Food, Fun, and Fancy Feet

Our ward put together a one-day FSY experience for the youth. FSY stands for For the Strength of Youth and is a weeklong spiritual and social feast. The shortened version consisted of four speakers, dinner, swing dancing lessons, dessert, and so many snacks. I was asked to handle dinner and dessert, mostly because Peter probably wouldn't eat it if anyone else made it. I was given a budget, a main course that the youth had voted on, and told to prepare for 40-45 people.

I'd never been in charge of a meal like this, so I went heavy on the research and planning. Topher and I spent most of one day last week driving to multiple stores and recording prices of ingredients so the budget would stretch as far as possible. Then I made my shopping plan and spent Friday gathering my supplies.

The kids had asked for Walking Tacos, which I had only had once. For those that haven't had them, a Walking Tacos consists of an individual sized bag of Doritos (or Fritos) with various taco toppings dumped into the bag on top of the chips. It's then eaten with a fork right out of the bag. When I ate them before the only meat option was ground beef cooked in taco seasoning. It was okay. I wanted to give the kids a few more options, so in addition to the taco ground beef I cooked chicken in green enchilada sauce and made instant pot refried beans. They also had topping options like cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and salsa. I kept the sides simple and stuck with red and green grapes and carrots and celery sticks with dip. I also got ice cream and root beer for dessert.

This project took the majority of my Saturday and I was on my feet for most of it. One of the other moms in the ward hung out with me in the kitchen and helped me set up beforehand and wash dishes afterward while the kids attended their classes. I'm happy to report that it was a success! Peter ate everything that was offered at dinner, a rare event for a church activity. The other youth seemed to enjoy it as well, even the slightly overcooked chicken. It was a long day, but rewarding. And I loved getting to chat with my friend while we worked.

Because we have twice as many young men as young women, the moms of the boys were invited to join the dance lesson so everyone would have a partner. I snapped this picture of the instruction before Cooper's partner switched out and I jumped in. Can you spot Peter, Cooper, and Phoebe? It was fun to do swing dancing again after so many years, though this was the first time I've done it to country music.

It was a great activity and I loved getting to be part of it!