The Caterer’s Job- It’s About More than Just the Food
The caterer’s job is to fulfill their clients’ desires-giving my clients what they want.
read moreA “Centerpiece” dish for the vegetarians at your Thanksgiving table
One of my brothers has eaten no flesh food at all for over 30 years now, I have an uncle who only eats fish and seafood from the animal kingdom, and still another brother who flits back and forth from carnivore to semi-vegetarian. Just what's a hostess supposed to do at Thanksgiving! The Thanksgiving meal is centered around a big whole turkey as its focal point at the center, right? While it's true that the Thanksgiving meal is centered around a big showy "centerpiece" dish, we've learned at my house over the years, that centerpiece doesn't have to be turkey alone. In fact, that quintessential harvest vegetable, the pumpkin lends itself perfectly to stuffing and being a showy centerpiece. It may be stuffed with a traditional bread or corn bread stuffing, or you can do what we do- stuff it with wild rice, mushrooms, diced red peppers and corn, with pecans and ginger thrown in for a little character. It makes a beautiful presentation, and fits perfectly at the center of the meal. The rest of the table can still be filled with all those sides you're used to- mashed potatoes, great fall veggies dishes, like brussels sprouts, roasted beets and winter greens, and pumpkin, pecan and apple pies. Your vegetarian and meat eaters will be...
read moreAutumn at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market
I have shopped for many years at the Santa Monica farmer’s market. Those of us who do, happen to think it’s the best farmer’s market in the country, btw. When I started my catering business, it was a natural to purchase my produce there. Produce from a grocery store or a big purveyor will never match the taste and freshness of produce allowed to ripen on the tree or vine. The farmers pick it only a day or two before coming to market, and then I hand pick it to meet my produce needs. Yes, it takes a bit more time, but in my opinion, if you care about good food, it’s completely worth it. There is no substitute for a vine ripened tomato in a Caprese salad. No amount of poaching and sugar can make up for the flavor of a fully ripened peach in a cobbler, and compared to a farmer’s market starawberry, a grocery store strawberry is not even worth eating. Autumn is probably the best season at the farmer’s market- it is after all the season of the harvest. Here are some pictures I’ve gathered over the last couple of months for you to enjoy. Bon Appetit, Gisele ...
read more“Traditional” Thankgiving?
November is here, and my thoughts are turning toward Thanksgiving dinner. We all have our own favorite foods, you know -the ones that show up year after year, and that we wouldn’t think of replacing with a new dish. And we sometimes have a tendency to think everyone serves those foods. The truth of the matter is, though, that America is a land of immigrants, and each successive group of immigrants has brought its own favorite foods to the Thanksgiving table. If, like me, your roots are Southern, oysters probably show up in some way on your table, candied yams and macaroni and cheese are favored over mashed potatoes, and you probably prefer pecan pie to pumpkin. Italians have included pasta-maybe a lasagna, the Chinese use rice, often making a turkey stuffing with it, and a Mexican American turkey might include a mole to sauce it. Thanksgiving feasts have been multi-cultural since the very beginning. As far as that first Thanksgiving dinner goes, it’s widely believed that since lobster was so available off the coast of Massachusetts in those early days, that it surely must have been served (hey -that would work for me). Potatoes were unavailable in those days, so no mashed potatoes. It’s unlikely that cranberry sauce was served, as sugar was an extremely expensive item. Pumpkin may have been a part of the meal, but not as a pie (they had no flour or ovens yet), nor were apples present in Plymouth at the time. What are some of your special “ traditional” Thanksgiving dishes? I’d love to hear about them, and invite you to leave a comment. In return, I’m giving you a link to a recipe at Food and Wine that has, no doubt, become a “tradition” in many Chinese American families. Asian Roasted Turkey with Sticky Rice Stuffing Bon Appetit! Gisele...
