<html><head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
<title>Chef Bob Ballantyne, The Cowboy and The Rose Catering, Grand Junction, Colorado, USA, Erie Cookout!</title></head>
<body>
<p>We were asked to feed the town of Erie, Colorado. This was a large
event as we expected 1200 to 1800 attendees. Two hard things, the whole
town was invited, but who would come? And the park has no water this time
of the year. The second was easy to solve as we have self contained water
with hot water heaters. The first? That was a little problematic as
we have to cook to cover it all.......</p>
<p>And so we find ourselves at the normal first stop of any catering! The
fueling station, Zane is hauling the supply trailer and I am hauling the newly
received Southern Pride Cooker, this is a 1000 model which we added to our line
up next to the 750 model we have owned for several years.</p>
<p>We have already both worked a full day, it is 8 PM and Erie is about 300
miles north east. We will be there and we will wow them. Along for
the ride our helping hand, Calvin... no pics of Calvin but he is a typical high
school student.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/fuelingcooker.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/zanepump.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/fuelingsupply.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/bobpump.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>We drive through the night and arrive in Longmont Colorado at the hotel.
Check in and drop to sleep immediately. 5:30 AM comes early and we are up
and around, a quick stop for breakfast and then the work begins. To give
you an idea of the event staff:<br>
<br>
Food......Zane, Bob and Calvin Tents and site set up.... Don and his crew
of six hands...... serving staff will be the CSU band doing it for a fund
raiser. About 16 young adults... two of which have worked for Zane and I
since they were in High School. A long run of pictures here as the set up
is explained best in pictures. The kitchen and prep tents are first as
Beef Brisket, Pulled pork and smoke sausage served with Slaw, Fruit salad, and
potato salad all take time to prep for 1800 people.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cookeronsite.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/chairtruck.jpg" width="234" height="191"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/supplytrailer.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/tabletruck.jpg" width="445" height="248"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/tenttruck.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/finallycooking.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>The crew starts to set the site for the party.... we need our kitchen and
prep tents up first so we can get started when the food arrives. So they
start to hammer out the area by laying the framing for the tents in the areas
they will be erected. As the time goes by the place gets to looking like
an event will happen. We begin positioning equipment in its final spot for
the next days event. It will take all of Friday to prep and cook the
foods.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cookerposition.jpg" width="359" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/gridout.jpg" width="445" height="262"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/justneedswalls.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/kitchenset.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/completekitchen.jpg" width="445" height="303"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/peaksrising.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/lifting.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>The weather was fantastic and stayed that way for the entire weekend.
That was really great... a problem with the Sysco truck. Suppose to be on
location at 9 AM.... 10:30 AM no truck... fire up the phones, heads are gonna
roll!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/morecanvas.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/completedcanvas.jpg" width="445" height="270"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/longview.jpg" width="445" height="169"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cornerview.jpg" width="445" height="268"></p>
<p>This kind of work has the crews hungry, I have been working on getting lunch
ready as we work on locating our Sysco truck. I have worked many time with
<a href="http://www.chefsbasketcolorado.com/">Florian Wehrli of Chefs Basket</a>....I
know he uses Sysco regularly as we do, but he uses this Sysco House out of
Denver, we are normally serviced out of Salt Lake City. I place a call to
<a href="http://www.chefsbasketcolorado.com/">Chef Florian</a> and ask if he can
get his rep to help us out. "Any thing you need Bob" as I expected the
answer would be.. I love that guy! I continue on with my lunch making for
the crew... Zane continues to find butts to chew about the missing grocery
truck.</p>
<p>Nothing fancy for the crew, just working food!!! Polish Sausage, rolls,
baked beans and Kraut! Plus chips and gatorade.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/crewline.jpg" width="445" height="200"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/creweating.jpg" width="445" height="246"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/crewdinner.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/morecrew.jpg" width="445" height="282"></p>
<p>With lunch over I would see the crew again at 7 PM to feed them New York
Strip Steak, but I was to tired to take pics of that part of it. Sorry.</p>
<p>At last my grocery truck! I know you are all wondering... what about
refrigeration for the food? The beauty of order this much food from one
vendor is: </p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/grocerytruck.jpg" width="445" height="259"></p>
<p>They leave the reefer trailer for you to work out of during the event.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/walkingtrans.jpg" width="382" height="257"></p>
<p>And so I now have a walk-in and a nice place to prep the cold stuffs.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/walkin.jpg" width="445" height="255"></p>
<p>So I get to it and set up my prep station for making the salads.
