Blog-TOWER OF BABEL

I have become quite sentimental over the last few months. I have pondered the last twenty years of corporate work. When you showed up for on interview, people told you that they were thankful that you could make it. They laughed and joked, told old stories of bizarre flights and they hired you right away. They gave you a uniform that you were not ashamed to wear, like Brooks Brothers, or Ann or Calvin Klein, you were given an expense account (not that of a supermodel) where you could actually eat and maybe wash the great food down with a few glasses of vintage red.

Crews had your best interest at heart. You got two weeks off if you got married and as long as you needed to have a baby. The carpets and interiors of the jets were new and the wood sparkled. The supplies to perform you job were unlimited, and if you got sick, they filed nothing and you still got paid. Catering was whatever the passengers and crew wanted. The crew ate what the pax ate. There was never a compartmentalized box lunch with mystery meat and polyester bread, with token shrunk plum and saran wrapped brownie from 2009. The hotels smelled good, the lobby with marble flooring and a great staff. They remembered you and what you drank, and your room number without reminding them, people acted looked better and stood taller back then. Room service was an event to witness and you could leave your shoes outside your room to be shined. The bathroom was larger than my present hotel room. There were sometime heated towel racks and hot pipes to warm up the bathroom floor. All these things required thoughts of the guest.

Now, it is suggested we live on 25-50 dollars a day. whether in Chicago or London, no dry cleaning, no movie, no snack and no love. If catering is over 50.00 per person, they do not want to pay for it. No magazines, no cell phone, not internet,  imported chocolates or bathroom amenities, no floral, no eyeshades, no linen, no fine china, no mileage, no tolls, no no no no.

Are we headed to a socialist flying position? Am I supposed to fill up on the vending machine honey bun or Oreos packet? The FBO provides popcorn, apples, cookies, creamers, coffee, tea bas. pens, and mints. If I fill up on these comp items, will I be dead by next year? Or will I live long enough to be told I do not get any Medicare or Social Security, because the government ran out of money? What a choice.

When you see that 25 year old flight attendant in the FBO, you can smile at them and know that they will never know what we had. It is sad in a way. Her life will be filled with only cut rate hotels with see thru towels with no fabric softener,  Applebee's, Ponderosa, a dirty uniform from Cintas catalog, a cell phone bill, no movie, no pillow chocolate, 40 watt bulbs, a banner across the toilet saying it has been sanitized, a broken alarm clock  and a broken attitude.

We knew what the days of Camelot were, and the memory is forever mine. I have lived at the Peninsula, The Mandarin. the Ritz, the Greenbrier Resort,The Park Lane London, The Hotel Gansevoort, they were all the bomb. I can see for miles in my memories.
 

This weeks blog is a continuation of the ELEGANT YET ECONOMICAL CLASS performed by Executive Catering on Elm, Owner Molly Sprong, New Milford CT. I must say that all of Molly’s chefs are very well schooled and very happy to work there.

Here are the highlights: (you will get very hungry) It is the winter menu.

Garlic Braised Short Ribs (cheaper than meat) served with pea spaetzle with tomatoes and mint, great for winter.

Polenta crusted chicken breast with balsamic caper pan sauce - holds well in the oven, super tasty

My favorite is the west african vegetable cobbler , a medley of sweet potato, pepper , yukon jack potato, cumin, red pepper. great for vegans and vegetarians. would make a really great side with jerk chicken or bbq.

Desserts. my favorite!
You can make this one on the aircraft. 6 oz ramekin. put tab of butter in bottom. tear up a croissant, blueberries, more croissant, sugar brown or white, bake called a blueberry croissant puff.

White chocolate strawberry tiramisu
 
The best one was Mango Napolean (you can cut phyllo dough into triangles, mango jam, caramel topping and whipped cream, stack and serve). Yum!
 
Strawberry , banana and chocolate bundles, cut pie crust into 4 inch squares, take a dove chocolate, cut banana, strawberry, fold the crust closed, bake 350 for 10 minutes 

Here are some winter dishes on the menu.

Roasted butternut squash and apple with clove Crème Fraiche Soup.
Grilled pork chop with caramelized pear brandy sauce.
Lobster pot pie
Beef wellington with gorgonzola sauce
Curried couscous with pine nuts and raisins
Cranberry crumb pie

I was going to cover executive catering's economic yet elegant catering class but I could only take 1 hour of it due to my son getting sick at school. But I did come away with some hors d'œuvre ideas of toast toppers.

On toasted french baguette, brush with butter of olive oil, oven 350 for 15 minutes.

Top with
1. fig jam, goat cheese. chopped walnut.
2. mayo, wasabi paste, lump cab
3. pesto, crumbled bacon, chopped tomato
4. apple butter, blue cheese, sage
5. Manchego cheese, chorizo sausage
6. cream cheese, chopped dill, smoked salmon
7. chicken,BBQ sauce, pickle
8. brie, ham mustard
9. peanut butter, banana, honey
10. marmalade, turkey, mozzarella cheese

I will have more info on the class by Thursday.

On October 1, I gladly attended Executive Catering on Elm's cooking class. I was hungry and excited. The food is like coming home. All the chefs have a genuine passion for flavors, spices and what will work on the aircraft and what will not. They know aviation, the pluses and the perils of it. They know even if the weather is awful, the food will be wonderful.

My favorites were herbed griddle cakes with pears and gorgonzola, a beautiful spicy shrimp and coconut soup, spinach and radicchio with roasted butternut squash, pears and pecans, crispy pork medallions with apple horseradish, grilled smashed red potato, sweet ricotta pudding with red flame grapes, and vanilla bean mousse.

I have never been disappointed by Molly Sprongs catering. When the boxes get delivered to the a/c, it is like Christmas morning, I do not hesitate to open the boxes of wonderful delicacies. Her number is 860-350-0106, fax 354-0106. She is located on 12 Elm St. New Milford, CT 06776. Try them, and you will fall in love.

The junk I eat on corporate jets is amazing! I am on the crushing verge of vegetarianism after watching Super Size Me, a documentary film by Morgan Spurlock. It is a film about fast food and McDonald’s, and the ravaging health trouble it causes. I do well nutritionally when I am home. But a few takeoffs and landing later..............hmmmm. 

I am a pig at 41,000 ft. Rudy's whipped cream, tablespoons of it, chocolate chip cookies, 3 of them, chocolate mousse, 1 serving, I pick off all the mango off the fruit tray(saving grace), Chocolate covered strawberries, peach pie, 1 sliver, birthday cake for the icing, sugar babies, lays potato chips, chicken fingers, deep fried, with bbq sauce and a coke. I eat out of boredom. I am 6 ft tall and weight 140. Not bad, but my insides sometimes are coated in sugar. And forget about the mood that come after. 

When I open up the catering boxes, it is like Christmas morning. I do not keep tempting food in my house. So please, spare your crew and passengers from the cash axe, eat wisely. Do not try this on the a/c.