Friday Morning Laides' Brunch

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SparkleNana

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March 1st: Today I started inviting friends - to a brunch on Friday morning, March 6th. This is a ladies' gathering, and I am providing all the food and beverages. One guest asked: what is the occasion?

There IS a "purpose" for this brunch. For years -- I have been thinking/researching ways -- that people can "help each other" during the aging process. This brunch is "to introduce an idea -- and I want to get reactions and get a free-flowing discussion going.

The idea is "as simple as I can make it". It will be a "sort-of message board" -- for local friends who are interested -- in "sharing opportunities/needs for help". For example: a person falls, has injuries, goes to the hospital, goes to rehab -- and then goes home - for a couple of months recovery at home. (Not much strength yet).

IF that person so chose -- I would list the information that they wanted posted. "Betty Lou had an accident… etc. Betty Lou will be recovering at home for the next two months. She can't drive during this period. She would welcome having dinners dropped off; someone to walk her dog; someone to drive her to the physical therapist". Whatever message Betty Lou wanted -- would be posted.

The other members of the group would read the message.

Perhaps they do not care for Betty Lou - and would chose to do nothing.

Perhaps they do like Betty Lou. If so - perhaps they would double a tasty dinner that they were cooking - and take half of the meal to Betty Lou's home, in disposable packaging. First - they might call to check on food allergies - and see if the dinner should be delivered ready to eat - or frozen for later use.

Perhaps they would telephone to see if they could pick up things for Betty Lou - at the grocery store, drug store, library, wherever they were going.

Perhaps they would bring their dog along - and pick up Betty Lou's dog - to go for a walk.

I do not know "how things will develop". I am hosting a get-together -- a nice brunch -- so people can talk about their ideas of how things should develop. I will keep you posted.
 
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luludou

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SN you are such a people-person. Need more people like you in the world. Can't wait to hear more about it
 

Ahorsesoul

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I so want to live near SN!!!
 

SparkleNana

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Thank you,luludou! So -- tonight I looked up "Brunch Entertaining" on the net. The MAIN idea seems to be: do as much as you possibly can -- in advance!!!!! (For a weekend dinner party -- you have all day to get ready. For a brunch - not so much time that day!)

Keeping that idea in mind -- I have been working out a menu. First - deviled eggs. Almost everybody loves them. Simple, healthy - great!!!!! Mini corn muffins, heated with butter. (I LOVE them, that's why they're here on the menu!) A couple of fabulous coffee cakes, cut into slices. Little glass cups full of fresh, mixed fruit. A market nearby has a breakfast buffet and they sell perfectly cooked bacon ($8 a pound). It's worth it to me, to have it perfectly done by experts. I'll buy the bacon there. Beakfast sausages (turkey for those who don't eat pork). These are pre-cooked, frozen. I can handle these myself.

I'll make a vegetable tray. I'll think of other things to add. (Oh - I saw boxes of rich, Valentines Day chocolates - 75% off. Ill get a lot of these. Decadent, no?)
 

missjane

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SN, I love your idea. The food sounds great, too!

We sort of do this type thing through our church family - when someone has a baby, surgery, comes home from a hospital stay, for the elderly who have limited physical capabilities, or are widowed. There is such a huge ministry for this type thing. It is one of the reasons I am looking forward to retirement, so I can spend more time being able to do this type of ministry.

I hope they will like the idea and want to join in!
 

MrsSoup

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I second Diedra, I want to live by SN! Sounds great!
 

SparkleNana

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March 3: Two "brunch party" goals for today. 1) Finish cleaning the house. For the rest of the week -- I'll try to keep it "picked up" and do a final "flash cleaning" on Friday morning. (2) Do the grocery shopping (except for a few last-minute things). Get food for the brunch… well as food for the next few days for us. Get flowers today, too.

Yesterday - I spent a lot of time on the phone - "talking to people about "the idea behind the brunch". I'll make a couple more calls this afternoon - and hopefully, get return calls from messages I have left. Tomorrow night is our First Wednesday Wine Night" -- and I'll invite all the people who are there, in person. Finally - I'll send an email "invitation & reminder" to the list of our Wine Night Ladies -on Thursday.
 

