Brenda Lee's 411 on entertaining

I volunteered to provide a small refreshment table at an upcoming support group meeting. I could easily unfold a card table, throw down some bottled waters & oreos and call it a day, but I  do not operate like that. I plan on using my vintage table linens and depression glass. I also need to go shopping for one of those pretty glass beverage decanters with an iron stand. Ice water with a few lemon slices is so much prettier and economical than cans & bottles, and at the end of the day I get to keep the decanter. Whether it is a small refreshment table or a large party, I have always taken my entertaining and volunteer responsibilities seriously.

My husband wanted to have a big party when he turned 50. He said,” Let’s keep it simple: chili dogs and a keg.   I did my best to make his birthday wishes come true, but it took a little creativity to “Brendify” hot dogs. He hired the band. We also had a surprise set from our friend, Greg, who played the bag pipes. The keg was a craft beer. I hired our friend, Vandi, who is a much better cook than I, to make a few special chilies and several desserts including shortbread, lemon squares & raspberry crumble bars.  It was a casual, serve-yourself-type party. When the hubs first said he wanted chili dogs and a keg, I thought, “This isn’t a tailgate!” My point here: I put my twist on a white-trash menu and turned it into something nice.

I once helped coordinate a Thanksgiving feast at my son’s elementary school.  I specifically recall the note home saying, “If you are able, send in an ethnic dish that your family prepares as part of your holiday tradition” Being a very diverse school, the food was amazing. The tables were full of Arabic, Chinese, Indian & Jewish quisine. I made miniature pasties representing our familys' Finnish heritage.  If you are fortunate like me, our community is a very  generous group.  The school is no exception. Send a note home and the luncheon for staff appreciation looks like the Whoville feast.  (Please take note that if you are having a hectic week, feel free to toss that note requesting a donation of food into the recycle bin.)  NO ONE will starve.  I couldn’t help but laugh at my son’s ethnic feast.  Just as the catty words were about to slip out of my mouth, another mom beat me to it.  She blurted out, “So who is cheez-it mom?” That’s right, there at the ethnic feast, some busy parent felt compelled to send in something. It was a box covered in cellophane full of single serving bags of cheez-its. Sad thing though, give a 3^rd grader a choice between Grandma Chen’s seaweed salad recipe and cheez-its and Nabisco will win, every time.

So here are my two cents on entertaining. First, stick to the theme. Second, do something to make it special. I don’t know whether or not I will have time to make the refreshments for the meeting. If I don’t, you can bet I will be taking the cookies out of the plastic cell pack. I am not trying to fool anyone. We all recognize the Costco variety trio. They just taste better when served from a vintage crystal plate.

 

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

I have been missing my metric for a blog a day, so rather than beat myself up I am changing my metric. It is now “a blog whenever my OCD is in full swing and enough ideas collect in my head to formulate a blog post”

Yesterday when I was soaking in the tub after spending an hour at the gym earning a caramel apple martini and a few pieces of Halloween candy , I glanced at all the chatzkies on my bathroom vanity shelf. A vintage crystal salt dish full of smashed pennies is a sweet little reminder of our travels. If you are not familiar with the smashed penny I have included a picture. Places like tourist destinations and museums often have a smashed penny machine. You insert two quarters and a penny, turn the crank and a 51 cent souvenir slips down the chute. The problem with smashed pennies is that they usually end up in a kitchen junk drawer or never make it out of your coin purse. Smashed pennies do not share with the world that you have been there.

Therefore, we are usually compelled to buy a t-shirt when we go on a vacation or attend a concert. I think the same factory in China makes all the souvenir t-shirts. My family has t-shirts from the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Nashville, Chicago, you name it- they all look alike. Some scheduling manager in China meets with his employees each morning and probably says in Chinese,” The Grand Canyon souvenir shop is getting low- we need to switch over the screen printing from San Francisco today.” Or something like that. We have never been to China, but we have many  t-shirts from China.

 I bought a t-shirt from Antique Archaeology in Nashville. It did strike up some conversations. One lady asked, “Is that the company where you work?” I couldn’t believe there were still people out there who didn’t know who Mike & Frank were.  I typically don’t wear t-shirts with writing on them. When I was younger, I always felt like writing across my over-sized chest was just an alibi for guys to be pretending to read. When I buy a souvenir t-shirt I usually cut off the sales tag, the sleeves and the suffocating crew neck and throw it over my yoga top. They make good work out shirts, and the sleeves good dust rags.

I recently saw a guy at the gym with an interesting t-shirt. It had California references listed on it like Diablo and Tahoe.

I said, “I LOVE Tahoe.”

He sounded surprised ,”You do?!”

I said,  "I grew up out west and spent a lot of time there as a kid.”

He said,”Well, this   t-shirt isn’t from California. These are names of marijuana dispensaries.”

"Oh," I said.

I guess I won't be going on that trip, or getting the t-shirt to prove it.