May 2016 was an interesting and busy month. Not just in what was then my day job, but also doing something that was a first for me. During March, one Saturday morning, minding my stall, as is my wont, Treasurer of a local committee passed by and made small talk with The Husband. Probably about the job he’d recently done for them. When the niceties were done, he turned to me.
“We’d like you to do the snacks for our AGM.”
Er, what?
“We’d like you to do the snacks for our AGM.”
I thought I’d learned when to say no. Evidently not, because I heard something completely different coming out of my mouth:
“I’m sure I can, just let me know the date. If it doesn’t clash with The Day Job…”
Then panic set in: how many, what type of food, budget, how to cost, how many of each, et cetera, et cetera? Of course, there were the carnivores and vegetarians to consider; neither could contaminate the other. Treasurer and his wife are longstanding vegetarians.
Questions answered, Treasurer was advised of what could be done within the budget. The Chairperson and committee were duly consulted, budget adjusted, numbers confirmed and D-day approached.
Knowing full well that I couldn’t do it all (sometimes (ha!) I have a sense of my own limits), I enlisted the help of another vendor. And I also roped in my market pal, Ms Thyme who is, hands down, a much better cook and chef than I (actually, she catered for my last significant birthday). The rest I set about doing. Here’s a “to-do” list that was up in the kitchen which reflects a bit of the “menu”:
And this is what it all looked like, all packed up and ready to go. Hummus and crudites ready to assemble on site.
Good thing The Husband insisted on a “grown up” sedan with a boot big enough to party in!
So, there was a platter for carnivores, complete with mini meatballs, scotch eggs and devils on horseback (the latter two, my creations).
And one for the lacto-ovo vegetarians, including some gluten free jobs (aka mini frittata – my own recipe), with spanokapita and samoosas.
The table, set, ready and waiting – with the other bits, all duly labelled and flagged to ensure no contamination confusion.
That cheese and nut stack was inspired by a lack of space and Ms Thyme who also lent me the cake stands. What would one do, if one couldn’t phone a friend?
The response was gratifying and, it seems, my first catering job was a success.
Phew!
Hummus
Not long before I was commissioned to do that job, Farmer Judy asked if I made hummus. Well, of course I hadn’t, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. So I did. It was a hit, and I started selling it at the market. It’s now hummus is a standard stock item.
It took me a while to perfect the recipe which include – most of the time – homegrown garlic and parsley as well as home made tahini. That recipe is on the list.
If you’d like to download a copy of the recipe, it’s here.
Until next time, be well
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa
Photo: Selma
Post script
- The original post was first published on WordPress blog in June 2016. I am in the process of transitioning and updating those old posts on to my self-hosted site. If you want to know why….
- At the same time, I’m participating in blogpal @tracyork’s April challenge of sharing a post every day during April – on the Hive blockchain. I succeeded last year – on Steemit from which the new blockchain “hived off”…
- Seems a good way to constructively use the time during a compulsory lock down, right? For more about this initiative, please check out Traci’s post.
- If you’d also like to both join the challenge and post from the WordPress platform to the Hive blockchain, sign up here.