Pink Flamingos, Giardiniera and Dinner Guests

Here’s what greeted hubby and I when we stepped out through the front door to go to work this morning.
Well actually, what first caught my eye was this potted mum placed strategically next to my planter of waning herbs.
Notice the concealed grocery bag filled with jugs of water?  That’s the kind of day we had yesterday…
Let me explain.
Getting ready for company is fun for me.  It’s part of my heritage.  Not that I don’t get stressed, but I truly enjoy prepping for ‘parties.’  Yesterday morning began the final leg into that realm.  Already having fielded a week of impromptu clearing out of the laundry closet space that we’d been using as extra storage in our little rental house in readiness for its intended use,  I was ready to focus on the task at hand.  That being:  the routine of last minute fixes and major cooking for a greatly anticipated time of dining and gabbing with our guests for that evening.
Things went along like clockwork:

• Get dough ready for rising-check
• Wash salad greens and place in crisper-check
• Put leaf in table-check
• Tidy up living room and hide extra storage stuff from emptied laundry closet-check
• Take shower before lunch-check
• Start sauce to simmer-check

It wasn’t until close to the end of the prep that I noticed something strange.  The water pressure had been a bit low all day, but as I finished washing my hands for the umpteenth time (I’m very OCD when it comes to washing my hands!) it was almost down to a trickle.
My survival instincts began to take over.
Oh no, maybe I’d better fill up the pasta pot just in case something’s wrong with the water system.

• Fill up pasta pot-check

About an hour before I needed to leave to pick up my hubby from work, I turned on the tap to wash my hands yet again.
There was nothing.
Dashing throughout the house, I checked each faucet for water.
They all came up dry.
Ever practical, I called my cousin Chris to see if I could fill a few jugs of water for use in the bathrooms.
We’re having our pastor and his wife and newly potty trained little boy over for dinner tonight and the water’s off!  I have dinner covered, but well, I don’t want to hinder kiddo’s progress on the potty training front…
What I loved about yesterday’s water crisis is that I weathered it so well!  No, I’m not patting myself on the back, but it all seemed to flow (pun intended) as part of routine last minute fixes.  My Lord’s peace fueling the paces of unexpected yet necessary prep-work was in full gear.

• Table set and ready for dining-check
• Water jugs for flushing toilets-check
• Pick up hubby from work-check
• Place individual water bottles by each plate setting-check

Our guests arrived promptly on time. Hubby greeted them on our porch while I finished up with dinner details in the kitchen.
Happy to have a table filled with food and surrounded with new acquaintances, we all settled down to mangia.
Blessedly, (this is our pastor’s family after all) by the time kiddo expressed interest in his potty needs, the water was in full service. Too soon, however, they had to leave as that same cutie kid needed to be tucked into bed for the night.

• Party was a success-check

What’s that got to do with our morning discovery of a pink flamingo friend and potted plant on the front porch?
Turns out, our dinner companions had presented hubby with the potted plant and he forgot to mention this to me…I’ll be sending off a thank-you here soon.

• Send out thank-you note for mums-check (in progress)

But as for our pink flamingo friend…that was a surprise for both of us.

Upon closer inspection, birdie’s name was the give-away clue:

• HELLO MY NAME IS:  Giardiniera

Aha!
Bruno Family code…giardiniera is a coveted condiment that is not found in the Deep South.  Whenever my cousin Dennis visits the Family in Chicago, he stockpiles bottles of the stuff.   In true famiglia fashion, he shares a bit of the bounty with me, his older cousin worthy of such respect and honor.
My cousins Chris and Dennis along with their son Alex have helped make our sojourn here in South Carolina more comfy; our growing numbers of new acquaintances are adding to a greater level of ease as well.

And as for the Giardiniera:

What a great name for a girlie-birdie.
What an even better yummy-in-the-tummy taste treat!