Planning for the beach

For the last month, I've been planning our week at the beach. No greasy pizza and over-priced restaurants for us - I cook and plan and prep and freeze to ensure a full week of relaxation for the Cook.

I'll blog during the week away, and hope to photograph our meals to crow about my planning. Hope to! At this point, of course, I am fretting.

In the freezer now, for instance - three types of bread for breakfast toast, basil lemon simple syrup, salmon rilettes, miniature onion tarts, Indian spiced spinach croquettes, stuffed eggplant. On the shelves, canned and ready to be packed up - cherry pie filling, peach crisp filling, pickles, sauerkraut, plum sauce, habanero jelly, salsa and jams.

There is an Excel spreadsheet with meals, appetizers and desserts planned for each of the nine days we will be entertaining, including some entries that say "help yourself" or "clean the fridge." And all the recipes I'll need are organized in a binder. There is a grocery list and a packing list. And there is a calender of activities.

I realize I am a little crazy.

My preparations always make Dennis laugh and roll his eyes, but after the first year, when he puzzled over my packing, then saw the traffic that would make grocery shopping a complete DRAG, he no longer asks questions. He does generally mutter something about whether it will fit in the car.

We'll be taking three friends with us for the week. They will contribute their own talents to the party - providing the drinks, table decorating skills beyond description, and clean-up talents extraordinaire.

I'll be checking in regularly to let you know what we're eating around here. And there.