I was never much of a late night person. I like to get my sleep. Sure in my youth I would stay up late with the rest of the gang but these days that’s a rarity. And that’s not such a bad thing. The whole gang is a bunch of years older. Nowadays, at age forty six, it takes me until about Thursday morning to stop being tired after staying up real late on a Saturday night. And I’m not even a drinker so there is no hangover to deal with. I bring this all up because last Saturday night was one of those times when I was up late. I had my annual backyard barbecue and was up late that night. I didn’t hit the sack until around 3 AM yet was up ay my usual time of 7 AM. Ouch.
I’m a morning person. That’s when I have the most energy. The downside of that is that I can’t sleep late no matter when I fell asleep. When the morning rolls around I’m up. Even if I’m still tired I can’t sleep. It’s annoying and the main reason why I’m not a huge fan of staying up late. Of course it’s not that first day after getting no sleep that’s the problem. It’s the second day. That’s when the fatigue really hits. And, of course, if it’s a Saturday night when I stay up late then that second day is a Monday. Talk about compounding a problem. Back to work with a yawn. Oh, well, things will get back to normal eventually.
One of the things that comes along with throwing a BBQ is leftovers. I like leftovers. I don’t understand people who won’t eat them. I used to work with a guy who hated leftovers. On occasion he would bring some leftovers in for lunch and then end up not eating them. He would start to eat them but then sigh, toss them out, and go get something else. He didn’t want to eat the same thing that he had for dinner last night. That’s something I never got. I don’t care if I had the same thing the night before. If I like something one day I’m still going to like it the next day. And I don’t have to cook it again. I’m fine with reheating stuff as long as it’s done right. And since I’m the one doing it it will be done right. By the way always reheat Chinese food in a frying pan. That’s your leftover tip for the day.
Mostly what I have leftover this year is chili that I made. I always make a lot for the party because leftover chili is a good thing. I made a chicken chili and a beef chili and there is some of each left over. I threw a bunch of it in the freezer and some of it in the fridge. That’s another good thing about leftover chili. It freezes well. I think I’ve had a bowl of it a day for the last four days. I also have been having some leftover hamburgers. They’re frozen to begin with so there is not much to do with the leftovers but keep them in the freezer. Hamburgers aren’t usually in my diet but I’ll have a few for as long as they last. They’re there after all.
One more leftover that I don’t usually eat is chips. It seems that people like to bring a bag of chips to a barbecue but then don’t really like to eat them. There is always better stuff around to eat at a special occasion. Every party I go to these days has half a dozen bag of chips left over, unopened, after the party ends. Mine was no exception. This is where you have to maintain discipline an throw most of them out. I read somewhere that it’s chips that put weight on people more than any other food. People tend to eat more of them than is suggested and they are loaded with calories. I can confirm that I eat more of them than I should if they’re around. That’s why I don’t like to keep them around. I still don’t quite have everything back in it’s place after the party. I don’t know why it is but it takes me a while to put things back in their places. Usually it’s small things that I can’t be bothered with right away. For example I have yet to put my electric griddle away. That’s a small ten by fifteen inch grill that I uses as a warmer during the BBQ. I set it on 200º F and put metal pans of whatever food on it. It’s an easy way to keep things warm all day. The griddle only makes it out of its box once a year for this event so it’s usually just sitting there in its place. It hasn’t made its way back into the box in the four days since the party. Me having no energy doesn’t help get it back in its place. All the big stuff is back though and everything will get back to normal sooner or later. I’m almost sure of it.
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