Cookies at midnight, an early morning Cubby Hole run (with only one kid forgotten in a closet) and a whole day of food prep for the staff-appreciation lunch. This was our final day of Low and Slow IL.
After all the cookies were baked, homemade of course, and games were played, we all ventured off to find spots to rest for the night. It was not until after 3 a.m. that everyone finally closed their eyes, which left us with four hours of sleep for our prompt 7 a.m. wake-up. While we were tired, the night before was well worth it because we were able to bond over our family-style, no-phone game time and the sharing of stories that made us laugh well into the night, making it one to remember.
Once everyone had brushed teeth and gotten into a semi-awake state, we left for a 7:30 breakfast at The Cubby Hole, well not actually everyone … we shortly realized we were missing one of our valuable IL members who had opted to sleep in a closet for extra privacy and quiet; they were quickly retrieved and we all enjoyed our various breakfasts. 10/10 food from omelettes to crepes and everything in between.
After we came back from our hour-long breakfast, we started our prep for the Staff- Appreciation lunch. We had to bake the mac and cheese, remove the pork from the smoker (after 20 hours), pull the pork, make the sauce for the pork, finish the greens, and of course bake Dan’s beloved buttermilk biscuits. Let’s just say it was a busy morning, but with our impressive time-management skills and even more impressive cooking skills, we pulled it off. We even had time for naps (and to mess with those taking the naps.)
By the time 12:30 rolled around, we had Van Meter’s window set up as an all-you-can-eat buffet straight out of an NYT Cooking magazine cover. The pork was pulled and dressed, greens still steaming, and a basket full of fresh-out-of-the-oven biscuits, plus as a drink we had a Texan’s famous sweet tea (created by the one and only Mary Anne) that left us wanting more. We had cooked a feast for a community that ended with everyone grabbing seconds and taking even more home after the feast was over. It was undoubtedly a success.
Throughout IL we feasted and bonded and overall just had an incredibly good time. We had so much fun with every step of the process from prepping the meat, rubbing and tying it, cooking and lying in wait, to enjoying the fruits of our labour, and even the mess of the clean up. There was never a dull day this week. We learned so much about the culture and importance of food and its connections to heritage. At the end of every day, we were always looked forward to the next day. We truly came together as a community and successfully showed off our skill the last day with an amazing feast.
