So, as indicated, I was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday (Halloween!) to launder myself and put the finishing touches on the bridesmaid tea party. I arrived at the Gunn household wedding central at 10am and walked right into the middle of Project Hair.



Jess was first one under the spray nozzle 😛



Look how fancy!



I loved Jess’s curls, so I ordered the same ‘do.

Erin’s niece Gretchen became a fairy:



We all helped Siobhan with some last-minute cake tasks …

… because you can never have enough pumpkin cake …

… with cream cheese frosting:

And then we got the tea underway:

We started with these scrumptious scones that Jess had brought from Whole Foods:



Once again, I tried to remember that I had to stuff myself into a dress in mere hours …



… but I obviously had to try every single scone, too. And no dress is worth missing out on deliciousness!



The bride was a vision of calm collection and popped a seat for a cup also:



Finally, 1:00 rolled around and it was time for the entree!



We worked on our nails while nibbling.

And the sandwiches were delicious, if I do say so myself 😀 I made cucumber and cream cheese on German Wheat bread, smoked turkey and Earl Grey honey butter on pumpernickel, and spicy bacon and cheddar on seeded rye:

Dessert was dark chocolate-covered strawberries, special request of the bride:



In our last bout of manual labor as bridesmaids, we whipped up some slamming bouquets.



Yayyyyyyyyy fall colors:



And then we were off to the dresses!



What is your favorite part of primping for a fancy event?

In lieu of a regular rehearsal dinner, Erin opted to throw a giant party for all wedding attendees in town already at Cole’s Tavern, a bar and function location right down the road from the hotel. I had no idea that this place even existed … and minutes away from where I grew up!

 

How cool would this “patio” be in the summer??!

Jess and her little sister had taken on organizing Halloween games for the kids, and you know I was all over the candy!

I was really trying to remember that I had to fit into the bridesmaid dress the next day, but it was SO HARD with all of this edible brilliance everywhere I looked.

The buffet dinner consisted of salad, pasta with mushrooms and chicken, baked ziti, and sausage with peppers and onions:

I had some of everything on my plate … plus the obvious seconds.

After dinner, it was time to return to the candy. Jess demonstrated:

The Monster Mash was also apparently an excellent excuse for breaking out some rockin’ legwear couture:

(Erin’s niece Gwyneth and Erin!)

The open bar was on a time limit, and the boys decided to be super clever and make sure they were well-stocked for the rest of the night:

It was all for nought, though, since Erin ended up extending the open bar for the entire party …

… and so the boys started to get all sorts of crazy ideas into their heads. Hamilton, AK, and Ralph got a candy corn toss off the ground …

… while Joey worked the receiving end:

Next up was some sort of heated political football debate between Joey and Allan:

I needed to distract my hands from the candy corn jar, so I enlisted D-Lo and James in the procurement of a hot tea. I didn’t think that the bar would be able to accommodate my designated-driver-appropriate needs, but the guys summoned me a moment later with the goods in hand:

Next up: Who can drink the jar of candy corn and keep it down for 10 minutes?

Joey was tempted (and so was I!) but, ultimately, Hamilton was the only one man enough for the challenge:

The aftermath:

No crying over spilled candy corn allowed 🙂

At the end of the night, I delivered the bride safely back to her home. She had the leftover buffet trays of food on her lap for the drive and alternated between drunkenly shoveling it into her mouth with her hands and passing out. Once she was inside and solidly upright, I headed back to mom’s house to get a few hours of sleep before my 10:00 call to bridesmaid duty the next morning!

Is Erin Gunn the most fun bride ever, or what?!

Friday morning, I took a brief break from wedding ministrations for breakfast with Vinny at Cafe on the Common.



Vinny and I enjoyed people-watching. This spot was surprisingly hopping for 8:00 on a weekday morning.



Vin ordered the combo breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, and blueberry pancakes. I sampled, obviously.

I had been debating between the large and small oatmeal and asked the server for her opinion. I am glad she advised me to go for the small — it was bigger than my head! Let’s take another look at my yummy yummy banana walnut oats with brown sugar on the side:

After breakfast, it was back to the Gunns. Centerpieces under construction:



And Siobhan continued her work on the cake. Bottom tier:



Middle tier:



Top tier:



Siobhan also undertook this crazy ambitious pumpkin cage cake-topper that involved drizzling caramelized sugar over foil wrapped pumpkin molds:



The concept blew me away. Look how cool:



Jess jumped in for the assist to piece the halves together:



Sadly, the cage ended up melting 😦 We had been not been expecting 70 degree temps for October 31! It was fun while it lasted, though.

In the late morning, Erin, Catherine, and I went to the wedding site for the “official drop” of centerpieces and other wedding party accessories. After the drop, I borrowed Erin’s car for a grocery store run and then headed to my mom’s house to make use of the kitchen … and her assistance!



Erin wanted an afternoon tea for Saturday to fuel all of us ladies while we got ready for the wedding, and she put me in charge. I spent the majority of Friday afternoon creating the menu and doing the legwork (or directing my mom in doing the legwork :-P).



