Adventures in Catering
I catered a wedding this weekend.
I have to say that it was a most interesting experience for me. Not because of anything that actually had anything to do with the job itself. It was one of those situations where my commitment to do this job conflicted with a family obligation. The commitment to this wedding won out.
It was more painful than I expected.
Before you decide to yell at me, please realize that in this case, the chicken totally came first (no.. I am not calling my friend a chicken, LOL). I was asked to cater this wedding quite some time ago.. before my nephew decided to set the date for his wedding. Once he did, and the two events conflicted... while it hurt.. I told my family that I had accepted this job and I had to follow through.
From the rest of it... well.. I won't bore you with the minutae of the everything.. but we got all the shopping done (I soo should have gone to Restaurant depot instead of chefsmart) and did some final shopping at the most ghetto supermarket in all of winston-salem. It was.. um.. an interesting shopping experience.
Once done with the shopping, things safely tucked away in coolers, I went to find my hotel. along the way I found a friend (Hi M!) and The Boy, M and I went to a fun dinner at Red Robin. Nummy burger goodness and a drink called "Sand in my Shorts" that didn't hurt either!
Great company and even better conversation and then we all picked up and actually checked into the hotel. Boy oh boy. I got my employee discount and even at $25.00 I wanted my money back. Just sayin.
Why? Well..let's see..
1. Bed had ripples in it (no joke)
2. Mattress was only marginally softer than the floor.
3. let's not even TALK about the bathroom
4. The "professionals" working in the room upstairs was, if nothing else, an amusing topic of conversation for later in the evening.
Saturday morning at OMG early in the morning we headed off to the venue to unload the coolers and do some last minute running around. Back to site with my staff (who is Made of Awesome) and quite literally hit the ground running.
The kitchen at the site was pretty rocking (warmer, convection oven, grill, good counter space, freezer and reach in) Only thing it didn't have was a dishwasher (ok.. well.. a mechanical one, that is).
Food was prepped, cooked and plated. I was happy with the layout (could have used one more table, though) The Boy played Bartender for me and did an OMG job.. plus he helped cook and prep in the kitchen.
Bride looked beautiful, groom was b lissfully happy and the 'rents were very happy with the food. It's all I can ask for.
After cleanup, went back to hotel and quite literally fell down. Every muscle ached.. and sleep came swiftly.
Today was a joyful day... got together with some friends and had a kick tail lunch and some rocking coconut flan and then back up the road we go. Home again home again.. and now I'm back to the bread and butter job.
But.. ya know it went well when they approach you about another possible wedding in the near future! :-) Yay
Super uber thanks to my dear friends .. D, P and their kids for being a rocking staff.
And a special big thanks to the Boy for putting me back together after I fell down, even though he was exhausted as well and had worked just as hard.
It's exhausting and sometimes mind and body numbing.. but .. i love to cook.. and this plating thing ain't bad either!
NO NAKED FOOD!!
:-)
I have to say that it was a most interesting experience for me. Not because of anything that actually had anything to do with the job itself. It was one of those situations where my commitment to do this job conflicted with a family obligation. The commitment to this wedding won out.
It was more painful than I expected.
Before you decide to yell at me, please realize that in this case, the chicken totally came first (no.. I am not calling my friend a chicken, LOL). I was asked to cater this wedding quite some time ago.. before my nephew decided to set the date for his wedding. Once he did, and the two events conflicted... while it hurt.. I told my family that I had accepted this job and I had to follow through.
From the rest of it... well.. I won't bore you with the minutae of the everything.. but we got all the shopping done (I soo should have gone to Restaurant depot instead of chefsmart) and did some final shopping at the most ghetto supermarket in all of winston-salem. It was.. um.. an interesting shopping experience.
Once done with the shopping, things safely tucked away in coolers, I went to find my hotel. along the way I found a friend (Hi M!) and The Boy, M and I went to a fun dinner at Red Robin. Nummy burger goodness and a drink called "Sand in my Shorts" that didn't hurt either!
Great company and even better conversation and then we all picked up and actually checked into the hotel. Boy oh boy. I got my employee discount and even at $25.00 I wanted my money back. Just sayin.
Why? Well..let's see..
1. Bed had ripples in it (no joke)
2. Mattress was only marginally softer than the floor.
3. let's not even TALK about the bathroom
4. The "professionals" working in the room upstairs was, if nothing else, an amusing topic of conversation for later in the evening.
Saturday morning at OMG early in the morning we headed off to the venue to unload the coolers and do some last minute running around. Back to site with my staff (who is Made of Awesome) and quite literally hit the ground running.
The kitchen at the site was pretty rocking (warmer, convection oven, grill, good counter space, freezer and reach in) Only thing it didn't have was a dishwasher (ok.. well.. a mechanical one, that is).
Food was prepped, cooked and plated. I was happy with the layout (could have used one more table, though) The Boy played Bartender for me and did an OMG job.. plus he helped cook and prep in the kitchen.
Bride looked beautiful, groom was b lissfully happy and the 'rents were very happy with the food. It's all I can ask for.
After cleanup, went back to hotel and quite literally fell down. Every muscle ached.. and sleep came swiftly.
Today was a joyful day... got together with some friends and had a kick tail lunch and some rocking coconut flan and then back up the road we go. Home again home again.. and now I'm back to the bread and butter job.
But.. ya know it went well when they approach you about another possible wedding in the near future! :-) Yay
Super uber thanks to my dear friends .. D, P and their kids for being a rocking staff.
And a special big thanks to the Boy for putting me back together after I fell down, even though he was exhausted as well and had worked just as hard.
It's exhausting and sometimes mind and body numbing.. but .. i love to cook.. and this plating thing ain't bad either!
NO NAKED FOOD!!
:-)