...younger than springtime....

SPRING IS HERE! My first "Spring" in New England since 2002. I miss everything about it....the anticipation, the smell, the sounds of birds chirping, and little greens bursting through the frozen ground.  Crocuses are always one of the first flowers to bloom---signifying the arrival of spring. So I was pleasantly happy to see crocuses in the garden.

The girls (my puppies) were happy too! The warm  spring weather was so enticing, it took many cookie treats to finally get them inside the house.  Apparently, they were trying to soak up the sun---after the long wintry months.

More Than a Number Project

I am currently working on a project led by Light of Cambodian Children. More Than a Number is the first-ever effort to collect Khmer refugee transit photos and survival stories.  The exhibit will open on April 17, 2010 at the American Textile History Museum.


"More Than a Number is first-ever effort to collect photographs, transit numbers, and stories from Cambodians who fled the brutal and torturous Khmer Rouge regime’s 1975-1979 genocide.  The photos symbolize the moment in each refugee’s life when the years in filthy refugee camps and holding centers were over, and they were accepted for asylum in a new country.  They could finally glimpse a hopeful future in the United States, France, Canada, or Australia.  Ironically, although these transit photos were taken for the purpose of documenting refugees leaving the holding centers, the photos are also eerily reminiscent of those gloomy and strange photos taken at Tuol Sleng Prison prior to the execution of roughly 21,000 women, children, and men.  More Than a Number was chosen as the title for this historic project as it captures succinctly the fact that the people shown in the photos were beyond resilient.  They were and are extraordinary, dynamic human beings who rose out of the ashes and made something of themselves and their children in their new lands."


The exhibit will highlight Cambodian life before, during, and after the genocide. Featuring artwork by Rachel Faller and Khmer artists, Chanthou Oeur and Yary Livan, transit number photos and stories collected from Cambodian American individuals, survivor video testimonies by Socheata Poeuv of Khmer Legacies Project, dance costumes, textiles, and more. 


If you are in the Lowell, MA area, I hope you can view this exhibit.
Exhibition Dates: April 17-July 25, 2010
American Textile History Museum (athm.org)
491 Dutton Street, Lowell, MA 01852


More Than a Number” is a project of Light of Cambodian Children, Inc., with collaboration from the American Textile History Museum, Middlesex Community College Electronic Imaging Class, Voices of Cambodian Children, Lowell National Historical Park, Angkor Dance Troupe, Khmer Legacies Project, Cultural Organization of Lowell, Lowell Community Health Center,Amara Boutique and Fashion, and the New England Quilt Museum.

Funding is provided by the Theodore Edson Parker Foundation, Richard & Nancy Donahue Charitable Foundations Trust, Mass Humanities, Lowell Cultural Council, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Enterprise Bank, Tephtida Restaurant, Hannaford Supermarket, Community Teamwork, Inc., The Elephant Walk Restaurant Group, Minuteman Press, and by individual support.

Featured in Bristol Press for More Than a Number project

The project I am currently working on received some press. I was interviewed by the Bristol Press of Connecticut, my former hometown last week. The article was featured on Sunday's paper. Read the article below. (I will blog about the exhibition in my next post.)

Bristol family featured in Cambodian exhibit

Bristol family featured in Cambodian exhibit - The Bristol Press: Bristol, Conn., and surrounding areas (BristolPress.com)

Sunday, March 28, 2010 10:38 PM EDT

By Freesia Singngam
Staff Writer

A family of Cambodian refugees that came to Bristol after the Khmer Rouge genocide is being featured in an upcoming exhibit at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Mass. 

The name of the exhibit is "More Than a Number," and it’s a Light of Cambodian Children project. Its goal is to show that Cambodian refugees are "More Than a Number," said Sopheap Theam, a 1998 graduate of Bristol Eastern High School and member of the committee putting the exhibit together.

Theam came to the United States with her family in 1984 sponsored by Zion Lutheran Church in Bristol. She grew up in Bristol and moved away after she graduated from college. She still has family members in the area, who are active at Zion Lutheran, but she moved to Lowell, where her mother lives.

Theam’s interest in her family history peaked recently when she went to Cambodia with her family.

Now 30, she was able to see where she was born, which her parents described to her as "a jungle" when she was growing up.

