Monday, May 13, 2013

We were up before the sun this morning. Pat is teaching an on-line class to students in Ontario and, with a 5 AM start, the alarms went off at 4 AM. After breakfast I headed up to the studio and did a bit of sewing. When I ran out of bobbin thread I got out my book and spent some time reading before getting ready for the BOND lunch.

Have you ever been to a potato bar? I’d never heard of them, and wasn’t quite sure what it was I was to be making when I saw it on the menu plan. Apparently they are all the rage in the States, with restaurants serving only baked potatoes and their fixings.

It was a rush to get the shopping done and get 36 potatoes washed and into the oven. I often find potatoes take longer to bake than I expect and I had no idea what the oven in that kitchen might do so I cooked them for 5 minutes in the microwave before oiling them and getting them in the oven. Then I started on the fixings – crumbled bacon, sautéed mushrooms, vegetarian chili, black beans, garlic butter, plain butter, green onions, sour cream, three kinds of cheese (cheddar, feta and parmesan), salsa, black and green olives and hummus. It was a lot of work, but the ladies loved it! Of course there were the usual fruit and veggie trays to prepare as well. I used all sorts of serving dishes so the dishwasher filled quickly and I had to do a lot of the dishes by hand. Next week is a holiday so I cleaned out the fridge and sent stuff that wouldn’t last home with the ladies. It was 3:30 before we got out of there!

I was really hoping that a new volunteer would be with me today. When we were ready to leave I asked if Susan was going to be available when I’m away. Apparently she has decided she is doing too much already and can’t commit to the program. Too bad.

It will be an early morning again tomorrow so it will be an early night for us!