It's coming down the wire, and the two Kevins, Todd, Danae and LaVonte have been hard at it all day long, prepping for New Years Eve service. I'm sorry I don't have a whole lot of (interesting) photos to share, only a few. Last night Pete, (who's helping out on the salad station while on January break from W.C.) and Todd broke up the clusters of oysters, with some help from Tashara. (top photo) Those are Kevin G's hands, forming the lobster egg rolls, which will garnish the lobster. That tray of prime rib eye steaks, hand cut, show some pretty nice marbling... And finally the washed oysters were shucked by Todd this morning; I think it took him about three hours to shuck all 162 oysters.
I am the only one to have a complete and utter failure this morning. My two jobs for the menu are to make the dulce de leche sauce - which I did yesterday, to fine success - and roast the pineapple for the vacherin. Here's where I failed. I know I set the timer for the last 7 minutes of roasting time - and at 400 degrees, these were critical minutes - but I guess I forgot to push the "start" button, so the pineapple slices that took me 90 minutes to prep, that were soaked in half a bottle of dark rum and two cups of lime juice, burned beyond salvation. I am not ashamed to say that this event brought me to tears. All that time wasted!! All that money wasted!! and now what to do for the filling for the vacherin?? Rhubarb to the rescue - our frozen stockpile from the summer does a quick roast and soon we have rhubarb mousse to fill the meringues.
Still, there's a reason I am not a cook. I shall not stray from the office again.
We are booked for tonight - pretty much have been booked since Monday - and expectations are going to be high. From canapes to champagne, we will be ready, and greet our first guests at 6PM with smiles (of relief) and greetings of the New Year.
Happy New Year to everyone and please, wish us luck tonight!
I am the only one to have a complete and utter failure this morning. My two jobs for the menu are to make the dulce de leche sauce - which I did yesterday, to fine success - and roast the pineapple for the vacherin. Here's where I failed. I know I set the timer for the last 7 minutes of roasting time - and at 400 degrees, these were critical minutes - but I guess I forgot to push the "start" button, so the pineapple slices that took me 90 minutes to prep, that were soaked in half a bottle of dark rum and two cups of lime juice, burned beyond salvation. I am not ashamed to say that this event brought me to tears. All that time wasted!! All that money wasted!! and now what to do for the filling for the vacherin?? Rhubarb to the rescue - our frozen stockpile from the summer does a quick roast and soon we have rhubarb mousse to fill the meringues.
Still, there's a reason I am not a cook. I shall not stray from the office again.
We are booked for tonight - pretty much have been booked since Monday - and expectations are going to be high. From canapes to champagne, we will be ready, and greet our first guests at 6PM with smiles (of relief) and greetings of the New Year.
Happy New Year to everyone and please, wish us luck tonight!
I know I set my oven at 325 but when I went to check my pumpkin spice cheesecake it was burned and the sugar in the crust had caramelized. The oven was at 375. I had accidently brushed against a very loose knob and raised the setting so I now how you felt. Best of luck tonight and wishing you the best for next year. Michael
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