"It’s very humbling to know where I could have been and what my parents went through," she said.

She said Cambodian refugee parents don’t often tell their children what they went through during the Khmer Rouge regime.

"They kept quiet," she said. "We should know what they went through."

She also saw old photos of her family, some where they’re wearing the numbers they received in prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, a time with mass starvation, executions and forced labor. About 2 million Cambodians died in the "killing fields" of the Cambodian genocide.

"The Khmer Rouge identified prisoners with these numbers," Theap said. "This was their death number. We realized that that’s all we were given, was a number."

Theam and members of her family managed to survive the regime, but after 1979, they were forced out of refugee camps. That was when several churches stepped in and sponsored Cambodian families to come to America.

Theam and her family came to Bristol in 1984. Theam noted that her family’s sponsor from Zion Lutheran, Shirley Dickau, is still at the church, and part of her family is still there.

Dickau said the church started sponsoring families in 1975 and continued to do so until 1990. In all, the church helped about 200 people from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos come to the United States. They were "a joy for us to sponsor," she said.

Theam’s family’s story of life during the Khmer Rouge and coming to America, along with photographs, will be featured in "More Than a Number."

She said the vision for "More Than a Number" came from Kowith Kret, a Cambodian refugee who now lives in Lowell. Kret is a family friend of Theam’s. The executive director of Light of Cambodian Children is Sayon Soeun, who is Theam’s brother-in-law. Soeun was sponsored by a church in Middletown.

"More Than a Number" will run at the American Textile History Museum, on 491 Dutton St., Lowell, Mass., from April 17 to July 25. Theam said the project committee hopes it will encourage more Cambodians to share their stories, and she asks that Cambodians in Bristol and in Connecticut to submit their stories to the project.

She said this project has been active for 5 years – starting with a grassroots campaign. The committee wants the exhibit to travel the United States and the world to spread its message.

More information on the exhibit and the Light of Cambodian Children can be found athttp://reaksmey.org/ or by e-mailing info@reaksmey.org.

Discovery

I'm back. I took a long hiatus from blogging. 2009 was a year of major changes...and most importantly major discoveries for me. The best of 2009 was my travels to my homeland, Cambodia. It was my first trip ever....and below are the highlights of the trip.

I went with my older sister, her husband, and mom. Here we are in front of Angkor Thom.

Bayon...the faces where carved everywhere. It was truly amazing.

This is the famous temple, Ta Prohm, in Tomb Raider. The trees very nearly destroyed it.

My most memorable part of the trip was riding the elephant in Mondulkiri....this is right at Bou Sra waterfalls,
...and picnicking by the waterfalls with local hill tribe, Phnong. We dressed in their clothes.

Notice what I am pointing to, this temple was erected in the 1100's. Did my ancestors saw dinosaurs back then? This is clearly a stegasaurus carving that I found at Ta Prohm temple.

Here is our gang in front of Angkor Wat. To the left of Mom is her brother. Tom, in yellow, is a my long time friend from high school. I invited him on our adventure travels....and he absolutely loved it!

Mom and I are posing in the garden courtyard of the National Museum in Phnom Penh.

We gave out school supplies to orphans at a school in Siem Reap.

...and here I am at last. Standing in the exact location where I was born a 7 month premie during the Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge era. Behind me is the pond. 30 years later, everything is pretty much the same, minus a few sugar canes....and the fact that the land is no longer my mom's. I am so grateful to have survived and lived a fulfilling life. Remind me never to complain about my life again....or to take life for granted.

Super Bowl Tampa

(The Super Bowl XLIII was in Tampa this year. Last nights game was awesome, well played. Sadly, the Cardinals lost to the Steelers. 23-27.)

I figured I'll make some dessert bites. I'm going to try the football cake balls I saw one time on the Bakerella blog. I actually tasted my first cake ball at Ashley's house/baby shower. They were delicious and I have since stocked up my pantry on the ingredients should the opportunity presents itself. So what better time to make them!

Super Bowl Football cake bites.
(I did 2 batches for 2 different parties, but the ingredients below is only for 1 batch.)

