Happy but Full

I had a BBQ for the family and their families yesterday.  It went really well, assisted in part by the fact that this was day two of our reunion.    Things were at a lower energy level by the time we congregated at my place, and I'm good with that.  I prefer to keep things casual and easy when I can.

Knowing that some of us had gotten our drinkin' on the night before and were likely still feeling it, I had a number of non-alcoholic options available.  I tried my hand at making fresh squeezed lemonade*, and it turned out so well that I ran out to the store at the last minute to get more lemons.  Otherwise, I'd have run out.  (That's not to say there wasn't any drinking going on last night, just in a more controlled manner than the night before.)

What I like best about hosting family is that there is no guilt involved or expectations to meet.  You don't need to ask for help.  My aunt and uncle arrived first and helped me set up.  The ones who stayed late helped me with the cleanup before they left.  When more people came than I expected and rain prevented eating outside, nobody batted an eye at the lack of seating.  Whoever didn't fit at the table sat at the island, on the couch or stood at the counter.

We had bison burgers with fresh corn on the cob and Potato salad**, black bean salsa salad and spinach salad on the side.    My aunt brought vietnamese salad rolls to start us all off, and my mom brought a lemon roll cake with fresh berries on top to wrap it up.  Needless to say, we ate a lot.




* I replaced half of the sugar in this lemonade with Splenda - nobody could tell.
** if you make this potato salad recipe, I recommend following the suggestion of one of the commenters on that page - replace half the mayo with sour cream and add shredded cheddar cheese.  I also reduced the amount of bacon by ~ 1/2.