Thankfully my mother-in-law knows the in’s and out’s of the fair building’s kitchen, and she beat me there on Saturday morning, June 9th. She already had the 100 cups of coffee percolating, was in the middle of making gazillion gallons of iced tea and pink lemonade, so I got busy arranging the various cookies my mom, sisters and I had baked on some beautiful shiny-gold trays…by the time people arrived at 9:30 A.M., I was wrist deep in thinly slicing my cold briskets so I could get them in the roaster…the busy anniversary day had begun!

Hickory Smoked BBQ Brisket

• 1 3-6 lb beef brisket (trimmed of fat if desired)
• 1 bay leaf
• celery flakes
• onion powder
• garlic salt
• salt
• Mrs. Dash or Crazy Mixed-up Salt
• 2 oz. (1/2 bottle) Figaro brand hickory liquid smoke

Sprinkle both sides of meat with all the spices. Wrap meat well in aluminum foil. Place in crockpot. Add warm water until even with top of meat. Cover and cook on low 8-12 hrs. Remove from foil and slice meat. Add BBQ sauce.

Mary’s note: This turns out great in the crockpot, but I never add water as this original recipe directs. Also, since I was making large quantities for the 50th anniversary luncheon, I did most of mine in my oven and cut the baking time in half. Do everything the same, just put it in a 9×13″ pan and bake at 350 degrees F for about 4 hours. Works great! Also, it froze well till needed.

Dill Dressing

(great as salad dressing, dip or on top of baked potatoes)

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2/3 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. dried onion flakes
• 1 tsp. dill weed
• 1 tsp. Lawry’s seasoned salt
• 1/4 tsp. garlic granules
• 1/3 cup milk*

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate overnight.

*Leave out milk to use as a dip.

The two above recipes were the most requested, so I thought I’d pass them along to you, as I’ll be emailing them to several family members anyway. We love brisket fixed that way, it’s so moist and tender, the foil traps all the heat and flavor…mmm!

We fed 75 people at the luncheon, and besides brisket and dill dip, we had sliced turkey, pork loin and ham, Kaiser rolls and wheat buns, sliced bread and all the sandwich fixings…about 10 bags of chips, a big bowl of baby carrots, another big bowl of green and red grapes, and two large containers of potato salad–one flavored with dill pickle, the other with sweet pickle–courtesy of my sweet mother-in-law.

We had a little fun with my dad, with me MC-ing, because it was his birthday as well as their anniversary, then we cleared the lunch buffet away, changed clothes and got ready for the bigger reception at 2 P.M. Cake. Punch (Wowser, that’s another recipe I need to share here–affordable and light like champagne!). Nuts. Mints. Check!

It was a wonderful day, with many people coming all the way from Massachusetts to Oregon to pay tribute to my wonderfulest of parents. My only complaint is there wasn’t enough time to visit with all of them…

At the end of the day, my mother-in-law again showed up and helped us clean, her energy is boundless. I was beginning to feel faint after going to bed at 4 A.M. the previous night, and when the last vehicle other than ours left the parking lot, hubby sent me home with the girls (plus 2 nieces) and stayed to mop the entire building’s floor.

Did I mention he’d been outside in the barns most of the (hot) day giving horse rides to all the children? What a great man, huh? He loved it, much preferring behind-the-scenes to all the social-mongering going on indoors. *smile*

All in all, a wonderful culmination of a year’s worth of planning.

And now we focus on getting to South Dakota for my niece’s wedding!