UnRecipe: Family Time with the Prime

A while back, we played host to Mr. Wasabi's visiting brother, sister-in-law, and little girl, the Adorable Miss A. They stayed with us for a weekend for a cousin's wedding in Snohomish, which was on a perfect summer weekend. Whenever one has guests, I think everyone knows that need for preparedness, so the Prime got busy and made several things in anticipation for the visit.

Magical Animal sandwiches for dinner - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Getting several meals prepared in advance for an unknown schedule, for several people, can be a bit of a challenge. I didn't want to make anything fussy or fancy, just easy-going comfort foods that were crowd pleasers and were mindful of dietary needs. Mr. Wasabi's brother has some food allergies, so I had to be mindful of certain ingredients, peanuts being one of them. Usually when I'm trying to plan a menu for a busy weekend, these parameters come to mind: quickness to prepare and keeps well in the fridge or an airtight container. Maybe it's my crazy Wasabi-planner mind, but I had a list of things I was going to make ahead of time, and they included the following: barbecue pork shoulder sandwiches with cole slaw, fixings for green salads, blueberry scones for breakfast, fresh fruit, plenty of pre-roasted coffee, iced tea, and coffee ice cream. Several meals were pre-cooked, ready for assembly or ready to eat, right out of the crisper drawer or a plastic container. Crazy planner? Yes, I am. Blame my being the only child of an engineer.

Spotty blueberry scones for breakfast - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Of course, best-laid plans are often laid to waste, as I think we only dug into the scones, fruit and plenty of coffee, but I'd much rather adhere to the Boy Scout motto of being prepared than scrambling to throw something together from an empty refrigerator and pantry. The wedding weekend proved to be busy with family activities, which was just fine by me, as this meant more leftovers for the following week. I feel like an overabundance of food is a win/win by the Prime's standards, plus it meant barbecue pork sandwiches for several nights. And what's wrong with that?

Peachy jam pot scones from Mr. Wasabi's family - Photo by Wasabi Prime

A nice finish to the very sweet family visit was a gift of peach scone mix and peach preserves from Mr. Wasabi's brother's family. Much thanks to the deliciously thoughtful host gift. I made them the following week, inspired by the jam pots from the Grand Central Baking Book that I received from a thoughtful aunt. I made the scone mix according to the bag, but instead of cutting them into the typical scone shape, I made little round pots and filled them with the preserves before baking. It was a nice way to pre-jam one's scones and made them an easy bring-along later in the week when I met up with some friends for a morning movie. Hooray for a fun family weekend, plenty of leftovers, jam pot scones, and Friday morning movies!