Alligatorob's Diary

Getting my head ready for tomorrow. We are hosting my wife's family reunion. It's the more Mormon side of her family so we'll have lots of good food, but little or no alcohol. Drinkers will have to find a place to hide out. Mormons came to Utah mostly from the Midwest and northern Europe, lots of Scandinavians; the food is kind typical of farm food you'd get in Minnesota or Iowa or something. Good solid, but not spicy, food; meat and potatoes. Little in common with Californian cuisine, nothing with a French or Italian sounding name. There will be plenty of food and eating from probably 3 to 8 pm, and maybe kids making s'mores after that. I am sure I can find a good way through it, I just need to be prepared. It's potluck so we have little control over what's served, but it is at our house so I can control what I eat. My wife has lots of cousins, so it will be a lot of people, but most likely the last time we'll have to host. Should be a good time.
 
Sounds like a challenge but if you prep well I'm sure you can do it. Enjoy!
 
I too admire your discipline. If my scale doesn’t move in the right direction soon, I’m just going to start eating what you do. :rotflmao:Seriously, I might need recipes!

Well done Rob — congratulations! Loved the bullet juicer idea too, I’ve been eyeing one of those to make some smoothies.
What a great idea we could follow Robs diary a day later . Calories counted for us and all . The peach juice might pose a problem here though
 
Rob you have reminded me of a gathering we attended in France but with English people. The food was good basic Fayre , cooked meats , salads , breads , chutneys, potatoes . And wonderful desserts . I love hearing about your life and get togethers . Enjoy
 
I'm looking forward to hearing about this reunion. I love hearing about your life too. I'm sure you will do well & still have fun :)
 
... It's potluck so we have little control over what's served, but it is at our house so I can control what I eat.
What a great attitude - you are truly impressive, Rob!
Also, hosting can be such a full-time business that you mightn't have too much time to eat, anyway - I bet there'll be lots of children who'll need keeping an eye on, for one thing! Have fun, and don't get too run ragged!
 
It was a good day, ate well and feel good. We spent most of the day getting ready for tomorrow's reunion. Our contribution is a huge peach cobbler, I helped a little, but my wife is a much more efficient peach peeler than I. I do not plan to eat any of the cobbler, but it sure smells good.

Friday

breakfast 3 peaches 177

lunch pre-made salad with dressing, not very good but we were busy so I made do 339

dinner - spiralized squash noodles with sauce, similar to lunch yesterday
squash 33
sauce 320

nightcap
peach juice 118
whiskey 160

total calories 1,147

In 1147 BC Demphon, King of Athens and veteran of the Trojan War dies. Demphon was amoungst those who entered Tron in the Trojan Horse. Or maybe he was, this is what the myths tell us, there is no real evidence that Demphon or his Trojan Horse ever really existed. Either way it makes a great story.
 
What a great idea we could follow Robs diary a day later . Calories counted for us and all . The peach juice might pose a problem here though
:rotflmao:
Demphon was amoungst those who entered Tron in the Trojan Horse. Or maybe he was, this is what the myths tell us, there is no real evidence that Demphon or his Trojan Horse ever really existed. Either way it makes a great story.
My dad´s objection to smartphones is that everyone can instantly check tall tales so people are less likely to pretty up their stories :) I kind of agree because I love stories but for the most part I think it´s a good thing to be able to fact-check on the fly.
 
Rob I like a good Trojan horse story . A Trojan today is a cleverly designed virus to enter quietly on your computer. Give me the horses any day.

Peach cobbler sounds good , Your life sounds so lovely and chilled out .
 
It was a long tiring day. We hosted my wife's family reunion, it was supposed to be from 3 to 8, but people began showing up at 11 am. They were her Boise relatives and its a 4 to 5 hour drive, most them wanted to get home tonight and not drive too late so they decided to start early and leave early. Other folks arrived on time and late, up until almost 6 pm, so it was a marathon. This was a reunion for the descendants of my wife's grandfather on her mother's side, he had 13 kids, and most of them had a bunch of kids so she has more cousins than she could count, in fact she is not even sure how many. About 75 showed up, but not all at the same time...... I did not know most of these folks so it was interesting. Fortunately they were all nice people and a number stayed behind to help with the cleanup so things were good.

Eating was a challenge, I decided early on to circulate and not eat much and I think I succeeded. The only thing I at that I had not planned on was some peach cobbler with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. The ice cream was made by a cousin at the reunion, so it was served out of the maker. My wife made the cobbler. The cousin who made it was a guy I like, and he served up the ice cream and cobbler and handed me a bowl, I couldn't say no. What I did was just take a few smallish bites, 3 of the peaches and 3 of the ice cream. It tasted really good, but I really did not want to eat it. So after the few bites I discretely got up and mingled, then when I was sure no one was looking I threw it away, mostly uneaten. The event was mostly outside in our yard, so moving around and avoiding eating much wasn't to hard.

My calories are mostly a guess, but I think the total is probably about right. The beer and 1 1/2 peach were eaten after folks had gone, most of the cousins are Mormon and don't drink, so we went along. Though the one who made the ice cream is a Catholic and I saw he and his wife with a pretty well hidden bottle of wine. Tomorrow should be back to normal.

