the 828 julia street project

i am not even going to look back at my last post and see how long it has been . . .  all i can say for myself is that i am a caterer with three kids, two yellow labs, two cats, two frogs, a horned toad lizard, and a goldfish named nathan.  i am going to try to go over the last few jobs that i have pulled off this past spring and summer.  the first one was very, very special because it was for my niece, kelsey dearman, who recently graduated from ouachita high school.  i am so proud of her and will miss her greatly as she heads to lsu this coming fall.  we decided on an italian-themed dinner for kelsey and all of her girlfriends.  also, included were aunts, cousins, and mothers.  little chef and i catered the party with the financial help of mama.

kelsey, the guest of honor

the hor’ d oeuvres were served as the guests arrived and included; tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil skewers served with a balsamic vinegar and proscuitto-wrapped melon.  a huge jar of lemonade with fresh mint constantly had to be refilled, because everyone loved it.  as a last minute thought for this party, i recalled the tables at a restaurant in new orleans that i recently visited, domenica.  the tables were set with skinny long bread sticks in tall jars as the centerpieces.  i loved the idea because it was contemporary and fun and took care of the whole table decorating dilemma.  the girls loved them too!  some of them “smoked” them or played “sword fights” with them.  they must have liked them because there were none left.  after the hors d’ oeuvres, it was time to serve the main course, which included italian salad, manicotti with meat sauce, four-cheese baked penne.  this party consisted of lots of teenage girls with no boys, so these girls ate and got seconds.  it would be interesting to see if they would have eaten this much with males around!!  little chef and i were very proud that they actually ate and enjoyed themselves and were not worried about their girlish figures!  for dessert?  tiramisu made with lots of espresso, brandy, and marscopone cheese.

fresh mozzarella, basil, tomato skewers in basalmic vinegar

fresh melon and proscuitto

long skinny breadsticks made by little chef

next was my first party in the monroe garden district area.  it was a party honoring retirees from a bank board.  the clients were fun to work with and had some good ol’ rolling stones playing in the kitchen when i arrived.  the house was absolutely beautiful.  mitch worked the job with me and we rolled it out very smoothly.   we served andouille rice calas with a creole mustard sauce, pickled shrimp (the way my mama ev used to make), rosemary-garlic crusted beef tenderloin with rolls and homemade rosemary mayonnaise, fresh fruit with moonlight dip, smoked catfish pate, sundried tomato pesto torte, assorted cheeses, and rosemary cashews and cheese straws at the bar area.

the next party was a first for two reason, it was my first wedding reception as well as it was a destination job in gulf shores, al.  we literally packed up our kitchen sink and headed to the gulf.  i reviewed pictures of the kitchen that i would be working out of and had some idea of what i was going to be dealing with.  this reception was about 5 miles away from our condo at another location in orange beach, al.  the reception area had no kitchen except for a sink and a mini fridge.  we left here on a tuesday and the reception was friday night.  i had all of my recipes and menu planned out day by day.  lots of items were make ahead, but lots were not make ahead.  needless to say, the main work was thursday night and all day friday.  hunter and i shopped for our ingredients for four straight hours looking for the freshest produce, fruits, fish, and shrimp.  i had a three-page grocery list as we went into publix.  i got a cart and hunter got a cart.  i told him that he was the fruit and produce cart.  he and i had more fun tripping people out as we gathered these massive amounts of produce.  i was getting some things and he was across the produce sections while i called out what i needed him to get:  “hunter, i need 40 limes!”  “24 roma tomatoes” and on and on . . .  his buggy was filled to the brim with produce as we pulled up to the conveyor belt.  he decided to tell the clerk that he had a “huge giant blender at home” that he was mixing fruit and vegetable smoothies in.  after publix we headed to the seafood markets to find shrimp for the shrimp and grits and fish for the gulf coast ceviche.

my main sous chef, mitch had a knife accident about five bell peppers into prep time thursday night.  he really needed stitches, but hunter and i ran to wal-mart and bought him some liquid bandaid and glued him back together so we could get back to work.  hunter and i worked until midnight, got up around nine a.m. and then worked until after midnight again.  tired did not describe the way we felt, but we had a great time and it was a mother-son bonding experience that we will never forget.  and besides all of that we both got a beer huggie from the bride and groom that says “to have and to hold and to keep your beer cold.”   hmmmmm .  .  .

with all of that said, i have something big to tell y’all.   this week i bought a property on julia street that i am planning on moving all of my operations to.  in addition to my catering jobs and casserole sales, i will be serving lunch there monday through friday.  this week i have been meeting contractors and planning the restaurant.  needless to say there is alot of work to do and i will be needing all of your support.  mitch and i are very, very excited about this and have been talking about doing this very thing for quite some time.  i along with my dad have been looking at properties since january and this one makes the most sense to me and fits my personality.  i plan to display the artworks of some of my very talented friends and serve great food there.  i will try to keep you all updated.

bye y’all

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