Sanitize the prep table and sharpen my knives... lets start to turn food into
money!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cooledprep.jpg" width="323" height="253"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/sharpeningup.jpg" width="445" height="289"></p>
<p>I sell a lot of salads, they are labor intensive to build from scratch, but
with three people on food we are already over staffed compared to some of the
things Zane and I have pulled off. Hand cut and hand plucked.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/fruit.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/fruitsalad.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>I put together several tubs of potato salad as well, but I bring in Sysco
tater salad and just add pepper and smoked paprika to save time. So no
pictures of that assembly.</p>
<p>We are at the time when we must prep the meat and fill the cooker....... this
will take us through to about 11 PM we will get the beans and sausage in the
morning along with the Slaw build. The Sysco trailer was holding a great
36 degrees F for me..... I was about half frozen and ready to get out and be in
the sun. I don't really bitch about the prep in the trailer, it has to be
done and bitchin' don't get it closer to done!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cookerload.jpg" width="445" height="178"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/brisketprep.jpg" width="445" height="326"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/porkbrisket.jpg" width="445" height="307"></p>
<p>And as the meat will cook through the night we must return at 5 AM to tend to
the meat and get the beans started as well as the rest of the set up complete
for an 11 AM feed.</p>
<p>Very very early start:</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/nosunyet.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>Being in a remote location does not exempt us from food safety so we continue
to run the sanitizing procedures as required!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/foodsafety.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/earlystart.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/beanprep.jpg" width="445" height="291"></p>
<p>The Finish will be tomorrows blog!</p>
<p>Chef Bob Ballantyne<br>
<a href="http://www.thecowboyandtherose.com">The Cowboy and The Rose Catering</a><br>
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA</p></body></html>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
<title>Chef Bob Ballantyne, The Cowboy and The Rose Catering, Grand Junction, Colorado, USA, Erie Cookout!</title></head>
<body>
<p>We were asked to feed the town of Erie, Colorado. This was a large
event as we expected 1200 to 1800 attendees. Two hard things, the whole
town was invited, but who would come? And the park has no water this time
of the year. The second was easy to solve as we have self contained water
with hot water heaters. The first? That was a little problematic as
we have to cook to cover it all.......</p>
<p>And so we find ourselves at the normal first stop of any catering! The
fueling station, Zane is hauling the supply trailer and I am hauling the newly
received Southern Pride Cooker, this is a 1000 model which we added to our line
up next to the 750 model we have owned for several years.</p>
<p>We have already both worked a full day, it is 8 PM and Erie is about 300
miles north east. We will be there and we will wow them. Along for
the ride our helping hand, Calvin... no pics of Calvin but he is a typical high
school student.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/fuelingcooker.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/zanepump.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/fuelingsupply.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/bobpump.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>We drive through the night and arrive in Longmont Colorado at the hotel.
Check in and drop to sleep immediately. 5:30 AM comes early and we are up
and around, a quick stop for breakfast and then the work begins. To give
you an idea of the event staff:<br>
<br>
Food......Zane, Bob and Calvin Tents and site set up.... Don and his crew
of six hands...... serving staff will be the CSU band doing it for a fund
raiser. About 16 young adults... two of which have worked for Zane and I
since they were in High School. A long run of pictures here as the set up
is explained best in pictures. The kitchen and prep tents are first as
Beef Brisket, Pulled pork and smoke sausage served with Slaw, Fruit salad, and
potato salad all take time to prep for 1800 people.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cookeronsite.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/chairtruck.jpg" width="234" height="191"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/supplytrailer.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/tabletruck.jpg" width="445" height="248"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/tenttruck.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/finallycooking.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>The crew starts to set the site for the party.... we need our kitchen and
prep tents up first so we can get started when the food arrives. So they
start to hammer out the area by laying the framing for the tents in the areas
they will be erected. As the time goes by the place gets to looking like
an event will happen. We begin positioning equipment in its final spot for
the next days event. It will take all of Friday to prep and cook the
foods.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cookerposition.jpg" width="359" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/gridout.jpg" width="445" height="262"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/justneedswalls.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/kitchenset.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/completekitchen.jpg" width="445" height="303"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/peaksrising.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/lifting.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>The weather was fantastic and stayed that way for the entire weekend.