SparkleNana

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Back from the grocery store. Snow predicted for early afternoon -- so I got that done first.
I found mini dark chocolate cupcakes, pastel frosting - $6 for two dozen.
A pecan coffee cake. (I will freeze the bakery things).
6 boxes of turkey link-sausages (10 in each box).
Three dozen eggs for deviled eggs.
Two half-gallons of orange juice.
More items will be picked up over the next 3 days. (I got some "household items, too, on this trip.)
The coffee will be "Starbucks Pots To Go" -- in regular and in decaf. Each box has 16 cups. (Starbucks provides the cups, cream, sugar, etc. too). I think they are $15 per box.
I bought an extra box of tea today. I'll make a pot of that - just in case.
 

luludou

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How many people are expected?
I know I'd like the tea :)

You are doing great in your préparations for the brunch.
My sister does a Christmas brunch, here's a list of what she puts on the buffet table:
- mini muffins (different flavors)
- vanilla yogourt, muesli, fresh fruits
- mini croissants and chocolate breads
- she makes fried eggs but I prefer the idea of deviled eggs.
- she has mini pizzas (it is around 11, so for some it is dinner)
- A variety of desserts too
- Cheese & cracker plate
- Veggies & dip
- Orange juice - she also has a sparkly (but that is because it's a CHRISTMAS brunch)
- Coffee & tea

I might be forgetting some things but that's about it, I think.
 

AnnieClaus

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Sounds wonderful.

Can't wait to hear how it all went.

Annie
 

SparkleNana

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That mocha coffee recipe sounds divine, ejagno! I'm going to use it!!!!!!! (If I can get all the supplies together).

AnnieClaus -- it is very confusing -- but the Friday Morning Brunch -- has been pushed off -- to Saturday Morning! The area is covered with deep snow (and ice under the snow). School has ALREADY been cancelled for Friday!

I spent today (Thursday) cleaning and organizing. So - Friday is free - for shopping for more Brunch food and beverage supplies!!!!!
 

SparkleNana

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March 6th. (Brunch is now happening on March 7th).
ANOTHER BONUS HAPPENED: Today - UNSCHEDULED - the "cleaning ladies" appeared at our door - at 9:00!!!!! I had decluttered and organized and done a "light cleaning" yesterday. (This is the "cleaning crew" that dd pays for - to come to OUR house, once a month -- as a "thank you" for the help we give her, with the grandchildren!) And today - they came - and made the house shine! What a wonderful surprise!

SO -- DH AND I WENT OUT AND GOT MORE SUPPLIES FOR TOMORROW'S BRUNCH. (I MUST ADMIT THAT WE DEVOURED A LOT OF THE THINGS I HAD ALREADY BOUGHT -- WHEN THE GIANT SNOWSTORM KEPT US INSIDE. WELL… DS AND DDIL ATE A LOT, TOO!)

One of the stores had a sale on tulips - three bunches (10 in a bunch)… for $10.
AND -- anther store had just gotten a delivery of "ice melt(Salt)"!!!!
Another store - had an overstock sale" -- on red velvet cake -- the roll-up kind, whatever you call it) for $2…. and deep chocolate, chocolate fudge-frosted bundt cake for $2. That will add to the desserts at the brunch tomorrow.
Giant cantaloupes for $2 each. (That will help with the fresh fruit salad).

When dh and I went out for coffee this morning, I got the cooked bacon at a breakfast buffet. (You pay by the pound and cooked bacon is very light.) I got ham (on sale) at the grocery store. I have already bought frozen pre-cooked turkey sausage breakfast links. Eggs have already been hard boiled for deviled eggs.
I got "hot cross buns".
 

SparkleNana

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Saturday, March 7th. BRUNCH DAY!

OK, it is 6:40. I have drunk my first cup of coffee. I have said hello to our MHH Family - on today's Chat Thread. Pretty soon, I will get to work. I did NOT get ALL the food prepared yesterday. (And there is A LOT of food). I read one suggestion that…. when you have a party…. you make "extra food" -- on purpose -- so you do not have to cook for the next few days. Good idea? I'll let you know how that works out.
 

ejagno

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SN, wishing you best of luck with your brunch today. Remember to breathe and let yourself enjoy your friends as well.
 

SparkleNana

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Here we go everybody: The "debriefing" from…. The Brunch!