While mom sliced and de-crusted the bread, I mixed up all the fillings and got started on the dessert …



… of dark chocolate covered strawberries, special request of the bride!



Once the tea menu was under control, I threw together scraps from my various projects for a quick snack with mom: cucumber, granny smith apple, almond butter, and melted dark chocolate.



From there, I swept back up to the Gunns to collect Erin and make our way to the official rehearsal dinner Monster Mash!

Top three tea sandwich fillings? See if you can guess which ones I made 🙂

OK, it is finally time to move into the sequence of wedding events. (And in case you have not been paying attention, I am referring to Erin Gunn’s wedding and not my own!). I took Thursday and Friday off work so that I could head up to MA and fulfill my bridesmaid duties properly. My parents picked me up at the bus in Providence and chauffeured me right over to the Gunn household, where I began by watching the master at work:



Mmmmmhmmm, that is Erin’s sister Siobhan hard at work on a project involving my favorite ingredient … canned pumpkin!



And she was working on creating my favorite baking result: wedding cake!



Of course, Siobhan had to level the tops of the cakes for stackability … and that meant pumpkin cake scraps:



More 😀 I love hanging out with the Gunns.



Lily got in on the cake scraps action:



And once again made her ancestors proud. Pacifier in mommy’s wine glass:



Like mother, like daughter. Pacifier in mouth:



While the others were getting sloshed, I actually started work on an actual job (with tons of help from the ever-reliable groom). Place card creation:



And then it was time for dinner: french bread and dog food.



Just kidding! Erin’s family put on a brilliant spread, beginning with olives:



Continuing with lasagna:



And Swedish meatballs!



Kevin being the epitome of class, as usual 😛



I loaded my plate like so (and followed it up with a second plate!):



For dessert, I accidentally got into the basket of Halloween candy intended for the under-12 crowd at the wedding:



Believe me, it did not stop at half a peanut butter cup! Up next: day two of last minute wedding preparations.

In your opinion, when is the best time to eat Halloween candy: before, during, or after the holiday?

Last weekend was FINALLY the moment that you’ve all been waiting for: Erin Gunn’s wedding … a.k.a. the OMGiactuallyhavetowearthistoosmalldressivebeenpanickedaboutformonths event. So, did it fit?? Did it not fit??? Hint:



More to come soon!

First, I need to give a little update on the goings on at work.



Could it be??? Another table full of food?!

Friday was Jennifer’s last day at work and, in her honor, we did what we do best (aside from saving babies, of course) and ate 😀

Jennifer’s eyes went wide with delight when she walked into the second floor nursery room where we had been diligently stocking the snack time table:



Jennifer’s view:



It’s a wonder she did not just topple right over!

Next, her eyes slid to the left …



Mmmmmhmmm, you KNOW we didn’t forget about the desserts:



(Nydia’s cheese, Andra’s cheesecake, Lorraine’s chocolate cake, Heather’s fruit salad)

So, clockwise from top left: Belkis’ spaghetti with sauce (and the bowl in front is Jessica’s ground beef to accompany it), Inginia’s chicken mole and white rice, Nitza’s artichoke lasagna, Allan’s KFC (hidden from view), my sweet potato, red onion, and fontina tart, chips and salsa, Barbara’s peanutty cabbage slaw, Deborah’s tamales de pollo (from the street), and Pansy’s curried chicken:



Ahhhh, crazy feast!!! I don’t know why I even bother eating on my off work hours at this point.

Anyway, let’s just back up a second to my sweet potato, red onion, and fontina tart. I got this recipe from Eating Well magazine (thanks again, Brandi!) and knew I had to make it ASAP, especially when I ended up with four giant sweet potatoes from my CSA. The only changes I made were in the crust. I used hazelnuts and brazil nuts in place of walnuts (it’s a rough life, I know), and I mixed the whole wheat pastry flour with regular whole wheat flour instead of with all-purpose. The dough needed a little extra water, but everything ended up turning out perfectly:



The tart got demolished at Jennifer’s lunch, and I helped:



I’d split a tamal earlier in the day with Deborah, so I skipped those and loaded my plate with nearly everything else: chicken mole, artichoke lasagna, my tart, curried chicken, peanutty cabbage slaw …

Nitza’s lasagna was INSANE. The big chunks of artichoke wrapped up in the creamy ricotta and tomato sauce with fresh basil, ahhhhhh. I so had seconds of that.



And I could not forget a little pile of Jessica’s ground beef on top of Belkis’ spaghetti. This might have been the best ground beef I have ever tasted. how was it so crispy???



Everyone ate and ate and ate and ate:





And then it was time for dessert!



Well really, it was time for me to go to class, and I couldn’t leave without dessert, obviously. So I had to get the ball rolling. I filled a bowl with slivers of the chocolate cake and cheesecake, a dollop of Pansy’s ambrosia, and a mountain of fruit salad. Mmmmmmmm. Thank goodness I had to leave and was therefore unable to have seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, and sixths.

Jennifer, good luck on your next adventure. We will miss you!

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