Alright, so after my first posting I see a few people at least took 30 seconds from their day to check it out. Thank you for that. Hopefully a few people subscribed while they were visiting and are interested in sharing or at least reading my blog from time to time.

So, since I am new to blogging, I did what anyone would do... I Googled what the heck I'm supposed to do with it! Some sites say blogs are just there for you to express your thoughts and opinions, others say its to help people. Still others say its where I'm supposed to market my business ideas or to show that I am an expert in my field. But overall, they seem to say this is a way for me to stay connected, be it with family, friends, co-workers, customers or just anyone! I like that idea. But then again, I liked all the other ones too, so Googling pretty much didn't help at all.

After much review and online research, I've decided to do what I originally planned on doing... winging it. I'm open to any comments, questions or topics. Just hit the "Respond" button or "Comment" or whatever the button at the bottom of the blog says and let me know what you'd like to hear about. Otherwise, you are going to be subjected to my inane ramblings, which from time to time might prove useful or even funny or sometimes both. Who knows!?

On this blog, I'd like to include something useful and helpful in relation to the catering/hospitality field with each post but first, I suppose I ought to fill in a tiny bit of biography in order for you to actually believe some of the info I'm going to put in here. I've been involved in the catering/food service business literally, since birth. My family has been catering, cooking and generally taking care of things for over 40 years, but I can't claim that kind of longevity myself. Personally, I have been catering for over 15 years. There's not much I haven't seen or at least heard of when it comes to this field and rarely am I surprised by some of the things I see. I did go to college to study this industry, so at least one public institution in this state certifies that I know what I'm talking about. I've held a few different jobs over the years relating to catering and food service so I do have a little varierty to share with you all. Its not always been just family drama for me. If there's anything you're curious about, please feel free to ask. If I don't want to share that bit of info, I'll say so. Otherwise, ask away.

So now after that terribly convincing display of know-how, I'm going to share a helpful little insider trick that some of you might actually find useful. Many of you have used store-bought chafing dishes. Those little wire racks that you found at Sam's or Costco and have the flames underneath them that keep your hot food hot, and after a while, dangerously chewy? Many people have them stored in their garages or offices and like to save a few bucks on their catering order by using their own, rather than renting from us. (This is a totally awesome idea and I love it! I'm all about saving money whenever you can, as long as you aren't sacrificing quality.) My only bit of wisdom I'd like you wire-dish-users to keep in mind is to please note that the pan you have your two inches of water in is very often the same size pan that we caterers also use to transport food in. This usually proves problematic when we go to put the food pan in the water pan. The result is most often a splash all over your table and a confused look about what just happened. My professional opinion? Only put about a half inch of water into your pan. You aren't trying to boil the food, just keep it warm for serving. My other suggestion? In that half inch of water, grab a couple inches of aluminum foil wrap and twist it into a coil or two, put them in the water and voila! You have something that will keep the food pan from squishing water over the sides of the bottom pan. It works, I've done it, it's awesome. Trust me.

Keep it in mind on your next order... you might be surprised.

Until next time, happy catering!

-  Maggie Raffel

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