We did an "Italian Bistro" night at our church this past weekend. We served
plated dinners on china, by individual guest ticket order, using a
waitstaff. The Youth Group is going to a National Youth Convention in
Florida, and this event was to raise money, and capture matching funds.

Here is the menu we offered:

Angel Hair Pasta w/choice of:
Marinara Sauce
2 large meatballs & marainara sauce
Poached chicken breast & mushrooms with an Alfredo sauce

Lasagna

Also -

A garnish of red pepper flakes
A garnish of freshly-grated peccorino-romano cheese

Warm italian bread w/garlic-infused extra-virgin olive oil
Warm sourdough bread w/butter

Tossed salad (Romaine hearts, red cabbage, matchstick carrots, leeks,
cucumbers, grape tomatoes)
w/choice of dressings:
(Peppermill Italian, House Bleu Cheese, Ranch)

Choice of Dessert:
(Classic Spumoni w/ waffle-sticks, or American Chocolate Cake, garnished
with an Andes mint on a plate striped with chocolate sauce, or Presentation
White Cake, garnished with fresh raspeberries on a plate striped with
raspberry jam.)

Choice of Beverage:
(Ice Tea, Punch, Milk, Hot Tea)

Choice of Coffees:
(Regular Brewed; Decaf Brewed)

There were no "tickets" sold for this event. We seated from 5:00pm to
8:00pm. It was a very nice evening. Some of the kids played in a string
quartet, which had violins, a viola & a cello. There was a pianist, and
flute as well. The guests were encouraged to leave a freewill offering as
they departed. We served over 150 covers, and received almost $1400.00 in
donations. We were eligible for matching funds of up to $1300.00. This means
we captured nearly $2700.00 from this event. Almost all of the guests were
from our church, and their friends and relatives. We only placed items in
the newsletter, and did not publicly advertise the event. We even did a
12-top that night! Our cost for this event, due to donations of food and
labor, came to less than $700.00. However, our committee is donating that
investment from our yearly budget to the cause, which allows them to get
more matching funds.

The miracle of this whole thing is that we served most of it out of a 16 x
16 kitchen with a 40" x 40" island in the middle. Two 4 burner electric
stoves, a standard 2-sided household sink, and a single fridge. To be fair,
I have another fridge and a freezer in a separate room. Also, I had a large
room just for salad and dessert service, and a special room just for
silverware & table reset, bread & beverages, and assembly of trays for the
waitstaff. Only the hot plated entrees were done in the kitchen, and we
worked from standard restaurant tickets. It went like clockwork. Of course,
a good friend of mine who is a chef made a lot of it possible, and we
precooked as much as we could. It worked very well.

--
Tank

This Space To Let.

"Tank" > wrote in message >...
> We did an "Italian Bistro" night at our church this past weekend. We served
> plated dinners on china, by individual guest ticket order, using a
> waitstaff. The Youth Group is going to a National Youth Convention in
> Florida, and this event was to raise money, and capture matching funds.
>
> Here is the menu we offered:
>
> Angel Hair Pasta w/choice of:
> Marinara Sauce
> 2 large meatballs & marainara sauce
> Poached chicken breast & mushrooms with an Alfredo sauce
>
> Lasagna
>
> Also -
>
> A garnish of red pepper flakes
> A garnish of freshly-grated peccorino-romano cheese
>
> Warm italian bread w/garlic-infused extra-virgin olive oil
> Warm sourdough bread w/butter
>
> Tossed salad (Romaine hearts, red cabbage, matchstick carrots, leeks,
> cucumbers, grape tomatoes)
> w/choice of dressings:
> (Peppermill Italian, House Bleu Cheese, Ranch)
>
> Choice of Dessert:
> (Classic Spumoni w/ waffle-sticks, or American Chocolate Cake, garnished
> with an Andes mint on a plate striped with chocolate sauce, or Presentation
> White Cake, garnished with fresh raspeberries on a plate striped with
> raspberry jam.)
>
> Choice of Beverage:
> (Ice Tea, Punch, Milk, Hot Tea)
>
> Choice of Coffees:
> (Regular Brewed; Decaf Brewed)
>
> There were no "tickets" sold for this event. We seated from 5:00pm to
> 8:00pm. It was a very nice evening. Some of the kids played in a string
> quartet, which had violins, a viola & a cello. There was a pianist, and
> flute as well. The guests were encouraged to leave a freewill offering as
> they departed. We served over 150 covers, and received almost $1400.00 in
> donations. We were eligible for matching funds of up to $1300.00. This means
> we captured nearly $2700.00 from this event. Almost all of the guests were
> from our church, and their friends and relatives. We only placed items in
> the newsletter, and did not publicly advertise the event. We even did a
> 12-top that night! Our cost for this event, due to donations of food and
> labor, came to less than $700.00. However, our committee is donating that
> investment from our yearly budget to the cause, which allows them to get
> more matching funds.
>
> The miracle of this whole thing is that we served most of it out of a 16 x
> 16 kitchen with a 40" x 40" island in the middle. Two 4 burner electric
> stoves, a standard 2-sided household sink, and a single fridge. To be fair,
> I have another fridge and a freezer in a separate room. Also, I had a large
> room just for salad and dessert service, and a special room just for
> silverware & table reset, bread & beverages, and assembly of trays for the
> waitstaff. Only the hot plated entrees were done in the kitchen, and we
> worked from standard restaurant tickets. It went like clockwork. Of course,
> a good friend of mine who is a chef made a lot of it possible, and we
> precooked as much as we could. It worked very well.

