I love the relationships I have with the women in my life. Women are just different than men. We work differently, we relate differently, and we encourage each other so well.
Do you have something that needs to get done? Some project that is too big for two hands? That situation is a perfect reason to throw a party! Work is 100 times more enjoyable when you are with friends, so it makes perfect sense to corral your people and get. things. done.
In September, we began to have quite cold evenings. Each morning as I peeked outside, I feared my basil plants would be giant black stalks…dead, useless, and wasted.
It was just my luck to read on Facebook that a few of my friends had been wanting to make pesto. Pesto is perfect for plowing through large amounts of basil–and it’s expensive to buy in stores. However, it was going to be labor intensive to use up the amount of basil I had harvested. One of my friends had a large amount of basil she wanted to use, as well. So, we gathered two other friends and made a plan.
Kara and I would bring the basil.
Sara would host, and Jill would bring snacks.
And each of us would pitch in $10 for the parmesan, pine nuts, and olive oil.
OH! And, we all brought our kids–9 between the 4 of us (some of them were at preschool). That certainly adds to the party. ;) They had their own party down in the basement…with snacks and a movie. The teeny babies stayed up with the mommas.
We had 2 food processors and therefore 2 batches going at once. Someone washed and stripped the basil. Someone chopped and measured the other ingredients. Then the two other women manned the machines and combined everything to make the pesto.
There were times when it got difficult to keep it all straight! We were each taking breaks to tend to our little people–and that left the others to fill in and keep the process going. When we finished a batch from the food processor, we would dump it into a large bowl to be divided before we left.
At one point we ran out of pine nuts and moved to using walnuts. The taste is nearly identical and the walnuts are less expensive anyway. We could have also augmented the mixture with spinach leaves to make more pesto. However, we had more than enough basil! That was not a problem!
We finished up and each had about a quart and a half of pesto to take home. I am still working through mine, little by little.
I got to know the women I was with better, and there is something to be said for working together with a goal in mind. Our kids got to spend the morning together, and we were all done in time to pick the older ones up from preschool.
Here are some of the awesome things about working together on a project:
*often saves money because you can buy in bulk (look at that olive oil in the picture above!)
*only one space to clean up, rather than having to clean a mess in each kitchen
*you get to encourage one another during the less fun parts of the project (who likes chopping garlic?? yuck!)
*you get to know each other better
*your kids can interact with other children and spend time out of their normal routine
*you do something you might not have done on your own
*you benefit from the diversified skills and knowledge among the women in the group
Some projects that may be fun to try with friends:
*I made jam with friends before I moved away from Charlotte
*make applesauce to freeze
*wrap Christmas presents
*make Christmas ornaments
*make freezer meals
Have you done this sort of thing before? Do you have any ideas you are going to try with friends? What in your life would be easier if you conquered it with friends?