82-Lancaitar Farming, Saturday, March 26, 1994 LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Fanning Staff LITITZ (LANCASTER Co,) — From the outside, one would never guess that inside the two-story frame house at 112 Fairland Road in Lititz, dinner for 500 people is being prepared. It’s home for Dean and Carole Ziegler and their three children. It’s also the location for Country Home Catering, where food for 50 to 500 is prepared before transport ing to all comers of Lancaster and York counties and even some spots beyond. The Zieglers’ catering business evolved about eight years ago. That was when the Zieglers learned to roasta pig in a 55-gallon drum. Another caterer was too busy to meet the demand for pig roasts and asked the Zieglers to roast several fra picnics. They did. They learned the idiosyncrasies of roasting a 170- to 300-pound porker fra about 20 hours, transporting it by truck, and carving it at the picnic site. They learned that the grease from a pig is highly flamable and can easily burst into flames when being trans ferred to the table. After one dis asterous attempt to douse the flames with water, the Zieglers learned to be prepared to beat out the flames. “We tried roasting pigs with and without the skin and learned that roasting it with the skin on keeps it more moist and better tasting,” Carole said. After the Zieglers perfected their pig roasting technique, they began offering other picnic-type foods. Word-of-mouth soon estab lished the Zieglers’ reputation as “offering good home cooking.” It wasn’t long before the Zieglers decided to go “whole hog” in the catering business. Now the family-run business offers buffet and sit-down catering in addition to the outdoor dinners. The Zieglers turned their two story garage into a commercial kitchen and added an addition to house the restaurant-style appliances. It was a hefty decision for the Zeiglers, who first needed to pay $l,OOO for a water test to “check every possible mineral” in order to pass government inspection, Car ole said. The original quote of $25,000 for the refrigerator, stove, sinks, and equipment was greatly reduced by the Zieglers who attended restaurant auctions to pick up used equipment. Dean, Carole, and Heather Ziegler stand in front of thi for their business, Country Home Catering. Zieglers Go Whole H The business name. Country Home Catering, was selected because it exemplified that the food is homemade. “My wife has always been a great cook,” Dean said. She also received some tidbits of advice on cooking for a crowd from her grandmother, who was head cook for Brethren Village, a retirement community. Carole’s mother and three sisters have often helped out with waitressing and some food preparation. An Amish neighbor makes yeast rolls and pies for the meals. In addition to pig roasdngs, the Zieglers also'serve roast beef that has been marinated in spices and roasted in a barrel. Some other :ntrees include barbecued chick in, delmonica steak, ham loaf, meat loaf, turkey with filling, boneless stuffed breast of chicken, breaded baked chicken, baked ham with pineapple glaze, baked stuffed flounder, chicken cordon bleu, baked stuffed pork chops, and pork and sauerkraut. Carole estimates that the most popular choices are roast pork or marinated chicken breast with baked com. While some people are inclined to believe that catering for small groups is easier, Carole disagrees. She doesn’t think it takes that much more time to prepare the food. She said, “I prefer large groups, which are mainly drop-in to serving the group is spread out over a period of hours instead of serving 100 people an hour.” A stove is installed in a cube van used for catering purposes. Having the stove on the truck usually works really well except on rainy days, when running back and forth between the truck and pavilion can be a drenching experience. Summer months are the busiest for catering. Often, the Zeiglers have two and three catering din ners on a Saturday. Dean works full time for White Oak Mills haul ing pigs. It is not unusual for his schedule to prevent him from returning home in time to assist Carole. Nonplussed, Carole is known to roast a pig herself in addition to doing additional food preparations. “You learn to make do,” said Carole, who presents a calm stead iness to the many demands of run ning the business. “In this busi ness, you’ve got to be prepared for anything to happen.” Although Carole and Dean almost always do total food prepa ration themselves, they hire wait- *• V«,-> '• v /' f r Country Home Catering owner Carole Ziegler and her daughter Heather serve a small buffet-style luncheon. Carole and her husband Dean prepare food for up to 500 persons. resses to help serve the food. Their own children, Brandon, 11; Corby, 9; and Heather, 5, even get their fingers in preparation. Heather said that she likes to help her mother peel cooked pota toes and eggs. Her brothers help with wrapping and serving bar becued chicken. When the family returns from a catering appointment, it is not unusual for neighboring children to come over to help eat up the lef tovers and help with cleaning up. Brandon and Corby have an ulterior incentive for helping with the catering business. Their dad promises that they may buy more sheep for their 4-H projects. Last season. Brandon took the champ ionship market lamb placing at the Manheim Community Farm Show. The sons’ love for sheep was instilled in them by their father, who learned to shear sheep when he was an FFA student at Manheim ick used to transport food In Caterin Installed to prepare for the catering business. Central High School. For three summers after graduation, Dean quit his full-time job for three months to travel around the state to shear sheep. The boys raise the sheep on a neighboring farm, where they built a ramp and hurdles to exercise the sheep. It is not unusual for Carole to help out with the sheep. In the first week of training, the sheep are often stubborn and Carole loads Jfomesteod Jlotes M - ■I i.