The Catering Unit
Preparing lunchThe Catering Unit is an integral part of the work ordered day at Old Fox House. It encompasses the Kitchen Unit and also the Snack Bar. The Kitchen Unit which is on the Ground Floor provides a main meal every day the Clubhouse is open with the exception of Saturdays or Bank Holidays, when we often eat Soup and Rolls.
Aim of the Unit
Our aim in the Kitchen Unit is to provide a warm, fun and enthusiastic place to be and to work in, where people can share their talents, give each other tips or different ways of preparing meals and try doing things they would not attempt on their own.Meetings
We have a Unit Meeting every morning at about 9.45 a.m. where everyone gathers together to work out what needs to be done that day, by whom and when, so that the meal can ideally be dished up by 12.30 p.m.An Encouraging Place
We try to keep any feelings of pressure to a minimum, as the object of the Unit is that it should be encouraging and satisfying for the people that work there, as well as the people who eat the end product.If anything does go wrong, we console ourselves with the thought that mostly everything goes right. Just like any workplace, the Kitchen Unit can also be a good place to talk and listen.
Menu Planning
Once a week we meet to plan menus and recipes for the following week and as with our morning unit meeting, everyone in the Clubhouse is welcome to come and join in at this meeting.Food Offered
As well as the main meal of the day we offer Jacket Potatoes, Salads, Rolls and a Pudding or Yoghurt or Fruit.Daily Jobs
Daily jobs in the Unit include:-Shopping done daily at the local supermarket.
Filling and emptying the dishwasher.
Cleaning tables and work surfaces.
Peeling vegetables.
Chopping Salad. Grating cheese.
Making a list of salads and rolls required and preparing them.
Washing up.
Collecting Lunch Money and attending to the Finance Procedures.
Waiting at Tables.
Cleaning Kitchen and Dining Room afterwards.
Finance
We keep a close eye on our budget and have worked out how much we can spend each month and how much income we should try and get back. We record daily everything that is spent and received in the Unit and these figures are then available for the Administration Unit to use for banking purposes, as well as recording statistics on the computer. We have devised a number of forms and lists to help us in the Unit to keep up to date with the Finance.Unit Members
People come and go; but there is a hard core of members involved in the kitchen on a very regular basis:- mainly Jean, Suzanne, Josie, Dick, Neville, Frederick, Roy and Janet, Christine and Len and Malcolm. Some people only come to the Clubhouse twice a week, so an average cooking team would be about four - which is about all we can fit into our little kitchen.
The Snack Bar
The Snack Bar
The Snack Bar is a vital part of the catering unit. It is generally open three times a day for half an hour, and provides a wide choice of hot and cold drinks and a variety of snacks of the lighter variety. It is the hub of the Clubhouse and welcomes all members when they need a break during the work-ordered day: it provides a much-needed place in which to relax, unwind and compare notes with other Clubhouse members and is the focus of much good-humoured banter and repartee.
The Snack Bar is run by a dedicated team of members comprised of Ann, Lynn, Sandy, Sheila, Emma, plus many others who alternate on different shifts and days; their daily duties comprise:
operating the till
filling the urn
replenishing the stock
washing up
cleaning and clearing up
constantly serving the punters
a weekly stock-take
At the end of each day a member is responsible for balancing the money in the till and recording the finances in the relevant files.
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