Pumpkin Carving

This weekend it was neither restaurant nor food truck that had me on the road it was an annual pumpkin carving/decorating event hosted by one of my cousins.  She & her fiancé not only provide a fantastic setting for this gathering but put on a spread some restaurants should be envious of.  The lucky guests need bring only a pumpkin and whatever their adult beverage of choice is.

For me this is an opportunity to see a couple of my oldest friends in the world who happen to be my cousins too.  I saw one of my sisters and took my mother to the event as well so it was a day of family and friends of family.  Did I mention the food yet?   There were two buffet lines, one with BBQ and sides and one with hamburgers and hot dogs that were cooked up fresh and pulled off the grill as people were arriving.

I snagged a plate of bbq, hash & rice, beans & corn and found a spot in the shade to enjoy my meal.  I had a Hell or High Watermelon beer to go with it.  This was my introduction to the beer and I tried it based on hearing positive reviews on several different podcasts I listen to and honestly I was expected more.  It’s a wheat beer made with watermelon as the name suggests.  It does have a slight hint of watermelon both is smell and aftertaste.  It wasn’t bad and certainly light and perfect for hot days I just didn’t see what all the hype was about.  That disappointment didn’t deter me trying other stuff as there was a table in the vicinity that featured items brought by the guests such as the mummified pepper poppers & pumpkin spice cupcake which somehow found their way to my plate as you can see below.

After lunch while the gourd gutting, carving and decorating continued I took a stroll around the garden and snagged a shot of the early finishers.  The food was great, the weather cooperated and any weekend you get to spend with family and friends is a win.  Can’t wait until next year!