Saturday & Sunday, Cast Party for THE OUTSIDER

Saturday (11/18) was definitely a kitchen day….I LOVE having the cast party when Michael is in a play at Fort Mill…but it IS a fair amount of work!!! I kept getting interrupted with various other things I had to do, but over the course of the day, I managed to put together a pasta casserole:

(And let me tell you something...this is an old, old recipe that I have not made in forever....and it was a HUGE HIT!!! I got SO MANY COMPLIMENTS at the party and only a tiny bit was left!!! People came back for seconds....and a few thirds!!! I think I need to bring this to Scrap Happy one of these months.)

I also finished the ham/cheese/poppyseed sliders:

and the chicken/cranberry roll-ups:

My biggest problem was fitting 2 large casseroles and the platter of roll-ups into this:

I am not a good car packer (red card!!), but I am a good fridge packer, so somehow I managed !!

I had furry kids playing in the front hall while I was working:

Michael got most of the cast gifts wrapped:

before heading off to his Saturday night performance…where he said the audience was DEAD!! Many, many people came up to the cast afterwards to say how funny the show was and how great the acting was…but they sure didn’t laugh out loud at all during the first half! They perked up a bit in the second, but oh well….sometimes that happens. I got the final 3 towels cleaned up and wrapped while he was gone.

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Sunday was another food filled day, by NOON I had baked the giant chocolate chip cookes:

and some peanut butter cookies:

and boiled and made deviled eggs:

I got the house picked up, and the kitchen island set up after Michael left for the matinee:

You know….I have to say I am a little bit proud of my foresighted-ness in buying those Tupperware plates…and Goodwill silverware…and making napkins….as well as all of my glasses:

That stuff is 30 - 40 years old....and I can’t imagine over the years the amount of paper and plastic goods I have saved from the land fills, by using this stuff over and over again when I/we entertained! I'm glad I've followed through on something that is important to me (probably all due to my mom!!!)

Around 3 PM I headed downstairs to pull together my timeline:

without which I am a stressed out hostess! I started in on food….put together the last of it…the crab stuffed crescents:

and sliced the chicken/cranberry roll-ups

and within moments it seemed everyone arrived!

And we had the ''opening of the towels":

I think everyone had a wonderful time…and when they all left, we started up the dishwasher and collapsed in front of the TV.

*** It's 1967...HOLLYWOOD SQUARES is on…I'm 9 years old. My mom and dad are roaring with laughter and I don't understand what's so funny:

Q . Paul, what is a good reason for pounding meat?

A. Paul Lynde: Loneliness! (The audience laughed so long and so hard it took up almost 15 minutes of the show!)

Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it?

A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn’t neglected.

Q. Do female frogs croak?

A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough. ***