That was really great... a problem with the Sysco truck. Suppose to be on
location at 9 AM.... 10:30 AM no truck... fire up the phones, heads are gonna
roll!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/morecanvas.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/completedcanvas.jpg" width="445" height="270"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/longview.jpg" width="445" height="169"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cornerview.jpg" width="445" height="268"></p>
<p>This kind of work has the crews hungry, I have been working on getting lunch
ready as we work on locating our Sysco truck. I have worked many time with
<a href="http://www.chefsbasketcolorado.com/">Florian Wehrli of Chefs Basket</a>....I
know he uses Sysco regularly as we do, but he uses this Sysco House out of
Denver, we are normally serviced out of Salt Lake City. I place a call to
<a href="http://www.chefsbasketcolorado.com/">Chef Florian</a> and ask if he can
get his rep to help us out. "Any thing you need Bob" as I expected the
answer would be.. I love that guy! I continue on with my lunch making for
the crew... Zane continues to find butts to chew about the missing grocery
truck.</p>
<p>Nothing fancy for the crew, just working food!!! Polish Sausage, rolls,
baked beans and Kraut! Plus chips and gatorade.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/crewline.jpg" width="445" height="200"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/creweating.jpg" width="445" height="246"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/crewdinner.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/morecrew.jpg" width="445" height="282"></p>
<p>With lunch over I would see the crew again at 7 PM to feed them New York
Strip Steak, but I was to tired to take pics of that part of it. Sorry.</p>
<p>At last my grocery truck! I know you are all wondering... what about
refrigeration for the food? The beauty of order this much food from one
vendor is: </p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/grocerytruck.jpg" width="445" height="259"></p>
<p>They leave the reefer trailer for you to work out of during the event.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/walkingtrans.jpg" width="382" height="257"></p>
<p>And so I now have a walk-in and a nice place to prep the cold stuffs.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/walkin.jpg" width="445" height="255"></p>
<p>So I get to it and set up my prep station for making the salads.
Sanitize the prep table and sharpen my knives... lets start to turn food into
money!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cooledprep.jpg" width="323" height="253"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/sharpeningup.jpg" width="445" height="289"></p>
<p>I sell a lot of salads, they are labor intensive to build from scratch, but
with three people on food we are already over staffed compared to some of the
things Zane and I have pulled off. Hand cut and hand plucked.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/fruit.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/fruitsalad.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>I put together several tubs of potato salad as well, but I bring in Sysco
tater salad and just add pepper and smoked paprika to save time. So no
pictures of that assembly.</p>
<p>We are at the time when we must prep the meat and fill the cooker....... this
will take us through to about 11 PM we will get the beans and sausage in the
morning along with the Slaw build. The Sysco trailer was holding a great
36 degrees F for me..... I was about half frozen and ready to get out and be in
the sun. I don't really bitch about the prep in the trailer, it has to be
done and bitchin' don't get it closer to done!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/cookerload.jpg" width="445" height="178"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/brisketprep.jpg" width="445" height="326"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/porkbrisket.jpg" width="445" height="307"></p>
<p>And as the meat will cook through the night we must return at 5 AM to tend to
the meat and get the beans started as well as the rest of the set up complete
for an 11 AM feed.</p>
<p>Very very early start:</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/nosunyet.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>Being in a remote location does not exempt us from food safety so we continue
to run the sanitizing procedures as required!</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/foodsafety.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/earlystart.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/erieq/beanprep.jpg" width="445" height="291"></p>
<p>The Finish will be tomorrows blog!</p>
<p>Chef Bob Ballantyne<br>
<a href="http://www.thecowboyandtherose.com">The Cowboy and The Rose Catering</a><br>
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA</p></body></html>
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