One weekend and two completely different seasons


The week started with a visit to a farm where Karen and i met Alexandra to discuss a menu for an party organised for October.
Alexandra received our quote which we had emailed her, for the hog roast Kimpton catering while having a few days away at her holiday home in the South of France and immediately gave us a call to book and asked if we could pop up and see her on her return to England.
We are usually quite happy to pay people a visit if they are a bit anxious about the Kimpton catering and it does help especially if the menu is to be tailored to the customers needs or if the setting is difficult to get to. This way any potential pit falls can be talked about and when the day of the event arrives, there are no snags and the day goes well.
The meeting went very well and Alexandra gave us her booking form and deposit to secure the booking, we know exactly where we will be setting up and are looking forward to hog roast Kimpton catering in in two weeks time. It should be a great day, as when I spoke to Alexandra on the phone she told me there would be a steam engine there on the day…. well when she showed us two steam trains and explained the party was to celebrate the restoration of the engine, we were gob smacked. Not only was there a full size train in her garden but also about half a mile of track and her guests were to be treated to a train journey around the garden while eating their hog roast Kimpton…. really looking forward to the day and will definitely get some photos for the Spitting Pig website.
During the week we spent a couple of days cleaning and maintaining the machines to ensure they were in good working order for the weekend and packed the kits for the seven jobs we had on at the weekend.
The weekend started lovely, Friday morning was sunny and bright and quite warm for the end of September. Tracey was having her wedding reception at a football club and we were providing an evening reception meal for the happily married couple and 150 guests. I spent the afternoon in blazing sunshine preparing freshly made salads, and laid the serving tables for the evening hog roast Kimpton banquet. Soon after in the late afternoon, our assistant chef, Amanda arrived to help me serve and that is where the weather changed. A big black cloud must of followed her there and, well it was like the end of the world! The rain was attacking us horizontally and all my efforts to make the serving area look great for the guests was almost washed away. It is a good job we always use a gazebo as you never know what to expect in this country. We battled it out for a while and then decided to put the sides on our catering tent to shield us from the elements. After a good wipe down and replacing soggy napkins all was again looking good and as the guests came out to get served, the clouds cleared, it brightened up a bit and you would never had known that an hour ago we were nearly washed away.
Mind you with the weather this year, we have got used to this and getting soaked has become a regular occurrence. With the guests all served and eating desserts which were a variety of freshly baked cream cakes, we started to clear up and guess what?
The rain came back and gave us a last drench before we could get every thing packed back into the van.
Although the weather was not good, there was a large marquee attached to the club house and the crowds soon arrived to sample the fifty or so ales and ciders that the Red Squirrel Brewery had supplied and with some rather nice sausages and burgers to help soak up the alcohol, the evening was very jovial. With a live band on stage as well playing a mixture of hits the evening was a huge success and hope fully this will be the start of a annual beer fest.
As my blog head line announces… weekend of seasons…
Saturday was fantastic weather, blazing sunshine again and pleasantly warm.
Allen again set up at the cricket club and Karen and i set of to provide hog roast catering.
We were providing our simple and very cost effective pig in a bun menu for Richard and Jane who were celebrating Jane’s 50th Birthday. We arrived around 1 oclock and got set up and started the hog cooking. It takes about five to six hours to roast a hog and their garden was filled with the aroma of the succulent sweet smell of the hog slowly roasting over hot flames while they prepared some salads for their hog roast feast.
We also provide an array of scrumptious salads and potato options in our menu choice, but are quite happy if you would like to provide your own salads. Just let us know and we will even bring along an extra serving table and you can simply add your dishes which can be served along side ours.
While the hog was cooking, we enjoyed a couple of hours relaxing in the glorious sunshine, sampling the food from The Angler PH in Walton on Thames which is located on the bank of the river. We enjoyed a couple of pints while watching customers arrive by speed boat or lovely cruisers and moor along side the pub garden.
What a life !!
As soon as the sun had gone down, the temperature suddenly dropped and this was a sign that the warm evening that we had enjoyed all summer were at an end now and it will soon be time for thermals under our Spitting Pig chef whites.
We headed back and changed in to our uniforms. After warming our selves up on our Titan hog roast machine we got on with the final preparations for the evening and after all Jane’s guests had arrived we were given the nod by Richard to start carving. Jane had supplied some tortilla wraps as an alternative to our fresh floured baps and i must say they were a great alternative to a pig in a bun and i think it may be some thing we will offer on our menu’s.
We pulled the pork of the shoulders and shredded it so it would easily roll in the wrap, made the stuffing a little more sloppy so it could be spread, and with Jane’s home made chilli coleslaw as the topping. Once rolled and sliced in half, they really were a hit. With the kick of the chilli and the sweet succulent pork shoulder, i must say it really was a winner.
A special thank you to Freddy (Richard and Jane’s son) who looked after us all night and kept us supplied with drinks and home made cakes during the evening.
Allen had another successful night at the Cricket Club providing the BBQ at the beer festival (Red Squirrel Brewery) and after he had finished enjoyed a few pints at the end sampling an array of fine ales.
With three jobs on Sunday, it was another early start after a late night as i set of for hog roast catering. Rachael was having a surprise 40th Birthday party for her husband at the Cricket Club.
We were providing a hog with a scrumptious home made potato salad, home made coleslaw and a Thai crispy salad.
Again the day started off fine but as the afternoon went on, the weather got worse before it became a monsoon and the temperature dropped to almost fridge like conditions.
The guests ran out of the club house and took shelter under our gazebo while they were served a bap full of hot tender, sweet pork, crispy crackling and moist stuffing of course accompanied by our range of tasty salads.
During the afternoon there were a team of archers braving the weather and we were treated to a display of sharp shooting arrows while we served our hungry guests.

With the nights drawing in and the evenings getting colder, the party season is starting to slow down. We have two more very busy week ends coming up and then a few quiet weeks before Halloween and bon fire night which we are usually busy. So if you are thinking of a Halloween hog roast in or a bonfire hog roast for any event, then Spitting Pig are your first choice for hog roasts…,What ever the occasion, grand and lavish or intimate and relaxed, our team of highly skilled chefs and assistants will help make your party one to remember with Spitting Pig hog roast Kimpton catering.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*