John's work had their Marine Corp Birthday party at an Officer's house this weekend and it had a great turn out. Unbeknownst to me, I was coming down with a cold so I wasn't feeling too good but I still was able to enjoy the event. Due to me not feeling that well, early on in the evening I asked John to put my purse back into the truck which happened to have our camera inside so unfortunately I didn't take a single photo. I'm definitely not feeling well if I don't have my camera at something like this. If a few pictures turn up from the event, I'll be sure to post them for your viewing needs but until then, my words will have to suffice. A few hours before the party started, John drove down to help out a bunch of guys set up a huge backyard tent that covered from the back deck out about 20-30 feet. The host of the party had a roasted pig plated nicely on the table amongst the other food. Head and all. I'm sure it was good but I'm not a pork lover so I can't comment any further than that. Looked good though. I was just busy hoping Jocelyn wouldn't notice the head (heck, the whole thing!) for she would be traumatized forever to watch Charlotte's Web. No...I'm kidding. She'll have to find out eventually, right? They had an array of good food from steak to fruit salad. Jocelyn refused the whole line of food only begging to have a bottled water. She seriously could care less about the rest. Even a cookie? Nope! She sat happily on one side of the deck step (this allowed others to still walk past) and just sat content as ever just drinking a sip of water, putting on the lid, opening it for another sip - you see a pattern here? This went on the whole time we were there. Can't forget to mention the few times her bottle slipped out of her hand while attempting to screw on the lid and plopped right on Daddy's shoe and pant leg - getting it drenched! She was too busy mesmerized in the 'one man band' singing and playing tunes on his guitar not even 6 feet away from where she was sitting. You'd think she was having the time of her life. Maybe she was! It was so cute to see her enjoying herself on the step, sometimes scooting over to be closer to the music but had to be moved back so she wouldn't get tripped on. I was just glad she was doing okay not eating a single thing while we were there. Many offers on my part and many declines of those offers on her part. But they say they'll eat when they are hungry so I let it go. (Until we got home atleast). Aubrey was one of the first to grab a plate of food from our family and scarf it down. She had other motives: girls to go hang out with and play twister and watch video games. Hello? Priorities here. Food and then straight to fun. I was happy she wasn't bored. John had fun mingling but still was a gentleman and made sure I was of comfort. This even includes him dragging a full iced cooler over for me to sit on. Having been in the kitchen most of the early parts of the day, my back was aching and standing that whole time wasn't going to happen almost 9 months pregnant so I was very appreciative of his thoughtfulness. I was also busy dodging cigarette smoke from the backyard so I obviously wasn't sitting on the cooler the whole evening! I also had one of John's Marine Corp buddy's wife, who I'm friends with, there to socialize with. John and I were only planning on staying for an hour or two before it got too late but we stayed an hour or so past that due to him being the youngest Marine at the party and having to stay for the ceremonies. I didn't count but there was well over 50 people. It's tradition that the oldest Marine passes a piece of birthday cake to the youngest Marine. When they read John's date of birth and the date he joined the Marine Corp they all started laughing calling him a baby and such. Basically having fun giving him a hard time for being the youngest. This was my first time attending a Marine Corp Birthday celebration so it was nice being able to accompany John to the party and meet more of the people he works with on a daily basis. We had a great time so I'm glad we went. Since I don't have pictures of the evening to share yet, I'm putting up the recipes of the yummy food we made and brought to the party. We make this potato salad and banana bread often and the apple butter was a new one for me to try but it turned out awesome so I know you'll enjoy it too.
3 lbs small red potatoes
kosher salt
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk, milk, or white wine
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red onion
Place the potatoes and 2 Tbsps of salt in a large pot of water. Bring water to boil, then lower heat and simmer 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are barely tender when pierced with knife. Drain potatoes in colander, then place colander with potatoes over empty pot and cover with clean, dry kitchen towel. Allow potatoes to steam for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, in small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, milk, Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, dill, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper. Set aside when potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into quarters or halves, depending on size. Place cut potatoes in large bowl. While potatoes are still warm, pour enough dressing over them to moisten (or all if you wish but as salad sits, you may need to add more dressing). Add celery, red onion, 2 tsps of salt and 1 tsp pepper. Toss well, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours to allow flavors to blend. Serve cold or at room temperature.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 beaten eggs
1-1/2 cups mashed bananas (5 medium)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter or margarine
Grease bottom and 1/2" up the sides of one 9x5x3-inch or two 7 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 2-inch loaf pans; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside. In medium bowl combine eggs, bananas, sugar, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Spoon batter into prepared pan(s). If desired, sprinkle streusel topping over batter.* Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes for 9x5x3-inch pan, or 40-45 minutes for 7 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 2-inch pans, or until a wooden toothpick inserterd near center comes out clean (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. Makes 16 servings. *Streusel topping: In small bowl combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour. Using pastry blender (or fork), cut in 2 Tbsp butter until mixture resembles course crumbs.
5 1/2 lbs cooking apples (Braeburn, Granny Smith, Jonagold or Golden Delicious work best but any kind of apple should be okay to use)
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