Area culinary students serving up A Taste of Christmas
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
From left, Marymae Martisko, Maddie Bissett and Claudia Carter worked together to bring A Taste of Christmas to Greene County as part of their FCCLA event management course. Holiday dinners will be distributed in festive boxes Dec. 10 on the GCCTC campus.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
On the A Taste of Christmas holiday buffet menu: applewood smoked ham with a pineapple bourbon glaze.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Dan Bradmon, a senior in GCCTC’s culinary program, carves ham in the spacious campus kitchen on a recent weekday. Applewood smoked ham, slow roasted with a pineapple bourbon glaze, is on the A Taste of Christmas menu.
Greene County Career and Technology Center culinary students are once again serving up A Taste of Christmas.
The class, led by culinary arts instructor Dan Wagner, has served delightful holiday dishes to the community at its annual Christmas buffet for decades. Last year was the first year since 1991 the event was canceled.
But this year it’s back – with a candy cane-striped twist.
“People are going to drive up,” said senior Maddie Bissett, who is organizing the event alongside senior Claudia Carter and junior Marymae Martisko. “It’s going to be just a nice experience.”
For decades, the buffet has brought the community together around the table in GCCTC’s culinary banquet hall. This year, because of COVID-19 restrictions, the class had to think outside the (prettily wrapped) box to pull off a holiday dinner that is both safe and fun.
For Bissett, Carter and Martisko, thinking outside the box meant putting everything into boxes.
“We all really enjoyed the Christmas buffet, the idea of it, and whenever we realized that we couldn’t do it because of COVID, we all came together pretty much as a class,” said Carter. “We’re like, OK, how can we make this an experience that people can enjoy but they can also get food? We brainstormed. It can’t just be a drive-thru. What about a drive-thru and a show?”
Bissett, Carter and Martisko worked closely with Wagner to plan the festive drive-thru buffet, which will be held at GCCTC’s campus from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. on Dec. 10. With the help of staff and students from other departments – Wagner said he appreciates the assistance from those departments and the support of director Mark Krupa – the culinary class will transform the drive-thru route into a winter wonderland.
Guests can expect festive stops along the way to their holiday dinner box.
An elf will greet guests with hot cocoa and cookies, said Carter, and Wagner hinted a jolly man known for booming “Meeerry Christmas!” might make an appearance.
“We’re going to try to make it as festive as possible,” said Wagner. “I think it’s going to be fun.”
The drive-thru buffet is part of an event management course Bissett, Carter and Martisko are taking through Family Career and Community Leaders of America. The three will present their event at FCCLA state competition in March.
“I think it’s a great learning experience for the students,” said Wagner, who helped his students plan the buffet menu, price out and order food and containers, and organize the drive-thru event.
Bissett said planning a large-scale event like the holiday buffet is challenging because so many small pieces need to fit together to pull off the event.
“There’s a lot of little aspects,” she said. “It’s been quite the experience working together with Mr. Wagner.”
The buffet box-style dinner poses a unique set of challenges to the culinary class. In previous years, food was prepared and served on-site; this year, food must be precooked. Wagner rented a refrigerated tractor-trailer in which to store food and boxes in the days leading up to A Taste of Christmas.
Minor roadblocks popped up during planning. Wagner said placing orders for some items was more challenging this year than in years past.
“We have rising prices in food right now. Plastic containers are hard to come by,” he said. “We’ve been pivoting. That’s what you have to do: you have to pivot.”
Pivot, and plan a small menu that can be easily packaged and reheated at home – that’s what Bissett, Carter and Martisko spent the past several weeks doing. Wagner joked the hardest part of menu planning was choosing a soup – the class settled on a warm, comforting roasted butternut squash soup.
Other dinner items that will packaged in the buffet boxes include Maddie’s Homemade Vegetable Medley; jambalaya (a holiday buffet staple); and a recipe by Chef Oliver Beckert, former executive chef at Trump International Hotels who assisted GCCTC culinary students with their last holiday buffet in 2019.
Assorted desserts are also on the menu, but the class is keeping the sweets secret. Participants can expect something festive and delicious, though: Bissett was recently accepted into the Pittsburgh Technical College baking and pastry program.
Bissett, Carter and Martisko are excited to serve the community a holiday meal that can be enjoyed in the comfort of one’s home.
“People who may not have gotten to experience it before will get to experience it now,” said Carter, who hopes folks who haven’t attended dinners in the past will drive through this one. “We are making a difference in the community, even if it’s just a small one.”
Wagner is proud to showcase his students’ culinary talent and creativity at this festive take on tradition.
“Our community has always supported this program. I love this community and the way they support the program, how they support the students and their ideas,” he said. “We gather as a community here at the Greene County CTC for the Christmas buffet. This year, you can share it with your family.”
Holiday buffet boxes include inner for two and can be ordered online at www.greenectc.org or over the phone by calling 724-627-3106.
The deadline to order is Dec. 6.