Overnight guests can throw my weekends into an frenzy. In fact, this past weekend we had seven young people from Ukraine visiting us. That doubled the amount of people in our house. There are a few things that make entertaining more stressful for me here than in the states. I have...
...a small oven
...not a huge fridge
...a small table which means always cafeteria style
...no dryer
...not enough towels and washclothes
...limited storage space
So, I will share a few things I have learned in the past few years to adjust to my predicament when I have guests. I started cooking and baking on the Monday (almost a week ahead) so I wouldn't be trying to bake everything all at the same time. What a relief it was on the weekend to pull out fried hamburger for taco soup, mint brownies and pecan pie bars, baked apple doughnut muffins, and cinnamon rolls all ready to just thaw and be served.
On Tuesday I made out all my menus for the weekend (great idea). It was a comfort to just consult my list magneted to my fridge to see what the next meal was going to be and to know I had everything prepared and ready. Not one thought had to be directed to what I was going to have for the next meal. And I tried to keep it all simple. No time to try new recipes!!!
On Wednesday I went shopping for all the ingredients and stashed my cupboards full. I did find some frustration that my family couldn't understand why they couldn't eat all the apples and taco chips right now that mom had bought for the weekend. And a few things disappeared until the Saturday and had to be replaced, but it still was pretty stress-free to have all my ingredients at my fingertips.
On Thursday, I began cleaning my downstairs. I simply can't clean the whole house well all in one day. I spent the day cleaning out the childrens' rooms and the downstairs bathrooms. How nice it was on Friday to have half of my cleaning behind me.
On Friday, the day of arrival, I cleaned the main floor. I took out an hour or more to visit a friend that I had promised to go see this week. But, despite all my organization, I still worked up to the last moment. I did have time to whip up a breakfast burrito casserole to pop in the oven for brunch the next morning and also grate all my cabbage for my crockpot kraut and sausage dish for our meal at church on Sunday. I changed all the sheets, and that is always a circus because the beds over here aren't set up for American covers, sheets, etc.
My weekend was a whirlwind of activity. All day Saturday and all day Sunday was filled with activities and I never had one moment to do anything but survive. But it wasn't all that stressful thanks to my busy week of preparation.
And Monday morning, after they all left, I went downstairs to assess the situation. Embarrassed, I noticed that in both of my bathrooms there was not one towel or washcloth left!!! Oh, my, I do hope that none of them had to drip dry or anything. And I also found a batch of laundry that I had thrown in the washer Saturday morning, but never had time to get it hung up all weekend. And I will still be washing until at least Wednesday. The joys of no dryer!!!
All things considered, I count it a good weekend.
...a small oven
...not a huge fridge
...a small table which means always cafeteria style
...no dryer
...not enough towels and washclothes
...limited storage space
So, I will share a few things I have learned in the past few years to adjust to my predicament when I have guests. I started cooking and baking on the Monday (almost a week ahead) so I wouldn't be trying to bake everything all at the same time. What a relief it was on the weekend to pull out fried hamburger for taco soup, mint brownies and pecan pie bars, baked apple doughnut muffins, and cinnamon rolls all ready to just thaw and be served.
On Tuesday I made out all my menus for the weekend (great idea). It was a comfort to just consult my list magneted to my fridge to see what the next meal was going to be and to know I had everything prepared and ready. Not one thought had to be directed to what I was going to have for the next meal. And I tried to keep it all simple. No time to try new recipes!!!
On Wednesday I went shopping for all the ingredients and stashed my cupboards full. I did find some frustration that my family couldn't understand why they couldn't eat all the apples and taco chips right now that mom had bought for the weekend. And a few things disappeared until the Saturday and had to be replaced, but it still was pretty stress-free to have all my ingredients at my fingertips.
On Thursday, I began cleaning my downstairs. I simply can't clean the whole house well all in one day. I spent the day cleaning out the childrens' rooms and the downstairs bathrooms. How nice it was on Friday to have half of my cleaning behind me.
On Friday, the day of arrival, I cleaned the main floor. I took out an hour or more to visit a friend that I had promised to go see this week. But, despite all my organization, I still worked up to the last moment. I did have time to whip up a breakfast burrito casserole to pop in the oven for brunch the next morning and also grate all my cabbage for my crockpot kraut and sausage dish for our meal at church on Sunday. I changed all the sheets, and that is always a circus because the beds over here aren't set up for American covers, sheets, etc.
My weekend was a whirlwind of activity. All day Saturday and all day Sunday was filled with activities and I never had one moment to do anything but survive. But it wasn't all that stressful thanks to my busy week of preparation.
And Monday morning, after they all left, I went downstairs to assess the situation. Embarrassed, I noticed that in both of my bathrooms there was not one towel or washcloth left!!! Oh, my, I do hope that none of them had to drip dry or anything. And I also found a batch of laundry that I had thrown in the washer Saturday morning, but never had time to get it hung up all weekend. And I will still be washing until at least Wednesday. The joys of no dryer!!!
All things considered, I count it a good weekend.
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