The Musician friends party

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Look! We copied the internet and made pretty food! It was so much fun. Since Keith is a cheese liker, we didn’t even have to buy any cheese – just opened the cheese drawer and cut some up with our squiggly cutter. Keith was cutting, so he cut the star. Then he tried again. Then he made me do it. Check out the picture – his mistake cheese is to the left.

The people were invited to come at 5, with dinner around 6.

At 4:40, every large pot, pan, and dish was dirty. Just-finished-baking chicken was being chopped up and added to the crock pot full of hash. Andouille cream sauce was coming out of the refrigerator to get warmed up and poured onto the pasta, chicken, shrimp, andouille, vegetable mixture in the roaster. I had just started making (from three packages) Bearnaise sauce – stir stir stir. The Christmas tree cheese plate was still cooling in the front seat of the car. The punch ingredients were out in the garage too. Corn maque choux was in the garage as well, needing to come in to get warmed up. The carrots, black olives, and salsa were still in the refrigerator, but at least bowls for them had been put out. The tortilla chips were in the high cupboard that Keith needed to reach. Cranberry dip stuff needed to be drained and put on the cream cheese, which hadn’t been whipped yet. Crackers! Crackers were definitely needed, but were…somewhere. There were little dishes out for candies, but the candies were still in the bag in the pantry. I was sautéing vegetables that Keith had just run to the store for because a dear friend who is vegetarian had just been added to the guest list (while stirring the Bearnaise). Best of all for me, I was still in my pajamas.

While letting the vegetables cook, I grabbed the punch-holder thing and started pouring in varied beverages. I made the lemonade first, then checked on the veg. While I was away, Keith noticed the spout on the punch-holder thing was open and the lemonade/fruit punch mix was just pouring into the grocery box with all the other mixes in it. Seriously. Just pouring onto the ground in a very spattery way. The box held most of the liquid and Keith raced it to the laundry room sink. Spatters remained. I poured and stirred and pushed a spatula around in a circle of hurry.

We were really moving. Saying, “Get the whatever” was getting kinda silly. I just walked away at 4:52 to get dressed. I got to the bedroom and wondered how I had not considered for a moment what I would be wearing to this party. I grabbed my 67 T-shirt, because I was on fire and I figured people would either get the joke or ask what the heck.

Back to doing. Stirring, wiping, heating, dumping, covering, undercovering, carrying. It was 5:08. We were living on borrowed time. I cannot express my gratitude and appreciation for people who come a little late. Keith finished the dishes. FINISHED them. He was drying things, but I just grabbed and put away. Drying happens in cupboards.

I was in the bedroom putting on my new (from Christmas shopping day) shirt with sparkly buttons when the doorbell rang – 5:18. We were ready. It was a great time.