Entertaining Anxiety and other first world problems.

Somewhere in the last couple of months, I have turned into one of those people with a busy life. That's not to say I have an exciting life, by any means, but my schedule is a little fuller. Sometimes we have things to do on weekends, or people over. Working out several days a week, in addition to working full-time also eats up a lot of hours. Pablo is settling down a little, but he's still mostly a full-time job (who has learned to wiggle out of the fence). What I am getting at is that my DVR is backlogged and tons of reading material is going un-read for far too long around these here parts. I feel I have less free-time now than I did when I was working two jobs and it is a weird feeling.

I'm also going through this weird anxiety when it comes to having people over. One of the things I love most in the world is having parties, or just having people over and cooking for them. I love it, love it, love it. I try to be a good hostess, take everyone's food preferences/allergies into account and provide a relaxing and happy atmosphere.  I think I do a fairly decent job of it, but lately I keep second-guessing myself. What if everyone is not having as much fun as me? What if they're all just here to humor me? What if I'm really a terrible cook and no one has had the guts to tell me?

Sunday, we had Josh's dad and his wife over for Father's Day. He didn't want us to do anything too fancy (I tend to bust out the cloth napkins too regularly, I guess), so we grilled sausages and corn on the cob and I also made baked beans and pasta salad. We topped off the meal with this AMAZING strawberry pie:



I have been wanting to make a strawberry pie for a few weeks, but  every recipe I could find called for jello in it... That just wasn't what I was going for. A friend/coworker sent me this recipe and I knew at first glance this was the one. I used a shortbread crust instead of graham cracker, though!

http://bakingbites.com/2009/06/fresh-strawberry-pie/

I really can't wait to have a reason to make it again!

This saturday I am hosting a little luncheon for my co-workers. In light of my recent onset of Entertaining Anxiety, I am a little worried about everyone having a good time, etc., but I think it will all be fine if I stop worrying about it and just get on with it. I am VERY excited about it, though... Many cute details that I can't wait to share once it's over. ;)