A Blank Canvas Part 3

Chapter 264-2

A Blank Canvas

Part 3

 

I felt good, in fact, I felt rejuvenated like I had slept for entire month. I only had a slight headache opening a bottle of aspirins and sipped it down with a nice cold coke, from McDonald's and ate four breakfast burritos and 3 sausage egg MC muffins and two hash browns. I felt absolutely famished. Chef Phillips was beginning to think I had a hole in my stomach as he watched with amazement where I was putting all that food.  Then again he had two boys of his own so it didn’t surprise him much.

It wasn’t long before we stopped at the first High School and where we were led to the gym where they had placed each of the pumpkins. I gasped counting closes to 150 carved pumpkins. Questioning if I had enough ribbons for them as this was the first of the schools we were visiting. There were some really amazing carvings that it was difficult to choose the top ten pumpkins. That would get the big prizes. Everyone got a prize either 50 dollar gift certificate, or one of the electronics prizes like a brand new boom box or walk-man. And would be placed in the big drawing tonight for the big prizes; there were no losers, everyone got something.

One by one Chef Philips and I judged the pumpkins and the classrooms that were competing for the grand prizes of big classroom party for the best-decorated classroom. It was nearly 1 pm by the time we made it back to the event center with all our pumpkins.

The boys all gasped when they saw all the pumpkins Chef Philips and I brought back with us. It took two semis to bring them, mostly because of the size. With 14 very large pumpkins that weighed close to two hundred pounds. We had reserved spots for those around the stage where they wouldn’t be in the way and in the far corners of the room after we ran out of room along the front of the stage.

It was time to get things rolling as far as food and setting the tables. I was glad to have my team of prep cooks because I had so much to do as it was getting closer to the time of dinner services. I made my rounds checking my meats, as my butter was melting in the big floor kettle for roué for my chicken grave and my green bean mixture of onions, garlic, and beacon. While Kirk was opening all my cans of green beans and draining the juice into two large 50-gallon pot as my mixture was cooking.

I had to have my chicken grave and my German green bean sauce done so we could begin making the root beer and the broth for the prime rib. We were going to need close to 900 hundred gallons of root beer, to start off with so we would have enough for the tables including two pitchers each. Then another 900 hundred gallons for the punch table; where we had a witches cauldron sitting on the table as our punch bowl with lots of dry ice to keep it bubbling and giving us the fog effect; with the help of fog machines.

That would produce fog across the dance floor plus green lights that would give off the eerie fog texture and color when the main lights were turned off. I couldn’t wait to see everything done after months and weeks of planning this fundraiser.

I was told we were going to have a live band, and live magic show, plus several other acts Stringum and Mr. Vincent had lined up. The band was The Rolling Stones; I don’t know how Stringum arranged it. But he had set up a private concert just for our fundraisers. They had already played at Rice-Eccles Stadium on 20th to the 23rd of October and were playing in Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA, USA on the 28th of October. I guess money does speak volumes.

He had arranged for Heber High school band symphony to also to provide entertainment for our music during dinner services which explained how fast our tickets had sold. He was also going to show our premiere of Tangled Hearts the PG-13 version episodes, while the band sets ups. That part of I wasn’t looking forward to because my grandmother would be here to see it. God, I was hoping we didn’t have the time. Dad said she would love seeing my acting skills. Yet the question was did Stringum and Mr. Kirkland have enough footage to put together anything worth seeing after taking out all the nudity and sex scenes out. I said a small prayer hoping that they didn’t.

Instead, I focused on the here and now as I turned on my floor kettles and started my chicken grave and my German green bean mixture. Telling Kirk to give them a good a stir every so often while I go out to the dining room and see how things are coming along. I quickly went over the table settings making some minor adjustment like making sure the silverware and glasses were right where I wanted it.

Plus the napkins sitting standing up where the plate will be, once the salad was served the moment they started to fill the room; we had to stay three steps ahead. I had several special reserved tables for our special guest like my grandmother being one of them and my mother as well as my brother Aaron if he could make it. I had invited his foster family as well, but they weren’t sitting at our table, but close enough if they came at all.

I had to admit I was quite impressed by how my tables looked more so with our table centerpieces. The chafing dishes looked very nice lined up on five different rows plus one extra small round table for our carving table and saved one large corner area for the prize table.

