Pinot Noir?

I'm sitting here at 1:30 in the morning with a glass of Yellow Tail Pinot Noir and thought I'd download some pictures that I've taken.

Since becoming the Food & Beverage manager at Medieval Times, I've taken a greater interest in food (as you will see in the pictures). Although I'm not cooking anything, I am responsible for selection, purchasing and presentation. I'll start cooking next week actually but that's a story for another time.

This New Year's Eve, I was responsible for catering appetizers for the midnight party. I had to prepare for 750 people. No need to say I was a little nervous. I had only done a few parties of 10 - 30 people before and now I was responsible for 750! I consulted other professionals in the field (what we were doing in a field I'll never know) and got their suggestions. I went with 2 veggie towers consisting of celery and carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower and red peppers. Ranch dressing was provided for dipping. We also had a fruit tower made of apples, watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, kiwis and grapes and a cheese and cracker tower.

I started at 10 am on the 31st and didn't get home until 3 in the morning. I didn't get to enjoy the countdown as I was dealing with a pisser of a customer who got Pepsi spilled on their leather coats. No damage done but boy they couldn't be consoled. I offered to pay for the cleaning and even offered them tickets to come see the new show. Nothing. I think these people are happiest when they are miserable. I did, however, get to enjoy a plastic cup full of Dom Perignon. Just having an empty bottle of that stuff can raise real estate values!

Tonight I catered a smaller party of 19 people. It was a corporate employee get together of some kind. I never found out the company, I just fed them. They had Italian meatballs with marinara, veggie egg rolls, sesame chicken and a vegetable platter. It's funny, the veggie platter is always wiped out but not tonight. They went for the fried stuff and left most of the veggies. (I feel like Ernest Hemingway, I just killed the Pinot Noir!) I was rather proud of the veggie presentation too. I bought some blackberries to garnish the platters and it looked like cavier. Neat trick if you ask me but maybe a little too hoity toity for this gang. They did tell me that it all exceeded their expectations.

So the bottle is empty and the glass is nearly. I'm really enjoying the catering stuff. Starting Tuesday at 7:30 am, I begin a week long catering event. It's going to be very similar to providing Craft Services at a movie set. I have to feed a week-long rehearsal for about 40 people each day. I have to provide a variety on the menu and hopefully wow the diners. They will be involved in very physical activity with fight choreography and I'm sure will be hearty eaters. I'll let you know how it goes!

Now to drain the glass and off to bed!