Tramlines

I think the catering for the Tramlines crew went quite well.

The Junk Food Project provided lunch and dinner for between 40 and 60 production crew on the two set up days, the three days of the festival and then the two days of clear up.  I think in the end it worked out at around 710 meals all told.

We produced the food in the Pot Luck Pantry kitchen at Regather, then it was transported across town to Ponderosa, where most of the production crew were.

Freyja and I signed up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday and, together with other people, produced such things as chicken in lemon sauce, chilli, meatballs, tofu in black bean sauce, loads of vegetables, salads, all sorts of things.  We sent up, as much as we could, a meaty and a vegetarian version of each dish. We also had to be a bit creative.  If, as we did on Sunday, we found that we had loads of tiny brioche buns that needed using up, we needed to think of something to do with them.  The reason that the Tramlines organisers had come to us in the first place was because of our focus on reducing food waste.  Most serendipitously, we also discovered that we had quite a bit of minced beef that also needed using up, so as an addition to the menu of things in black bean sauce, we also send up lots of tiny chilli burgers to go with the tiny brioche buns.

The Tramlines crew apparently thoroughly enjoyed their lunches and dinners. We got lots of good feedback.  I am told that the St John Ambulance volunteers were deeply jealous of the food that the Tramlines crew were getting.  They, it seems, were getting slightly dried up sandwiches and slightly overcooked baked potatoes!!

I must say that I learned a huge amount over the three days I was there.  For instance, I had no idea before this how you would transport food safely from the kitchen to an off site service area some distance away. We had pretty much the same team working on the three days and I felt that we had almost worked out how to do things by the time we got to the end of it.  There are lots of things I would do slightly differently if I were ever to do something like this again,  but we got all of our food out on time, heated to the appropriate temperature and apparently well seasoned and tasty.  I think that probably counts as a success.

Freyja said, as we were closing up on Sunday, that it was a great pity that we hadn't thought to take any photos of the food we had produced.  Why, oh why, had no one thought of The Blog?  I think if either of us had gone to Ponderosa where the food was actually being eaten we would probably have taken lots of photos.  Didn't think to ask the woman who was working with us during the day in the kitchen and then heading up to help with the evening service to take any photos.  And there wasn't really time in the kitchen, nor are chaffing dishes of food particularly exciting to look at.  So no photos, sorry. I'll do better next time.

I was very, very, very tired at the end of the three days.  I was hugely glad that I didn't have to get up and go to work yesterday morning.

In other news:

• Our chickens and the duck have gone to their new home.  Bev next door and The Builder gathered them all up and they have gone to join Bev's existing flock of birds on her allotment.   
• Freyja found a three year old child wandering about in her nightie on the street on Saturday morning when she (Freyja) was on her way to the kitchen. She couldn't find any responsible adults to hand the child over to, so had to take charge of the child and summon the police to find her adults.  Just as well Freyja did find the child.  Three year olds are quite difficult to see if you are driving a car and they wander out in front of you.
• Cally went to a birthday party in the Build a Bear at Meadowhall, thus achieving two Firsts.  I don't think she knew about Build a Bear shops before that.  She certainly didn't know about Meadowhall.
• Freyja and Simon will be moving into a new house next weekend; Marlo will be moving in with them shortly thereafter.
• Freyja starts a new job with the Sheffield Uni Student Union today.  
• The Builder and I went out for lunch yesterday with some friends - and I didn't have to cook!!!
• In three weeks The Builder and I will be in Japan, for a few days holiday en route to Australia. That, it must be said, is a slightly daunting thought!