Katherine ODell

May 8
th
, 2014 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Guests planned: 245, Guests arrived: 223
Client: Shawnee Mission School District
Communications Department
-Chaired by Ms. Leigh Anne Neal
Location: Shawnee Mission South High School
cafeteria
Event: Service pinning and retirement
recognition ceremony for SMSD staff.
SMSD Catering
Catering supervisor Jo Sullins
SMSD nutrition supervisor Nancy Coughenour
Breaded chicken strips
BBQ and honey mustard dipping sauces
BBQ meatballs
Cucumber and radish sandwiches
Crudite platters
Included jicama, baby carrots, celery, cauliflower and broccoli
florets and pepper slices.
Fresh fruit platters/ Berry bowls
Included sliced strawberries, grapes and oranges. Berry bowls
included raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.
Cubed cheese platters
Included cheddar, havarti, and Colby cheeses.
Assorted cracker trays
Assorted mini quiche
Included florentine quiche, ham quiche and cheese quiche.
Mini whipped cream tarts with berries
Mini cheesecakes
Included vanilla bean, raspberry, peanut butter,
chocolate, key lime, strawberry and orange
cheesecakes.
Cookies
Included chocolate chip.
Space-themed candies, assorted
Included Starbursts, mini Milky Way bars, mini
Moon Pies, Orbit gum packs, Lifesaver gummy
rings of Saturn and M&Ms meteorites

Food was arranged on tables and guests served
themselves, buffet style.
Catering staff stood by and, working in teams of two,
would watch for foods to run low and would refill as
needed.
Drink table was attended by two workers; one to
serve drinks and a second the restock drink
options.
During the ceremony, the catering staff waited in
the teachers lounge.
Following ceremony, catering staff broke down tables
and decorations, cleaned dishes, packaged leftovers, etc.
Tuesday 5/6/14:
Prepped honey mustard and bbq sauces for chicken
fingers
Double checked arrival status of fresh fruits,
veggies
Wednesday 5/7/14:
Prepped ice rings for punch bowls
Prepped lemonade for punch bowls
Cut vegetables for crudite trays.
Prepped whipped cream cheese and herb topping
for cucumber sandwiches
AM prep:
Wash and cut fruit for trays and bowls.
Assemble fruit, cheese and veggie trays; assemble fruit bowls.
Assemble cucumber sandwiches.
Add meatballs to BBQ sauce and hold for PM.
Assemble napkin and silverware trays.
PM prep
Pipe filling into tart shells and cold store.
Bake chicken to 165 F and hot store.
Bake meatballs to 165 F and hot store.
Bake quiche to 165 F and hot store.
Assemble candy bowls.
Assemble tables; cloth and skirts.
Add fruit ring to juice bowls; prep water and tea pitchers.
Prep chafing trays.
Set out food at 3:30, begin service at 4:00
Standing chillers
Two refrigerated chillers in the cafeteria kitchen
were used to store cold foods just prior to serving.
Standing warmers
Two 200 F standing warmers were used to keep hot
foods at a safe and desirable temperature prior to
serving.
Combi ovens
Used for baking chicken, meatballs, tart shells and
mini quiche.
Chafing dishes
Used for serving hot dishes on the buffet line.
Prepared the whipped cream cheese topping
for the cucumber sandwiches, however I was
not the one to pipe them onto the
sandwiches.
Washed and sliced fruits for the trays,
assembled one fruit tray and one berry bowl.
Assembled three of the four cheese trays.
Assembled one of the two napkin trays.
Assisted in setting up tables and chafing
pans.

*A few less important photos; this is me worrying over the napkin arrangement,
as well as filling the berry bowls.
One of the many fruit trays, as well
as one of the two berry bowls.
One of the three cubed cheese trays,
as well as one of the four chafing dishes
full of assorted mini quiche.
One of the four vegetable trays, as well as one of the four
cucumber sandwich platters.
One of the four chafing dishes of breaded chicken strips
with BBQ and honey-mustard sauce, as well as one of the
two cracker trays and one of the four chafing dishes of
BBQ meatballs.
Some of the assorted space-themed
candies: Orbit Gum, Milky Way bars, Blow
Pops, Moon Pies and Starbursts.

Not pictured: M&Ms candies, chocolate
chip cookies and gummy Lifesavers.
Miniature cheesecake platter, as well as the mini tart stand,
Orbit gum and chocolate chip cookies.
The setup for the drink and
dessert tables.
The main buffet setup. Two sets of
Identical food options were available,
with fruits, veggies and cheeses on one
arm of the cross and most of the hot
items on the other.
Service Plan
The service plan was more or less followed, but because
many of the workers at Shawnee Mission South are in the
catering department as well, they fit in some tasks the day
before the schedule had intended just because it could ease
timing the day of the event, and because they had the
available time.
Production Schedule
As mentioned above, this was more or less followed. For
some of the more time-sensitive items, like the chicken
fingers and tarts, their scheduling was followed to a T. For
items like the cut veggie trays and fruit bowls a little
leniency was given because there wasnt much to gain or
lose for following the schedule exactly.
There were only two hiccups in our planning that
were even momentarily an issue:
In the AM the day of the event, three of our ceramic
serving spoons were knocked from the counter and
shattered. The catering supervisor had to cease what she
was doing and head out for new ceramic spoons to match
the remaining five.
The client was unusually panicked about the event
going smoothly, even though all evidence pointed
to the contrary.
Ultimately the solution we had to use was to have my main
supervisor, Ms. Coughenour, join us on site to reassure our
client that all was fine. I was told she was anxious because
the superintendent wasnt clear in his desires for the event
with her and she wanted to make sure everything went
according to plan.

Were it my choice to make, and I understand it isnt
always so, I would make it a point to try and keep the
clients direct on-site involvement minimized. Maybe
this is unrealistic, but I found that the catering staff
worked much more fluidly, calming and peacefully
before the clients staff joined us in the afternoon to
help set up decorations.
This wouldnt have been an issue, but some staff members
were coming back into the prep area and doing things that
felt like they werent necessarily safe, like stepping through
occupied areas or moving behind workers while they were
handling hot items. These are safety hazards I wouldnt
want to risk. Perhaps a simple reminder of the need for the
client to remain out of the actual prep area would suffice.
Three of the most important things I learned
from this project:
It sounds silly, but keeping calm under pressure was an important
lesson I learned. The professionals I worked with seemed to roll
with any hang up that may have surfaced, where as a novice I may
have panicked.
Have contingencies! There was a mix-up somewhere in the
ordering line and we ended up with half as many blackberries as
were necessary. We substituted the blackberries for additional cut
strawberries and raspberries.
Keep your eyes on the big picture. There were times in setting up
and planning this event where I became very frustrated and I felt
like nothing was going to go right. Ms. Sullins kept a positive
attitude and reminded me to keep in mind that it may not seem
like it would come together, but it would. And it did.