Cabin Fever Reliever

TagFest: Family

I got an intriguing email recently from my mom with a too-short description of a party my dad is going to be hosting at their home in Michigan. It sounded like fun so I thought I would ask him a few questions about it.

What is the name of your event?

Cabin Fever Reliever Party

What was the genesis of the name? What prompted you to have your event?

With all the snow and ice, lots of people don't get out of their 'cabins' very often, thus we get cabin fever, which leads to depression which leads to you know what. Part of our thinking was having a Mardi Gras-type of party.

When is your event being held?

February 20, 2007 from 11:00 to 1:30. Since most of our guests are older than we are, it's at lunchtime.

Tell us a bit about your guests.

We have invited around 20 folks who either live alone, are widowed, or have some reason they don't get out much, plus a few to help with transportation and with our party.

Tell us about your decorations.

The decorations will be the food. We don't have anything else planned.

Are you planning any party favors?

We will give them the spoon they use for dessert.

Will you be leading any party games?

No. If there is need for some activity, we are prepared for 'scissor craft' to make snowflakes, or some simple paper folding [origami]. And we have air hockey in the basement though only a few might risk the stairs.

What's on the menu? Tell us a bit about the inspiration behind it. Who will be preparing the food?

The menu will contain items that we have liked and enjoyed through the years. Since our six children are no longer nearby to honor with parties, we thought it was time to honor some others. The menu is mostly fix-your-own because it's easy to prepare.

We'll start out with Treasure Chests—stuffing cheese into a slit in half a hot dog, wrapping them with prepared biscuit dough, and topping with ketchup. While they are baking in the oven, we'll make our own appetizers by stacking meat, cheeses, pickles, olives, etc. on toothpicks or on crackers. By the time we finish eating those, the Chests will be out of the oven.
For dessert, we will have Brown Cows—root beer poured over vanilla ice cream in a tall cup. Tapioca pudding with whipped cream topping and 'poor folks apple pie' [applesauce on saltines] will also be available.

It's probably obvious that the menu was chosen by the man of the house. Having everyone in on the preparation will make us feel more like we're all part of the family.

What do you hope is the outcome of your event? What is the possibility of you hosting any other events of this nature?

I'm sure everyone will have fun and enjoy each other. We are all from the same church and already know each other to some degree. Maybe we'll learn something new! If it turns out well, we might hold it again.

Thanks for sharing, Dad, and I hope you and Mom have a great Cabin Fever Reliever!