Anything You Would Never Do at a Show Again?

[kam]

I always ask if the oven runs hot!

So many times AFTER the recipe is over cooked - the host says "Oh yeah, forgot to mention that my oven runs hot!". I have had 4 hosts this year with hotter than normal ovens! It has not ruined a recipe yet, just made the artichoke cups dark. I always check at the minimum time anyway, but one time, the time wasn't even close and the recipe was DONE!

Now I ALWAYS ask!

Also: CHECK the OVEN before turning it on!! Make sure nothing is in the oven!

 

[chefann]

The first August I was a consultant, I did a birthday incentive. All guests got a candy bar with a "Happy B'day" wrapper. Inside the wrappers were written bonuses like free SBRC, $1 off order, etc. The one show I had that month had several children in attendance (which I'm always careful to mention to hosts, too). All the kids took candy bars, and the parents tried to redeem multiples of the specials.I've also had issues with offering "On time drawing" incentives on invitations. One show, the husband of the host wanted the prize because he misread it as an "on time prize" not a drawing, and he was obviously there on time. Same problems, again, when offering an incentive to the host for having more than 10 guests. She invited people who brought spouses, and wanted to count the spouses to get the incentive. If I offer something like this now, it'll be for # of orders, not just bodies in the seats.Now that I think of it, all these problems were with the same circle of hosts/attendees.

 

[cwinter474]

New one as of tonite

I will always verify the hostess address. I know her from chruch so we exchanged info at chruch (packet and recipes info) So tonight I go to her house... no one is there..... I called her said "I'm here, did I get the date wrong?" Her "Oh, did I forget to tell you I moved"

 

[paigev71]

One thing I will never do again.....is fail to bring my card table just in case. I was told a host would have a table to use and I didn't need one. The party was to be at 4. I got there at 3:15 only to be told "my husband is on his way with the table." So I said ok we will just do the prep work for our recipe. It was awkward going back and forth to my bag to get my tools and such. Then guests started arriving and I still didn't have the table. It was 4:15 before he showed up with the table. I recovered from it without showing irritation but in the future I will always have my table in the van just in case I need it.

 

[ChefJWarren]

THe show stopper recipe from a few years ago with the chocolate cups. You make them with ballons, dip in chocolate, let harden and pop the ballon. Hostess bought cheap cheap cheap ballons, the chocolate wasn't very warm and they were popping left and right - chocolate went everywhere!

WTH is a "ballon"????

 

[cwinter474]

Balloon..... You blow them up, and use them at kids parties, for decorations....

 

[cwinter474]

One thing I will never do again.....is fail to bring my card table just in case. I was told a host would have a table to use and I didn't need one. The party was to be at 4. I got there at 3:15 only to be told "my husband is on his way with the table." So I said ok we will just do the prep work for our recipe. It was awkward going back and forth to my bag to get my tools and such. Then guests started arriving and I still didn't have the table. It was 4:15 before he showed up with the table. I recovered from it without showing irritation but in the future I will always have my table in the van just in case I need it.

What type of table to you use? I'm thinking about getting a 5ft folding table that has ajustable legs for height and a handle for carrying when it is folded.

 

[paigev71]

What type of table to you use? I'm thinking about getting a 5ft folding table that has ajustable legs for height and a handle for carrying when it is folded.

What I have now is a card table I bought when I sold Tupperware (gasp....I can't believe I said that LOL). I want to get one of those that is a rectangular table that folds up small. I hear they are a lot heavier, but I find myself with not a lot of room to have a display and area to work on.

 

[ChefJWarren]

Sorry, I didn't think it was a misspelling because it was spelled "ballon" like 4 times in various postings.

 

[TammyStar]

Thats okay, I always get confused when Candadiens spell CATALOGUE! In my country we spell it catalog. There has been a few other words here that make me look to see where the person is from AND then it makes sense.

Not being offensive here so please don't take it personal. Its just I travel for work so when I'm on the East coast I always say "back in my country" for example, in Connecticut they call it a "pocket book" on the west coast its a purse or bag. I say FREEWAY and they say HIGHWAY. Munchkins are the little people in The Wizard of Oz, so when my coworkers were talking about eating "munchkins" I was appalled didn't know they meant donut holes. Here we say "you are all done" there they say "all set". In a fast food restaurant, here it is "for here or to go" on the East coast they say "to stay or to go". I could go on, and some of its not nice so I will stop here.
Tammy

 

[confusedturtle]

Also: CHECK the OVEN before turning it on!! Make sure nothing is in the oven!

