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Pasta Buffet on the Way!
7 years ago
Dragonwuff Musings
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One of our most senior employees at work is finally heading off to "civilian life" (he doesn't like to call it "retirement", because, according to him, he's not done working! It will just be at the ranch now.). Of course, you know Vrghr and the rest of the shop here want to throw him a party.
When asked what he'd like, he said "I'll eat anything you cook, and I know it'll be good!". Wuff was certainly honored to hear that. It took a little coaxing, but we finally got him to admit that he'd enjoy some shrimp scampi or similar pasta.
So wuff discussed it with others, and we decided to make it a "Pasta Buffet", with lots of different sauces and pasta shapes.
Well, it's a good thing we did, because a pasta buffet is something that's easy to grow to meet a larger gathering, and MAN! Has this ever grown!
Normally, Vrghr plans on serving anywhere from 8-12, sometimes 15, for these shop gatherings. But this fellow is POPULAR! And he's been working with a LOT of folks in the company, and lots more in the customers. We have people flying in from LA and elsewhere to attend.
The current head count is 35+, and Vrghr is expecting more will be calling in for RSVP this coming week!
So wuff picked up three of those sterno-heated rectangular chafing dishes you see on catering buffets. And grabbed 3 each "third-size" and a couple "half size" pan inserts for them. So all together we can hold 9 different heated servings of 2.5 Qt each or 6 of 4 Qt each (or a combination). Plus we have 2ea triple-2qt electric "buffet slow cookers" (a single appliance that has 3 each 2-quart pots with individual controls). We also have 2 electric skillets, 2 4qt slow cookers, and 2 more 1.5 qt slow cookers. Wuff's pretty sure we're going to have enough serving capacity for everything we're planning! *grin*
So, what (you may ask) is wuffy planning? Here's the menu so far.
PASTA SELECTIONS:
Puttanesca (vegetarian) w/ Penne Rigati pasta
Sweet Italian Sausage & spicy Marinara w/Rotini pasta
Creamy Shrimp & Bay Scallops Scampi w/ Angel Hair pasta
Chicken and Bacon Garlic Alfredo w/ Farfalle (bow tie) pasta
Meatball Marinara w/ Rotini pasta
Garlic Butter Pesto (vegetarian) w/ Penne Rigati pasta
Cheese Tortellini in Vodka Sauce
ALSO:
Caesar Tossed Salad
Garden Salad w/Spinach
Warm Garlic Breadsticks
Toasted Garlic (French loaf) Bread
Mini "party" assorted Cheesecake Squares (warehouse club): NY, Rasperry, and Chocolate Chip
Mini cream puffs (warehouse club)
Assorted Sodas & Drinks, and grated cheese & other condiments
Needless to say, Vrghr is going to be a crazy cookin' wuffy for several days leading up to the event! And more so on the morning of!
Going to make the pesto (only needs to blanch the basil, warm the butter, and blend all the ingredients up) and the Scampi on morning of the party, since the Pesto tastes best fresh and the Angel Hair and scampi sauce don't "hold" at all well. Puttanesca and Alfredo get done the night before. Vodka sauce either night before of morning of (it's pretty quick). Italian Sausage and Meatballs both get done 2-3 days in advance, as they actually improve with time in the fridge.
These parties are getting closer to "catering business"! *LAUGHS*
This all goes down on the 20th! Wuff is thinking it will be a great adventure! Sure hope Vrghr doesn't mess anything up!
When asked what he'd like, he said "I'll eat anything you cook, and I know it'll be good!". Wuff was certainly honored to hear that. It took a little coaxing, but we finally got him to admit that he'd enjoy some shrimp scampi or similar pasta.
So wuff discussed it with others, and we decided to make it a "Pasta Buffet", with lots of different sauces and pasta shapes.
Well, it's a good thing we did, because a pasta buffet is something that's easy to grow to meet a larger gathering, and MAN! Has this ever grown!
Normally, Vrghr plans on serving anywhere from 8-12, sometimes 15, for these shop gatherings. But this fellow is POPULAR! And he's been working with a LOT of folks in the company, and lots more in the customers. We have people flying in from LA and elsewhere to attend.
The current head count is 35+, and Vrghr is expecting more will be calling in for RSVP this coming week!
So wuff picked up three of those sterno-heated rectangular chafing dishes you see on catering buffets. And grabbed 3 each "third-size" and a couple "half size" pan inserts for them. So all together we can hold 9 different heated servings of 2.5 Qt each or 6 of 4 Qt each (or a combination). Plus we have 2ea triple-2qt electric "buffet slow cookers" (a single appliance that has 3 each 2-quart pots with individual controls). We also have 2 electric skillets, 2 4qt slow cookers, and 2 more 1.5 qt slow cookers. Wuff's pretty sure we're going to have enough serving capacity for everything we're planning! *grin*
So, what (you may ask) is wuffy planning? Here's the menu so far.