1 Red Velvet Cake mix
1 can of cheesecake frosting
1 bag of candy mold in chocolate - (turns out I didnt have any so I settled for Hershey candy bar)
1 tube of white cake gel.

The first step is to make the cake per the mix and let it cool aside. After it is cool, crumble the cake into a big bowl and mix the cake crumble with the can of frosting (mix thoroughly with your hand or a big wooden spoon). Cover bowl and chill in refrigerator..

After the cake crumble has cooled down, take about 1 tablespoon of the mix and roll and shape into little footballs. (I made some small circle balls too). Use up all the mix.

Then dip the "football" in the melted chocolate. Let sit and harden. With the white gel, decorate the football so it looks like one. (Wow, I had a hard time describing this...oh well, hopefully the pictures will help.)

:D Enjoy! These are ultra easy, it just takes a little time, but so delish! When you bite into the football, the red velvet cake is very moist.

The only problem was that I had a hard time transporting the football without the cake gel rubbing up against everything. Next time, I'll make that extra effort to decorate it using white chocolate.

My BB is on Crack....

I had the strangest and yet scariest moment last week. I was in Boston checking out the new facilities for Offense Defense Nike Sports Camps that I manage during the summer. And well, it must have been the freezing temperature, but my Blackberry decided to crash, freeze and then delete ALL of my emails (all accounts), all of my texts, call logs, and my BlackBerry Messenger conversations. In essence, I lost everything! EVERYTHING!

Yes I did panic. My whole life and work was in that little sucker, but I figured, those I didn't respond to would eventually call or connect with me again, and I can apologize. But the funny thing is: I FELT LIBERATED! I was free......

So, I have decided to simplify life a little more and get rid of tons of things. That being said, I am going through my countless email accounts and forever Deleting MANY MANY emails. I think I just might cry....this is a crazy step for me.

Well, that being said...I should clean up my contacts too. I think I have too many "old" contacts, the emails don't even exist anymore.

Off to clean up my life a bit. Liberate myself and all.....here's to "DELETE".

Sugar and Spice ...BABY SHOWER

I hosted my FIRST (surprise) baby shower for Ashley @ work. We had it in the conference room of an office near my office so it would "remain" a surprise.

Everyone was very good about keeping it hush, hush. Ashley had not the slightest clue.

The theme was "Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice, that's what girls are made of". I made a banner from cardstock spelling out the baby-to-be's name "Amelia".

Food: I had simple finger foods. An assortment of crackers, a brie cheese platter with strawberry, grapes, a crudite platter, bruschetta, Sabra hummus with roasted pine nuts, and rolled deli wraps.

For dessert, I made marble cupcakes with "pink" cheesecake frosting topped with pink sprinkles. (I tucked Hershey kisses in the center (before baking) for a sweet surprise.) It was delish!

We played three games, for the chance at three different "prizes". The prizes were Sugar (cake mix wrapped in a pink onesie), Spice (my favorite El Yucateco Habenero hot sauce also wrapped in a onesie), and "All things Nice" (a candle and votive set wrapped with a bottle cleaning brush).

Games played: 1. Fill in the nursery rhyme. 2. Match the mommy animal to its baby name. 3. a riddle.

The riddle was ....Old Mother Hubbard, went to the cupboard, to fetch her dog a bone. But when she got there, the cupboard was bare, and she said, "icurmt".

Who ever translated it correctly won.
(Answer: "I see you are empty")

Everyone walked away with the cutest Hershey candy wrapped in a homemade "sleeping baby wrapper". Aren't they adorable??

It's surprisingly easily to make. I printed out labels with the event date on Avery 8160 labels. Hershey's were wrapped in cardstock and I tucked a picture of a babyface I had found on the web. I printed it on ivory paper to give it a natural baby face look and dusted the cheeks with face blush. I thought the ribbon was a great detail to add. THEY ARE SO ADORABLE!!! And when lined up on the gift table, it looked like a large bed of sleeping babies.

It was such a hit, my friend Silvia immediately said that I can plan her baby shower....(no, she is not expecting....) :D

All things Baby

I have two baby showers this weekend, and I am hosting another baby shower next week. So I've been in a little "sweet baby" mode. I LOVE BABIES!!! :D

I thought it would be a great idea to make a Diaper Cake for Ashley. Ashley is expecting a baby girl so I decided the cake theme would be "Sugar 'n Spice and all things Nice". I wanted to make a very pretty girlie diaper cake.

