Your family is so lucky to have you for so many reasons: Interesting, flexible, great cook, etc. I hope the gathering is a wonderful success.

Amy your family is leaps and bounds better than mine ever was. I never had mac 'n cheese until I left home. Dressing was stuffed in a turkey or rolled in a flank steak, only. It wasn't a side dish. My mother took us to the Country Club to eat most nights and there was NO food in the house at ALL. Maybe there was peanut butter & jelly for a sandwich.......BIG maybe. Thankfully I liked school lunches.

Thirteen extra mouths to feed is not insignificant! Kudos to you for going with the flow so easily!

Good grief! But I know you can handle it. Remember, you're the one who was stuck at work, you're the one bringing all the favorites for the whole crowd, so you get to monopolize the visting sister and captain the nieces and nephews to do your bidding so you can sit and enjoy her. Have a marvelous time!

Nicole my food experiences growing up werent great either. I mean, we always had food, but my mom is a TERRIBLE cook, though a good baker. No seasoning, everything overcooked to death. Mac and cheese was boxed, there was no dressing, just Stove Top, which do not get me wrong, there is a place for such things. I use stove top in my dressing along with my homemade cornbread! I have always loved cooking and took over meals when I was 10. I was fed up with blandness and my mom was happy to hand over the reigns. I have since become the family cook, the keeper of the recipes, the Culinary Cinderella if you will. I have started writing my recipes down, because no one wants to KNOW how to make them, they just want me to make them so they can eat it. BUT of my 15 nieces and nephews, there are a handful that are starting to take an interest in it and I want them to have a written record of how to make specific things just in case.

AAAAAAND now I just got a couple more texts, one from other sister, begging me to make some of my hot spinach artichoke dip, and one from my oldest niece,my brothers girl, who very politely asked if I was going to make "those cheesy olives toast things" because they are her favorite.

My grocery list grows longer by the hour. 😂

Amy, sounds like a wonderful reunion. Have a great time and give us a review.

It sounds like you are going to have a fabulous time with your family. Appetizers are always the star attraction at our family dinners and you are obviously known and appreciated for those that you bring. Enjoy your evening!

Good for you that you were kind of prepared for the unexpected, and how graciously you are handling it. I'd be flattered ( but still annoyed) if all my recipes were so desired!

Enjoy

Amy, you’re a rock star for taking this on. Besides just wanting to enjoy time with your sister, now you’re going to cook a huge meal for everyone too. It would wear me out. Enjoy the visit and the wonderful meal!

It’s a blessing and a curse to be the most culinarily accomplished person in the family. I hope you have a wonderful time despite all the effort you will need to put into cooking.

I hope you all had a wonderful reunion and made lots of new memories!

I hope you had a lovely time. So precious.

Amy, people like you AMAZE me, truly! I stress about what's for dinner for the two of us! I just don't know how you do so much and get it all done and it's delicious! AMAZING! :) You have a gift, that's for sure!

I’m so happy that you will be with so many of your family! The important thing is getting to see them!

What’s another trip to the store and enlarging what you are making? You will have such a great time with them!

Amy, you amaze me.

"The important thing is getting to see them! "

Have you ever thought about just showing up yourself, empty-handed like the rest of them? Or only bringing one appetizer?

Ooh Cindy! I'll bet that might really shake things up 😄

@ amylou321 - How did the get-together go? Did you have enough food?

I'm glad you had an enjoyable time and that your food was gobbled up quickly. That shows how much your family appreciates it and you.

Glad to read that the gathering was a success. getting together with family is so important. And, somehow, food always seems to be an important part of it all.

👏 I applaude your coolness under such pressure. Thirteen extra people, special requests from right and left! I would have lost it. Yet you just plowed through. Obviously, you love cooking for your family. They are so lucky to have you!

btw, tell me more about those ”cheesy olive toast things.” Sounds delish!

Sure!

I mix together mayo, chopped black olives, chopped green olives, mozzerella cheese, fresh garlic and dried oregano. Use about twice as much cheese as mayo, everything else to your own taste. I typically use a lot of garlic and oregano.

I spoon this mixture generously on slices of baguette,and bake them until they are lightly brown and bubbly.

When I tell you that EVERYONE loves these, I do mean it. Well,as long as they like olives.

Thanks for the ”recipe.” Sounds delish and I love olives! Do you use stuffed green olives and chop the pimentos too or are the green olives you use unstuffed?

They're pimento stuffed. I chop them, pimento and all. I just use canned black olives that are pitted. Sometimes, I buy the ones that are already chopped. (The black ones)

Those sound delicious, Amylou! I'll be trying those also.