Empty Journal: Catering

Craig's catering company, Edible Accolades, will be one and a half years old in July. Even though he is still building his clientele base I am already dreaming up new side projects I could manage for the business.

One side project that I am excited about is EAT: Edible Accolades Treats. This will be an online side business where people can order gourmet treats that will be mailed to them or picked up at the kitchen. I want to keep it simple and start off with three or four types of cookies. I'm thinking chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, white chocolate with cranberry, and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Then, if things go well I can expand and incorporate other items such as brownies, chocolates, and pies that might ship well. Perhaps some of those other items could be seasonal specials.

Other news on the horizon to look out for is the launch of the Edible Accolades website. I think this should be happening by the end of the month. I saw some proofs of the website and I think they looked fabulous. I can't wait for the website to go live so I can share it with everyone!

I think I have finally recovered from our weekend of catering. Craig booked two parties this past weekend. On Saturday he catered a small wedding for the mother of our friend (and Craig's co-worker/employee, Kevin) and on Sunday he catered a retirement party for my mom's friend/hair dresser. I was his kitchen helper.

My role as helper actually started during my lunch break on Friday when I ran errands such as, making the car payment at the bank, picking up the car magnets and driving across town to pick up a giant cutting board, a platter and some table cloths from United Restaurant Equipment. Then after work I ran to BJ's to get 24 loaves of bread for sandwiches and french toast that Craig would be making this week. Luckily the AKC is pretty centrally located between all of those places with I-40, I-540 and Glenwood Ave at my disposal.

Friday night we stayed at the kitchen until nearly 10 p.m. prepping and cleaning. Then we got up at 5:07 in the morning to head back to the kitchen. I know it was 5:07 because I allowed us to hit the snooze button once. We were actually in the kitchen and working by 5:20. Craig left with the food at 9:30 in the morning while I stayed behind to sweep up and finish cleaning some sheet pans etc. Then I went home, cleaned the bath room, took a shower, had a egg salad at sandwich Harmony Café, went back to the kitchen to load up my car with the food for the halfway house (this food was actually prepped on Friday so it was ready to go), drove across town and delivered it.

By the time I drove back home and relaxed just a little bit, Craig sent me a text message to tell me that it was time to clean up at the wedding-so off I went to the wedding reception site. I helped load up the car and bring things back to the kitchen. Then I was cleaning all sorts of platters and pans all over again.

Much to my dismay, we ended up staying at the kitchen until 10 p.m. again as we prepped for Sunday's party. However, I tried to put on a happy face about this. Craig said I could go home but I didn't want to leave him to do everything by himself. Things did get a little punchy when I was slicing the cheese for the cheese platters on the slicer. Craig and I volleyed a lot of "cutting the cheese" jokes.

We were able to sleep in a little bit on Sunday--if you count sleeping until 7 a.m. as sleeping in. Then, we were off to the kitchen again! This time Kevin was working and he came in around 9 a.m. at which point I was relieved of my kitchen helper duty. (yey!) I went over to Starbucks and bought Craig a Chai though because I thought he would like it. (Kevin didn't want anything). After that I went home, cleaned the rest of the apartment and got ready to go over to the retirement party to take some pictures of the food. Over all, both parties were a success and Craig received a lot of complements. I think he really got a lot of good exposure.

Here are some pictures of Sunday's event (Craig forgot to take pictures on Saturday, although I think Kevin took some and we may be able to get some from the wedding photographer):

Fruit and Cheese: