Thru hiker Stacy sent me some photos she and Easy took during my Pop-Up Gourmet event.

 

 

 

 

 

The weather on Easter Sunday was perfect for dining al fresco. Bob and I put up the big tent on Saturday, to shield diners from the worst of the sun. A high temperature in the mid 70s couldn’t have been more perfect. A slight breeze from the west kept everyone perfectly comfortable.

Molly helped in the kitchen with prep work, Kim worked one of the grills, Mike served as maitre d’, Gordon helped serve, and everyone pitched in at exactly the right time to make the event, as Gordon said, a “smashing success”!

Just the stats: 41 people joined the festivities on Sunday. 19 of those were thru hikers who enjoyed the fruit appetizers and pushed on. Of the remaining 22 who stayed for dinner and dessert:
– 12 were invited guests and
– 10 were thru hikers

Most people opted for the ribeye steak (a good choice), so I have lots of pork tenderloin and portobello mushrooms left over.

Of the three desserts on the menu, about half went for the cheesecake, half for the berry tart, and a couple opted for the tropical fruit dish.

Wine drinkers were evenly split between white and red (with a few tea-totalers) and the Vietnamese iced coffee at the end of the meal was very popular.

First item of business: decorate the Easter Redshank at Walden – CHECK

Second item of business: place the Easter DuckBunny trailside as a herald to hikers – CHECK

Third item of business: schlepp my mobile kitchen to Walden – CHECK

Fourth item of business: place the sign at the Anza Water Cache, two miles trail-south of my place, alerting hikers to the feast ahead – CHECK

There were many, many other items, including raising the tents, chopping 15 pounds of onions, etc. etc., but I didn’t get pictures of those.

Special thanks to Molly, Bob, Kim and Mike. You guys are the greatest!