And suddenly half the year is gone. That means the light is receding as well now, and the days are growing shorter, but la la la la I can’t hear you. Unfortunately it doesn’t matter if it’s always cloudy anyway, and we’re back to cool temperatures and lots of rain. We actually got SO lucky this past Saturday for the 4th of July because the entire week had been forecast as rain, and as we got closer to the day (and the big party we were hosting for the AIC), we were watching the weather changing while biting our nails. We were supposed to make a decision on Wednesday but with the weather patterns changing so rapidly we waited until Friday, at which point, the forecast showed rain every day EXCEPT Saturday. And damned if it wasn’t correct for once!
Anders and I went food shopping for the party on Friday after work, and got all the ingredients for chili and hotdogs and the other miscellaneous stuff I needed (paper plates, etc.). We ended up having to go to the grocery store THREE times. We had gone to Willy’s first (cheaper) to get the meat as Anders had seen they had a sale price on chuck steak (högrev). He had found a chili recipe that called for it instead of ground beef. I was a little skeptical, but I trust him as an awesome cook! However, Willy’s didn’t have enough, and we needed nearly a half cow’s worth, and Willy’s didn’t have a few other things on the shopping list, so we had to stop at ICA as well to get the rest of the meat and ingredients. I had ice on the shopping list as well, but didn’t want to get that until right before the scheduled start of the party. After our two grocery-store stops, we went and picked up the bounce house from Neal. He’s rented it to the club every year for a very long time, but has told us now that he is probably going to try and sell it afterwards. One of my colleagues is interested in buying it for her kids’ sports organization, so if she does, we’ll just rent it from her instead next time! Fingers crossed.
It was quite windy in the morning, but the sun was supposed to show up mid-afternoon. I slept in a bit, and when I got up, starting doing the last housecleaning and party preparations. Anders was already in the kitchen, chopping and browning the meat for the chili. I don’t like beans in my chili or too spicy, and he very graciously had adapted the recipe for me. ♥️
The chili had to cook for 3 hours AFTER he got all the meat ready, and he expected it would be ready about 3:30 or 4 pm. The party started at 3 pm and my other helper Alexis arrived with her family and guests at 2:30. I put them to work decorating the deck and yard with the American flag stuff the club has, and everything ended up looking very festive. We had tried to tone down the USA feeling, as all of overseas seem to be struggling with the same issues of not feeling very patriotic in the face of what our current administration is doing, and the fact that they are alienating EVERYONE else in the world we have to live in. At the same time, it’s our country’s birthday, and even I still love America, DESPITE the bloated criminal grifter in the White House and all his minions.
The signup sheet had bounced up and down the entire week prior and we actually had 2 families sign up the morning of the party (!) (for a food-based event!), but a couple dropped off again later, and one more got added, so it worked out. We ended up being 45 people, which included several new members, and about 6 non-member guests. The bounce house was a hit with the younger crowd, as usual, and there were spontaneous games of Kubb, velcro tennis, pingpong (on our mini table) and “Yardtzee” (the giant Yahtzee game I brough home from the US).
Everyone who came brought either a side dish or a dessert to share and the contributions were varied and amazing: two different potato salads, apple cranberry coleslaw, 2 kinds of deviled eggs, carrot and shallot salad, bean salad, pasta salad, foccacia, vegetable crudités with ranch dip, and more. The dessert table included watermelon, strawberries, apricot cake, a vanilla flag cake (SO GOOD), chocolate chip cookies, apple pastries, my Rice Krispie treats, and the most delicious of all: chocolate orange peanut baklava…YUM!
And that was just the SIDES! Anders’ chili was a huge hit (and a HUGE pot), which we served with shredded cheese, crème fraîche, and taco chips; and we had hotdogs and veggie dogs with buns, mustard, and ketchup. Lots of people put together chili dogs as well, so it was a good thing I picked up extra dogs when I did the third and last grocery run!
The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny, with a good breeze and beautiful. Our garden was a showcase at its best, and everyone was so nice and fun to talk to. Our last guests didn’t leave until nearly 9:30 pm, and we were almost done with the cleaning up well before then, so it was a real pleasure to host the party again for the club.
Anders is on vacation now for 3 weeks and is busy in the garage working on the MG. He picked up Karin late yesterday as she was needing some downtime after a week volunteering at the Roskilde music festival (plus her girlfriend is in Greece this week), so they picked up sushi on the way home, and she spent the night. She has stolen the Tesla now and will be home later, at which point Anders will need to take her to the train station. I came home a bit early to work from home just so I could at least be in the same house with her for a little longer (it doesn’t happen very often anymore). Work is thinning out as so many people have already left for summer vacation and more are disappearing at the end of this week. It will be very quiet until August, though we all definitely have enough work and the type of projects that one never usually has time for.
I need to go check the tomatoes, and see if the cherries look like they are ripe yet. Happy summer!
This is fascinating: America’s greatest unsung innovation
Mood: happy
Music: Lenka—Good Days