read moreAn Autumn Tea Party Offers Great Value
It’s a gloomy, cool day here in Los Angeles, and even though I’m not a regular tea drinker, my thoughts often turn to a cup of tea on days like this. So I spent some time writing an article about tea parties. I often associate tea parties with spring time, and indeed, that is a lovely time for a tea party. But each season offers its own special appeal, and autumn is a lovely time to break out your fine china and linens, play some soothing chamber music in the background, and take advantage of the harvest for tea treats. A tea party is a cost effective way to entertain, and because tea parties are so associated with refined elegance and charm, you, the hostess or host will come out smelling like a rose. They are also versatile and can be expanded into a brunch or luncheon by including a selection of fruit and cheese, salads, or a poached salmon for a more substantial meal. For autumn tea treats I would go with mushrooms, pumpkins, apples, pears and figs, all available in abundance at the local farmer’s markets now. I would also include cheeses, I like to pair smoked and blue cheeses with autumn produce for dainty little bites- a Fig or Pear and Gorgonzola Tea Sandwich on walnut bread, a Smoked Mozzarella and Wild Mushroom Tart, Mini Pumpkin Muffins with Chunky Apple Butter, Smoked Turkey on Rosemary Biscuits with Cranberry Chutney. BTW, an after Thanksgiving tea party is a perfect choice for an overworked hostess wanting to recharge her batteries and reconnect with close family and friends. I have always loved catering tea parties, and I think I do a pretty good job at it, too. A long time client of mine who has thrown several tea parties over the years, wrote this lovely review for me after one of hers. “Saw someone who attended our party today, and she said the food was better at our house than her Easter brunch at the Peninsula Hotel. Another unsolicited compliment (you’re good.)!” -Best Regards, Nan...
read moreBlogHer Food 2009’s “Small Plates” Cocktail Reception
I was privileged this past weekend to attend the first annual BlogHer Food conference at the truly special and elegant St.Regis Hotel in the SOMA (south of Market Street for the uninitiated) district of San Francisco. It was a wonderful gathering of women (and a few men) who blog about food and related topics. In addition to the fabulous people I met, I also got to sample great food, drink some good wine (provided courtesy of St. Supery Winery, and take home fun "swag". I even won a new Netbook computer at the end of the day. Can't beat that! The conference had some great sponsors, The Mushroom Council, Pur, Cuisinart, Scharffenberger (yep- free chocolate in the "swag bag"!), Bertolli and Nature's Source. The biggest name sponsor was Campbell's who highlighted their products in a wonderful cocktail party which closed out the conference. It was a magical evening in San Francisco, uncharacteristically warm on the rooftop deck which looked out at a corner of the diagonally striped roofed of its neighbor, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. A glorious half autumn moon rose in the warm September air as we sipped classic martinis, and Brut Rosé champagne. The tasty treats at the reception were all presented "small plate" style, a trend which has become very popular in this economic downturn we find ourselves in. A "small plate" reception allows smart hosts to serve dishes at a stand up reception, which in more free spending times, would have been part of a buffet or sit down menu. Our menu at the BlogHer reception included Braised Beef with Shallots and Mushrooms in a rich meaty sauce, Skewers of Chicken with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Herb Grilled Vegetables, classy little shooters of Spiced Butternut Squash Soup with Sage, French Onion Sliders (bite sized burgers braised in Campbell's French Onion Soup, which btw, no one could get enough of), and even Tomato Soup Spiced Mini Cupcakes- okay- I'm not too sure about that one… The St. Regis has classy little china plates to serve the bites on, but you, too, can have this kind of "small plates" party. In fact, we here at small pleasures, used small plastic plates earlier this year at our Tropical Themed Party to serve small bites of Grilled Corn Salad, and Black Beans with Curried Rice Pilaf. We found them at a great on line source- Smarty Had a Party (isn't that a great name?) where there was a wide selection of them. Enjoy the pics below. ...
