Trip to Lake Tahoe
Labor Day weekend has always been a bigger deal to my family than most other families. The older I get the more I realize this weekend for most is just an extra day off of work. For me, it is a guaranteed family reunion weekend. My family is full of September birthdays and anniversaries so for as long as I can remember Labor Day was a time to get together and celebrate. Usually in one big beach house and it always includes lots of food. This year was no different, but this time we got to enjoy my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Tim's cabin that they renovated, and it was so special! We've seen pictures of the progress for a year so it was cool to finally be able to stay in the cabin.
In years past week have spent the weekend on Whidbey Island, Long Beach, and Lake Tahoe. It is usually a spot that is warm during the day and very cold at night. Which means I get to break out the blankets and hoodies while the rest of my friends back home are in shorts and swimsuits.
This was taken while rocking a sweatshirt. That's why I love Lake Tahoe. Although if we are being honest this is what most of my weekend looked like:
While some families enjoy eating meals out together, it has always been our thing to sign up to be responsible for cooking a meal. That way everyone takes part in cooking and no one person gets stuck with doing it all for the whole weekend. I love that, it lets each of us prepare something for the family and try out a recipe on a crowd. My Uncle Louie is the true chef of the family, he can do it all. He almost always makes this italian dish called cioppino. Thing of a rich red sauce filled will every type of seafood you can think of. It is served with hearty bread on the side to soak up all of the sauce. This year he swapped the cioppino to make gumbo, and boy was that a hit. It had just enough heat, but not enough to keep you from going back from more. I think it was my favorite meal of the trip.
His birthday is the day after mine, so my Aunt Nancy had these beautiful cakes made for us by a local Tahoe baker. It was such a fun treat!
I made two meals with my brother, we made one breakfast and one dinner. Dinner was Chicken Marsala, which even though I don't make it often it is one of the meals I cherish as a "family recipe." It was interesting to cook a hot meal for 12 people on an old fashioned stove in a log cabin. I usually cook it all in one pan but I ended up cooking everything separately and then adding it together at the end. It wasn't ideal but it worked out and turned out to still be delicious!
Food is my family's love language, as I'm sure is the same for many of you. Labor day is our chance to share that love whether it be through cooking, bringing baked goods, or sharing you afternoon snack with the rest of the group. The older we get the harder it is to find time to come together as a family in one spot, but it only makes it more special when we do.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day!
-Samantha