I Dream of Mayo

It's pumpkin roll day. I'm aiming to make 12 today, and I bake two at a time, so that means I'll have about six 15-minute windows of time in which I can blog or do other short tasks. 

Baking and selling pumpkin rolls is a dream I've had for many years, so it's been fun to finally see it through. I'm not burned out yet! But there's still time!

Another dream of mine recently came to fruition. Bear with me because this is a weird one... I have always looked at the gallons of mayo at Sam's Club and hoped for a reason to buy one. I find gallons of mayo incredibly amusing. 

Friends, it happened. I bought a gallon of mayo!

I volunteered to provide food for a late-night musical rehearsal at the high school for 100 students. I decided to do sloppy joes, chips, and veggies & dip (with bottled water and a huge bowl of Halloween candy I may or may not have stolen from my children). I wanted to fill their bellies but also provide some nutrients - hence the veggies. I have a weird obsession with putting veggie dip in 2 ounce containers for a grab and go snack. I think it's the best thing ever, and I find it incredibly satisfying to fill the containers and line them up all pretty-like. 

But for real!

I always pack them when we go camping or on road trips, making it a "must" for my “feed the teens” menu!

Therefore, a gallon of mayo became a practical purchase.

Blurry mayo selfie I sent to Shannon - who is one of 

my biggest supporters in pursuing my life goals. In fact, she

calls herself my "marketing manager."

For my own record keeping (and for the benefit of all my readers who might need to prepare 2 oz veggie dips for 100 people someday), here is the recipe to do so:

Veggie Dip for the Masses

(makes 100 (2 oz) servings with a bit extra for dinner)

 Ingredients:

10 cups sour cream

10 cups mayonnaise

10 tsp dried dill weed

10 tsp dried onion

10 tsp dried parsley flakes

10 tsp garlic salt

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together. Add to 2 oz containers, if desired. 

Also for my own record keeping (and for the benefit of any readers who might need to prepare sloppy joes for 100 people), I did 14 lbs of ground beef with 14 cans of Manwich. On small hamburger buns, I served 1/4 cup of sloppy joe meat, which was a great amount and maybe even a little too much for those who like their sloppy joes on the "less sloppy" side (like myself).  

I actually really like sloppy joes, and honestly, Manwich is my preferred sloppy joe other than my grandma's sloppy joes, which are kind of obsolete now because she has Alzheimer's, and she's the type that - when she gave you a recipe - she changed stuff so you’d fail and always be dependent on her. So essentially, Grandma ain’t makin’ sloppy joes, and she was never to be trusted to pass down an accurate recipe. 

I tell you no lie.

Behold the food - it sure doesn't look like much

when all is said and done, does it?

For more record keeping... for the veggies, I used 4 (3 lb) bags of baby carrots and 4 (2.5) bags of celery. I packaged the veggies in Ziploc snack bags. I wanted the food line to be quick and efficient because the kids only had a 20-minute break to eat, so I made everything "quick grab" other than  the meat, which I plopped on their buns as they walked by.

When preparing large amounts of food, there's always some trial and error involved in determining how much you need, so it's great to take notes for future food prep. Our portions were perfect for 100 people, but not all the kids came through the food line, so that gave us plenty of food for seconds - and in the case of one growing young man - eighths (no joke!)

I really love preparing mass amounts of food. I enjoy the challenge of it and seeing it through, and I delight in feeding people. Now, don't go confusing that with being on "food committees..." That's a completely different thing! (Ugh... I'll be on your committee... just understand that mass food production (which I love) and committees (which I tolerate) are not the same thing...) I definitely err on the side of having too much food, but I blame my mother-in-law for instilling that trait in me. Better too much than not enough!

Now that my dreams of selling pumpkin rolls and purchasing a gallon of mayo have been fulfilled, it's time to start working on my next dream. It's a Christmas dream, and I think I can pull it off this year! So stay tuned for that!