My Kind Of Party

Our Maintenance Manager retired this summer and we wanted to have a farewell party and end of the season party for all our staff. We also wanted to have it in our home. When we moved here last April our youngest child was only a month old and moving with a baby is tough. Having three others adds to the challenges. Having massive postpartum depression doesn’t help. Needless to say, unpacking has been slow. Topped with more laundry than is humanly possible and the desire to actually give my kids a fun summer outside of the house makes for even slower unpacking.  At any rate, we planned on opening our home to all the staff and the few guests who were in-house as well. I didn’t get anything done the night before as I had been in town getting new tires. Scott was picking up and I just had to say, “I’m going to bed so I can have the strength to do it tomorrow!”

I woke bright and early and started the chores. My oldest was an awesome help, cleaning her own room, the cat’s box and the bathrooms. My 8 year old helped the 3 year old pick up toys in his room, interspersed with lots of playtime. She picked up the dirty clothes in her room, but that was about all she could manage with her dwindling attention span.

My plan for me was to clean off the catch all countertop, move the baby pictures to the front of the hall as I had hung them at the end of the hall and my Dear Man wanted all to see them. (It was a good move, everyone commented and enjoyed them!) I needed to sweep, vacuum, and mop as well as move all the unfolded laundry to my room where it would be out of sight. (Dirty little secret!)

My Darling decided he wanted to do ribs for everyone on the BBQ. He comes from a wonderful family, from Santa Maria CA, who has turned the BBQ into a true art form. So he emailed his mom for his cousin’s BBQ ribs recipe (one of the masters).

Scott got started that morning on the sauce. Right away he asked me what “minced” means; it calls for minced garlic. (Laughing to myself) I explained. I proceeded to mince garlic. Now the recipe makes 3 racks of ribs.  We decided to triple the recipe. We were cooking for 30 people and I wish I had counted how many racks we made, but I didn’t! I think it was about 15 or more. We had 3 big pans heaping full of ribs and it was perfect.

The first step was to sauté. I measured the garlic then asked if I should just go ahead and put it all in as I had minced more than needed. Scott’s response was, “No, stick to the recipe!” He was busy rubbing the Suzie Q (The best seasoning ever! Santa Maria Style BBQ seasoning, by Suzie Q. www.susieqbrand.com) into the ribs and clearing out the fridge to store them in. Then he informed me that he needed to do the run to take guests to the airport. He printed up Mom’s email and left.  I should have offered to make the run and left him to get the place and now the sauce ready! But he did get home in time to light the wood chips and have the first racks smelling amazing when the guests started to arrive. So I guess I can’t complain. 

The party was wonderful. Of course it was even better because I didn’t have to cook. The kitchen brought all the food and flat wear and beverages. They even took everything away afterword and the only clean up was to wipe the counter and wash the rib pans. That’s my kind of party!

It was wonderful to have the staff here. One of our wranglers said it was so nice to be in a home again. After a summer of dorm style housing I can imagine. I told her she was welcome anytime. I wish we could have them all over every week! I can’t imagine a more wonderful and talented group. Our kids enjoyed socializing and making everyone laugh. It was said that our 3 year old was definitely an innkeeper’s son!

But the very best part was those ribs! xo