So here it is. Steps to my Diaper Cake.

I went to Babys r'us to start with the shopping. I wanted a practical gift, so I picked up only items that were on the registry. I picked up a lot of small items. For the diapers, I picked up a 92 count Huggies Newborn Gentle Care (also on the registry).

I'm a bit of a germaphobic, so I rolled some diapers and protected it with plastic wrap. It also helped hold the shape.

I placed a Johnson's baby wash in the center of a disposable catering platter I had on hand and loosely tied a gold elastic rope (you can use an elastic rubber band) around the bottle. (I was going to put a bottle of wine (to celebrate the birth of Amelia Claire!) I slipped the rolled up diaper around the baby wash bottle. The elastic ribbon (or band) will help keep the diaper in place.

After the first layer, I began on my second layer, surrounding the first layer of diapers with more diapers, held securely by the elastic ribbon. I am making a small cake so I only did 2 rounds.

I then arranged unrolled diapers around the base and held it securely in place with a decorative (I chose Hot Pink) ribbon.
I wrapped a Genie II Diaper refill with a decorative cardstock. I chose one that matched a ribbon I happen to have on hand. (Yes, I am a dork! I love collecting ribbons. It's all about the details.) I had the fantastic idea of using the wrapped Genie refill as one of my cake tiers, so I poked a whole in it and set it on top of the Baby Wash.

I was going to stop the cake here, (a 2 tier cake), and began decorating it with some pink silk flowers. However, I decided to add more tiers and top the Diaper Cake with a "frog bathtub thermometer" that was on the registry. It looked like a great "cake topper" so I had to make it work!! So I rolled up some wash cloths and onesies around the baby wash (secured by more ribbon). I had the onesies stick out a bit so I can easily place the frog thermometer on top. The topper was a little heavy and lopsided my cake a little bit, but oh well.


I then tied a ribbon around every tier. For some of the tiers, I layered the ribbons. (Notice my polka-dot ribbon and almost matching polka dot cardstock.)


The last touch was to decorate the cake. I slipped in items from the registry (cooling packs, brush, bottle cleaner, nail clippers, etc) and other embellishments (wooden ornaments, sticker tags, etc) all over the cake. If you look closely, you can see that the platter is finished with outlet protectors. Unique way to use up ugly looking items :D

Well, I hope Ashley & Josh like their cake. And hopefully, they will not be too frustrated trying to unroll the individually-wrapped diapers.

Ring in the New Year (2009)

Happy New Years!!!

My New Years was quite mellow. I actually did not have anything planned out. I only knew that my cousin, Monak, would be in town and that perhaps, we would make dinner.

And so we did. It was a small gathering at Nick's, just Sophan, Monak, Dan, Nick, and I. We had lamb roast with Moroccan spice, lemon & parsley orzo and a refreshing summer salad. It turned out great! Sophan loved it so much, she helped herself to a second plate. And after New Year's, when we got back home, she was craving for more. Unfortunately, we cleaned it all up. I'm so happy she loved it that much.

So about the lamb roast, well we were pressed for time so I did not marinate it as long as I would have (in fact I did not marinate it at all). But it turned out great. I tweaked (yes, I tweak nearly every recipe I find) the recipe a little bit. It was supposed to be a rack of lamb, but the selection was not great so we settled with making a lamb roast.

First the marinade. I combined the following in a bowl then rubbed it all over the lamb, which I had sitting in a roasting pan so it would reach room temperature: about 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil, about 1/3 cups finely chopped mint leaves, bit of sea salt & fresh peppercorn, 1 tsp cumin, (the recipe called for 2tbs coriander as well, however, while picking up the cumin & coriander, I accidentally picked up 2 cumin. Oh well.)

Then I poured in some chicken stock and dry red wine (I absolutely love cooking with wine!) into the roasting pan. I also tossed in some chopped onions and baby carrots. (Random I know, but it was lying around in the refrigerator looking a little lonely.)

I cooked it for about 15 minutes at 425degrees, then lowered the temperature to 350 degrees and cooked it for about another 40 minutes, until the temperature read 140 degrees. I took it out then tented it with foil for about 10 minutes.

