Lately, I was asked to be in charge of putting out a buffet meal for 70, clearing tables and doing the dishes. Easy peasy!
I had never used the hall kitchen before and when I went to check it out, there wasn’t one serving spoon/tongs/salad servers/cake slice/sharp knife in the place. Thought it was strange that a hired hall didn’t have any of this. Got a collection together and had more than enough at the end of the day.
It got complicated when some dishes arrived with serving utensils with nothing to identify them. Two weeks later I have managed to unite all dishes and utensils with the correct owner.
I was frustrated with the number of ladies bringing dishes that gave me eg, bananas to slice into salads/slice and arrange on Banoffi pies/fruit salad, nuts/berries to sprinkle over their dessert, chopped parsley and butter for the potatoes, orange glaze for the carrots etc and specific instructions on how their dish was to be served. (Gritting of teeth, and said yes, yes with a pained smile) There was frozen garlic bread/pavs/tarts that needed sliced and food on big platters/ bowls that took up a lot of table space for the amount of food. There was more than enough to do to get out the three courses on time without all this carry on. One lady was annoyed that her bowl of cream wasn’t right beside her plate of cake and her bowl of berries.
Apart from that it was a great evening and I have had lots of compliments.
Next time I am asked to bring a dish for a meal I will have this experience in the back of my mind. I will make sure my plate/bowl is well marked so it doesn’t get mistaken for some one else’s. Also, take a dish that can be put straight onto the table without any fussing/stirring or the cutting all done. The hostess has plenty other things to think about.
That feels better, had my grizzle for the day!!!
Ruth

A good point, as most would have not realised what their little bit of finishing off really equated to in a busy kitchen.

Hello Ruth,
I read your post and found myself nodding away. I've never been in such a bad situation as you have but occasionally have come rather close to it.
Sometimes it seems that some people just don't stop and think. It would have been a nice gesture had at least one of them offered to help you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2015 09:03PM by Marnie.

Would it not be easier to ask for volunteers to assist in the kitchen on the day, assign them to do the finishing tasks and you can just take an overseeing role? That's what I'd do. Volunteers failing, I'd put pressure on committee members, and/or family depending on situation.

If I'm asked to take a plate for a function I take full responsibility for it if it needs some last minute attention. Normally I try to take something which needs no attention. There's no way I would/could expect one person in charge of a buffet to successfully handle all the food presentation on their own. People are just not thinking! If the organisers are asking for dishes to be brought for the occasion, they should also be aware of the fact that one person cannot solely handle the presentation of the dishes on their own.

I do feel sorry for you as you were put into a very difficult situation. If you are asked to be in charge of a buffet again, from past experience you will certainly be asking for more help on the occasion and explaining that it is impossible to adequately do it on your own.
Regards,
Dawn.

A wee bit of explaining might clarify the situation. It was a significant birthday of an acquaintance in a hired country hall. Family did not arrive from overseas until the night before due to airport closures and they were very stressed themselves trying to organise things.
I did have help and some of the invited guests helped with washing the dishes which was so appreciated. When people brought dishes of food into the kitchen, I was the person they spoke to. I was working to a plan and getting all the requests to do this or that added up to a significant amount of time and stress trying to remembet it all. It might seem a small thing to tell the organiser just do this or that to my dish before putting it out, but when it happened a multitude of times it made it much harder for us all in the kitchen. Could not have coped with people coming into the kitchen to sort out their dish as it was a poorly set out work space and guests had to walk through it to get to the hall.
My point is: take a dish that doesn’t need anything done to it prior to serving, apart from keeping it warm or chilled. The organiser will thank you for it!

I once had a guest for Christmas lunch who unasked promised to bring a plate of crostini. He turned up with a whole baguette, two containers of mozzarella and some tomatoes. He expected to commandeer the kitchen for half an hour to slice and grill bread, slice mozzarella and tomatoes, pick basil in the garden, find salt and ev olive oil, find a serving plate and assemble the crostini. I just told him it was impossible.