Friday morning following Laura’s graduation ceremony, Mom and I got to work on the party menu. We purchased the necessary ingredients and began preparation for:
Appetizers
Fruit with Strawberry Cream Cheese Dip
Meatballs
Cheese and Crackers
Main Course
Lasagna
Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables
Macaroni and Cheese
Tossed Salad
Crusty Italian bread
Desserts
Chocolate Cake
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Coconut Cupcakes
Chocolate Trifle
First up: Desserts. I finally got to break in my pristine KitchenAid stand mixer. (Yes, I brought with me my own mixer, baking pans, measuring cups, and casserole dishes. Because we were hosting close to 40 people.)
Mom started with the Hershey’s chocolate cake, and I got to work on The Pioneer Woman’s strawberry shortcake cake. Mom cracked eggs and measured cocoa while I sliced strawberries and sifted flour.
And before long, the kitchen looked like this:
But no worries. Because amidst cleanup, I may have snatched finger fulls of this:
And then it was on to rounds 3 and 4 of the desserts: dangerously delicious coconut cupcakes from Ina Garten and a simple crowd pleasing trifle with multiple layers of brownies, chocolate pudding, and whipped topping.
And before we called it a day, Mom assembled two dishes of macaroni and cheese, and Nick (who arrived just in time to help!) and I stewed the sauce for the lasagna.
Saturday morning was a flurry of final prep work: throw meatballs into crock pot, grate and slice five varieties of cheese, assemble two casseroles of lasagna, roast vegetables for three dishes of penne, make fruit punch, pick up beer and balloons, and finish the decorations. Whew!
But we all pitched in and pulled it off with time to spare.
And despite the humidity outdoors and the heat generated indoors from two ovens baking seven casseroles, the meal was a success!
Honestly, one of my greatest pleasures is cooking for others. I savored every compliment (and bite!).
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