Hi! I manage a high school cafeteria and have been asked to do a continental breakfast for the administration team.
I am doing a fruit tray with yogurt and some granola that is at the bosses request .He also stated NO DONUTS! There will be 17 to 20 people 3 of them women it is to be ready by 8 am.Here is my ideas so far I do not have acces to any of my usual venders since school is closed.So I either buy from local grocery YUCK or make something .
what about banana bread and maybe a cinnamon cream cheese? or mini fritattas?I have the amounts ok for the fruit tray but how many portions of the other things should I have? How do I bill for something like this our usal protocal is to bill exact cost of food plus hourly wage but since this is not on school time I have to bill privately?
Thanks in advance
any ideas welcome.

By Chefjoannam (Chefjoannam) on Monday, June 13, 2005 - 09:30 pm: Edit

What kind of cooking facility are you using, the on-campus cafeteria kitchen, or somewhere else? that's going to be the biggest question.

If you're going to buy the pastry, keep away from that Otis Spunkydude, his muffins are as oily as any donut I've ever eaten. You'd be better off either buying actual croissants from a real bakery, or making your own muffins from scratch, the only limitation is how many muffin pans you own. Have a variety of about three types, and make about 1.5x the number of people there, maybe even 2x, depending on the size. Oh, and USE THOSE MUFFIN PAPERS, you'll regret it if you don't!!

What's your budget, by the way?!

Eggs are not commonly on continental bkfst menus, so I'd avoid the frittata idea. you're looking for cold/room-temp foods that can stay at room temp for an hour. Fruit/yogurt/granola/muffins/bagels and maybe even a very simple deli-platter of some ham and a couple of sliced cheeses would suffice.

Oh, hey, do you have access to a toaster or two?

I've been eating a toasted cheese sandwich for bkfst a few days a week lately, and it hits the spot! If you're worried about the guys getting enough food from a continental bkfst, ham and cheese will help. (LOL, Karen, better be wary of those three women!)

Why not stick to your traditional billing, it makes sense. Your time is valuable - BILL FOR IT.

I'm interested in seeing what the others suggest.

good luck!

By Chefmanny (Chefmanny) on Monday, June 13, 2005 - 09:49 pm: Edit

muffins, danish, coissants, Spike jump in here any time!!!...bagels, oj for a drink, mimosas..woops, fresh fruit flavored cream cheese, bialis, (sp)?,....

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Monday, June 13, 2005 - 10:14 pm: Edit

ditto, ditto, ditto.
hook up a toaster for those bagels, that was a good idea, those guys will LOVE it with ham and cheese.
cut up all the fruit yourself, it saves MONEY and puts it in your pocket.
smart and final for the trays, reuseable ones(for the next gig) cause they are gonna want you to do it again after the excellent job they see you've done!!
the croissants you can buy at ralphs, yea they are ok.(you ain't got no french men com'in)
they also have day old muffins which are great heated(low and slow,baby) with a clean damp cloth over them while they are in the oven, it puts the moisture back in em.
don't forget english muffins, they are great with butter, jam, honey!
and beer and lines of cocaine. better make that light beer and fat free cocaine, its breakfast!!!!
just kidding, just kidding....i know, these are teachers, my goosh, they don't do that, i know.
I had this teacher once, but thats a story for another day.
Good luck really, its simple and it will go great!

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Monday, June 13, 2005 - 10:17 pm: Edit

Manny, you spelled croissant wrong.
your a teacher, right?

you know when I saw your name...Msruckbro3
I started to talk like that dog on the Jettsons
anybody else catch that?
I need a nap now.

By Msruckbro3 (Msruckbro3) on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 07:51 am: Edit

You guys are great! I can sorta use the kitchen working around the summer cleaning crew.Have lots of muffin pans just need a fabulous recipe.That is funny with the otis dude we sell those daily at school haha and I know they do not want them. The toaster is a great idea.I use those frozen ice sheets to set my cold trays on.So how much hourly wage should I use ??When billing during school hours I bill exact hours thath are turned in on time sheet and use a generic figure of 15.00 an hour because my staff is cival service and all make differrent wages depending on years of service starting pay at 8.00 an hour.What I am asking is what can I get away with??So if I have 3 bakery items I should have 30 of each item??

By Msruckbro3 (Msruckbro3) on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 07:54 am: Edit

forgot to add these are the uptight superintendants and principles they need the mimosa can I add it without the tast?hahahah

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 - 10:44 pm: Edit

are you in florida?
are you at mannys school?
make mimosa ice cubes. put them in the orange juice. charge 40. bucks an hour.
and don't forget the bowl of condoms.
'cause all the schools(except manny's) are handing out condoms.
but I'm sure that the teachers alreaddy have theres, from the stash.
manny does.
LOL.

By Msruckbro3 (Msruckbro3) on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 10:03 pm: Edit

I am really not sure on the placement on the line do the condoms go at the front or the end of the line???

By Chefjoannam (Chefjoannam) on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 10:41 pm: Edit

well, I didn't think it would come to this... but I think this may help:

http://www.trojancondoms.com/info_center/••••••_use/

Not to be confused with this:
http://www.superior.ie/my_html/81522.htm

Enjoy!
(tee hee hee)

By Msruckbro3 (Msruckbro3) on Thursday, June 16, 2005 - 08:22 am: Edit

You guys are awesome.!!Just got back from setting up the breakfast.I did a gourmet basket of bagles with jars of jams and whipped butter.I also did a fresh fruit tray with the yogurt and some different toppings to choose from add a tray of fresh hot( bought ) danish .The toaster was a big hit.The people there kept asking for my buisness card .. Would I really want to do this .I have been in food service for 11 years and have done some catering privatly for fun but how do you really make money at it???
Thanks for the great ideas and the wonderful laughs.How long till the mimose cubes take effect???

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Thursday, June 16, 2005 - 08:31 pm: Edit

"Would I really want to do this .I have been in food service for 11 years and have done some catering privatly for fun but how do you really make money at it??? "...........

Honey, you just did. Congrats!