The Orange meal

In Florida, I asked Andy if he wanted to host communal dinner this week. He enthusiastically said yes, so I volunteered his house and his hot tub for the group. In honor of the Orange Box and the new console games Andy had received when we were all gone, I proposed the meal to be The Orange Meal™. I offered salmon and sweet potatoes, and asked everyone else to bring something orange to the meal. Suggestions were pumpkin pie, butternut squash soup, pumpkin ice cream (mmmmmmmm.....), and the like.

Last time Andy hosted, he had an elaborate (but incredibly tasty) meal that kept him in the kitchen the whole evening cooking. What fun is that (read: none)? This time, we agreed to keep each portion someone cooks small, and encourage everyone to bring something tasty.

I grilled whisky marinade salmon. Humorously enough, I bought six pounds of Salmon since we expected around 14 people, one of who was Tyler, so six pounds didn't seem too unreasonable. It was my first time grilling salmon on a grill outside. Kris kept having to answer questions like, "What happens if the skin sticks to the grill?" and "Is the salmon suppose to catch on fire?"

Warren brought some amazing pumpkin soup with onions and corn. Steffi brought some also amazing dessert from Sugar Butter Flour. mmmmmmm.... pumpkin cheesecake. Goodness, how I love fall. Andy made squash and a green (!!!) salad with hints of orange. Crystal's orange salad had some token green in it. The potatoes I was making were late in coming, but still managed to be eaten.

As soon as the first guests arrived, we were off and playing Guitar Hero again. Portal is a single player game, but well, Guitar Hero is good for both players and fans, provided the players actually act out what's being performed on screen. Kris kept dressing as a scantily-clad bass player with big hair. I wonder if he's trying to tell me something.

The goal of this whole endeavour has to be to see if we can get everybody's poop orange tomorrow. Because that would be entertainingly funny.

Update: Gah! Almost forgot one of the most entertaining parts of the evening. As Crystal and Nick were getting ready for the hot tub, Nick spied Andy's yearbooks in the guest room closet. As I entered the bathroom to change into my "swimsuit," I heard Nick ask, "Should we look?" When I exited, the two of them were furiously flipping through the two yearbooks, my year and Andy's year, trying to find our pictures. I found them, and managed to show them to Crystal and Nick before Andy surprised us from behind, none of us had noticed his arrival. "Uh, I don't think Kris wants those out."

Yeah, neither Kris nor my mom.