Friday

breakfast
yogurt 90
cereal 110

no set meal after breakfast, just ate off and on all day, things listed in order of consumption

peach 59
tomatoes with oil 50
salad with 2 pieces of pasta 70
1 pepper with cheese and bacon 110
grapes 24
carrots 15
1 small potato chip 6
a very little peach cobbler 108
a very little ice cream 70
beer 156
1 1/2 peaches 89

total calories 957

Solomon's temple was completed in 957, or maybe 959, or some other time around then. It does appear that Solomon and his temple probably did actually exist, even if he year is a bit uncertain.
 
I think you were right to try the homemade cobbler and icecream - and just as right to not eat all of it. My dad has around 100 cousins and my mom doesn´t even have a guess. Where I come from it would be considered terribly rude to arrive at someone´s home even half an hour early without announcing it well beforehand!
 
Rob your day does sound so great . What a great way to meet people. We have cousins coming out of our ears in terms of second and thirds. But we only meet at funerals really.

You did great sticking to your plan and I agree with LaMa you did well to have some dessert.
 
.. a long tiring day.
Oh, boy, it surely was! Heroic of you and your wife to host it, and surely very much appreciated by all the sisters and the cousins and the aunts.
I think your strategy of "circulate, don't masticate" was right on point - and of course it's a hostly duty not to refuse ice-cream when offered by the guest who's made it, and brought it specially as their offering to the feast - you were a gracious and brilliant host at all points, I'm absolutely sure. And I'm glad you had those three delicious bites of peach cobbler and cousinly ice-cream. At that calorie count, you could even have finished the bowl!
For some reason I'm now imagining Solomon's temple over-run by all the Jesse-line cousins, milling about, eating peach cobbler and ice-cream - I think the number of them would probably give your team a run for their money, too! :D
 
Thanks for the supportive comments.

LaMa I agree, everywhere else I have lived its considered rude to show up early to something like this. However that is not the case in Utah, people here often show up early, but if you show up late, that can be considered rude. Not something I am used to.

Petal, you are right the occasional family reunion sure beats funerals for getting together. They should be more common.

Amy, I like the phase "circulate, don't masticate" I'll have to remember that. A question the Jesse cousins overrunning Solomon's temple you spoke of, any chance that would be Jesse from Preacher? I don't usually like any TV show that involves the supernatural, but Preacher is an exception, I do like it. A very unusual and I think interesting show, more violence that I usually like also, but I still watch it. My wife hates it, so I have to watch alone.

I do not have so many cousins, a total of 12 firsts. Our family reunions are very different from this one, most of the cousins and a lot of their kids and grandkids still live in south Louisiana, about half are at least part Cajun. Our reunions involve lots of binge drinking and eating, and not a few cigars. It is a Louisiana thing for all generations to party (and drink) together, its not uncommon for people to take their kids out to the bar. I think that helps curb some of the worst drinking behaviors, not all though. It was always a wild party to say the least. We have not done one for a few years, the last was in Florida, several nearby beach houses were rented so no post party driving was necessary. In the morning it wasn't uncommon to find the younger folks still lying where they had passed out the night before. More than once I had to get up and return items that had been drunkenly "stolen" from the neighbors in the morning.
 
Haha, your Louisiana parties sound like my kind of party, lol!!

Well done for hosting so many people, it sounds hectic but really fun.
 
Your Louisiana parties sound a bit like our family ones too-the ones of old anyway :blush5: We are all being more sensible these days, including our 2 sons & me. G has always been much more sensible. It's incredible that your wife has so many rellies. I don't have many at all.
 
It was a good day, spent more time cleaning up after the reunion, just about done with that. My wife focused on getting people to take the left over food, there was a lot and we aren't likely to eat much of it.

I was busy and didn't pay too much attention to calories, when I got hungry for my evening snack I saw I was at just 687 so I had a bigger snack than usual. I am happy with what I ate today.

We got a spiralizer attachment for our mixer and my wife has been getting good at it. You can take any vegetable that's got the right shape and turn it into noodles. Makes a great substitute for pasta.

Sunday

breakfast
yogurt 90
cereal 110

lunch - spiralized squash noodles with sauce
squash 33
sauce 275

dinner - spiralized eggplant noodles with sauce
eggplant 30
tomato sauce 35
cheese 114

snack
bowl of cereal 350
2 crackers 45

total calories 1,082

1082 Pirola is an asteroid, or minor planet, in the outer reaches of the asteroid belt. It was discovered in 1927 by Karl Reinmuth. It measures about 40 km across and orbits the sun every 5 years and 6 months. The name, Pirola, is the scientific name for the herb wintergreen. Reinmuth was a very prolific discoverer of asteroids, at least 66. They are called Reinmuth's flowers as he named most for plants.
 
They are called Reinmuth's flowers as he named most for plants.
That's lovely. And well done Rob's wife getting the temptation out of the house right away! I do like spiralizer noodles but I usually have them mixed with normal pasta to make sure I'm not hungry again after an hour.
 
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Sounds like an awesome attachment . Rob is your wife on the diet too ?
 
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