So Much Beef

Saturday was the day for Voctoria's party at my apartment. My foot was very sore from school, but I spent the majority of my day cleaning my apartment and talking to some friends back home. Victoria came over to cook the food for the party. Now, since this was a St. Patrick's Day party, the menu consisted of corned beef and cabbage, potatos, and carrots. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. The meat that Victoria got from our friends on the military base was not corned beer, but plain beef brisket. As a result, Victoria had to cure the meat herself, which involved soaking the meat in a salt brine for many days. The meat soaked for 3 days in my fridge, it should have soaked longer, but we didn't have the time.

Anyway, saturday, we had to pull the meat out of the brine and rinse it off, and start cooking it. We are dealing with two large slabs of beef and no counter space. Heavy slabs of meat, giant pots of water... it was an ordeal.

After cooking, the meat had to be pulled out and cut up. This was even harder to do, since I don't really have the utensils for this kind of job. On top of that, from the meat boiling the fat had rendered out and there was grease everywhere in my kitchen. It was a major production to get this meal prepared. All I did was help lift things, since my foot was out of commission. But, in the end, it tasted good, so the word was worth it.

Onto the party. 25 people had been invited, and only 12 showed up. I was really thankful for this, since my place isn't as big as some might think. I think that more than 12 would have been too much for the space. The people that came were all teachers, 3 of them Korean, 1 from South Africa, 1 from Australia, 1 from New Zealand, 1 from Canada, and the rest from the U.S. It was a real international affair. For me, the real bonus of the evening was the green jello salad that Dini brought, which reminded me so much of home. You all know the salad, the one with marshmallows, pineapple, walnuts, and green pistachio pudding (I think). The salad that is served at every church and family function in the U.S. It made me nostalgic.

While this party was great fun, Victoria and I agreed that next time, it would have to be potluck. No one should have to do so much cooking for a party. So, I'm looking forward to the next one... but not too soon, my place still has to recover.