I have to agree! Too many times I preheated the oven at a show only to find out they stored pots and pans or once plastic (ack!) in the oven. Luckily I always caught it very early on, but still not a good thing LoL! Hubby does that too so I should be used to looking by now, but I didn't think of it at the shows.

 

[Jennie4PC]

Seriously? Who does that. I mean, for those of us not very technical, it's basically plastic. Who puts plastic in the oven?

My DH uncle did this. HE came up to me at a reunion and said "I need to buy my wife a new one I was making spagetti and put it on the stove."

 

[kcmckay]

Not being offensive here so please don't take it personal. Its just I travel for work so when I'm on the East coast I always say "back in my country" for example, in Connecticut they call it a "pocket book" on the west coast its a purse or bag. I say FREEWAY and they say HIGHWAY. Here we say "you are all done" there they say "all set". In a fast food restaurant, here it is "for here or to go" on the East coast they say "to stay or to go". I could go on, and some of its not nice so I will stop here.
Tammy[/QUOTE]

Sorry I know you arent being offensive and I don't take it as that but I also think that it varies state to state beyond coastal differences. Where in NY I would always say and here for here or to go I've never heard or said to stay or to go. I get the freeway highway thing too but I knew a girl in college who was from Delaware and she called it a freeway too and it's still the east coast. I was born and raised in NY on the east coast. My sister also was but now lives in CA. so I always hear about the differences from her. I just found your post to be enlightening and funny as well.

 

[TammyStar]

Katie, funny thing too I spent 19 weeks in Hartford CT and then 13 weeks in Stamford. The people in Hartford sounded and acted more like people from BOSTON and the people in Stamford were like NEW YORKERS!! And its a teeny tiny itty bitty little state! (I'm originally from Cali) it was pretty funny. But as I said in a previous post, not a fan of the snow or cold weather so I will not go back anytime soon. I did renew my Connecticut license just in case!
Tammy

 

[cwinter474]

I will never let anyone over 80yrs old come to a show! I had the worst night ever! I made the carmel apple tartlets, got out the apple corer peeler slicer, did a apple or two, someone asked about it, I answered, then she answered "couldn't you just get a knife and peel and cut up the apple?... Got out the chopper, "couldn't you just dice the apples with a knife?... Got out the measure all, "couldn't you use any glass?... the batter bowl, "wouldn't any microwave bowl work?"..... you get the idea, I mean she shot EVERYTHING down and alot of the people just kept agreeing with her. Horriable party 9 people $128 in sales and NO bookings. Heck by the time she was done, I was about in tears and wondering why I've spent so much money on PC items......

(sorry big vent)

 

[raebates]

You poor thing! I occasionally have that kind of person. Here are my responses:Yes, you could. I bet you're a whiz with a knife. However, most of us aren't. I almost never made anything I had to peel, core, and slice apples for before I got my APCS.Well, no, not just any glass would work. If you had one that was exactly the same diameter, that one would work. Plus, you can't use your glass to measure out the caramel and then shoot it out slick as a whistle.Sure, a microwave-safe bowl would work. But, most don't have the great measurements, don't have a lid, don't have a pour spout, and can't be used in the oven.Don't worry. Your PC products are well worth the money.

 

[pamperedlinda]

I will never let anyone over 80yrs old come to a show! I had the worst night ever! I made the carmel apple tartlets, got out the apple corer peeler slicer, did a apple or two, someone asked about it, I answered, then she answered "couldn't you just get a knife and peel and cut up the apple?... Got out the chopper, "couldn't you just dice the apples with a knife?... Got out the measure all, "couldn't you use any glass?... the batter bowl, "wouldn't any microwave bowl work?"..... you get the idea, I mean she shot EVERYTHING down and alot of the people just kept agreeing with her. Horriable party 9 people $128 in sales and NO bookings. Heck by the time she was done, I was about in tears and wondering why I've spent so much money on PC items......

(sorry big vent)

That's horrible! What did the host think?

 

[KellyTheChef]

That stinks! I hate it when I have negative nelly's there! They can just suck all of the fun out of a show!

 

[cwinter474]

That's horrible! What did the host think?