Who donated food?

Karen

"Karen O'Mara" > wrote in message
om...
>>
> Who donated food?
>
> Karen

The local Kroger donated 50 loaves of bread and a full sheet cake. A
restaurant run by a friend of mine got me most of the main entree food for
cost or less. The rest was just shrewd shopping at the produce market for
the salad.

--
Tank

This Space To Let

On 3/31/04 4:33 PM, in article
, "Karen O'Mara"
> wrote:

> "Tank" > wrote in message
> >...

>>
>> The miracle of this whole thing is that we served most of it out of a 16 x
>> 16 kitchen with a 40" x 40" island in the middle. Two 4 burner electric
>> stoves, a standard 2-sided household sink, and a single fridge. To be fair,
>> I have another fridge and a freezer in a separate room. Also, I had a large
>> room just for salad and dessert service, and a special room just for
>> silverware & table reset, bread & beverages, and assembly of trays for the
>> waitstaff. Only the hot plated entrees were done in the kitchen, and we
>> worked from standard restaurant tickets. It went like clockwork. Of course,
>> a good friend of mine who is a chef made a lot of it possible, and we
>> precooked as much as we could. It worked very well.
>
> Who donated food?
>
> Karen

Reading your post, I was reminded of several wonderful Christmases in NYC.
I used to volunteer at a shelter for the homeless we had going in the back
of St Paul's Chapel (the one that hit the headlines after 9/11 for serving
the volunteers). We decided that our guests (the agency tried to keep a
group together so they'd have some continuity and stability) should have
Xmas in what was, for all practical purposes at the time, their own home.
We managed to pull together huge Xmas dinners three years running for our
guests and volunteers in a makeshift kitchen, on one stove, a few crock-pots
and electric skillets, and a lot of stuff brought from various people's
home kitchens.
I have to say here, that I think that was Xmas dinner as it should be...a
community sitting down together, all ranks of life represented, and having
good food and fun together! One of the volunteers knew how to play the
harpsichord that is in the chapel, so we sang carols around THAT and it was
too neat! People told their stories and shared a lot together.
One of the curates I knew in NY scheduled all kinds of similar events at his
parish because he believed that you can't be a community until you sit down
and eat together!
BTW, that's where I learned to tell how a turkey is done without knowing the
weight or having a thermostat on the oven....wiggle the leg!

"nck" > wrote in message
...
> One of the volunteers knew how to play the
>harpsichord that is in the chapel, so we sang carols around THAT and it was
>too neat! People told their stories and shared a lot together.
>
>One of the curates I knew in NY scheduled all kinds of similar events at
his
>parish because he believed that you can't be a community until you sit down
>and eat together!

