Three ingredients

My three-day stay-cation has arrived!

I spent last night with at least 100 pages of the novel I'm reading. It's a relaxing way to kick off the eve of the holiday but now it's Saturday morning and I need to get my thoughts in gear. How am I going to pull this off? I figured some festive atmosphere needed to be created. We need food, and what about some fun! Those were my three ingredients to kicked it off.

• Atmosphere - There needs to be some clean up on the home front. I'll need to do a once over inside the house. Basic things like floors, bathroom, kitchen need to be put in order. Then, let's tackle the backyard patio. How about moving those potted plants, sprucing up the table and chairs, and making sure there is space to enjoy the outdoors.

• Food - Everyone is set to come over on Sunday afternoon. Let's think about outdoor cooking and since it's Labor Day the traditional steak might be a good option. What about some fresh summer corn on the grill and maybe some grilled artichoke? I'll have time to think over the menu and see what is available at the grocery store.

• Fun - I'm not sure I can pull this off but I have an idea of doing a 'Chopped' session when everyone is here on Sunday. Only one round of appetizer basket items. I can have Sonny and Dante compete. I want to have Jay in there, too, but I'm not sure I have enough room to cook for all three. I can have the ladies be judges. It would be 20 minutes of hilarity and I get to come up with the basket ingredients. Sounds like fun to me if I can figure out the logistics.

So, let's get this stay-ca started. I have a run waiting to happen and then I have a list of things I need to check off.
Can't wait.
TT