After the lady left, she just kept apologizing. I said that's ok, let's work on some outside order to get your total up. Then we moved her closing date. She feels really bad for me. I feel for her, she was being nice and invited the lady from her church, the woman had made a comment that she is never invited to any parties. Now we know why.

I'm hopeful that it will turn out. The hostess is motivated.

 

[cwinter474]

You poor thing! I occasionally have that kind of person. Here are my responses:

Yes, you could. I bet you're a whiz with a knife. However, most of us aren't. I almost never made anything I had to peel, core, and slice apples for before I got my APCS.

Well, no, not just any glass would work. If you had one that was exactly the same diameter, that one would work. Plus, you can't use your glass to measure out the caramel and then shoot it out slick as a whistle.

Sure, a microwave-safe bowl would work. But, most don't have the great measurements, don't have a lid, don't have a pour spout, and can't be used in the oven.

OH, wise PC lady..... I humble to your wisdon:chef:

I wish I had these quick snappy answers last night. I guess they come with experiance. I think I will start another post for snappy comebacks for us newbies!
(Don't get me wrong, I had a few comebacks of my own, but you would have been proud of me, I kept them to myself and kept on going)

 

[raebates]

I'm very proud of you. Keeping those "snappy comebacks" to yourself takes wisdom and maturity.

 

[PChefPEI]

Anything with Phyllo dough.

I second that one! My very first show, I (stupidly) decided to make phyllo-wrapped asparagus. Boy, was that a mistake!! It turned out to be a great show and everyone had fun, but it was very stressful for me.

 

[cwinter474]

I have heard nothing good about the Phyllo dough. I will NOT be doing anything with it. geeze, sounds like a nightmare.

 

[PChefPEI]

My directior tells a story where she went to a house, they let her in, there were several people there all very nicely dressed in dark suits and dresses, they let her set up in the dining room because she asked where the kitchen was. She noticed there was quite a bunch of food already there. She got everything set up and sorta just was there, and then asked who was "so and so" because it was an over the phone booking with a lady she had never met.... they told her that she didn't live there, that they thought she was from one of the chruches bringing food for the family. The wife of the man that lived there had passed away and the funeral was later that evening.

Can you imaging!!!!

OMG!!! It's bad, but that made me laugh out loud!! I can't imagine that at all!!!

 

[cwinter474]

OMG!!! It's bad, but that made me laugh out loud!! I can't imagine that at all!!!

I can't believe they let her get completly set up before someone said something!!!!

 

[PChefPEI]

I will never demo the Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies. They are soooo yummy, but the darned things are too much work with peeling the Rolos and stuff!

Suggestion - use a bag of mini Rolos, as they are not wrapped. And for the chocolate you're supposed to melt and drizzle, get a bottle of chocolate syrup. Makes them much easier to make!

 

[PChefPEI]

When there is chicken called for in a recipe I will ALWAYS tell the host to make sure it is at least thawed by the time I get there...there have been too many times where they hand me chicken straight out of the freezer to prep for a demo! (ditto that for ground beef!)

Yep, that's happened to me too! Asked a host for the chicken for making the jerk chicken nachos, and there she goes, reaching into her freezer!! Then, there was a mad dash to cook it all before the show was ready to start. Of course, I take most of the blame for that, because if my host coaching skills had of been up to par, this would not have happened!!

 

[cwinter474]

Yep, that's happened to me too! Asked a host for the chicken for making the jerk chicken nachos, and there she goes, reaching into her freezer!! Then, there was a mad dash to cook it all before the show was ready to start. Of course, I take most of the blame for that, because if my host coaching skills had of been up to par, this would not have happened!!

Everytime I hear this or it happens to me, I think "What are they thinking????" Why would you NOT defrost the chicken!!!!!!

 

[PChefPEI]

Everytime I hear this or it happens to me, I think "What are they thinking????" Why would you NOT defrost the chicken!!!!!!

You do have a point. What recipe, ANY recipe, is ever started with FROZEN chicken!!

 

[PChefPEI]

After the lady left, she just kept apologizing. I said that's ok, let's work on some outside order to get your total up. Then we moved her closing date. She feels really bad for me. I feel for her, she was being nice and invited the lady from her church, the woman had made a comment that she is never invited to any parties. Now we know why.

I'm hopeful that it will turn out. The hostess is motivated.

I guess you do know why! LORD, what is wrong with people!! She could have kept those comments to herself and just not placed an order! Hope the show turns out okay and that the host gets lots of outside orders.