Girl in a Whirl: Catering three in a row. Or: How many food pictures can you stand to look at?

So it seems that everyone I know had a daughter get married in May. Heh. Really though it seems like a lot of weddings at once, and luckily I got to cater a few of them. I have posted many of these pictures on Instagram and Facebook, but I like to keep my blog updated too.

The first wedding was a backyard event for a girl we love in our family. She has been wonderful to my Ari. We were so happy for her. Her's was the last job I agreed to in this little marathon of events, but I couldn't turn it down because I wanted to be a part of her day. We did a sweet and savory Belgian Liege waffle bar. I did leave out the pearl sugar for the savory waffles, but they were just as rich and full of butter as the traditional ones.And let me tell you, if you have never had a savory waffle with one of these cheese sauces, and fresh herbs or some of the other toppings I offer in these events? I urge you to try one!

But if you go for the sweet side, try the Biscoff or Lemon meringue creams. Kind of dangerously addictive. Nobody needs to be told to try the Nutella cream.

Once again the buttermilk syrup gave me fits. I tried to do it all in one batch at first, and by the time it did its caramelly magic, it had gotten granular. I had to throw the whole thing out (read: I put it in my freezer for my own family --still tasted good) and make it a second time. We take the pictures with the top on the buttermilk syrup bottle, but when we start serving we yank it off because that is one thick yummy caramel.

I used a different brand of imported Spanish chorizo this time, and like it much better. I went to slice it thin, and it kind of shredded up a bit, giving a nice texture. I used yellow bell peppers and purple onions in my pico de gallo too which made for some pretty colors.

We were originally set up across the yard, but there was a mini wind storm at the start, and it was even blowing plates off of our stack, so we moved to up against the house, one table up on the porch, and one on the lower patio.

Do you see my poor cake cutter on the side? That is the only shot I got of her all night.

This is our little bride for the event. She looked gorgeous of course!

Two days later we had another waffle bar. This time it was an indoor reception at Noah's in South Jordan. It was a really nice facility for us, with an elevator and cart great for unloading. It seems like I bring half of my house with me every time I do one of these. This time, I even needed to fill up one of my helper's cars too. I just physically couldn't pack it all into mine.

Our bride here had kind of a foresty theme with gold accents. I pulled some pine from a neighbor's tree to tie into her table centerpieces.

Luckily, my other friend had these lovely tree slices for me to use too. I would love to get my own. Hmmm....

Once we got going everything went pretty smoothly, although having no warming oven was a challenge. I brought two plug in roasters, and eventually figured out how to make them work for heating up waffles. (Hint: the heating element is around the sides not on the bottom!) We do about half pre-made so people don't have to wait for a fresh made one if they don't want to. But having that fresh made waffle smell filling up this room was intoxicating. This was the first time I did a waffle bar where it wasn't outside.

One week later I had another reception.

This one was a completely different idea. I split the job with my friend, and I did an antipasti table, with lots of fancy cheeses and some charcuterie, and she did a mini dessert table.

I had a lot of fun with this one. I admit I really went over budget on this because I couldn't resist getting a couple of really cool cheeses that weren't available to me before.

We had a nice roll assortment with some herb and strawberry butters here, and I added in a little extra dark chocolate. It is a neat characteristic of the dark chocolates, that with a higher cocoa content they feel like food not just a sugar hit. This chocolate pairs nicely with the strawberries and I bet it was wonderful with the English Stilton with lemon that I had right above it.

When someone asks me if they should try the chevre --goat cheese, I often tell them to get a little honey with it. I put some honey on the table along with some pieces of honey comb. Even as a little kid I wanted to try the comb -- it makes for a fun adventure for people. This comb was imported from the middle east --acacia honey -- but I think I may have a local source next time which I am excited about.

Capocollo (or Coppa) is a type of cold cured meat similar to prosciutto --but isn't brined the same way. It comes from the Italian words for head and neck since it is made from a muscle in that area of the pork.

We did have a little prosciutto with melon of course.

A Dutch Gouda, and Spanish Manchego --which is actually a sheep's milk cheese!

I was able to find two kinds of olive mixes too --a Greek one, and the Byzantine country olive mix I used before.

This yellow rinded cheese was a Jarlsberg. I'd say it was a Swiss cheese, but it was from Norway. So, Swiss type cheese?

At the other end of the table we placed a cracker assortment.

I love these big round beautiful rye crackers from Finland. Not many people eat them, but they are gorgeous. Also the Matzo crackers --so interesting in the basket!