In the kitchen

On Saturday I worked the kitchen shift at church during their annual fund-raising auction. They do a big dinner -- cash bar, appetizers, nice meal, dessert for around 200 people. They have the room -- set up tables with nice tablecloths, silverware -- we're not talking plastic and paper here. One of our members is a caterer by profession, and she volunteers for a number of events like these in any given year. I always wanted to work with her. I'd hear about Erica does it this way, or Erica taught me that...she knows a lot about presentation as well as food preparation.

I have to say that I think I worked well with her -- found her pace and kind of fit in. It was pretty ambitious to serve 200 people at the same time. We had volunteers waiting on 2 tables each and taking orders. They had a choice of a vegetarian torte (very beautiful with pumpkin, eggplant, spinach, couscous and more), a pretty chicken roll with sauce, or beef that could be individually ordered for how rare people wanted it. Then there were side dishes on each plate. Erica and I were on the stove side of a long work area, and I sliced chicken into pretty medallions and put it in a little puddle of sauce, and Erica was working the stove with big hunks of beef that were finished with a beautiful currant sauce. Before the event she said she was a little worried about the beef -- how to get everyone what they wanted in a hurry. Luckily she knows her beef -- she was just slicing and grilling and had lots of pieces that needed to be handled all at once. When I wasn't on chicken duty I found a way to help her, and it seemed to work out well. I guess the kitchen did have the flavor of one of these TV shows, and Erica did get animated here and there:-) But I was really impressed with how she could get that many volunteers to work as a team -- she had to teach all of us how to do things.

She called to thank me and said she'd like to work with me again. I have to say, I don't ever want to be a caterer, but I liked that work environment. I liked the fast pace and coordination and problem solving. I think when I finish my Amnesty quilt, I might call and ask if she ever needs extra hands for a job -- I think I'd enjoy doing more of that.