So, I hauled myself out of bed, and into the shower. Why is it, that when you have an appointment to get your hair cut, you have to make sure it's perfectly styled before you go? It ranks right up there with hiring a housekeeper, and picking the place up before she arrives. Granted, I didn't have a hair cut scheduled today, but the logic (or lack there of) still applies.
After the torturous eyebrow session, I hit a Burger King drive through for breakfast. Seriously, they must lace that stuff with some kind of drug! There's no way that grease and man-made chemicals should taste that good.
Once home, I started making a list of things I'd need from the grocery store. The state park my mom and dad camp host in all summer has a Friends group...this is the group I took RAGBRAI pictures for earlier in the summer. This same friends group was hosting a dutch oven campfire cook-off as a fund raiser that evening, and I had no idea what I was going to make. Mot, as anyone who knows me knows, is the cook/chef of the family. I'm a baker, but cooking just isn't my thing.
The plan was to load up the car with all the dutch ovens, charcoal, and assorted utensils and supplies needed, a cooler for the perishables I was about to buy at the store, and my bike on the bike rack on the back of my car...and head out.
As I was pulling out of the garage, shopping list in hand and car packed...I realized I was going to be hitting a grocery store in the city. (You'd think that after living here for well over a year and a half now, I wouldn't have to keep reminding myself....but you'd think wrong!) My bike is merely fastened to the car so it won't fly off while driving down the interstate....it is not going to keep it from being stolen while I'm in the store shopping.
No, I'm not shopping in a rough part of town. But, my bike, hanging off of my car while I'm shopping is a target for any bored teenager in a 20 miles radius. So, I put the car in park, put my bike in the garage, and left for the store. After shopping, I had to drive by my house to get to the interstate anyway (kinda), so I picked it up on the way out of town.
As I'm driving on the interstate, I'm keeping a constant watch in my rear view mirror. My bike seems to want to be superman when it grows up...I kid you not. The rack it's on, holds it on two points along the frame...and it hangs from there. 80 miles per hour, was pushing the wheels straight out....so much, that the bike was basically horizontal to the ground. And, on top of that, the wheels were turning, so the pedals were turning. Please, please, please.....may those spinning pedals not hurt my brand new bumper!!!
I stopped once along the way, to make sure everything was OK. Everyone passing me on the interstate (yes, I had slowed down to almost 60 miles per hour - it hurt my soul to drive so slow on the interstate), anyway, everyone passing me spent the time it took to get around me, staring at me. I can only imagine what me and my bike looked like! :-)
I finally arrived (bike safe and still attached, no apparent scratches on the car) at about 1:45 or so. The competition started at 4:00, but I went over to the staging area to help get things set up. I started getting my charcoal going at about 3:30, and started cooking as soon as it was ready. While I was at the grocery store, I still couldn't decide what to make. Dessert or real food?? I finally decided on both. I have a tendency to take on more than I need to, but oh well!!!
These three won the for best dessert. Apple crisp
The munchkins (my niece and nephew) licking the bowl of my Death by Chocolate entry.
Looking down one row of dutch ovens, in the middle of cooking.
My pizza bake and Death by Chocolate dishes both came out really well. We had almost 80 people come to the dutch oven demo, held by a local couple who are freakishly 'into' dutch oven cooking. The friends group sold tickets so you could vote on your favorite entry. I didn't win, didn't expect to win. There are people out there that don't understand it. Why enter when you don't care if you win. #1 it was a fund raiser, without food to vote on, the whole purpose is lost #2 it's fun!!!!! What more of reason do you need then that????
We ran out of food.....no one expected that many people to show up. One lady entered this sauerkraut dish and a turtle cake, someone entered apple crisp, we had a pork chops with rice and broccoli dish, peach cobbler and my two dishes. Plus, the people that put on the demo cooked 6 or 7 things....and we STILL ran out of food!!
After the competition, and getting everything cleaned up and put away...dad took the 5 of us (mom, dad, the munchkins and me) out to eat. Out to eat?? Are we crazy? Heck, none of us got to eat at the competition, we wanted to leave food for the people who came to watch!
We took our food to the city park.....and ate it, while the mosquitoes ate us. Ugh!!!!
From there I went home, fed the cat and dogs, shot Rowan (our dog with diabetes needs two shots a day), and popped in a movie while the dogs ate.
All in all, a fun filled (I stress FILLED) day. Sunday was to be much more relaxed - or so I thought. :-)
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