PASTA SELECTIONS:
Puttanesca (vegetarian) w/ Penne Rigati pasta
Sweet Italian Sausage & spicy Marinara w/Rotini pasta
Creamy Shrimp & Bay Scallops Scampi w/ Angel Hair pasta
Chicken and Bacon Garlic Alfredo w/ Farfalle (bow tie) pasta
Meatball Marinara w/ Rotini pasta
Garlic Butter Pesto (vegetarian) w/ Penne Rigati pasta
Cheese Tortellini in Vodka Sauce
ALSO:
Caesar Tossed Salad
Garden Salad w/Spinach
Warm Garlic Breadsticks
Toasted Garlic (French loaf) Bread
Mini "party" assorted Cheesecake Squares (warehouse club): NY, Rasperry, and Chocolate Chip
Mini cream puffs (warehouse club)
Assorted Sodas & Drinks, and grated cheese & other condiments
Needless to say, Vrghr is going to be a crazy cookin' wuffy for several days leading up to the event! And more so on the morning of!
Going to make the pesto (only needs to blanch the basil, warm the butter, and blend all the ingredients up) and the Scampi on morning of the party, since the Pesto tastes best fresh and the Angel Hair and scampi sauce don't "hold" at all well. Puttanesca and Alfredo get done the night before. Vodka sauce either night before of morning of (it's pretty quick). Italian Sausage and Meatballs both get done 2-3 days in advance, as they actually improve with time in the fridge.
These parties are getting closer to "catering business"! *LAUGHS*
This all goes down on the 20th! Wuff is thinking it will be a great adventure! Sure hope Vrghr doesn't mess anything up!
Sounds like you will be busy and having fun in the thick of it. Wish you college well from Down Under and I hope he enjoys his 'civilian' life. *hugs*
Thank you for the kind wishes! He'd appreciate those!
He's definitely going to be keeping busy on the "homestead" and taking care of the barn and horses.
Hope your party is a smash and that your friend enjoys it to the fullest! I kinda want to join your party!
But sadly, I don't have tons of money to spend on a trip to attend a party and eat food!
ah yes, 'civilian' life. something we cannot avoid in the scheme of life.
Perhaps wuff and you might both end up at the same convention some year, and you can taste some of Vrghr's kitchen experiments there? Stranger things have happened! Vrghr is going to be at BLFC for the first time this year, and has an off-site place with a full kitchen to cook in there! Will be trying to do the same at Megaplex down in FL later in the summer.
Sadly, wuff's work doesn't let him travel as much at it used to, so managing to connect during one of those trips becomes less likely. But, things could surprise a fur. *grin*
"Civilian" life is looming closer to this wuff's Author too! Not THAT many years to a potential retirement for wuffy too!
And Megaplex? You mean with NIIC the Singing Dog? I heard about that. I might go to that if I can scrape enough cash up in time. Even though its close to four months away. Not to mention requesting time off from work. Gonna need to put some serious overtime hours to pay for it.
Not to mention EXPCon in November to look forward to. Glad that it came back after all these years.
Don't worry about 'civilian' life until its unavoidable, otherwise you'll miss out on whats right in front of you.
Yup! NIIC is going to be at Megaplex convention in Orlando FL this year.
Conventions and travel can certainly be expensive! Luckily, this wuff has enough vacation saved up, but the money is still pretty high no matter what. Got to make sure that the day to day expenses and necessities are always covered first.
Wuff's got some teeth care to deal with, and that isn't cheap either. So will be watching the pennies pretty close this year.
Teeth problems? Tell me about it. I have three cavities to deal with. Thankfully, with my new Delta dental insurance, it should cost less than $200 to have them done all at once. So I got real lucky with that. Just need a blindfold and I’ll be all set for it.
You don't need a fursuit to attend a furry convention. Wuff has never had one! It's fine just to show up and enjoy the fun, make friends, and take LOTS of pictures. (at least, that's what wuffy is planning! *grin*)
Good show on the Delta price! Wish this wuff's work is going to be that cheap. Unfortunately, a crown just fell off, so there's likely to be some more expensive stuff involved, and probably going to need a root canal on a different tooth. Those are big bucks. *sighs* Wuff's amount usually ends up around $850 for one of those root canals. Bleh!
Hope you can make it to Mega down in FL. But wuff certainly understands if schedules, costs, etc., don't permit it. If you DO - let wuffy know and he'll keep his eyes open for you, and maybe we can hit a meal or something together while there! If you like this wuff's recipes, he'd be happy to try to prepare something like that (if he can get a place with a kitchen again this year).
V.
V.