'C'mon Lizelle, you can do it!'
I was taken aback by the question, but when my friend made that flippant remark, I realized this was a much-needed task that not many wanted to do.
Willing, yes, after giving it much thought, but am I up to it?
I love cooking and baking, but have only done so for the family and small occasions. Now I've been asked to cook for a large group once a month, on average, thirty to forty men!
Too hot to handle; literally! Especially in the summer months with the sun streaming into the kitchen!
Giving it some more thought and hubby encouraging me, being the biggest fan of me;) and truly believing that I would be capable of doing magic in the kitchen, I agreed to take on this job. I was very young, it was a group in our church, all very laidback and always full of jokes; a nice bunch of guys.
There was no Google back then, but I had loads of recipe books to study on how to calculate cooking for larger groups. I was later given an old book by a friend that specifically covers catering for crowds.
I roped in a very good friend, and yet another friend offered to supply the dessert. She was running her own florist shop, often working late, but she was a night owl and always prepared the delicious desserts the night before, after she had closed up her shop. Her delivery guy used to bring the dessert in large pans late afternoon.
No fancy kitchen, but we managed and had loads of laughter in that kitchen. Helped calm the nerves, especially on the first night.
I was terrified, worrying that we won't have enough food for the men, but it was fine, there in fact, way too much, as I wanted to make sure they don't go home hungry.
We panicked one night when a neighbouring group joined the supper, and we ended up having around sixty diners. What to do? Well, there was curry and rice on the menu, and we somehow made the rice stretch, and everyone was satisfied.
Every year-end, the wives were invited to the men's group Christmas dinners, and we often ended up with nearly 100 diners. Those were fun occasions, lots of hard work, and we had to get extra helpers, and young girls to do the waitressing.
I learnt a ton from jumping outside my comfort zone with those dinners, and my friend and I later formed our own little part-time catering business. Sore feet, but great seeing how differently people celebrate weddings, special birthdays, and other events. We were often tempted to take on larger groups, more money, roping in more people, but we kept it to numbers we could handle and did it for several years.
I sometimes see some of the couples we catered for, and see their children grown up already, and I realise once again that it really was the best thing I ever did outside my comfort zone!
It almost turned into a roaring business, but I had young children still at school who needed my attention.
This has been my response to The Silver Bloggers Promt 37 - Outside of your comfort zone. Take a peek at the link provided and tell us about a time you stepped outside your comfort zone!
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