Episode 61: The Great Catering Adventure

“Great catering adventure” or act of insanity? It was probably closer to the latter when Bossy offered to cater her son’s film shoot for his senior project on a freezing weekend in February in Philadelphia. Thank God for the help and support of so many people, including sisters-in-law Leslie and Gail and great friends, like Betsy Grenier, who survived the adventure and was willing to talk with us about it in this episode. Talking about trauma always helps.

So what was the scope of this catering caper? Five meals for 30 starving college students spread out over two days at the Chamounix Mansion in Fairmont Park. Yep. We did that. And here's the thing about agreeing to do crazy big things: there is a weird sense of triumph that comes at the end because being part of a big creative project is truly amazing. When it was over, it felt like a dream--Betsy said "a bad dream"--but a dream nonetheless. All parents want their kids to find their passion and purpose, and living on the edge and bearing witness to that was, well, every parent's dream. But it definitely takes a village to make dreams happen, and this was more proof of that (as if we needed it). Our village was all the cast and crew members to what Betsy dubbed our "Just Hired Craft Services Company" toiling away in the basement kitchen.

The menu featured many Bootie and Bossy recipes from the Pumpkin bread and Granola to homemade marshmallows and garlic aioli, all available on our website and easily found using the oh-so-convenient search bar (ah-hem). Try out the delicious Spinach Mushroom Brunch Bake, which was a big hit for breakfast on the second day—thank you, Gail, for supplying Chris Brez's recipe from The Hawkin School's Best Recipes (2002).

Here's what we learned: next time you have the chance to do something big and crazy, do it! You will be glad that you did.