Guinea pigs...maybe?

Cindy's Uncle Larry (Ray's Brother) invited us over to his house for brunch; his wife evidently has this fabulous recipe for an egg casserole that she wanted to make for us.

We were already supposed to go over to Larry's for this brunch twice before, but Ray had gotten sick and we rescheduled, then Ray ended up in the hospital, and we had to postpone again. Now that he is home and everything is going well we have once again gotten the invitation from Larry.

"Egg Casserole?" Ray asked, "I've never heard of such a thing. Is that kind of like a custard?" Larry just shook his head and laughed before answering.

Ray giving Larry Bunny Ears in this photo taken a few years ago.

Now just to kind of set the mood a little, the relationship between Larry and Ray is your typical big brother/little brother loud and constant one upping, arrogant, and always poking fun at one another situation. Ray is the oldest brother in the family and about 10 years older than Larry his younger brother.

"Noooo! It's not like custard!" Larry exclaimed, "It's an egg casserole with sausage, cheese, and hell I don't know what's all in it but it's good!" Ray gave him a look and said, "If you don't know what goes into it then why do I want to come over there and eat it?" "I'm not making it!" Larry answered, "Midge is the one who wanted to cook it for you, and I promise it is really good."

Ray smiled at him and said, "Well alrighty then that's different, if Midge is making it, I'll be there." "OK then, we will see you all at the house Monday at 11am" Larry said as he walked towards the door to leave. Ray rubbed his stomach and said in a weak voice, "It all depends on how I'm feeling on Monday."

Larry stopped and turned to look at his brother and said. "Oh come on Ray! You are going to be there! We really need for you all to come over for this brunch, Midge has never made this egg casserole before and she wanted to fix it for you before she makes it for any of our friends..."

Ray told him that we'd be there "If I don't croak first!" Cindy leaned over to me and whispered, "I'm beginning to feel like we are being used as guinea pigs."

Monday came and it was time to load up and go to Larry and Midges, I attached the wheelchair ramp at the back door, and got Ray wheeled out to the car. On the way there Ray said to himself as much as to us, "I sure hope that this stuff they are making is good!" "It's going to be fine Dad." Cindy assured him.

Midge had prepared a brunch consisting of the Egg Casserole, Apple Muffins, and our choice of drinks. This is when the fun began.

Ray said to Larry "How about a Mojito! You know that you have been promising to make me a good Mojito!" "I never promised to make you a Mojito, I don't even know how to make one!" Larry replied.  Ray asked him "Well why were you bragging at the house about how you made Mojitos for your friends and that they loved them, did you use all of your champagne on your friends?" Larry just looked at him blankly for a minute and then said "Champagne? You don't use champagne in Mojitos, you use Rum!"

I never claimed that we know how to mix drinks, so Cindy and I were just smiling and nodding our heads about this time, because Ray rarely drinks a beer much less anything else.

Ray: "You said that they were made with Champagne and Orange Juice and your friends loved them!"

Larry: "That's not a Mojito that's a Mimosa!"

Ray: "I don't care what you call it all I know is that you said you were going to make me one!"

Larry laughing as he was walking out of the room, "Let me see what I have, I'll be right back."

After a few minutes Larry came back into the room carrying a tall glass of what looked like Orange Juice and sat it in front of Ray. Ray smiled and said, "Finally, I got my Mimosa!" Larry laughed and said "I have to confess that I am out of champagne, so I substituted Vodka instead."

The apple muffins were great, and the egg casserole was so good that Cindy had three helpings and asked for the recipe. Ray never finished his Vodka laced Orange Juice aka screwdriver, nor did he ask for anything else either. On our way out the door to go home Larry spoke up loud enough so Ray could hear him "I am so glad that Ray liked the casserole, now we can make it for our real friends!" Ray just smiled and pretended that he never heard a word.

 God you have to love family...Don't you?