And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
08:00O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Yes, I had to look up the words :) But at least I think they're accurate because I looked them up!
So, something's coming up that I want to give you due warning about because it's taking my attention away from you and my regular work. Fortunately my husband is my boss so I can get time off work, I've just today finished my sewing commitments (other than for this thing) and I've done a load of laundry.
From tomorrow, I will be all singing, all dancing, all baking and all preparingly American. A Wenglish American.
See, there's this thing. Let me start from the start.
We are so very fortunate to have a choir from the New Hope baptist church in Atlanta, GA come to us, one week a year to put on various events and partner with us in sharing our faith. That week is coming, it's the first week of July this year.
Here's a run down of how that week's looking so far.
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| When the choir visited our church in 2010 |
Wednesday 3rd July our church is hosting a ladies night, "A taste of America". We've got around 60 ladies already signed up to attend that night and we'll be serving 4 southern puddings. One of the puddings is being provided by Miss Linda, the catering co-ordinator from America so I've only got to make 3.
The team have given me the recipes so as long as I've got them right, we should be ok. We'll be serving Pecan pie, Alabama Fudge cake, Strawberry shortcake and Banana pudding (Miss Linda's providing this one).
I've never made any of these before I was given the recipes. I thought I'd burnt the pecan pie it was so dark (google convinced me it was ok though), the shortcakes came out more like scones (I'd been expecting a light angel cake) and the fudge cake was incredibly sweet!
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| This 'taste of America' logo I pulled off Google is a bit odd... |
I reached out to my friend Toni and expressed my fears that the American ladies who would be coming that evening would know they weren't right and would say something. Toni reminded me that a) they'd probably be baked correctly and b) they wouldn't say anything because that's not the way their momma raised them. That really made me giggle and still does now I think about it. Panic eased!
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| Not my dessert, hopefully mine might at least resemble this though! |
Thursday 4th July we're hosting a massive youth event (yeah, Dus and I are the youth leaders, we are in charge of that one) where we'll open the church to the local youth. We've booked a disco, surf simulator, we've got messy games being organised by the missions team, we've got a cafe, other games and stuff and a talk being given by one of the American members. This was only decided on last week with 3 weeks to go....it's a crazy plan but it's go big or go home, that's what they say in the US, right?
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| Thank you Paul for this design, you're skilled beyond measure! |
Friday 5th July is free and then...
Saturday 6th July is when we will be having the gospel concert. It starts at 7pm and is in the Moriah Aman Christian Centre on Fforchaman road in Cwmaman.
My role on that evening is to feed the 60 choir members at 6pm and then clear up and convert the back hall into an overflow room with no trace of dinner and pudding. I have a team to help though, thank goodness!
Sunday 7th July we've decided to hold a breakfast at 10am followed by our regular church service at 11am. I'm guesstimating around 100 people will be there for breakfast as we'll put the invitation out during the concert night for people to join us.
So there we go. That's exactly 2 weeks until the first event (at time of writing, I've probably scheduled this post so use your imagination!). Between now and then I'll mostly be baking and freezing, cooking and freezing, sewing up some table runners, printing banners for the youth event, purchasing sweets etc for the cafe and trying to keep the house clean enough for visitors staying over that weekend to attend the concert.
I've made 46 shortcakes so far....only another 24 to go. Then 7 pecan pies, 7 Alabama fudge cakes, spaghetti sauce for 60, and that's it. Oh yeah, then breakfast. Ah well, we'll worry about that when the time comes.
Please do feel free to join us for the concert on Sunday, come and find me. I'll be the stressed one in the kitchen :)
8 comments
Holy Moley that is a LOT of baking. All the best with the whole event.
ReplyDeleteSo let me see if I understand correctly - you are making American food for Americans? They get that stuff all the time why not make 'em Welsh tucker? Or are the deserts for the Welsh who have come to see/hear the American choir?
You go, girl!! You've made me tired just reading about all you have to do. I better go take a nap!
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, when you're done with all that, what are you going to do with all your free time?? LOL Good grief, Girl, that is a huge undertaking! Love the advice your friend gave you. And don't forget, this is a taste of the South, not America. Sometime you'll have to have a choir from Wisconsin so you can make lefse and lutefisk. lol
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're giving that choir a fantastic welcome!
It sounds like great fun and a lot of work. 4th of July is a popular time for family reunions and we are going to one for the family of my husband's mother in Oklahoma. There will be plenty of the very pies and desserts you are making. I like to sew (and came by your blog following links)and am just starting to get into refashioning garments. I know your celebration and visit will go well. Grace and peace.
ReplyDeleteWOW....I am tired just thinking about it! LOLLL Cooking is definitely NOT my thing.....Glad it is YOU and not ME is all I can say! LOLLLL
ReplyDeleteChristine
ChrisW Designs
Goodness, Samantha--that's a lot of desserts (and it's "desserts" in the US...pudding is pretty specific here! :) Best of luck with all that fun! Your shortcakes look perfect, by the way :)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSouthern ladies definitely wouldn't criticize desserts. Though they may say, "Bless your heart!" (The is a cross between isn't she sweet and trying hard and well this may not have turned out quite right...)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with everything! Just managing to feed that many people is a small miracle and I'm sure everything will turn out well. :)