Prep and Food!

I'm finally getting a breather to blog about our big housewarming BBQ we had last weekend.  We've been wanting to have a bunch of friends over for awhile - but it took awhile to settle into the house and then get the backyard done (which wasn't a part of the original plan!).

I had a few issues with the turf guys and had been harping on them for the last couple of weeks to get their asses out to fix (a mistake we found) and finish the job.  They FINALLY made it out on Thursday to complete everything.  Talk about last minute!  Phew!

I had spent the week running all over the place buying food and drinks and pool toys, etc. for our party - Jon had been traveling but came back a day early - so he and I spent Friday prepping the backyard for the party (setting up new - additional - umbrellas I had just bought, extra tables and chairs, etc.).  He also fired up his smoker and the two day smoking marathon began!

While Jon was in charge of the meat, I took care of the rest.  It was going to be a big party and an all day long sort of thing.  About 80 people RSVP'd yes (I think the final count was closer to 65 - but still not too shabby!) - so I didn't do anything too fancy or time consuming for the food and drinks.  Lots of store made dips with bread, guacamole and chips, etc.  I did things like slice up the bread ahead of time to make it easy to refill when bowls needed refilling.  Same with the veggie platter - I cut everything ahead of time (but aren't the peppers just gorgeous?!?).  The only thing I decided to make was the watermelon, feta and mint salad - super delicious! :)