If my day job ever fails ...

If my day job ever fails, I now know I can go into the catering business. Well, maybe not, but I had good practice this weekend. 

Sunday was a special day for our sixth grade students and as a result, we had a luncheon for friends and family afterward. Landon decided that this year, for consistency, we would make the food ourselves, rather than having several people make one recipe at home and bring it to the church. So, on Saturday morning, he and I headed to the church to make six casseroles for our 60-person luncheon.

We had decided to make chicken spaghetti, a recipe my co-worker and friend Susan had given me. It makes a large batch that serves 12, so it is a good recipe for crowds. 

The recipe calls for a whole chicken, de-boned. So Landon cooked all the chickens on Friday at church so that they were ready to be de-boned on Saturday morning. Since that's a messy job, he gave that task to me.

While I did that, Landon's job was to cook a box of noodle, chop and saute onions and green peppers, and then mix all that together along with a can of cream of chicken, a can of cream of mushroom, 4 ounces of pimentos and a little chicken broth (saved from the cooked chickens). 

We actually had it timed so well that by the time I got done picking off all the chicken, he had one batch done. Then, we topped that with cheese and moved onto the next one. 

We did six all together, which took about two and a half hours. Then, we had to clean up our mess. By the time we got home, we crashed on the couch, but not before I made two Kentucky Derby Pies for a church missions bake sale. Oh, and I tried modifying the recipe I told you about to use one cup flour and one cup each of chocolate chips and pecans. The batter seemed much thicker, which I think helped with the consistency, but since I sold the pies and didn't eat them myself, I don't know for sure! I guess I'll have to try it again to see how they are! 

I had three amazing ladies who helped me cook the casseroles on Sunday morning as well as getting the salad and rolls ready. I don't have any pics of the end product, but I can tell you it was great. And, Landon did great on planning portions, because we didn't have that many leftovers. We had one roll, 15 cupcakes, a bag of salad and half a pan of chicken spaghetti. Not too bad, if I say so myself.

That said, one lesson I did learn, catering is hard work. I don't think I'll be taking it up anytime soon.