KARLA WESSLING

HONOR’S AWARD RECEPTION

APRIL 11TH 2012 8:00 PM

Expecting 500 guests

Approximately 450 guests arrived

Background Information

Honor’s Award Ceremony is held for High School

students with high academic status, reception to

follow ceremony

Those students, their parents and guests are invited

to the reception

Reception will be held in the Jr. High Cafeteria

Closest proximity to the Auditorium

Menu

Dessert buffet

Peach Crisp – 100 servings

Jello Starburst Cake – 200 servings

Chocolate Chip Muffins – 200 servings

Snickerdoodle Cookies – 200 servings

Iced Tea, Coffee, Water

Guests are welcome to eat as many desserts from the buffet table as they want, some guests may eat more than one dessert

Peach Crisp is the more expensive item, so less servings were made

Color and texture contrast were factors in the selection of desserts

Service

Dessert Buffet

About 1/3 of the desserts could fit on the buffet table at one time

Refilling table throughout reception was necessary

Contrasting color of displayed desserts

Two drink tables

Iced tea and water were poured before service, refilling as needed

Coffee at separate table, refill was not needed

Seating at cafeteria tables

Standing room only in common’s area

Production : Pre-prep

Week before event

Ordered necessary ingredients

Informed janitor of serving table needs

Day before event: from 3pm to 5pm

Preparation of Snickerdoodle Cookies

Equipment used: mixer and oven

Made by kitchen staff and myself at 3pm

Preparation of Jello Starburst Cake

Equipment used: mixer and oven

Made by kitchen staff and myself at 3:30pm

Production : Day of Event

Preparation of Chocolate Chip Muffins

Equipment used: mixer and oven

Made by myself and kitchen staff at 3pm

Preparation of Peach Crisp

Equipment used: mixer and oven

Made by myself at 3:30pm

Frosted Jello Starburst Cake

Equipment used: mixer

Made by kitchen staff

Production : Day of Event

Plated all desserts

Desserts were pre-portioned and individually plated

Start time: 5:30pm

Finish time: 7pm

Cafeteria arranged for service

Table set up by janitor at 6pm

Plated desserts were set on tables at 7:30pm

Preparation of Beverages

Made by kitchen staff

Beverages set on tables at 7:30pm

Event Pictures

Dessert Buffet Table

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Peach Crisp

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Jello Starburst Cake

Drink Tables

Evaluation

Service Plan

Production part of service plan worked well

Although too many dessert portions were made

This was the first dessert buffet for the school district

Cafeteria part of service plan had challenges

Set up of tables were changed from service plan

The Honor Award’s Ceremony had a person to over see the entire night I was unaware of. She set up the tables differently than in my service plan.

This was a minor bump in the road. Instead of many dessert table with desserts arranged on trays, we set up as shown in event pictures.

Evaluation

Production Schedule

Production plan flowed smoothly

From pre-prep to day of…I would not have changed any timing of food production and staffing

Food Quality

Followed recipes to ensure quality taste and texture

Used proper ingredients such as diced peaches for a quality portioned Peach Crisp

Baking time and holding time was appropriate to ensure foods were at proper temperatures

Nutritional aspects were not of concern for the dessert buffet, yet each was pre-portioned to adequate serving size for an individual

Event Summary

What I learned

Be informed of staff that may be responsible for other aspects of events

This may effect the service plan

More than one dessert per person was not necessary

We ended up with twice as many desserts as were eaten

Batch cooking would have been nice to utilize if we didn’t have all baked products

The leftover desserts were offered on the a la carte line the next day for the school children

This contributed to extra revenue