Dad's birthday party is over and I confess, I'm exhausted! Planning it was difficult for me because I am unable to make a decision. I debated whether we should have it at his farm, our place, the "lodge", a restaurant, or a bar. I thought if we had it at a bar or restaurant, the kids wouldn't have anything to do. If we had it at any indoor place, it would be smokey, which wouldn't be good for the kids. If we had it at our home, Dad's friends wouldn't know how to get here. I was driving everyone crazy trying to figure out where to do it! Then I spoke with my brother about my dilemma and he said, "Oh, we have to have it at Dad's, he wouldn't want it anywhere else". Gee, I wish I'd spoken with him first!
So, with that major decision out of the way I now needed to decide what to do for food and drink. Grinny (dad's S.O.), Shawshe (my cousin), and I labored over whether to have the party catered, have everyone bring a dish, or do it all ourselves. We decided against the catering because we weren't sure how the caterer's would survive our rowdy crew. It would have been too difficult for everyone to bring something because many of our relatives were coming from out of town. Therefore, we decided to do the food preparation ourselves.
Trash Can Supper
I have an Amish cookbook and had seen a recipe for a "Trash Can Supper". It is just exactly what the name implies, food cooked in a trash can. It sounded like fun to me but the recipe was pretty sketchy and I wasn't sure if I could use any type metal trash can, how much water to put in it, how much of all of the ingredients to use, etc. I looked online, asked everyone I knew, and couldn't find much about it. The recipe said to layer corn-on-the-cob, potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage and polish sausage--in that order--put it in a trash can and cook it over a fire. I decided to go to the Amish store and ask if they knew how to do the trash can supper so Shawshe (who stayed with me all week to help with the planning) and I headed out to do just that.
Beautiful People
On our way to the Amish store, there was a sign out in front of a house on the highway that said "sweet corn for sale". Knowing I would need a lot of corn, I pulled in to the house. An elderly gentleman came out and with a smile and a handshake said, "Hi, How have you been?" (I'd never seen him before in my life). I asked him how much his sweet corn was and he told me $2 a dozen and after I told him I wanted 3 dozen I said, "by the way, have you ever heard of a trash can supper?". He smiled and said "Sure, we have them all the time at the lodge". I explained that I was going to have one but that I didn't know exactly how so he (Forrest, I can't remember his last name, all I could think of was "Gump") invited me into his home to call his friend who was the chef at all of the "trash can suppers".
I spoke with Mr. Carpenter on the phone and he gave me all of the missing details I needed. He then told me I was more than welcome to use his 60 quart pot instead of a trash can because galvanized steel will leak zinc into your food. Dh was in Springfield at the time, trying to locate a trash can so I told Mr. Carpenter thanks and that I would call him if I needed his pot. He gave me directions to his house just in case I needed to come pick it up.
I thanked Forrest and his wife for their hospitality and sweet corn and left. On my way back to town I called dh and told him that Mr. Carpenter had offered to let us borrow his pot and dh said "go for it" so I drove to Mr. C's house. He not only gave me his pot but also his propane cooker and a full tank of propane and loaded it into my car and the dear man had just had eye surgery that very day. I was so touched by his generosity. I told him that since he had no idea who I was, I would leave him my 5 year old son as assurance that I'd return his stuff. He said "I'll take my chances!".
Shrimp Boil
Now I was getting somewhere but all I could think of was "Are we gonna have enough food?". We had a guest list of around 60 people. Dad is blessed to have a multitude of friends and they are all the type who want to share in his celebration so I had no doubt that most of them would come. Shawshe suggested we have a shrimp boil and red beans and rice, along with the trash can supper. It sounded good and easy and she and my cousin "Pooh" said they would do the cooking.
Keg
I have 4 precious brothers and they aren't much into party planning but when a keg was mentioned, they were happy to oblige! I was just happy that they all said they'd come. My youngest brother volunteered to get the beer--that's right--we had a kegger for my Dad's 60th birthday party. I told you he was a cool guy!
Miscellaneous
The other boys said they'd bring cake, drinks, plates and cups and utensils so it was all covered. I spoke with my oldest brother (who is 11 months older than me) and jokingly said, "I'm doing all of this by myself with no help from you guys!". He replied, "So.....that's how it's always been". I love my bros but one sister would have been nice. Honestly, though, everyone pitched in (sisters-in-law included) and made it a great day for Dad.
Party Day
The day of the party, we all converged on Dad's farm early. It was to be a surprise party scheduled to start at 6pm. My cousin Rick was to arrive at Dad's house early and drag him off on a hunt for a new seat for his truck (currently being held in place with a stump, yep, that's my Daddy). The catering crew (me, dh, Shawshe and my youngest brother) arrived at Dad's house and guess what? He was still there. My Dad doesn't do anything very fast and Rick hadn't been able to get him away from the farm. So, we just started unloading pots and pans, slow cookers, lawn chairs, etc. out of our cars while Dad stood there scratching his head. He knew something was up but no one said a word. Dad knew he better go ahead and leave with Rick so off they went.
The Guests arrive
We had not requested RSVP's from the invitees, that's not really our style--as my cousin Pooh said, it was "Hillbilly Heaven"--so we weren't sure how many people would show up. Well, I should have known that when everyone heard "kegger" they would show up in droves. We invited around 60 people and no less than 60 people showed up. Several of our Aunts, Uncles and cousins came and Dad's friends did not let him down. He was very surprised when people started coming by the carloads.
The food was great! Several people said it was some of the best food they'd ever eaten and I was surprised at how truly easy it was to pull off. There was no shortage of food, either! We sent trays home with several people and still had enough to feed everyone who stayed all night and into the next day.
Afterwards, we had cake and homemade ice cream and Dad opened presents including a bed pan, laxatives, preparation H, and a rubber ducky (of course)! Mostly, he just got 12 packs of beer.
Fear Factor
I won't implicate anyone by naming names but some of the guests had a little too much fun! Many of us stayed the night at the farm, some brought campers and we just crashed on the couches, the floor, and even in the backseats of cars. Early Sunday morning as everyone was slowly coming back to life and sitting outside drinking coffee, my little brother (R) was telling a story that had everyone in stitches. Apparently, he had picked up a large Cicada and a person who was a little, ahem, well, DRUNK, said "Feed it to me!". R said "What??", and the person repeated "FEED IT TO ME!!". R says he pleaded and begged for ? not to eat the bug but he held his hand up to the mystery person's mouth and R saw the cicada disappear, except for a couple of wings that were sticking out the sides because the bug was too big to be consumed in one piece.
The Party's Over
We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the mess and then took a break and went to the creek for a swim. It was a wonderful time and Dad said it was the best birthday party he'd ever had. He also said, "Gosh, I wonder what my 100th birthday will be like!!??". I can't wait but when he's 100, I'll be 80.....it's wearing me out just thinking about it!
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