A-Z of PKL's 2014: Part 2

Here is Part 2 of my A-Z of this year's highlights at PKL. Part 2 covers letters J-Q, and this section of the alphabet includes a number of exciting events that we've taken part in this year. In this section, it's also clear that it's been a hugely eventful year for the education sector in particular, with new legislation and school initiatives having had a significant impact on that side of our business! If you missed it last week, make sure you catch up on Part 1: A-I here.

J is for Jamie’s Kitchen Garden Project. In May, we installed a Food Technology Kitchen at St Paul’s Primary School in London as part of this Jamie Oliver initiative to get children growing their own food and cooking in schools. It was positioned by the school’s vegetable garden and was designed to include cooking equipment as well as tables and chairs for the children to eat at once they had cooked their meals.

K is for KitchenPods, our permanent modular kitchens. In November, local MP Ed Miliband officially opened the brand new KitchenPod at Kirkby Avenue Primary School in Doncaster. This was a spacious new kitchen with brick slip finish to blend in with existing buildings on site.

Food Technology Kitchen installation at St Paul's Primary and KitchenPod at Kirkby Avenue Primary

L is for the LACA Exhibition which we attended in July. This year, we took along a portable kitchen and positioned it outside the main entrance of the venue for delegates to see in the flesh. Many people hadn’t seen inside a temporary kitchen before, and were surprised at the quality and spaciousness of the cooking environment. We always enjoy the LACA shows, and it was great to see so many familiar faces and meet new people too.

M is for PKL's Macmillan coffee morning. In September, we took part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. A huge cake sale in our staff canteen raised £175 for the cause. M is also for the Modular and Portable Building Association (MPBA), which PKL joined as a member in September. I also now sit on the committee as a member of the main MPBA Council.

Temporary kitchen at the LACA Exhibition and Macmillan coffee morning

N is for National School Meals Week. As part of National School Meals Week, we installed a pop-up school kitchen outside the House of Commons on Tuesday 4th November. The kitchen was used to serve sample school lunches to MPs, peers and the public to promote school food and show what modern school meals are really like!

O is for The One Show. Back in March, our KitchenPods were featured on The One Show as a potential solution for schools needing kitchen facilities to offer UIFSM from September. We also installed a Food Cube at the BBC studios, to be featured as an example of a solution for schools suffering lunchtime congestion. The Food Cube was then used by Mary Berry to cook pancakes live on the show!

Pop-up school kitchen outside parliament for NSMW and Food Cube on The One Show

P is for Passmores Academy, where we installed a large, walk-through Food Cube. The school, which is the setting for hit TV show Educating Essex, needed to expand its dining facilities to cope with increasing pupil intake. The Food Cube was positioned by an existing outdoor covered seating area, turning it into an additional space where pupils could purchase and eat food. P is also for poetry. When it comes to poetry, we’ve found that no topic is more inspiring than catering equipment. Read our National Poetry Day rhyme, “Dance of the Catering Equipment”.

Q is for queueing. With increasing numbers of 16-18 year olds staying in education and the School Food Plan leading to increased school meal take-up, many school canteens have been experiencing growing congestion this year. Our Food Cubes have continued to be a popular solution for schools across the country, drastically reducing lunch queue times by easing the pressure on the main canteen and offering a quick “grab and go” service.

That's it for Part 2. Stop by the blog again next week for the final installment of the A-Z of PKL's 2014.

Dance of the Catering Equipment

We love National Poetry Day, but it always causes us quite some stress as nothing rhymes particularly well with “kitchens” or “catering equipment”. Undeterred, we have launched ourselves into this year’s poem with all the grace and finesse of a ballet-dancing bratt pan. Enjoy!

Dance of the Catering Equipment

The fridges are gliding on castors of grey,
Inspired by National Poetry Day.
They charmingly twirl into position,
A delightful addition to any chef’s kitchen.

Then enter the combis, all shiny and gleaming
Preparing for baking and blanching and steaming.
Gently they bow and point to Stage Right;
In shimmies a mixer – a glorious sight!

A griddle prances in, its castors a-spinning
But with a bold pirouette, the mixer is winning!
Just when we think the dance couldn’t get nicer,
Putting on its best moves, in dances a slicer!

Keen to join in, an emboldened boiling pan
Launches onto the stage with some kind of can-can.
It doesn’t go well – it’s not much of a looker
But its bacon is saved by a jiving pasta cooker.

On waltzes a dishwasher, its crockery smashing,
A servery too, with gastronorms crashing.
Somewhat more graceful, in slides a freezer,
Soon joined in a rumba with a potato peeler.

Then enters the star, sweet Bain Marie
And her partner Jack Stack, who soon takes the lead!
With a final foxtrot upon pointed toes,
They bring the performance to a triumphant close.

And so ends the dance, to rapturous applause,
The kitchen calms down and closes its doors.
What’s just taken place is somewhat unclear,
But this poem is done, and that’s it for this year.

If this poem has inspired you to hire any of our fabulous catering equipment, visit the catering equipment section of our website for more details of all of our items!

An Ode to School Kitchens

Today is National Poetry Day so, never ones to shy away from a good limerick (or eleven...), here is a poem we have written about school kitchens. Enjoy!

An Ode to School Kitchens

With the School Food Plan launched recently,
We hope schools will embrace it and see
The importance of food
And how it lifts a child’s mood.
Our advice we can offer for free.

If your current school kitchen is bad
And your poor cook is feeling quite sad,
Cheer up, come along
Click SchoolKitchens.com -
Our ideas are totally rad!

With school meals hitting the news
As they’ll be offered free up to Year 2s,
Prepare your facilities
And your school meal abilities
With our school options – click here to choose!

A modular-built KitchenPod,
Installed in a jiffy by our squad,
Is a proper kitchen building
Which your cook can show their skills in -
You could expand your school menu with… cod?

If your equipment is haunted by ghouls,
You need KitchenFM for Schools!
Hire equipment hassle-free
For a fixed monthly fee
And your cook will have all the right tools.

A Food Cube is ideal to use
If your lunchtimes are spoiled by queues.
Install one outside,
Watch your revenues rise -
You really have nothing to lose!

With Food Tech from 2014
Compulsory up to Key Stage 3,
Learning institutions
May need new solutions
And ours are the best that we’ve seen!

If you need more Food Tech teaching space
Our modular options are ace.
With a number of features,
They’re sure to please teachers,
As a flexible food learning place.

If you need some funding advice,
We’ve listed some sources (coz we’re nice!).
You can apply for the money
Without cost causing worry
So you will not need to think twice.

For a refurb or emergency hire,
Our temporary kitchens will inspire.
They’ll keep your meals running
(Our facilities are stunning!)
During building works, after flooding or fire.

And so ends our school kitchens verse -
We don’t think it could be any worse!
Though poetry’s not our thing,
Kitchens are, so give us a ring -
We’d very much like to converse! About kitchens. Really, call us. We'd love to chat.

The End.