read moreA Trip to a Farm Inspires the Yom Kippur Honey Meal
A few weeks back I joined the wonderful Bay Area Baker’s Dozen (btw,I was privileged to write a glossary entry several years back for The Baker’s Dozen Cookbook on their annual summer field trip. This year we visited the Marshall Honey Farm in American Canyon, and I got to learn about those wonderfully industrious creatures- bees. I really didn’t know much about them- other than like everyone of course, that they have been mysteriously disappearing. That’s a problem since they pollinate our food plants, hence we would have a hard time surviving without them. It turns out we’re not dependent on them only for our plant food, but since our animals are dependent on them for their plant food, our supply of meat and dairy would also be disrupted if bees weren’t out there doing their work. That’s the food chain. Thankfully, they’ve slowly been showing up again. But enough about that. What really haunted me about the visit, was the soooo simple, yet elegant meal laid out for us at the end of the tour. It consisted of a couple of big wedges of blue cheese drizzled with honey and served with wafer thin crackers provided by Helene Marshall, co-owner of the farm along with her husband, Spencer. I contributed a peach upside down cake made with Regier Farms peaches (available at the Santa Monica and several other SoCal Farmer’s Markets), and a bit of honey in the batter, and a honey sabayon sauce to accompany it. My friend Betty added a big plate of farm fresh strawberries. There was also a fabulous lavender honey ice cream-with bits of lavender buds in it- served on home made waffle cones from Fairfax Scoop, a little organic ice cream shop in Fairfax in Marin County. No website, but there are tons of great online reviews. So if you’re lucky enough to be up there, drop in and have a cone. I’ve come to think of it as “the honey meal”. Then it struck me at a certain point in my dreaming- wouldn’t this be a great meal to break the fast on Yom Kippur. Add a honey brined smoked turkey breast, along with a simple green salad- and voila! Bone and butterfly a turkey breast, brine it for a day or two in a salt and honey wet brine, sprinkle it with herbs (I would add a tiny bit of lavender along with rosemary and thyme to complement the honey), roll and tie it, then either slow smoke and or roast it. Bon Appetit!...
read moreA Tropical Themed Party for a Warm Summer Evening
A catered birthday party with a menu designed to accompany Margaritas and Mojitos, the only drinks the client intended to serve.
read moreIntroducing the New L.A. Party Planning Examiner
Gosh, it's been a busy few weeks, but I just want to take some time to share some great news. I have recently been named the L.A. Party Planning Examiner at Examiner.com. Please check it out for great tips on throwing fantastic parties among other ideas. Also, we catered a fabulous Margarita and Mojito themed party this past weekend, with great Mexican and Caribbean food. As soon as we get the pics, we'll share them with you. Bon Appetit! Giselesmall pleasures...
read moreDoes Planning a Wedding Really Take a Year?
Here's another one of those "everyone says" things I hear about planning weddings. I once had a bride- to-be call me in January to plan her wedding which was going to be held in January of the following year. She was only having about 15 guests at her wedding. I asked her why she was calling so far ahead. She responded, "well, everyone says you have to plan a wedding a year ahead of time." Oy! Unless you want the hottest new venue in town for hundreds of people, there is no reason a wonderful wedding cannot be put together in a few months. I catered a wedding a few years back for 100 guests. Betty, the bride, called me in January, for her wedding that June- and we all know June is prime wedding season. She had one of the most wonderful weddings I've ever seen, in a lovely venue, with great catering (of course!). She told me 5 years later that people were still talking about how great everything was. And here's another tip- a bride recently told me that when she moved her wedding from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, she was able to have a wedding with the best of everything, in the New York City area, with only a couple of months planning. And here's the flip side. On more than one occasion I have had brides call me a few weeks before their wedding with tales of some mishap with their caterer whom they had booked months and months in advance, and at the last minute they were looking for a new one. There are just too many things that can happen over the course of a year. Tastes change, budgets change (look what's happened in this last year), people change. So relax. Yes, putting together a wedding does take a certain amount of pre-planning, but it doesn't have to take over a year of your life. Here are some pictures of Betty's wonderful wedding. Bon Appetit!, Gisele P.S. If you are plannign a wedding-or any other special event- pick up a copy of my E-book :Help I Need a Caterer– available at www.helpineedacaterer.com. It's full of great tips on the process of hiring and workign with the perfect caterer to create the wedding you've dreamed...
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