Still More Celebrating

Celebrating a 100th birthday should extend over a few days. Such was the case when it came to the gatherings surrounding our aunt Margaret’s 100th birthday this past weekend.

(There are relatively few photos today, partly because I used the time to talk to cousins that I had missed the previous two days and partly due to having annoyed the people who were here for lunch enough the previous two days.)

Martha, Margaret's sister

For this past Sunday, which represented the third planned get-together in three days, Margaret had invited family members who were staying longer to come to her home for lunch.

Sandra, Margaret's daughter and Raina, Margaret's niece

Kate offered to plan and prepare lunch, but estimates of the number of people expected to attend varied from 16 to 24, so planning on the amounts for the meal was a bit difficult.

Now everyone who has planned a large lunch, party, reunion, not to mention larger scale gatherings, has faced unique challenges, and the preparations for this lunch were no exception.

Kate’s menu consisted of three snack trays—hummus and flatbread, a black been dip and tortilla chips, and a homemade cheese spread similar to Boursin—and a main menu of (clockwise in the photo below): homemade Sloppy Joe’s, homemade black bean and corn salad, homemade potato salad, and baked beans that had been kicked up a notch.

(As a side note, Kate credits her excellent potato salad to the use of Duke’s mayonnaise out of Richmond, VA.)

Matt (Shelly's son)

Due to her perfected planning skills, she was able to prepare some foods in advance and prepare others on Friday and Saturday while still traveling to the planned gatherings.

Ally (Shelly's daughter)

And thanks to Raina and Jesse for picking up the six pies ordered from Polly’s Pies in Hemet, thanks to Sandy and Shelly for coordinating the work in the kitchen, and thanks to Tim for arranging for tables and seating.

Seated (l. to r.): Tim (Sandra's husband), Sandra (Margaret's daughter), Margaret, Abby (Shelly's daughter), and Shelly (Sandra's daughter)
On the floor: Ally (Shelly's daughter) and Matt (Shelly's son)

A beautiful end to a wonderful celebration for a truly special person.