There has been a lot of food in my fridge recently and it is overwhelming. At the end of August, P and I self catered a lunch buffet for about 60 people. This was the first time either of us set out to prepare food to feed such a large group and there was a lot of gestimation. On top of what we prepared, he ordered vitello tunato and carpacho from a local caterer. We focused on small bites with a Mediterranean inspiration, and I imagine a bit of an American feel came through as I made a lot of menu suggestions based on what I knew from home. Ultimately, we had 8 full trays of food as well as some bowls. We prepared the classic; veggies and ranch dip, mozzarella and tomato, pasta salad, pigs in a blanket, ham and melon and olives, as well as the not completely classics including hummus, Greek salad and puff pastry with cheese and salami. I complained about the long day but it was actually a lot of fun working together to plan the menu, buy the ingredients and then prepare the food. However, we're far from caterers as we bought way too much food. On top of over buying raw ingredients, there was a miscommunication with the caterers which involved double veggies and dip as well as a whole lot of marinated veggies and generally lots of left overs back in my fridge as there was no place to keep the food at his office. I tried so hard to not throw out any food but waste was inevitable. I guess we won't be opening a catering business anytime soon but at least we have a better idea of how to feed a large group of people.
While on the topic of food, I must include my latest baking feature. I seem to have gotten a reputation around my office for making chocolate chocolate whoopie pies. Nina had a birthday last week and a birthday BBQ so I asked what I could bring and without hesitation she asked for chocolate chocolate. I had a strawberry variety i wanted to try on my own birthday but due to a flour shortage made chocolate cupcakes instead so I thought I would have made strawberry whoopies for her birthday but I was shot down. As my boss would say, don't mess with a running system. In a bit of rebellion, and to break up the chocolate, I added multicolored sprinkles. I also made a special larger one for P to take on his trip but he got stuck in traffic and needed to go straight to the airport without stopping home so he never got it. I am happy to report that none of the chocolate chocolate as they are affectionately called were thrown out.
Finally I had to include this in my food post. I often complain that I can't get the same ingredients in Germany or I don't know the translation for something but this photo is just to prove that sometimes it simply is not my fault. In an effort to organize my baking cupboard, I bought these glass canisters and opened the two bags of brown sugar I had on hand to store them int he jar. As you can see both bags are identical, yet the sugars are different levels of brown. It must also be noted that I have never seen dark brown or light brown sugar at the store so I just assumed Germans didn't differentiate. It seems they just classify it all as brown. I guess this could explain why Lauren was upset her cupcakes tasted different when she followed her American recipe in my kitchen and I blamed the hard water.
