Demo Suggestions for Holiday Booth (Long-Sorry)

[SeeMe4PC]

Hi guys!

I really appreciate all of you and your posts, so I decided to go ahead and ask a favor.

I am doing a Holiday Booth tomorrow and they have requested that I do a demo every hour. 10am - 3pm

I am just going to put it out all there and unfortunately, everyone will know what I freak I am, now.

In the back of my mind, I have concerns about knives being accessible to the general public, things walking off from my booth while I am doing the demo, people cutting themselves by accident, etc. :yuck: And then there is the concern that I will run out of samples to taste. ALL the worst case scenario things that probably never happen but I am trying to be prepared for...

SO, with that said, I am looking for reassurance that no one has ever had a problem in these areas and trying to figure out what the easiest recipes would be to make this happen. I would like to be able to make 4 recipes of some sort but the more I think about this, the more I panic. I am having a hard time "Keeping It Simple Stupid". It's my first booth, too.

I am told there is a kitchen there but we cannot get into the space until 9am tomorrow. There are no windows that I could look through, so I am preparing for the worst - no kitchen. If the kitchen works out, great, life is good, if not, oh well, I was prepared. I have a hot plate to use, also.

I will have Chicken Chipotle Cornbread Cups, Peppermint Cookies and the Brownies on a stick prepared to give out - the first two will be cut in half and the last will be small bite size proportion. That's what I am thinking, anyway.

I have seen that Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe mentioned in some posts as being easy and quick to prepare and another chicken recipe than can basically be prepared before, also. I thought about having everything ready for the Chicken Chipotle cups, too, and just assembling them right in front of everyone.

As a seasoned consultant, does this sound logical, do-able, good? Or would you suggest something else?

Thank you so much, in advance, for listening and for your comments.
Have a great weekend!

 

[gailz2]

Oh my. They are demanding. I wouldn't do a full demo. I'd have some recipes to "taste" made ahead of time. Then if they want a demo, I'd do short ones right at my table, taking a few minutes to explain how great our cutlery is, then possibly doing some of the "potato" demos that there are links to on here. The apple wedger is also an easy demo, but try to gear the sales to higher priced items. Keep talking about our other items. I couldn't and wouldn't do a cooking demo each hour. That is probably just me, but why put so much stress on yourself.The easy decorator filled with whipped topping to decorate a cake that has already been made is another idea.

 

[LeslieSGI]

Ditto what gailz2 said; you will drive yourself crazy trying to do all that. My friend did "demos" at her booth with the Food Chopper and nuts; water and glitter in the Family sized quick stir pitcher (plunge and see the glitter swirl!!); potatoes and carrots on the ultimate mandoline; and garlic and ginger and citrus zest using the Adjustable Microplane Grater. Those get the ideas across and are not horribly wasteful. (Save the chopped nuts and use them for holiday baking; people can eat the carrot slices, etc.) Good luck!​

 

[candiejayne]

there was a potato demo on here, look in the files for it, it was amazing. shows you what to do with a few potatos to demo lots of products!

 

[Fluffy215]

I would do it as simple as possible. Make Salsa with some tortilla chips, a trifle would be great just make the cake/brownie ahead. Do any recipe which would not require you to cook. That's what I have done before. I am doing a much bigger fair next month that my space is an actual full working kitchen so I will be baking, cooking you name it LOL But something like salsa is easy to make more of if need be. You could do just the two recipes and alternate between them, how many people are going to be there for more than 2 hours?

 

[etteluap70PC]

I also am a freak about knives at booths... Totally understand!

do you hace the apcs? it is a bit nessy but use the large cutting board, clip it to a corner of your table Waste bucket underneath. let people crank it. Clice spiral in half and spread on a paper plate. Sprinkle with cin & sugar in the Flour sug shaker YUM!!!

If you will be demoing the mandiline use a cuke instead of a potato. It is edible and won't brown like a potatoe.

Have brownies in the mini mif tin, people can fill w whip cream in the EAD.

Nuts in the food chopper, just leave the cover on so no blades are exposed.

Keep it simple!

 

[raebates]

I don't know about the laws in Oregon, but we have to be careful in Indiana about feeding the public at large. When I do a fair or expo I only offer wrapped candies to the public. If they are requesting a demo, the potatoes/carrots/nuts suggestions are good. They show off products without tempting people to munch.

 

[SeeMe4PC]

All great ideas! Thanks everyone!

Thanks Rae - I went online and got my food handlers license so I am set!

If anyone thinks of anything else, let me know.

 

[raebates]

Best wishes!