Our staff at Monarch Park Collegiate work awfully hard, and we rarely have time to just all stop at the same time, breathe and enjoy each others' company. Chef will tell you he has not taken a lunch break for years, really ... there is always so much to do. Too much.
BUT ...
Just before the Christmas break in 2015 our Principal, Ms Cynthia Abernethy, suggested that the staff have a day where we try to just stop all our busy-ness for 30 minutes and enjoy some food and chat-time. Our Culinary Arts students catered the event.
Photos for this hush-hush occasion are VERY hard to come by, but we have a few.
Sous-Chef Tamara made all the arrangements and front-of-house decisions. Thank you Tamara! (this secret shot shows Chef Tamara hiding under a rather startling Santa hat, straight from Canadian Tire.)
Our menu for the staff consisted of Chicken Tikka on mini-Chappatis with home-made Tamarind sauce, some small portions of artisinal Ontario Lamb and pork sausage on mini-cheddar cheese crackers
(a recipe straight from Chef John Higgins at George Brown Chef School, and one he used to make as a teen-ager as personal Chef to HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother!), with a basil and mint salsa tying the two elements together. We offered "Edmonton's National Dish", a.k.a. Green Onion Cakes,
with a sprightly little dip that made everyone's toes curl, and dipping vegetables
with three kinds of hummus (smoked sugar onion, charred hot peppers and a plain one).
The response was just wonderful ... the staff were thrilled ... and although we were sure we'd cooked a vast amount, there were NO leftovers.
Remember, at Christmas, do what the nice man's hat says.
Thanks, Ms Abernethy, for the chance to cook for our other teachers and school staff!
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