prep work

I am a huge fan (a recent fan) of doing as much prep work as possible when cooking or baking. So what do you do when you are planning a weekend in Minnesota and will only be in the state for 40 hours? {A mere 40 hours which includes at least 8 hours of sleep (I HOPE) for the entire weekend - so 32 hours to see our families, as many friends as possible, and a 10-13 mile run. Balance that with enough down time so that Nic and I don't get fed up with each other by mid Saturday...}

What do you do when you looove baking in your Mom's fantabulous kitchen and just HAVE to bring tasty treats to all of your friends that you haven't seen in way too long and you just have to cook your famous chicken gyros with tzatziki sauce for your family?

Answer: you thank the almighty power above that your boss had to reschedule your quarterly review for Friday morning, and stay up way too late on Thursday night making a huge mess in the kitchen (secretly praying that your husband will clean it up over lunch tomorrow), mixing as many ingredients as possible in order to save, what - maybe 30 minutes?? 30 minutes that could be better spent sipping a glass of wine with Mom, Roger and Maddie around the dinner table, playing with Jackson for just a bit longer, getting a few more photo tips from Barb, or sitting around the camp fire drinking just one more beer with awesome friends.

A late night of prep work - worth it?? I think so.

It is bound to be an insane weekend, but I am so looking forward to it.

Oh wait, what was that? You want to know what I plan on making? OKAY... 1) root beer float cake, 2)shortbread cookies dunked in chocolate, topped with toasted coconut and caramel, 3)spinach artichoke dip and 4) chicken gyros. Oh sure, so NOW you want to hang out with us...