Holiday Food Traditions!

For many families, the best thing about the holidays isn’t the lavish gifts, it’s the traditions they have made together. And while old customs won’t fade, families across the country are spicing up their holiday celebrations with new traditions this year.

Here are FIVE ideas for new food traditions you can start this holiday season:


• Serve food from other cultures:  Try adding a cultural dish to your holiday feast. Danish roast goose, Hungarian chicken paprikash, Jewish latkes, Irish oyster stew, or Grecian leg of lamb are all traditional meals that could invigorate your holiday spread. For dessert, try Italian sweet cakes or Australian Pavlova, a meringue-like treat.

• New take on an old favorite:   Lots of families have traditional holiday favorites that they break out once a year. For many, that dessert is the moist, sweet cake panettone. Bauducco Panettone is a ready to eat specialty cake loaded with a variety of raisins, candied fruits and chocolate chips. Extremely versatile, panettone can add a new twist to classic recipes. Some unique recipes include using panettone to make croutons for fresh arugula and roasted fruit salad or substituting Bauducco Panettone in a bread pudding with amaretto sauce.
“Even for breakfast, its light texture and subtle sweetness make the cake perfect to pair with coffee or hot chocolate,” said Stefano Mozzi, General Manager at Bauducco Foods Inc. “It can even be used to make French toast and waffles.”
For some delicious recipe ideas, visit www.bauducco.com/product/panettone.
You can find Bauducco Panettone on store shelves this holiday season at Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens and grocery stores, drug stores and mass market retailers nationwide.

• Plan a cookie exchange: Have everyone in your family bake one type of cookie and bring them to the festivities - one dozen cookies each for larger groups and two dozen for smaller ones. You’ll have a variety of delicious cookies for dessert, while only having to bake one type yourself. This is an easy and surefire way to please your family’s sweet tooth!

• Cook with the kids: The days leading up to the holidays are a great time to bond with your kids. One of the best ways to do that is to get them involved in the cooking process. Have your children pick a few recipes they can help you with. Make extra for friends, neighbors and the less fortunate and deliver them with your kids to spread some good cheer.

• Hire a Catering Service & Relax: Instead of all the rushing around, trying to get everything done with limited time, consider using a catering service, like Celebrations Distinctive Catering to help out and give you more opportunity to just enjoy the season!

Try something new in the kitchen this holiday season. Sometimes the traditions you start on your own are the best of all.

Thanksgiving Day Leftover Recipes!

Wondering what to do with all those leftovers?  Here are some fabulous looking recipes courtesy of The Food Network!

Thanksgiving Day Leftovers

Top 10 Wedding Menu Ideas

Wedding catering has come a long way over the years, with more and more interesting food on offer than ever before!  So have a look and give us your input, too!

These are in no particular order, and please feel free to add your own ideas in the comments section!

1. - Finger buffet

2. - Hot buffet

3. - Food platters

4. - Sit down meal

5. - Spit roast

 

6. - Pasta Station

7. - Crepe station (and mashed potato/taco, etc... stations)

 

8. - Combination menus

9. - Hog roast

 

10. - BBQ catering

9 Tips for Hiring a Caterer on a Small Budget...

 

 

1. The Bar

Instead of hosting a bar stocked with every imaginable liquor, mixer and condiment, choose a soft bar that serves only beer, wine and champagne. If your heart is set on serving a true cocktail, add one signature drink to your beverage menu, such as the wide-appealing Sour Apple Martini, Cosmopolitan, or Gimlet. And don’t forget to dream up a great name for your signature special, like “Sarah and Mike’s Romantic Refresher.” You may also choose to create a semi-soft bar, adding one or two versatile spirits to the drink menu. We recommend going with vodka or whiskey. Both are extremely flexible, can be enjoyed alone or in a cocktail, and work well with a variety of mixers.

2. The Three Course Meal

After a sampling of hors d’oeuvres and drinks, a three-course meal that includes a soup or salad, entrée, and finishes with wedding cake is plenty of food for your guests. Remember, most people don’t order that much food when they dine at their favorite restaurants, so just say “no” when your caterer asks about including expensive additional courses in your reception menu.

3. Go Easy On The Hors d’oeuvres

Though it’s common for caterers to recommend many more choices, we suggest you select a maximum of three prepared hors d’oeuvres to serve during your cocktail hour. Remember, you’re just giving your guests something to nibble on before introducing the main culinary event, so an abundance of food at this point in the event is really an unnecessary expense.

4. Self-Serve Bites

Skip the passed hors d’oeuvres altogether and pile cocktail tables high with beautiful spreads of crudités and dips, plates of artisan cheeses, baskets of gourmet crackers and fresh breads, and mouth-watering bowls of fruit. You’ll save money by paring down both on food preparation and serving staff.

5. Skip the Delicacies

Forgo expensive entrée ingredients like lobster, filet mignon, Ahi tuna, caviar, and truffles. If you absolutely must include one of these flavors in your event, ask your caterer to create an hors d’oeuvre that celebrates the ingredient, yet uses it sparingly. A mini blini with a tiny dollop of crème fraiche and a smidge of caviar is a perfect example.