General report: Good. Nice. fun. It was NOT "wild"…. there was very little drinking -- even though there were "make your own mimosas and wine". Pus… this was a gathering "with a purpose"…. which was: "creating a Neighborhood Support Group". The 14 people there -- came… "to do the job"!! ALL of them…. WANTED to create this new group…. and wanted to talk about the best way to do it!!!

I would say that parties that are held outside… in warm, beautiful weather…. with lots of people --- (including men) -- lots of food and drink -- these are "higher intensity". HOWEVER… today's Brunch "got the job done"! We ended -- with a fully functioning "Neighborhood Support Group" designed!

Now…. the food: One BIG success -- that everybody loved -- was frozen "Restaurant Style French Fries" - Safeway brand, in the frozen foods section. MEN and kids of all ages - will love this. (As did the lady guests). You heat the oven--- pour the fries out onto cookie sheets--- and bake. REALLY tasty. (I did NOT read the label - I figure that this is not health food"). A BIG bag sold for about $2.75. I recommend this.

Next -- at Whole Foods -- I bought one of their new - "cauliflowers that are colors". They had purple and orange. I bought the orange. People were fascinated with that… and liked eating it… as well as tasting it. (It turns out that it is fun to have things like these -- that women-who-cook… like to try out -- at a party). Everybody needs easy, inexpensive food ideas.not health food"). The cauliflower was $4.

Everyone LOVED the bacon - and one person asked me how I cooked it. (Remember -- I bought it at a Whole Foods breakfast bar… and just heated it, in the oven, before brunch). Cooked bacon has the fat cooked out - and is light-weight -- and much cheaper to buy (by the pound) than uncooked bacon. (To buy at a "breakfast buffet"… pay by the pound).

I also reheated a big tray of the pre-cooked, turkey sausage links. I had an Irish Soda Bread on the table, with 2 sticks of butter, and that was darn good. A long glass serving platter -- with TWO Red Velvet Cakes -- surrounded by strawberries, with the stems & leaves on.

Two trays of Hot Cross Buns - that I heated in the oven. All around each tray -- small bunches of grapes. Two deep chocolate bundt cakes with dark chocolate frosting. A raspberry bundt cake.

Starbucks "coffee servers" -- one regular (Pikes Place) -- and one decaf. A pot of tea. Orange juice. (And the champagne).

I put lots of extra chairs in the bigger "family room". We sat around, in a circle --- and talked about -- "successful experiences" that each one had had -- with people offering "comfort and support" -- when we needed it. (Accident, illness - some kind of "bad situation").

We talked about -- "the special changes, that happen to our bodies, when you are in your 70's and 80's. And how "younger people" -- no matter how much they love us -- cannot "really know what it feels like -- to be us". And how comforting it is -- to have people who "do understand us and our stage of life - with our well-worn bodies -- to have THOSE people - in our lives". Not to have them INSTEAD of younger people -- but IN ADDITION to younger people.

In another post -- I'll write a little more about how we set up the "Neighborhood Support Group". It "came together" very peacefully -- with everyone having the same idea -- about how it should work. Very comfortable, satisfying -- nice agreement.

So -- that was it. People had fun with the food. Everyone enjoyed a low-key, warm, really-nice "talking together" -- and left - very happy - with what we had "set up". And I had SO MUCH extra food. Everyone took "zip-lock bags" and filled them with things to eat later, share with family and friends, whatever. I did have lots of other food -- and I ran out of time getting it to the table before the guests arrived. (Like the eggs!!!!!)

I appreciated people coming out "to create this new group". And I wanted the food "to be my 'thank you gift - to them' -- for making that effort". So -- although they couldn't eat it all up, at the brunch -- everyone was happy to take food home. So I felt happy that my gift was appreciated!

As you all know -- I feel srongly -- that (my) current generation of "older Americans" -- must NOT be a "drain on younger generations". WE "oldsters" have to work together -- to figure out "how to contribute wonderful things to the world" -- and not just be a drain on younger people.
 
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ejagno

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SN, you are a true inspiration to all aging men and women out there. Thank you for all you do and most of all, thank you for having such a beautiful heart. I am so glad that the party was a success. You are a great hostess.
 

MrsSoup

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That sounds just wonderful SN! I'm glad it went off without a hitch and that everyone left full and happy and with a plan in place!