Katharine's Wedding Reception...Part 1

Sophie just put herself down for a nap which means I should really get going on some of my other "to-do's" today. I have quite the lengthy list, actually. Instead, I'm sitting on the sheets that need to go in the wash (someday I won't change diapers on the bed) writing on my blog. I'm going to try to be quick this morning since I do want to get some more done before heading to another guard performance tonight.

So, Katharine got married! (And she was an absolutely stunning bride.) It's still a little odd for me to see notifications about "Katharine Christensen" on facebook. She and Tyler, like many college-age couples, were working on a modest budget. Wanting to help Katharine have the nicest reception she could, I offered to help with her reception food. After much discussion and deliberation, she decided on delicious hot chocolate and various finger desserts and treats.

Not too long ago, Katharine moved into her new apartment in Ogden. Happy for her and Tyler, boo for me- it's just too far away. Since she lives so far away, we finalized the menu, I adjusted the recipes to get the amounts we wanted, got the exact amounts we were going to need of each item (to make sure I wouldn't under or over shop) and then went shopping. Katharine came to Provo after she got off work and we began mixing, shaping and baking. I really wish I had gotten a picture of the kitchen during the process. The prep area was immaculate but the funny part was seeing cooling racks, cookie sheets, plastic containers and serving items covering every flat surface in the kitchen... including chairs and bar stools. When all was said and done, we had something like 45 dozen cookies, 250 decorated creme puffs and a couple pans (30 cut each) of pumpkin bars.

I spent all day Thursday prepping and doing some baking. I woke up Friday morning and baked constantly, made frostings & glazes, packed cookies for transporting and decorating. Again- THANK YOU, MOM, for the decorating classes! Friday night, the night before the reception, I made the mixture for the creme puffs and piped them on the trays. I was planning on filling them Saturday morning before leaving and then decorating them in Ogden. I woke up Saturday morning to find that all of my shells had collapsed. If you're reading this you likely know me and how dramatic I can get over important things going wrong so I won't go into anymore detail here. Craig solved the problem by going to Costco and getting me some frozen puffs to work with. Grandpa had been asking why we weren't just buying everything from the beginning and told us that getting those puffs was the smartest thing we'd done all weekend.

In my next post, I'll tell you all about the reception. Get excited for too many cooks in the kitchen, children that needed to be kicked and overly "helpful" family.

By the way here is what we had for the final menu:

• Fruit platters
• Pumpkin chocolate chip bars with homemade cream cheese frosting (The BYU bakery recipe)
• Chocolate chip cookies (for Tyler) 
• Sugar cookies both glazed & plain (grandma Kyne's recipe- they were a hit) 
• Coconut macaroons (yum!) 
• Creme puffs (with cream cheese roses)