The orzo. I made plain orzo first, basically 2 quarts boiling water, 1 cup orzo and a little salt and pepper. Cooked it for about 8 minutes until done. Then I drained the orzo. I then combined the cooked orzo with: zest of 1 lemon, the juice of 1 lemon, about 1/4 cups olive oil, a little cayenne pepper for a bit of a kick, and about 1/4 cups finely chopped parsley.

A simple salad was served: mixed spring greens, sliced strawberries, mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds, and a pomegranate vinaigrette dressing.


That was basically it. Everyone looked hungry, huh?

Dinner was topped off by a James Bond marathon, Amish electric fireplace info commercial, and the "clothesline" commercial, and the horrendous commentary of Kelly Pickle on one of the NYE special.

We did catch the fireworks. Walked right down to Bayshore and saw a beautiful 360 panorama of the Tampa Bay scenery with fireworks shooting from every angle.

We did not make it to Channelside, but I cannot imagine a better vantage than where we stood on Bayshore.
(Oh, before I forget, I just wanted to update my previous post about the Coke ribs. When Nick made it back at home in New York, his dad and friend, Brian, both loved it so much they planned on making it tonight, NYE. When we talked to Brian, he was about one hour into the ribs, and had a lot more to go. Dr. P, Nick's dad, decided to fore go it and make it tomorrow so he would have plenty of time to make 2 batches. I was so happy to hear the ribs was such a great hit!)

Below is a picture of Nick's Dad prepping his Coke Ribs. Notice the happy smile :D, the upside down Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (the best!), sea salt & fresh peppercorn, and the CrockPot. PERFECT ingredients (minus the Coke) for the perfect COKE ribs. Who says you cannot have THE perfect BBQ ribs when there's snow outside? Anyways, the COKE ribs recipe is in an earlier post. ENJOY! :D

Morocco

I brought Mehdi and Maria to the airport. They are on their way to Morocco. I wish I was going too. Morocco is absolutely splendid. The Belhassans invited Nick and I to join them last April. It was the best trip ever. There is nothing like experiencing a totally new country with friends and family. The country is amazing, the food delicious, and the people are the kindest.

Aba and Ama, Mehdi's parents, were wonderful hosts and awesome tour guides. I learned alot, well, whatever I was able to pick up in my limited French and even more limited Moroccan.

It was fantastic and I had the best memories. A few random shots to sum up my trip there. (I'm going to do a separate post on the food I ate later)

Sahara Desert
on top a store rooftop in Ouarzazate, Morocco
Ait Ben Haddou
Pit stop and scenery lookout in the Atlas Mountains towards the summit, Col du Tichka

Driss and I in Berber clothes

Ama's potted flowers in Royale Ouarzazate
Ait Ben Haddou in the distance
Olive Market in Old Casablanca
a gorge
le grand mosque hassan II, Casablanca
Catching the sunrise on top the Merzouga Dunes, Sahara Desert
Marrakech

Recipes for Christmas

PORK ROAST, 12-21-08 | RP Secret Santa Party
As mentioned, I made my very first Pork Roast. YAY! It was actually quite simple. I tweaked a recipe I found from Giada de Laurentiis (I love GIADA!!!).

I took a pork loin and seasoned it with some olive oil, sea salt, fresh peppercorn, thyme, Sicilian oregano, garlic, and then layered some clementine peel all around it. I let it sit for approximately 1.5 hours while I was working on my buche de noel.


After letting it sit (refrigerated), I removed the clementine peels and then I cooked it at 475 degrees for approximately 40 minutes. (155 degrees on the meat thermometer) Then I covered it with foil for approximately another 15 minutes. (165 degrees final temp)

I served it with some canned whole cranberries, mixed with about a half a shot of Cointreau and some clementine peels. Delicious when served warm.

Buche de Noel, 12-21-08 | RP Secret Santa Party
I made the traditional buche de noel with a little bit of shortcut steps. Perhaps I should not have, but I just did not have the time to make everything from scratch.

The cake was made from a ready mix cake box. Betty Crocker or something. Vanilla. It was baked over parchment paper coated with flour.

The filling was made from scratch. I made a almond flavored chocolate mousse.

