My First Gig!

Well - I've done it - canapes for 100 - and virtually every scrap eaten, but at the same time a goodly supply that lasted until 9.00, the official closing time: a few people who turned up afterwards were hanging around the preparation area looking hopeful.... all that was left were a few scraps of foccacia.   Fortunately the Stylish Ice Cream compay were there with really nice ice cream - from their Dreamland Fridge!  They are coming to the Squall in the Park - so that's great.

The Pie Factory Gallery has been cleaned up and painted - and I think the floor has been sorted out.  It's nice because there are a lot of distressed exposed bits - not too showy, just there.   There will be a cafe eventually - perhaps Janet might give me a contract to provide some of the food?

One of my canape ambitions is to present a plate that isn't just full of "brown food" - to show a variety of colours.  But people love brown food - anything with pastry was scoffed rapidly - the foccacia with tomato went quite well, but the nice "healthy" cucumber slices with cream cheese mixed with herbs (dill and chives) or with smoked salmon were somewhat neglected.

What have I learned from this?

Um - Ned is a good waiter - and able to explain the food -
The glazed chicken was popular and well worth doing; the lemon tapenade is really popular - and veggie!
Just about enough in the way of veggie options (4 - the foccacias, the cucumber and cream cheese, the spinach and feta pastries).    Um - yes, need to practice my pipeing skills - do not use the fine star with mixtures that have lumps in - the dill in the cream cheese blocked it up.  Creating some interestingly unprofessional lumps of cheese.   Probably no one cared - but I'd rather things were a bit more perfect.  Needed more trays/plates etc.  More salt in the fish fingers?

Next time I'll do the smoked salmon mix on something farinaceous, and do a prawn thing on the cucumber?

Given the right preparation area I could do a lot of last minute things - if I have waiting staff to walk trays around while I'm doing it.  Given a stove a few small hot things would be possible.  A bit of privacy would be nice - the prep area was rather exposed - and people wandered in to swipe things (I didn't mind - there was plenty - but it rather kills the "mystique").

The best thing is that everyone was very complimentary about the food - and a lot of people took my card.  So perhaps there will be more accounts of such events.  Let's hope.  This particular event was a little bit of a loss leader - and I'm delighted that Dawn asked me - it gave me some exposure, but I was wondering how much I would have charged if I were being a bit more commercial.  I need to work out my hourly rate (including my presence at the do - plus what I might pay a waiter) to make a proper price.... then again I'm aware that lots of people/organisations around here don't have that much money - so there are jobs I'd be prepared to do if they tell me what they want to spend and I see what I can do.

Canape Menu for "I've lost my little Willy"

Sausage "ravioli",  Spinach and feta pastries, glazed chicken
Tuna muffins, Turkish fish fingers,
Cucumber with cream cheese and herbs, cream cheese and smoked salmon,
Tomato foccacia, plain foccacia with lemon tapenade.

Dawn suggested I sell the tapenade in pots - could do.  Don't think it would keep that long - I'll pot the remains and seal with oil and see how well it lasts.

Summer Sunday Lunch

My in-laws (3 of them) came to lunch yesterday.   Because we wanted to go for a walk to the beach, I decided it would be an idea to eat something - then have the walk - and then go back for more.   Otherwise we have a huge meal and are then too tired to walk to the beach.  This idea came to me because there was something happening in town at 1.30 that I wanted to go to - and it seemed like a good opportunity to see the Great Wall of Ramsgate at the same time.

This is what we had for lunch.

We sat in the garden and ate foccacia (plain and tomato) with lemon tapenade and homemade pesto, and various olives, dried tomatoes, mushrooms etc.  This was great - lots of fresh tastes and very satisfying.   After an hour or so visiting the seafront we were ready for a bit more.

We ate cold pork cooked in milk, a salad of leaves, couscous and roast vegetables with cumin dressing, caponata and pommes etuvees which I par-cooked before we went out - so that they could quickly be finished when we came home.

Then we had mirabelle trifle - with mirabelle jam, panettone soaked in mirabelle liqueur (home made), topped with cream and a few crumbled amaretti.  And then, although people thought they were full, cheese. 

After that, coffee in the garden, now at its hottest at about 4.30 - we needed shade!