Dinner for 42 people

That's what I'm making next Saturday night, otherwise known as my daughter's graduation party. While my dear mother is graced with the gift of hospitality and loves to entertain, I did not receive any of that gene. Getting dinner on the table for my own family is a struggle enough! I had originally planned on hiring a caterer to do it, but once the reality of the MIT price tag set it, I figured I should find a way to do it myself. How hard could it be???

I did the easy stuff first. I rented the tables, chairs and tablecloths, and bought all the plates, cups and napkins. I had my mom help me decide on a menu. The harder stuff I have yet to tackle. I'm trying to decide on centerpieces. Since we're going to be eating outside, and we don't have any yard lights, I need to have candles on the tables. I am NOT creative and do not instinctively have an abundance of ideas of how to arrange things to make something pretty. I finally came up with an idea yesterday to put 3 tower style white candles on gold chargers (large plates, which I already own) and put flowers of some sort in between the candles. Yeah, it sounds kind of lame, but I tried it out today with some roses from my yard, and it looked ok. I think I will have some white roses next week when the party is held, but if not, I can check my mom's yard and see what I can get. I have the view of the lake to distract people though, so maybe they won't pay attention to my sorry little centerpieces.

Then the hardest. The food. Ugh. Anyway, I need to get all the actual recipes and make up a shopping list, and make a time table of when I need to make what. Thank goodness my mom is eager to help! Hubby also has that week off, so he will be put to work too! Next week I will be probably working the entire week to attempt to pull this off. I envy people who entertain with ease. Not that I want to have people over all the time, but maybe I would at least do it once in a while if it didn't freak me out and overwhelm me so much.



Why am I doing all this? For my daughter. Because I love her and am SO proud of her and want to celebrate her with friends and family. Yeah, I'll do just about anything for my kids. That's what moms do. Here's a picture of her from a few years ago. Yes, this is my MIT genius!