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoon granulated white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 shot of Cointreau

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix. Then put it in the refrigerator for about an one hour. Take it out and mix again until it becomes frothy and forms peaks and has a mousse like consistency.

Then I layered the mousse on the cake and rolled it up. I covered the log with some chocolate frosting (ready made). I streaked the "log" with a fork to make tree bark lines. Finally, I decorated it with mushrooms, a santa, and a snowman made out of marzipan.

To make them, I bought a ready made marzipan. Kneaded it to make it a little more pliable, and then formed domes for the mushroom caps and mini cylinders for the mushroom stalks. I "glued" them together with melted chocolate and dusted the mushrooms with cocoa powder to give it a dusty look.

My favorite touch was capping Mr. Snowman with a small strawberry and a dab of white frosting.

XRP '08: Christmas Rat Pakk '08

Fruit Pizza or Tarte de Fruit, 12-24-08 Xmas Eve @ Belhassans
This was extremely delicious and so very easy to make.
I took a store bought Pillsbury sugar cookie mix, rolled it to a pizza pie shape and baked at 350 degrees for approximately 14 minutes. I let it cool for approximately 30 minutes after it was done baking.

While the cookie pizza was baking, I made a cheesecake filling by mixing on medium speed until frothy: 1 package of cream cheese, 1/3 cup of sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

During the half hour while the cookie was cooling, I washed some blackberries, blueberries and sliced strawberries, kiwis, and drained a can of mandarin oranges.

Then I layered the cookie with the cream cheese filling and topped it off with the fruit in a beautiful decorative arrangement. I then glazed the entire tarte with a strawberry glaze (store bought). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Next time, I want to make my own glaze and flavor the cream cheese with almond extract (YUM! I love almond flavor.)

Picture below.
12-26-08
Nick called today while I was out and about shopping with my sister and neighbor, Geoffrey. He is in New York with his family for the Christmas holiday and wanted to make our Coke ribs for his friends. Well, I'm adding it to this post so A. I won't forget about it and B. well, it was made during the holiday season, even though I did not personally make it this time. It's a great big hit. Nick and I discovered the recipe a while back in a magazine and it never failed.....actually, it failed during a few experiment runs so stick to the below directions. (Failing experiments and reason follows the recipe).

Take a rack of ribs and season with salt and pepper. Then bring to boil in a large pot: a 1 liter bottle of coke and a bottle (and a half) of your favorite barbecue sauce. The best one we found was the Sweet Baby Ray's sauce. Once it is boiling, put the ribs in and bring back to a boil. If you do not have a crock pot, lower the heat setting to a simmer and simmer for approximately 4-6 hours (we found 5 hours to be the best).

If you have a crock pot, put the ribs and cover with as much of the sauce as you can possibly fit into the pot. Cover and low simmer for approximately 6 hours. Then take the ribs and grill it or broil it. Delicious!! I also like to add some chilli pepper/sauce for a kick, but I do not do it much as Nick is not a fan of things spicy.

Other versions that failed or was just par:
1. Dr. Pepper - we both love Dr. Pepper. We replaced Coke with Dr. Pepper but found that the flavor was not as good.
2. Hours of cooking in crock pot 2 vs 4 vs 6 vs 10. | 4 - 6 our best. 10 was over cooked. 2 was under cook and the ribs did not fall off the bone.
3. Hours of cooking on stovetop. Only tried 2 vs 4 hours. 2 was too short. 4 was actually not bad.
4. BBQ sauce. Tried several. (ie: Masterpiece, Heinz, etc..but found Sweet Baby Rays the best. Also, the standard size bbq was too little. I like to do a big BJ's size or at least a bottle and a half. (I also like to add a bit of hot sauce with the BBQ sauce)

As mentioned, a GREAT hit. We made it for a football party, Memorial Day BBQ, some potlucks, last Thanksgiving 07 w/help from my cousin Alia, and now Nick's solo Xmas attempt. Always Wonderful!

Happy BBQing! and below are some rib pictures from previous attempts.
Unfortunately, eating ribs makes one very sleepy. Recommendation: nap after ribs.
If you look closely, the ribs are at the right corner of the Memorial Day BBQ table spread.