My Annual Tattoo

 You're dragging butt this morning!  That's what my Dad would tell me every morning we got up at 4 am to work the cattle.  He was right ..... and I'm REALLY dragging butt THIS morning.  I arrived right on the dot and got straight to work at the Elks kitchen.  

First up ... Mexican casseroles with eggs, salsa, seasoned meat, onions and cheese.  We whipped up NINE of them in those huge restaurant pans.  Two went straight into the oven.  Next three huge containers of ham hit the heat while I panned not the normal 8 or 9, but 12 sheets of sausage.  They filled that sheet pan rack to the brim.

I hauled the pastries out of the fridge to warm up and began panning biscuits.  Nothing but the best here ... these are pre-baked biscuits, the yummiest you've ever eaten.  Bake them at 400 degrees for ten minutes and they are like fresh made.  I think they are Langford, but I didn't look at the box all that well.

Then came the waffles.  Krusteaz frozen ones you bake on pans until crisp.  More panning involved there. Then it was on to the hash browns.  I dumped them into big pans, seasoned them up nicely, topped them with butter and into the ovens they went.  TWELVE pans!!

These are my beautiful cooking appliances.  Boy do I wish I had one of these at home.  Four huge ovens with two warming ovens in between to keep things hot.  It's a shuffling game, making sure I have enough of everything cooked before it's required out front.  Luckily on this day I didn't burn anything.  Well, maybe that one pan of waffles got a little overdone.

While I was busy back here, the guys at the huge stove and grill on the other side were whipping up scrambled eggs and sausage gravy.  

Two and a half hours later, the floodgates were opened.  All the ladies got fresh roses as they came in the door.

And they came ..... and they came!!!  We've never served this many people before!  We even had to set up more tables in the side rooms.

Sadly, try as I might for this not to happen, I got another tattoo this year.   It only takes a second with a 350 degree steel pan to carve out a nice half moon.  Ouchie!!  I smothered it in ice immediately, but it didn't help much.

Someone made a big mistake this year and set the times from 8:30 to 12:30.  We've never stayed longer than 11:30.  I completely emptied this rack and one other, baking pan after pan until we ran out of food.  Yup I'm pretty tired.

Here's the crew, although that grumpy guy beside me is the dishwasher.  I did the cooking, these guys did everything else!  It's takes a village !!

My feet hurt so badly when I got home that I stuck them in cold water for an hour.  Being met by this happy face took most of the pain away.  That's his come-play-with-me look and as you can see, he already has the ball under his foot.

I'm exhausted, but there's no time to rest up.  I've got an appointment at 9:30 this morning.  The rest of the day will find me on the couch!!!