I've been neglecting this blog. This is June and July!

 So I realized that since I was giving Tia a summary of my week each week in a letter with pictures, I wasn't motivated to keep this blog up. My Tiny Tia is home now, so I thought I would do a few posts to fill in some holes, and then just move forward with it from now on. I like having an online record of what's happening in our lives. The big deal this summer of course was the catering. I remember last year at this time being kind of lost, and it is so nice to feel so fulfilled now. Catering is hard hard work. You earn every penny and every bit of every tip you get through physical and creative labor. It isn't an easy buck. But, when you have a table that is beautiful, and people are making yummy noises it is one of the best feelings on earth. This job in June though? I had a few technical difficulties and I remember thinking about our friend Julianne on the beach in Hawaii at the time and wondering why in the heck do I do this?! At the end I was back to happy and fulfilled, but the middle was a little hard.

 The reception was outside, and you can't control weather. It was a super hot day, and the garland the clients wanted me to use on the tables was all dried out. The wind kept going crazy, and at one point it blew the flames of a chafing dish to the side and CAUGHT THE GARLAND ON FIRE. I somehow kept my head and pulled it off the table and stomped on it before it got too out of control. But on fire? That seemed a little above and beyond what I usually deal with! 

 We had big tall heavy glass vases full of branches --the bride wanted a natural foresty look, and a microburst of wind blew one of our vases over and flooded one of our chafers. We had to throw out a full round of sauce. So fire and flood. It was a crazy night. But the bride was beautiful of course, and the mother of the bride very gracious and kind. I feel like we fixed our snafus quickly enough that the guests weren't affected much.

 One wonderful thing about this summer was we became foster parents to some chickens. Our neighbor got some younger chickens to add to her flock and the older ones were beating up on them. We took them and their coop for a while to help eat up our grasshoppers. I was surprised how much affection I developed for them. 

 The yard was beautiful this summer, but it seemed extra attractive because these little ladies were walking around exploring in it all day. 

 We did get one family trip in, a couple of days at Flaming Gorge. We rented rafts and floated down the Green river from the dam down to Swasey's ramp. I hope that was where we stopped. There was a boat ramp at least! It took a few hours each time. 

 we had two big rafts, and a little banana boat. 

 Jeff and I did the little banana boat for most of the time. I loved it but started feeling guilty hogging it. So did Jeff and he kept trying to talk different kids into switching with us. More did on the second trip down. 

 This was our little camp site. I was kind of proud of us for camping. We are not the best at getting camping to happen I'm afraid!

 I forgot. This was a big part of our trip down. The teenage boys delighted in squirting the rest of us with these water shooters. When it was hot it was kind of nice, but when the cloud cover came over us I got a little crankier about it!

 There is a tiny museum at Flaming Gorge overlook that gives a spectacular view of the reservoir. We kind of fell in love with the sweet older couple running it. 

 But the best thing about the trip was cousin time. These relationships are so valuable. Grateful for my extended family.

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Catering three in a row. Or: How many food pictures can you stand to look at?

 So it seems that everyone I know had a daughter get married in May. Heh. Really though it seems like a lot of weddings at once, and luckily I got to cater a few of them. I have posted many of these pictures on Instagram and Facebook, but I like to keep my blog updated too. 

 The first wedding was a backyard event for a girl we love in our family. She has been wonderful to my Ari. We were so happy for her. Her's was the last job I agreed to in this little marathon of events, but I couldn't turn it down because I wanted to be a part of her day. We did a sweet and savory Belgian Liege waffle bar. I did leave out the pearl sugar for the savory waffles, but they were just as rich and full of butter as the traditional ones.And let me tell you, if you have never had a savory waffle with one of these cheese sauces, and fresh herbs or some of the other toppings I offer in these events? I urge you to try one!

 But if you go for the sweet side, try the Biscoff or Lemon meringue creams. Kind of dangerously addictive. Nobody needs to be told to try the Nutella cream.

 Once again the buttermilk syrup gave me fits. I tried to do it all in one batch at first, and by the time it did its caramelly magic, it had gotten granular. I had to throw the whole thing out (read: I put it in my freezer for my own family --still tasted good) and make it a second time. We take the pictures with the top on the buttermilk syrup bottle, but when we start serving we yank it off because that is one thick yummy caramel.

 I used a different brand of imported Spanish chorizo this time, and like it much better. I went to slice it thin, and it kind of shredded up a bit, giving a nice texture. I used yellow bell peppers and purple onions in my pico de gallo too which made for some pretty colors.

 We were originally set up across the yard, but there was a mini wind storm at the start, and it was even blowing plates off of our stack, so we moved to up against the house, one table up on the porch, and one on the lower patio.

 Do you see my poor cake cutter on the side? That is the only shot I got of her all night.

This is our little bride for the event. She looked gorgeous of course!

 Two days later we had another waffle bar. This time it was an indoor reception at Noah's in South Jordan. It was a really nice facility for us, with an elevator and cart great for unloading. It seems like I bring half of my house with me every time I do one of these. This time, I even needed to fill up one of my helper's cars too. I just physically couldn't pack it all into mine.

Our bride here had kind of a foresty theme with gold accents. I pulled some pine from a neighbor's tree to tie into her table centerpieces. 

Luckily, my other friend had these lovely tree slices for me to use too. I would love to get my own. Hmmm....

 Once we got going everything went pretty smoothly, although having no warming oven was a challenge. I brought two plug in roasters, and eventually figured out how to make them work for heating up waffles. (Hint: the heating element is around the sides not on the bottom!) We do about half pre-made so people don't have to wait for a fresh made one if they don't want to. But having that fresh made waffle smell filling up this room was intoxicating. This was the first time I did a waffle bar where it wasn't outside. 

One week later I had another reception.

 This one was a completely different idea. I split the job with my friend, and I did an antipasti table, with lots of fancy cheeses and some charcuterie, and she did a mini dessert table.

 I had a lot of fun with this one. I admit I really went over budget on this because I couldn't resist getting a couple of really cool cheeses that weren't available to me before. 

We had a nice roll assortment with some herb and strawberry butters here, and I added in a little extra dark chocolate. It is a neat characteristic of the dark chocolates, that with a higher cocoa content they feel like food not just  a sugar hit. This chocolate pairs nicely with the strawberries and I bet it was wonderful with the English Stilton with lemon that I had right above it.

 When someone asks me if they should try the chevre --goat cheese, I often tell them to get a little honey with it. I put some honey on the table along with some pieces of honey comb. Even as a little kid I wanted to try the comb -- it makes for a fun adventure for people. This comb was imported from the middle east --acacia honey -- but I think I may have a local source next time which I am excited about.

 Capocollo (or Coppa)  is a type of cold cured meat similar to prosciutto --but isn't brined the same way. It comes from the Italian words for head and neck since it is made from a muscle in that area of the pork.

 We did have a little prosciutto with melon of course.

 A Dutch Gouda, and Spanish Manchego --which is actually a sheep's milk cheese!

 I was able to find two kinds of olive mixes too --a Greek one, and the Byzantine country olive mix I used before.

 This yellow rinded cheese was a Jarlsberg. I'd say it was a Swiss cheese, but it was from Norway. So, Swiss type cheese?

 At the other end of the table we placed a cracker assortment. 

 I love these big round beautiful rye crackers from Finland. Not many people eat them, but they are gorgeous. Also the Matzo crackers --so interesting in the basket!

 I got one shot of part of my friend's table. She is a master at making these little bites beautiful. I hope the bride got to try some!

We at least sent them off with a box when it was over. I still remember starving at my own reception. Best wishes to all three brides!

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