Catering For Friends . . .

My friends make indie movies all the time.  "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work" is my favorite motto.  A close second is, "To Whom Much is Given, Much Is Required" so any chance I get, I help others with their movie projects because people are always tripping over themselves to help me with mine.

This week, a friend called me in a pinch.  She needed help on her latest romantic comedy set in a bridal shop in Culver City, CA.  I offered to cook lunch for her cast & crew (40 people!) to help keep her budget down.  

I knew the meal needed to be cheap, but when her producers told me all they could afford was $6/pp, my jaw dropped. 

Next, I discovered all of the dietary restrictions: 4 gluten free, 3 vegans, 7 pescatarians, 3 vegetarians, 6 who eat meat, but no pork, and the rest eat anything as long as it's tasty.  Oh, boy!   

After some quick thinking, I decided to do an elaborate "All-you-can-eat Salad Bar and Baked Potato Bar" to satisfy everyone.

Fresh salad and vegetables.  Hubby helped me load up the car.

Grilled chicken, smoked ham, tuna fish, vegan/meatless sausage...

Baked Russet potatoes.

Every trimming you can think of for the salads and baked potatoes. Corn, garbanzo beans, beets, peas, green beans, croutons, red onion, broccoli, tomato, mushrooms... and on and on and on.

The entire crafty table was lined with fresh options!  There was even soy cheese and non-dairy sour cream for the non-dairy and/or vegan folks.

This meal was a huge hit!

It was a lot of work to complete this catering job for my friend. I endured  a full day grocery shopping and prepping all of the tin containers; almost 1 hour to pack up the car; 1 hour of traffic... but seeing how grateful everyone was to have fresh food for lunch made it all worth my efforts. And, I came in under budget!!

Yep, "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work."  

~SS