Frankfort, KY:    A lot of food is required to serve the approximately 17,000 people expected to attend the Governor's Derby Breakfast on May 1st.  The Department of Parks employees who are in charge of the breakfast preparations will be serving:

18,000 servings of country ham

20,000 biscuits

10,000 muffins

24,000 servings of juice

30,000 eggs

18,000 Danish pastries

12,000 sausages

60 bushels of apples

30,000 cups of coffee

12,000 servings of cheese grits

Fun Facts About the Derby Breakfast
 

--Preparations for the Derby Breakfast begins in earnest in October, when the Dept. of Parks food service staff meets with its ham supplier to select the ham to be aged for three months for serving at next year's breakfast. 

--Supplies and equipment begins arriving early Derby week and staff from all around the park system begin arriving to start setting up.

--Cooking takes place in two state-operated cafeterias, one in the Capitol Annex, the other at the CHR building. By Friday morning, the ham slices are placed in ovens, and the scrambled eggs are mixed. 

--In all, 30,000 servings of scrambled egg will be cooked. If you’re cooking for 15,000, here is a tip: mix in mushroom soup to keep the eggs moist. 

--The cooking begins at about 1 a.m. Derby Day. As the food is cooked, it is then transported to the tent for serving. 

--Serving starts at 7 a.m., but it's not unusual for a line to have started forming even earlier.

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