In this item, I’ll be rambling, planning and obsessing about an event for which I am the (very) amateur solo caterer: a Mother’s Day tea at a local church.
I tried my hand at this last year. 35 people bought tickets, and the summary menu report (what I made and how it turned out) is here.
The single biggest disappointment last year was the finger sandwiches. Even though they were made just before the event, they were dry and unappetizing, and I threw much of what we made away. I need to troubleshoot this and pivot.
The second disappointment was the Victoria sponges, which even though I experimented with recipes and techniques leading up to the event, and even though I used my own homemade jam in them, were ultimately uninteresting. I won’t be forcing myself to serve them this year, even though they are “traditional.” They’re just not delicious.
Anyway, I’ll be researching and testing leading up to this early-May event. I benefitted so much from the advice and guidance I received on HO last year; thanks in advance for your helpful suggestions
I’ve loved reading your narratives…looking forward to this.
(I made my housemate’s wedding cake (from scratch) in graduate school–it was lopsided and tasted delicious!)
For the finger sandwiches, perhaps small Hawaiian bread buns, or “party rye” squares, topped and served open-face? Or Scandinavian Smorrebrod like these
@mig
The only way I have found to keep tea sandwiches from drying out is to build them on slightly damp tea towels or paper towels. Trim crusts when done, cover with another slightly damp towel. I then refrigerate them with the damp towels covered with Saran until needed. Remove, let warm up a bit before serving.
ETA…I like to use very fresh Pepperidge Farm very thinly sliced bread. I use both the white and whole wheat and sometimes use a slice of each in a sandwich.
One of the intractable issues about this event is the deeply conservative palate of the local audience.
Chutney, for example, would be unacceptably exotic to them, as would be rye bread. This sounds possibly crazy or patronizing, but it’s true.
Last year I considered savory biscuits instead of the dreaded finger sandwiches, but ultimately decided they were too similar to the scones I was already making.
But I don’t think it was the very thinly sliced bread, I also spread ” gossamer” thin softened butter on both slices, the bread needs to be compact to the sandwiches so it doesn’t open up.
Good idea! A lot more efficient as well, in the long run, it might be less labor intensive. And if you serve soup again, it would be very complementary!
Relatedly, Mom also said we are going to charge more this year; apparently “everyone” said it should’ve cost more (the profit goes to the church; I only charge for ingredients.)
The breakfast/brunch/lunch place where I ate today had (apologetic) little signs on the tables announcing a 50¢ -per-egg premium on regular menu prices for the time being.
to build in a greater profit for the church!
