A Long Weekend Says Hi

This was a crazy weekend around our house. We had about 20 some odd people over for the first time in a long time on Saturday night. My wife is on the board of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and this weekend was our turn to host a fundraising dinner at our house. This meant lots of cooking and required yard maintenance to make the house semi-respectable. The menu for the party consisted of:

• 3 pounds of local pork and beef sausage from Johnson's Boucanière (love this place)
• 4 1/2 pounds of a standing rib roast cooked via this Emeril recipe (this one cannot fail)
  
• A few chicken kabobs marinated in Thomas Sauce and a sweet chili glaze
• Kale salad with garlic, cheese and lemon vinaigrette
  
• Homemade tabbouleh (my wife makes this and it rocks)
  
• Homemade lemon sorbet (first time my wife has made this and it is amazing)
• Fruit salad marinated in honey and Grand Marnier
• A two tomato tapas recipe that has been a standard for us for years
  
• Tons of local Louisiana beer and wine

We had essentially accomplished no planning for this event until Saturday morning so as soon as Saturday came, it was all business in order to accomplish the make shift list above. Basically, I managed all the meats, and my wife managed all the salads. Somehow, it turned out pretty well. CASA raised awareness, collected some great donations and we had a chance to connect with some friends we have not seen in a long while.

Today (Sunday) has been a blur. Catch up on work, cleaning the house, haircut (whatever is left at this point), cancelled soccer and so on. Tomorrow is the work week and I need a weekend that never happened!