6. Keep It Simple

You may be wild for Beef Wellington or crazy for cassoulet, but these labor intensive dishes take more time and expense than other equally delectable dishes. To keep costs down, choose simple, easy to prepare entrees.

7. Supplement with Stations

Make a budget meal seem sumptuous by adding one or two cost-friendly “stations” to your reception menu. We particularly love self-serve pasta and mashed potato stations, both set with an array of inexpensive but delicious sauces and toppings.

8. Limit Entree Choices

There’s no rule that says you must give reception guests their choice of entrees. To stay within your budget, ask your caterer to create one widely appealing main course, like a savory chicken breast with a wonderful sauce, or a fabulous pasta primavera.

9. Educate Yourself

Certain cuts of beef cost much more than others. Farm-raised catfish is far more economical than wild Alaskan salmon. Organic produce is often more expensive than conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. Work with your caterer ahead of time to determine which corners you’re happy to cut, and which menu elements are non-negotiable.

Bite Sized Thanksgiving? Yay, or No Way?

In a 2011 issue of WV Living Magazine, Publisher/Editor Nikki Bowman dished up a delectable Thanksgiving meal. This isn't just some ordinary Thanksgiving spread, however. This menu is chock-full of delectable finger foods and bite-sized recipes your family and friends will love. No more are the days of sinks full of dirty dinner plates and silverware. No more are the days of feeling so full you're afraid the top button of your pants is going to pop right off (assuming you didn't think ahead and throw on a pair of elastic waist-band sweatpants or a comfortable, loose cotton skirt). This bite-sized, "mini-meal" is perfect for a big family Thanksgiving dinner because everyone can just grab a shooter of soup or Thanksgiving dinner in a glass and off they go! There's the added perk, too, that bite-sized meals are so on trend, so this Thanksgiving consider a whole new concept for the Thanksgiving meal...here is just a glimpse of some ideas for Turkey Day Gone Bite Sized!

Let us know what you think of this concept.  Too avant garde for you, or are you always willing to test the new trends?  Give us a call for help with your Thanksgiving feast, be it teeny tiny or gargantuan! 

Top 3 Reasons to Hire Us!

With any important or large event, catering can certainly enhance the theme and ambiance for your guests.  Whether it's a birthday party, wedding, office event, or other celebration, hiring a professional catering company can be extremely beneficial for the host.   Here are the top 3 reasons to choose a professional caterer rather than try to pull it off by yourself:

Organization

Managing meals for an event, especially a large one, can be confusing, stressful, and very time consuming.  Celebrations is a professional catering company, and when hired, will handle absolutely everything as far as organizing the meal segment of the event.  We will provide a pre-planned itinerary for employees, staff, venue managers, and guests.  Also, we will organize all the arrangements for the menus, meal preparation, dining room set up and breakdown, and delegate to the staff and managers properly.

Professional Resources and Equipment
If you were to self-cater an event, especially for a large crowd, you would have to purchase all the necessary equipment and supplies to carry out the job successfully.  Supplies and equipment could include pan carriers, silverware, dishes, hot plates, ice caddies, table cloths, chafing dishes, cooking supplies, groceries, and more!  We have all of that at the ready, so you don't have to spend time & money securing all of these items!

Assorted Menu Options

With Celebrations, the food menu options are endless.  On your own, you would be limited to choosing what you can cook and what is available to you for the event.  Celebrations Distinctive Catering has menus and food item options to choose from, so all you have to do is decide what food you want served.  The chef, staff, and company will take care of everything else!

Seems like a pretty easy decision...and once you see our price list, we think it will seal the deal!

Be a Guest At Your Next Party: How to hire a little—or a lot of—help!

Think catered affairs are only for the rich and famous? The reality is that if you can afford to have a party, you can probably also afford to have at least a portion of it catered. Whether you’re looking for someone to take care of the side dishes, or a personal chef to cook the entire meal in your kitchen, sharing your host duties can make a huge difference to your own enjoyment of a special occasion. And the good news is that this kind of “home entertaining support” is available through Celebrations Distinctive Catering!

Seeing the need for delicious and convenient party food, the chefs at Celebrations Distinctive Catering have crafted our WORLD AT YOUR DOOR specialty menus!

We offer a wide variety of party platters, featuring hot entrees, gourmet sandwiches, salads, desserts and beverages. With these menus, you can mix and match your own platters to create your own unique party.  There are literally thousands of combinations, so go wild!  These are available for small groups with short notice and delivered right to your home with all the plates, napkins and cutlery you need. Unwrap and enjoy.

Always wanted to visit Italy, but don't have the time?  How about a Ciao Italia party right in your home?  Celebrations Distinctive Catering has put together a wonderfully extensive and diverse selection of Italian gourmet cooking.  Mangia! 

For more info, visit our website:   www.celebrationsmenu.com