Catching up, Part 2

We had a great celebration for Father's Day/Second Saturday..... Karen, Laurie, Billy, Patrick, TiJae, Sam, Paul, Jason..... and Mr. B and I. We had a good group and lots of fun! We even had cuteness.....mostly on the part of Bella, as you can see from the previous slideshow....but at one point, Jerry displayed his patriotism (it was Flag Day, after all!) and pranced around with a flag he stole from one of my flower pots. Of course, my lens was too slow to catch him at the height of prancing cuteness, but he was definitely parade-ready for a few moments!















I tried to see just how frugal I could be at feeding the masses! Michael picked up whole chickens on sale and I rotisseried five of them (average cost $2.75, saving $4.00 on each one!). I was going to track the whole meal, cos I enjoy that in an obsessive way...but I lost a receipt and that ended that. Suffice it to say, I fed a LOT of people for way less than taking them out....
















Rotisserieing Rotisserying Cooking five chickens made for lots of left overs which certainly didn't break the hearts of Patrick, and Billy, who happily left with sacks! I stashed the backs and carcasses in the freezer and the day after, cooked them down and got about 2 quarts of rich broth and left over chicken meat. The broth was paired with veggies, chicken breasts and spices and became my Mexican chicken soup......the chicken carcass meat was carefully checked for bones and used to spice up the dogs' kibbles for a few days.....Not sure who was happier, the Mexican soup fans, or the dogs!

Anyway, we had a pasta salad, some sauteed greenbeans/red 'n yellow peppers, some mashed potatos and gravy for Mr.B., rice/tofu pilaf for the vegetarians, sourdough rolls that Karen got from the Farmers' Market, and the Strawberry Dessert Mr. B. has fallen in love with.....Recipe here.

I interrupt this post to point out that while I was in the backyard taking pictures from the last post? I recorded for posterity the fact that after one week......
















My flower bed still lives.
















And my tomato? It is growing! (there are only two so far....but I am ever the optimist!)

Back to the evening's festivities. There was a rousing game of Yahtzee......















Won by Ms. TiJae!! A good night with lots of laughs and memories made.

And one last totally unrelated picture.....This is my hooded oriole, a skittish fellow I can rarely capture on film....back again this year....
















With the Missus.....
















:)