I had pumpkins everywhere as the girls placed a name card by each one, using the name tags we had left on each of the pumpkins including the ones we used as table centerpieces. It really started to come together, better then I could possibly have imagined.

I worked my way down the hall to the Spook Ally and the games for the younger kids. Watching the walls go up and all kids and parents hard work making it really fun. Including watching Franklin and a few of his makeup artist setup to paint faces for those that wanted it. He had everything from scars, bumps, warts, fake teeth and fake blood.

Once I had inspected everything I returned to the kitchen and rolled up my sleeves and began making my sauces, while my kitchen hummed around me. Salads and desserts were being plated. Cookie trays and vegetable trays with assorted crackers and cheeses were being arranged on large cork serving trays. Everything was made from scratch, and putting the final touches on each of the items. I watched as the Greg and or baker Lyle drizzled sugary orange glazes on the rolls and put them on the several food dollies. So when they were ready the girls could start putting the rolls out on the tables; for now, they were being covered in plastic and placed into the big walk-in cooler; the same with the salads.

Our goal was to have the rolls on the table within thirty minutes to an hour before our dinner guests start to arrive. Then soon after the salads the moment they started to sit down not waiting more than 30 minutes before we serve the main courses; giving time for the girls to change into their costumes as well as our waiters that would escort our guest to their tables. The boys had decided as waiters to all dress similar in tuxes with some sort of dead corps, known as the walking dead or in their case dead waiters. The girls were also going for the same theme the known as dead brides to match the boys.

What could I say, it was their idea and sounded like they didn’t want my help, which was more than fine with me. As long as I had enough wait stuff I was ok with it. I, however, was deciding to either to wear an eye patch and large hatch sticking out of my head, but I was waiting to see what Chef Mack and Chef Philip and our two chefs that were going to do as we would be out there cutting the prime rib. So far I had gather we were all going to wear a cool mask of some sort, but no one has said anything because we weren’t sure how much time we had to do anything.

I looked at the green-eyed clock monster on the wall noting the time that it was now time to check the roasts and see how many are ready to come out of the oven so they can rest, and remove the rib bones. My two graves were almost done, I estimated about 10 to twenty minutes. So my prep cooks can empty it into pans, and clean the kettles so we can start thinking about our root beer. I couldn’t start my beef broth until my rib roast came out of the oven wanting the drippings off them.

Chef Philips came along with me tasting my two sauces and helped me check the temperatures of each of my roasts telling me to turn off the ovens to the ones that were close to being done and giving them at least 20 minutes to rest as before I started to break them down and we would finish cooking them from there.

I made another trip out the dining room staring at the green-eyed clock monster telling me it was almost 3 pm give or take a few minutes. My first set of cords had to be in the oven no later than 4:30 and my twice bake soon after. The dining room looked great seeing that everything was done to my orders; giving my dining room crew lots of thank you’s and sending them away to get ready for the party. I made my way down the hall to each of the rooms finding everything setup and or just putting on the finishing touches. It was hard to believe that over a few hours this places was a blank canvas, now it looked like we were going to have an awesome party.

Once I made it back to the kitchen. Kirk, Mark were placing my first rib roasts on my Chef’s table and were pealing and dicing up the potatoes they had brought down from Heber that weren’t cooked all the way. Stating Chef Philips told them to use them for our plain mash potatoes for those that didn’t want my twice bakers instead of letting them go to waste.

My German green beans were in what we call a Bane Marie, which was basically hot water bath where we stick pans in it to keep our food hot until we were ready to put it into the hot carts for service. The sauce I had made and the heat from the water bath would keep my German green beans hot and moist.  Martin and Luke were arranging pans for my carrots as they had been rewashed and now waiting to be poured into the steamer pans and cooked off.

Everyone and everything was waiting on my orders, as I simply sent them all way that didn’t need to be here. Now that food was waiting for me to finish, and the salads and the rolls were waiting for the green light from me. The kitchen was quiet all except for the radio blaring away. All the prep stations were clean and the floor was basically spotless. Chef Mack and Chef Philips each put on an apron and set their knives on their chosen stations, sending the boys away. So they can go back to the hotel and shower and change into fresh work clothes and bring back their costumes, so once dinner service was over. They could join in the festivities with everyone else.