Welcoming the New Bride

It’s interesting how your life can take on changes you would never imagine in the beginning. When I first married 26 years ago, it was very common to have visitors at my house quite frequently all the time.  My mom and dad showed me how to be hospitable when I was growing up and my husband’s parents set an example for him. My husband took to hospitality like a fish to water. It became his passion and still is to this day. There was a problem. I didn’t know how to cook when I married so me and cookbooks spent a lot of time together.

So here I was not knowing how to cook much besides spaghetti and tacos… but I did know how to follow a recipe. I would peruse cookbooks looking for what I thought sounded tasty and cook everything from scratch. (I’m thankful for the example my mother set of not purchasing food in boxes because then I didn’t have to unlearn it.)

We would have couples come stay the weekend with us, or if we had special services at our church, we would have the crowd up to our place. I remember one time specifically, our little 1200 square foot home was packed after some special church services our church had had. There were people everywhere, even to standing in the hallway and I was busy getting the food out for everyone to enjoy. That’s one reason I think you don’t have to have a fancy place or a big one to host guests – you just have to have a willing heart.

Fast forward to today. I now can cook for large parties and events and not think much about it. It’s actually something I enjoy. Something I never dreamed would become a part of my life 26 years ago.

This past Saturday, my friend was hosting a reception for her son who was married in Michigan earlier this month. She wanted those that weren’t able to make it to Michigan to be able to meet her son’s wife. The thought of preparing and serving the food was stressful to her, so I took on the bulk of the responsibility.

She chose the menu which was to be a copycat of the Chipotle Burrito Bowl. I’ve never had a burrito bowl so I had to do some research to even find out what ingredients to use and how they make it.

Pinterest was my friend for that.

It was a simple and delicious meal.

I did have one major glitch. I forgot ALL my serving utensils. Every. Single. One. That’s a very bad thing to do anytime but most especially when the facility that you are in does not even have a kitchen. Fortunately, there was a SAM’s club located a couple of miles away where I was able to purchase everything I needed for a reasonable amount of money.

I would like to get better with presentation – for example, I did not care for how this looked. I think it would have looked better to have the bowls at different heights…

It’s hard to manage everything. Cooking, setting up, taking pictures. But of course, I have my daughter. She’s a lifesaver and lately I usually have one of my Castle Keeper girls around. I really appreciate them.

The cake table for which I can take no credit. The groom’s aunt and uncle are responsible for this beautiful creation.

The gift table.

Peeking in on the activities.

The groom with a few of his groomsmen.

And the happy bride has a new little brother.

Isn’t love grand? 🙂