It's Good To Be PREPARED!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Just like the Girl Scouts, or Boy Scouts for that matter, it's good to be prepared.  I was neither one, but learned rather quickly on the ranch that if you weren't prepared, you either walked five miles home or you went hungry.  There was no in between.  

If you didn't think ahead and pack those leftover pancakes with peanut butter in your saddlebag, you would go without lunch.  If you didn't tie your horse up for a quick getaway, it would take you another hour to gather the cattle that got away when "someone" left the gate open.  If you didn't tie your horse CORRECTLY, you walked home when he got loose and made a beeline for the barn.

So when it comes to being prepared, I'm all over it.  I even have a list on my phone for the big Mother's Day production, just to be sure we have everything.  No one really knows how many people will attend, so we're guardedly optimistic about how MUCH to prepare.

 

We panned and panned and panned.  Too bad we didn't get any gold with all that work, but we DO have seven pans of sausages ready to hit the oven, along with about 200 fruit cups.  That fruit had to be cut up into smaller pieces, no easy job, but luckily I was busy elsewhere.  No the beer is not included.  

It's not that easy to determine exactly what food in the walk-in freezer is OURS and what is to be left alone.  I searched for the orange juice until I was almost a popsicle before locating the box.  That comes as a frozen concentrate and has to be mixed.  

The roses arrived in short order.  Every mother gets a rose on Mother's Day.  Along with all that we prepped the boxes of hash browns, which I'll mix with salt, pepper and lots of butter before sticking them in the oven.  

This morning will be crazy as we mix up our special Mexican Egg Casserole and stash those pans in the ovens.  I finally located the four huge hams, which we sliced and panned so they too are ready for the oven.  

Five boxes of pastries went down and only two pieces disappeared.  I think that's a record.  

I've got three huge boxes of waffles yet to be panned for the oven, along with three even bigger cases of biscuits.  Thankfully I'm not in charge of making either the scrambled eggs OR the sausage gravy. 

 The last detail involved locating salt and pepper shakers, as well as rolling out plastic over the tables.  I mean really, this is first class!!  

I got in trouble one year when I drug out all the nice tablecloths without an advance order.  The big fancy party two days later had to use the plastic, and I lost my job.  Obviously I was heartbroken!!  

Our start time of 6:00 am isn't early for me, yet it will be hard to get out of the house.  I don't move too fast any more.  Apparently I have to start the coffee, although as most of you know, I don't drink the stuff, let alone know HOW to make it.  

At the last minute, we discovered a big group may come in from the RV park, meaning we spent another hour panning even MORE stuff and filling cups with MORE fruit.  

I'll be at the ovens all morning, but at least I don't have to wash any dishes.  They hire crew for that.

By the way, I checked the game camera, and you KNOW what I caught.  If I survive this morning, I'll post it tomorrow.  The WAR IS ON ... AGAIN!