vtbear's Profile

If we re-model our kitchen, we may put our stove in front of a window. Has anyone else ever done this? Feedback? Does the window always look dirty?

I'm also planning to self-cater my wedding next month. I tried to hire a caterer to cook my recipes and help with prep and service and cleaning, but in the end it didn't work out. I think it's hard to find a caterer who's truly willing to work to fulfill your vision, and not their own, and if your vision about food is important to you, best to take ownership of it and let other, less important things go. I was willing to compromise on the dress, photos, location, flowers, guests, music -- pretty much everything else -- but the food is super important to me and I wasn't willing to compromise on it.

Having said that, we're not fully catering our own wedding. We're ordering a lot of food from our favorite restaurant. We found this was definitely cheaper than having the same dishes made for us, and often cheaper than making them ourselves. Some will be heated up on-site using a grill, but all our sides can be served room temperature. We're serving family style, so it's not as much work to get the food out to the tables and it can be done in a bigger window of time.

For the actual day of, we're hiring the younger sisters of a friend to help dish the sides into family style bowls, put them on the tables, set up appetizers, make lemonade, and then clear the tables and help clean up. We're hiring one woman with catering experience to run the grill and to do general food coordination, delegating to the girls and overseeing everything.

I definitely have heard a ton of warnings about doing food myself, similar to the comments you're receiving here, but I feel really excited and optimistic. I'm happy to be saving thousands of dollars, I'm happy to know that the most important part of the event to me is in my own hands, and I'm genuinely excited to think about prepping food with my best girlfriends a few days before the wedding. I love to cook and find it much more relaxing to think of doing that than to think of hair appointments and pedicures and last minute meetings. I would only say to think carefully about whether there's anything else in the day of the wedding that you can't compromise on: are you willing to not get your hair done, or to only have a few minutes to get dressed, to not spend hours on wedding photos? I realize that the food will take a ton of time -- more than I can imagine now -- and logistical planning (storing and refrigerating that much food will be tricky, but refrigerators can be rented or borrowed), but if it's important to you and you'll have fun doing it, more power to you!

"Flea Hater" Dog Biscuits: 1 c. flour (or flour/cornmeal combo); 1/4 c. brewers yeast; 2 T. veg oil; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1/2 c. stock (I use Better than Boullion to get veggie stock). 1. Heat oven to 400; grease cookie sheet; 2. mix dry ingredients; 3. add oil garlic to broth; 4. add liquid to dry ingredients; 5. knead 2 min; 6. roll 3/8" thick, use cookie cutters to cut out (or just slice in a grid for square biscuits); 7. bake 20 min, rotating pan after 10 min.; 8. turn oven off but leave biscuits in cooling oven for 90 minutes. (It's sometimes a good idea to make a sign reminding roommates not to preheat the oven without taking them out first!)
They're all ingredients I'd eat, and the dog seems to love them. The flea-fighting properties are a bonus. I've made double batches of dough and frozen one for a few weeks until I needed to make more.

I've gotta agree with Henrietta -- no matter how good the pictures are, some of us are grammar snobs to the end and want to see quality writing continue to be prioritized. Portland is full of amazing houses AND amazing writers. I can't wait for the new site to debut!