Hotdish Hoedown 2009

A new space, a few new people, a few new recipes … amazing what adds up to another magical evening.

One food expert noted that the quality of the food was the best yet -- perhaps the loveliness of the new Goodman Community Center inspired the chefs who crafted hotdish, salad, soup or dessert to share. "This Hotdish Hoedown was the tastiest we've ever had," exclaimed a longtime guest. "There wasn't 57 tuna casseroles. There was more variety. Things were tasty. They didn't all taste the same. People actually used some spice."

We were fortunate in that the setup crew insisted on adding another couple of tables after we discovered that eight chairs don't really fit around each round table comfortably.

And this year's Hoedown was about comfort. We luxuriated in the ability to push our chairs back and stretch out after our second and third helpings, to be able to go for yet another brownie. While we mourned the passing of the beerful refrigerator -- a work of art in its own right -- the well-spaced coolers and abundant floor space did provide ready access to additional beverages as well as the desserts.

We ran out of beer.

Seven cases. The hostess' notes from previous years clearly direct her to not buy more than seven cases as she usually brought home a case or more. The notes have been updated so she'll buy at least nine cases for 2010.

Of course, space between the tables might not have been the only factor influencing beverage consumption (8+ liters of root beer, four cases of fizzy water, 12 cans of Dr. Pepper, two out of five bottles of NA beer).

170 people did attend.

Uffda.