We've always liked hosting guests at our house. Years ago, we had weekly get-togethers (referred to simply as "Friday nights") with our theatre friends at one or another couple's house, and we were happy to have ours included in the rotation. Those nights started as cast parties for various plays but soon became weekly staples in our social lives, whether or not a play was going on. In more recent years, we were in the rotation of host sites for "game nights" when several couples friends with children would converge at someone's house, where all the kids would play together while all the adults would enjoy adult beverages and adult games together. Those get-togethers included more elaborate outings, too, such as the cooking game Stir Crazy, our own Amazing Race, and a Christmas luau.
Fast-forward several months to a new house in a new city in a different state. Three people who work in my unit (at the university) are leaving--two to different units on campus and one to a different state for her husband's job. Susan and I hosted my coworkers at our house for a "thank you, farewell, and good luck" party for those folks. We had 32 people (15 of them under the age of 10) here for supper--and, God bless this home, we had plenty of room for everyone. It helped that the weather cooperated. The kids played in the back yard, in the front yard, on the driveway, in the garage, in the neighbors' yards with the neighbor kids--they kept themselves occupied. The adults gathered around the island in the kitchen (where all Midwestern get-togethers tend to wind up, anyway) and in the living room and out on the veranda.
It was a potluck, so everybody brought something. I tried to smoke everybody off the place by grilling hot dogs and hamburgers--patties with such high fat content that the flames were leaping like nobody's business (but, oh, how moist they were!), and the smoke was a-billowin'. We bought about 15 12-packs of about a dozen kinds of pop and filled a 90-can-capacity cooler out on the veranda. We also supplied hamburger fixin's, potato chips, and disposable plates, cups, flatware, and napkins. Items that others brought included crockpots of Mexican beans and rice, Midwestern baked beans and hamburger, and spicy meatballs in a cream sauce; macaroni salad, watermelon, herb bread and cheese dip, pudding salad, and pizza casserole; and, for dessert, pistachio salad, pineapple upside-down cake, and vanilla bean ice cream. There was so much food left over that everybody in our unit is planning to spend our lunch hour tomorrow walking to the Moberg house (for exercise), eating leftovers, and then walking back to campus!
We have had our neighbors over "of an evening" for beverages and dessert on the veranda, and a university colleague and her husband and their daughter have been here a couple times for supper. We also have a few more couples who will bring their kids over and join us for supper in the next few weeks, once we coordinate our schedules. We've also had family over for supper on several holidays and other occasions. However, this was our first time hosting a large group of people in our new home, and we were happy to have the room to do it. Thank you, New House!
The whole story had me remembering gatherings at Grandma and Grandpa Moberg's. People everywhere....basement, garage, driveway, yard, living room, and of course, THE KITCHEN!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, your house is wonderful!
It was fun to have so many people around and to eat all the food that I didn't have to cook! We're going to have to host more often.
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