Through October 2007, there have been 47 Ethnic Dinners. The full list (PDF), where the asterisks indicate a dinner that has been repeated.
The following paragraphs and lists provide a brief summary of the tasks in major areas:
Publicity -
Ticket Sales -- will need something here
Research - starts as soon as theme is determined; maybe before in order to decide on theme. Contributes to choice of dishes and the talk.
Food - find recipe sources and be familiar with them before the menu planning meeting. Maybe visit a restaurant and / or ethnic grocery. Be able to discuss recipes with cooks.
Cooking - the more people who volunteer, the easier it is for everyone. It is best if just one person is making any one dish for consistency in the outcome. If several people want to get together and share making some dish, that is fine. I often try to make whatever doesn't get signed up for. In addition to being a great deal of work, I run out of room in my refrigerator which can be dangerous. Trying to have several dishes in process at the same time, can result in things going wrong, or at the very least, dishes not getting the attention they deserve and not turning out as well as they should.
Music - CDs are best. CD changer can play 5 CDs alternately. Music should be as authentic as possible and help set the mood or ambiance for the theme.
Bar - reasearching and purchasing drinks, setting up and running the bar, cleanup and next day sales. Need two bartenders for smoothly running bar.
Set-up - Person leading it needs to know where tables are and how to get at them, how many tables for number of people, how to arrange them. Also need tables for appetizers, buffet table, bar and door-tender. Should also know how to get into the building. Printed instructions are available, but experience is essential and makes the job easier with repetition.
Door-tender - tickets are not collected, but money needs to be collected from those who made reservations. It needs to be recorded correctly to aid in the final accounting. Different prices apply for children.
Clean-up - often no one volunteers before the dinner and help must be recruited at the dinner. We do now have a building manager to help direct putting the sanctuary back in order, but several people need to do the work. In the kitchen, the primary goal the night of the dinner is to get the food refrigerated and start a load of dishes, leaving the kitchen in some kind of order for the coffee makers the next morning. The following day the dishwasher is emptied and another load started, other things washed in the sinks. The washing continues as the leftovers sale empties other containers.
Containers for Leftovers Sale -collect containers when people donate them (usually left in kitchen, so check for them). Have a place at home to store them where they will stay clean. As containers are collected or at some point prior to each dinner, go through all the bags, be sure the containers are all clean, have lids and are sorted into the correct bags. On the day after each dinner, bring them to church by 10:30 am at the latest and set up on the counter so that the label on the side is visible. After the sale they need to be taken back and stored until the next after-dinner sale. If the number of containers on hand is seriously depleted, put an announcement in the newsletter and several bulletins asking for more, or let the person doing publicity for the dinners know to so.
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