My Day as a Caterer!

Oops, this should have posted in August... I don't know why it didn't!?  Here it is now, 5 months later...

We all know I'm not really a caterer, however I truly felt like one yesterday.  My daughter, Colleen curated an art exhibition for her Masters program.  This exhibition included the works of nine artists including Colleen and my husband, Jim.  Here's a photo including the sign in the gallery with the artist's names and several pieces from the collection. 

Ok, can't resist bragging, these next 2 pics are the family artists themselves, each with one of their creations...

The exhibition opening party needed to include food, so I kinda nominated my self to take charge of that aspect. We thought it would be best to have finger foods (aka fancy hors d'oeuvres), so I created a menu that the boss (Colleen) approved of...

antipasto kabobs

-- olive, marinated mozzarella or cojack cheese, hard salami, cherry tomato

hummus cucumber 'cups'

-- hollow out the middle of thick cucumber slices, fill with hummus, sprinkle with oregano

stuffed celery 

-- celery pieces stuffed with herbed cream cheese (soft cream cheese with added dried herbs)

bruchetta

-- mini toasted italian bread slices ( olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder- 375* oven) topped with 

    bruchetta mixture... Chopped Roma tomatoes, zucchini, red onion, fresh basil and garlic. Add salt,

     pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  The crowning touch is shredded Parmesan cheese!

watermelon-feta kabobs 

-- watermelon cubes and cubes of feta cheese, drizzled with a balsamic reduction. 

mini veggie cups 

-- 2 oz restaurant take out portion cups (from GFS Gordon Food Service) fill bottom with your favorite veggie dip, and then put into it small pieces of fresh veggies. I used carrot chips, celery, green pepper, cucumber and zucchini. Btw... The grand kids loved veggies this way.  Lily wanted a     

    whole cup with all zucchini sticks!  I didn't even know she liked zucchini.

meat roll-ups
-- this is a party mainstay, just thin packaged deli meat (I like pastrami and corned beef best for this)

    rolled up with cream cheese and pickle slices. Cut into thirds and stick a toothpick in each. Yum!

As you can imagine a lot of work went into the preparation of these easy to eat items!  Luckily, my sister, Cathy, was my sous chef for the day!!  She managed to live through this ordeal (working with a chef who has a hard time giving up control can't be easy). 

See some of the yummies for yourself...

In addition to the above deliciousness there were stuffed grape leaves (Cathy picked those up from the local Mediterranean market), and the sweets offered were Jessica's famous chocolate chip cookies, brownie bites, and mini cream puffs.

All in all, the opening party was a huge success, with the icing on the cake being that Colleen sold 2 of her works of art!!  All the hard work was worth it, and I have a new appreciation for caterers.  I do like being in control of a menu, but I'm not giving up the idea of party potlucks just yet!!  Although, if someone pays me enough to cater their party!!??  Just sayin'