Get me out of the kitchen, NOW!!!!!
It has been a very long week in the kitchen ..... with about 18-20 hours to go. I will be sooooo glad when noon on Saturday arrives!
First of all .......... where was my dear friend Debbie when I opened my mouth?? She has been given instruction to stuff a sock in it when I say something really stupid.................. like "Doing a farmer's breakfast for 50 or 60 or 70 people --- Piece of cake!!!" Or ..."Sure, we'll host our 40th high school class reunion".
I think I am learning.... the key is to have Debbie next to me when I start to say something stupid! Not half-way across town!!!
Actually ... so far, so good on the breakfast. There are two things that I have learned --- one, there are very few farm cooks left in the world. And if I want an upscale breakfast ..... I have to get a job on the Food Network! They make it look so easy!
Most farmer's type breakfast events use frozen hash browns, Jimmy Dean sausage, pancake mix and maybe even scrambled eggs in a bag.
I insisted on more than that.
Ahhh.... that's where the problem lies.
I insisted.
So ... I have made bricoche dough. I have shaped honey buns, I've creamed butter, made crepes, baked bread.... now, I'm baking potatoes so we can peel and roast them in olive oil with shallots and garlic. I have cooked chickens and made a creamy wine sauce. I've made biscotti and baked muffins. I have grated cheese, cubed bread and chopped onions. My kitchen is a disaster but smells wonderful.
And I have watched waaaaaay tooo much Martha Stewart!!!!
In organizing the library, I discovered I have an entire shelf dedicated to entertaining books. Seriously, all you really need is one Emily Post book to tell you where to put the seafood fork! But no.... I have an entire shelf on how easy it is to cook for 750 people in your 17'x17' kitchen!!! And they lied!!!!!!!
In reality .... I have had lots and lots of help. Geest Farms provides bacon and sausage and cooked it for us. Cindy Heilman has been super help with potatoes and shallots and hauling and cooking. Gwen .... what can I say about Gwen? She baking like a wild woman for me. The Mad Farmers are also baking like crazy.... tiny raspberry tartlets ..... YUM!!! Rhonda Groh is baking all the french bread for the stuffed french bread. And Dawn from Blossom Farms is providing blueberries for the french toast along with some baked yuummies and onions, mushrooms and brocolli. And then there is my dear friend and neighbor, Sheepie Neighbor who's feathered girls are picking up the slack of my girls! And she has given us strawberry-rhubarb jam to go with all those baked goodies.
So I have had a ton of help! And I am still sweating this!!!!!!!
If you live outside the QCA or have been under a rock under the Arsenal Bridge..... you may not realize the press this event has gotten. I have noooo idea how many press releases have been out there. I just know it has been in the Radish, The Argus, The Times, The Dispatch and the River City Reader. And I told Paula Sands I didn't have time to be on her show.
And the event is completely sold out! Completely. Over the top!! The money from ticket sales goes to Buy Fresh-Buy Local QC. We are also taking a collection for the The Share the Love food drive to benefit the CCC Food Pantry and Cafe on Vine.
So ... I want this to be perfect. Perfect! Martha-Stewart-Frickin'-Perfect!!!
No pressure on that one!!!
If you are in downtown Davenport today or tomorrow and see a short gray-haired gal going nuts....... walk over and give her a hug!! She needs it.
Now..... I am being called by a bag full of brocolli,
First of all .......... where was my dear friend Debbie when I opened my mouth?? She has been given instruction to stuff a sock in it when I say something really stupid.................. like "Doing a farmer's breakfast for 50 or 60 or 70 people --- Piece of cake!!!" Or ..."Sure, we'll host our 40th high school class reunion".
I think I am learning.... the key is to have Debbie next to me when I start to say something stupid! Not half-way across town!!!
Actually ... so far, so good on the breakfast. There are two things that I have learned --- one, there are very few farm cooks left in the world. And if I want an upscale breakfast ..... I have to get a job on the Food Network! They make it look so easy!
Most farmer's type breakfast events use frozen hash browns, Jimmy Dean sausage, pancake mix and maybe even scrambled eggs in a bag.
I insisted on more than that.
Ahhh.... that's where the problem lies.
I insisted.
So ... I have made bricoche dough. I have shaped honey buns, I've creamed butter, made crepes, baked bread.... now, I'm baking potatoes so we can peel and roast them in olive oil with shallots and garlic. I have cooked chickens and made a creamy wine sauce. I've made biscotti and baked muffins. I have grated cheese, cubed bread and chopped onions. My kitchen is a disaster but smells wonderful.
And I have watched waaaaaay tooo much Martha Stewart!!!!
In organizing the library, I discovered I have an entire shelf dedicated to entertaining books. Seriously, all you really need is one Emily Post book to tell you where to put the seafood fork! But no.... I have an entire shelf on how easy it is to cook for 750 people in your 17'x17' kitchen!!! And they lied!!!!!!!
In reality .... I have had lots and lots of help. Geest Farms provides bacon and sausage and cooked it for us. Cindy Heilman has been super help with potatoes and shallots and hauling and cooking. Gwen .... what can I say about Gwen? She baking like a wild woman for me. The Mad Farmers are also baking like crazy.... tiny raspberry tartlets ..... YUM!!! Rhonda Groh is baking all the french bread for the stuffed french bread. And Dawn from Blossom Farms is providing blueberries for the french toast along with some baked yuummies and onions, mushrooms and brocolli. And then there is my dear friend and neighbor, Sheepie Neighbor who's feathered girls are picking up the slack of my girls! And she has given us strawberry-rhubarb jam to go with all those baked goodies.
So I have had a ton of help! And I am still sweating this!!!!!!!
If you live outside the QCA or have been under a rock under the Arsenal Bridge..... you may not realize the press this event has gotten. I have noooo idea how many press releases have been out there. I just know it has been in the Radish, The Argus, The Times, The Dispatch and the River City Reader. And I told Paula Sands I didn't have time to be on her show.
And the event is completely sold out! Completely. Over the top!! The money from ticket sales goes to Buy Fresh-Buy Local QC. We are also taking a collection for the The Share the Love food drive to benefit the CCC Food Pantry and Cafe on Vine.
So ... I want this to be perfect. Perfect! Martha-Stewart-Frickin'-Perfect!!!
No pressure on that one!!!
If you are in downtown Davenport today or tomorrow and see a short gray-haired gal going nuts....... walk over and give her a hug!! She needs it.
Now..... I am being called by a bag full of brocolli,
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