out the door early to pick up some necessary items from Home Depot, Office Max, 99 Ranch Market, and Albertson's, and I returned home to find that the rental people had already dropped off the jumpy tent, tables and chairs. I then proceeded to shift into high gear to set things up, mostly in the shade.
At 1105, I started cooking. It's amazing how much more space, and how much more heat the new grill has. Food was coming off it very rapidly; faster than
forestcats could slice it. The first guests were early (no traffic on the freeway, and they came from farthest away), and they also helped out as we got rolling.Starting at noon, the flow of people in and out of the house became constant. My wife and I cooked and presented kangaroo, beef, elk, chicken, venison, lamb, reindeer, boar, duck, rabbit, and others too numerous to mention, while our friends brought drinks and side dishes. Folks sat and chatted, jumped in the tent, and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.
At about 1600, we started the Iron Chef competition, with buffalo rib eye the mystery protein. The four judges assembled, and were wowed with the dishes of all three competitors. Team Tango won, though all the teams deserved applause.
While the teams were cooking,
forestcats gave several people the opportunity to ride one or another of the equines, which gave all involved great pleasure.Then, more cooking. I was astonished that I had to swap out the propane tank, as I've never had to do that before, but this grill has five instead of three burners, so it's likely that this is going to be standard in the future. Luckily, we have several spares on hand.
After dark, I lit a fire in the firepit, and folks sat out there chatting, playing ukulele, and enjoying the evening.
Last folks were out by 2130, which was earlier than I'd expected.
My wife and I were subsequently basket cases. OTOH, we were too tired to go to sleep, more's the pity, so we watched a wee bit of Enterprise before finally crawling upstairs.
Dungeonmaster tonight!