Day 401's party recap

Maddie getting some love from the guest of honor

On Sunday, we hosted our first party! It was rather last-minute, but there was still plenty of preparation to be done. I love planning and decorating for parties, but I'm always surprised at how much time you spend preparing versus the time it takes to actually have the party. It's a very disproportionate equation, in my opinion. I really aspire to be a laid-back but still very capable and gracious hostess, so perhaps that will change as I perfect my skills.

But, I digress. This party was in honor of my baby sister, BA. It's a tradition in my family to have a little going away party when one of "the cousins" heads to college, and it just so happens that, so far, we've all headed to Auburn University. Our generation is the third in our family to be educated on the Plains of Auburn, so sending another down there is always accompanied by much fan fare and Orange and Blue.

I volunteered to host BA's better-late-than-never Auburn party (she took two years after high school to do a little Kingdom work) knowing that all 16 of us would be quite cramped in our houses, but it was still fun! It was also the first time most of the family had seen the house (hard to believe since they all live in town!), so most of the preparation for the party involved getting the house ready for it's first real close-up.


Mom brought a table (and then left it for us, as a house-warming gift!) and we set it up in the dining room. I got to use all of my Auburn serving dishes for the first time, which was fun. Wes manned the grill and made his secret recipe hamburgers, which were a big hit.


I had no idea our kitchen table would hold so many people!


All of "the cousins" decked out in our Orange and Blue, and Maddie, who thought the party was for her.

And now, as a special treat, I have recieved permission to share a secret with you!

Without further ado, Wes' Secret Recipe Hamburgers

2 parts ground chuck (or your preferred ground beef)
1 part sausage
(so, if you use 1 pound of beef, add 1/2 pound of sausage)
1 egg
ketchup
mustard
Worchestershire sauce (or Dale's)
salt and pepper

Mix meat and egg, with clean hands (just jump right in and get dirty), in a large bowl. Add ketchup, mustard, Worchestershire and a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Mix well, and grill over medium heat. Burgers must be well done due to the presence of sausage and egg.

It's hard to say how much of each to add, as we're still perfecting the proportions ourselves, but they are the most delicious burgers you will ever taste. Enjoy!