A little Backyard BBQ and some football

We made a memorable trip home to Lansing this past weekend for the 2nd ever “Backyard BBQ with a beat” and [I believe] the 79th football meeting between Notre Dame and Michigan State. Our friends Julie and Matt from OSP graciously accepted our offer to take a risk and spend the weekend in Michigan, perform some music, and meet my family.  We are so honored that they took us up on the offer!  That evening my parents hosted about 120 people for homemade foods, warming wines, and refreshing beers.

We took “with a beat” to mean “with music” and prepared about 45 pieces of music from early Broadway to Beatles, Cole Porter to Journey, and Billy Joel to Florence and the Machine.  A lovely mix indeed!  We thought practicing (with its Indian food, beet chips, goat cheese custard, and wine) might be more fun, but it turns out, you can’t beat having an audience.

 

The setting was beautiful.  My parents worked very hard to create an inviting and hospitable place for friends and family.

Crowley’s patience and tolerance was tested and forged as Megan, Justin, Ryan, and Katelyn were in custodial care of her throughout the party.  To think that she didn’t somehow get a taste of the delicious pulled pork would be folly.

Midnight came and passed.  The four of us were in charge of ensuring that no red wine was wasted. The next day we went to Playmakers in Okemos, Georgio’s in East Lansing for some pizza, Beaner’s for coffee, and then home to get ready for the Michigan State / Notre Dame game.

Jami and Scott hosted an awesome tailgate right by the stadium on Shaw Lane.  The food was plentiful, as were the t-shirts from the neighboring party.  They were selling them but we managed to “earn” our way to a few:

Great seats.  First row of the upper deck, meant we got to see both ND touchdowns and have easy access to the concessions. 

On another note, Starbucks is changing the parameters of their Starbucks Gold Card program.  As “gold” members, we have enjoyed a free drink after every 15 drinks and complimentary syrups and soy milk.  There are “improving” the program to provision the free beverage after only 12 drinks, but removing the complimentary syrups and soy milk.  This (!), I tell myself, is a job for a spreadsheet!!  For me, it’s not a good deal.  Try it for yourself!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhzqeS01M30odEVpZDB0SVJYUjdjbUtOSlM0Mnk0aXc

Casa Scozzafave v2.2

For those of you keeping track, v2.0 was the post-Atlanta revisions, v2.1 was a rearrangement this spring, and v2.2 includes an enhancement of the patio space.  Our patio used to be over one-third occupied by a 10-year-old, barely functioning grill.  We made a relatively small investment to optimize the space, reduce the clutter, and extend our usable living space. 

We bought a Weber grill Q320.  The folding shelves and smaller foot print allow it to take up much less square footage, while being only about 10% smaller actual cooking surface area.  I just couldn’t get behind the whole “Infrared” cooking trumped up by Char-broil.  I wanted a solid, 2-burner grill with some good cast iron grates.  Our first grilling experience tells me we made a good choice. 

The patio furniture was a Home Depot special, and the flowers were a “Ms. Hall special” (that’s the name of the lady who helped me pick everything out at the Home Depot.  The new space also affords pleasant evenings, such as this:

Squeaker-cide!  Lastly, something got the best of Crowley when I was at the gym recently and she decided to gut her favorite toy (really, one of her few friends).  Squeaker will be undergoing surgery in the coming days.  This will be the third major operation she’s had.  Home to Lansing on Friday for the “Backyard BBQ with a beat!”