How cool that sounds, especially the harpsichord! Worth the price of the
hard work and effort, no doubt. I agree with the curate, and we have many
eating and "community" type events. The result seems to be the most
tightly-knit congregation of which I have ever been a member.

--
Tank

This Space To Let.

"Tank" > wrote in message
...
> We did an "Italian Bistro" night at our church this past weekend. We
served
> plated dinners on china, by individual guest ticket order, using a
> waitstaff. The Youth Group is going to a National Youth Convention in
> Florida, and this event was to raise money, and capture matching funds.
>
> Here is the menu we offered:
>
> Angel Hair Pasta w/choice of:
> Marinara Sauce
> 2 large meatballs & marainara sauce
> Poached chicken breast & mushrooms with an Alfredo sauce
>
> Lasagna
>
> Also -
>
> A garnish of red pepper flakes
> A garnish of freshly-grated peccorino-romano cheese
>
> Warm italian bread w/garlic-infused extra-virgin olive oil
> Warm sourdough bread w/butter
>
> Tossed salad (Romaine hearts, red cabbage, matchstick carrots, leeks,
> cucumbers, grape tomatoes)
> w/choice of dressings:
> (Peppermill Italian, House Bleu Cheese, Ranch)
>
> Choice of Dessert:
> (Classic Spumoni w/ waffle-sticks, or American Chocolate Cake, garnished
> with an Andes mint on a plate striped with chocolate sauce, or
Presentation
> White Cake, garnished with fresh raspeberries on a plate striped with
> raspberry jam.)
>
> Choice of Beverage:
> (Ice Tea, Punch, Milk, Hot Tea)
>
> Choice of Coffees:
> (Regular Brewed; Decaf Brewed)
>
> There were no "tickets" sold for this event. We seated from 5:00pm to
> 8:00pm. It was a very nice evening. Some of the kids played in a string
> quartet, which had violins, a viola & a cello. There was a pianist, and
> flute as well. The guests were encouraged to leave a freewill offering as
> they departed. We served over 150 covers, and received almost $1400.00 in
> donations. We were eligible for matching funds of up to $1300.00. This
means
> we captured nearly $2700.00 from this event. Almost all of the guests were
> from our church, and their friends and relatives. We only placed items in
> the newsletter, and did not publicly advertise the event. We even did a
> 12-top that night! Our cost for this event, due to donations of food and
> labor, came to less than $700.00. However, our committee is donating that
> investment from our yearly budget to the cause, which allows them to get
> more matching funds.
>
> The miracle of this whole thing is that we served most of it out of a 16 x
> 16 kitchen with a 40" x 40" island in the middle. Two 4 burner electric
> stoves, a standard 2-sided household sink, and a single fridge. To be
fair,
> I have another fridge and a freezer in a separate room. Also, I had a
large
> room just for salad and dessert service, and a special room just for
> silverware & table reset, bread & beverages, and assembly of trays for the
> waitstaff. Only the hot plated entrees were done in the kitchen, and we
> worked from standard restaurant tickets. It went like clockwork. Of
course,
> a good friend of mine who is a chef made a lot of it possible, and we
> precooked as much as we could. It worked very well.
>
> --
> Tank
>
> This Space To Let.

Nice menu - next time print one of these for safety reasons.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/cfg/CookGroups.pdf

It really is a good guide.

Dimitri

In article >,
says...
> Nice menu - next time print one of these for safety reasons.
>
> http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/cfg/CookGroups.pdf
>
> It really is a good guide.
>
>
That's a great document Dimitri. Thanks for the link!

I do some volunteer work that involves cooking for one group or another
and this will certainly come in handy.
--
Donna
A pessimist believes all women are bad. An optimist hopes they are.

"Donna Rose" > wrote in message
k.net...
> In article >,
> says...
> > Nice menu - next time print one of these for safety reasons.
> >
> > http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/cfg/CookGroups.pdf
> >
> > It really is a good guide.
> >
> >
> That's a great document Dimitri. Thanks for the link!
>
> I do some volunteer work that involves cooking for one group or another
> and this will certainly come in handy.
> --
> Donna
> A pessimist believes all women are bad. An optimist hopes they are.

You're welcome.

Even good hearted people sometimes make mistakes.

Dimitri