Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Such is the scene when everyone in my family participates in making dinner at once.

On our second night at the beach, my family wound up cooking for over 20 people. 20 people crammed into our small beach house dining/living room. What do you cook quickly for that amount of people? Spaghetti, of course. But good spaghetti. With a semi-homemade pasta sauce. Canned sauce, with a few additions: fresh veggies, Italian sausage, spices, and fresh herbs brought from the garden at home. Sandra Lee would be proud.

But the real feat of the night was dessert. Two desserts, made by my sister Jennifer and me. To begin, an ice cream sandwich cake. My sister made this one: a layer of ice cream sandwiches across the bottom of a 9X13 pan, topped with a layer of whipped cream, another layer of sandwiches and cream each. My only contribution to this was smashed and crumbled Heath bars on top, smashed by hand with the handle of a whisk. That's hard work.

Our second dessert was a peach and blueberry cobbler, one that we have made in variations before. Double the fruit, double the yum! Production was more of a group effort, due to my snacking while peeling the peaches. Oops. It turned out very very well, and was promptly devoured after its removal from the oven. Boy, did our house smell good that night!