Archive for the ‘Catering’ Category

Inspiration: Fly Away With Me!

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Omigosh omigosh omigosh, how amazing and inspirational is this travel inspired dessert buffet created bySweets Indeed and featured on the Amy Atlas Events blog? I think it has everything in the whole world that I like, from a casual, almost-but-not-quite rustic design to its incredible whimsy and prettiness. Oh, and sugarsugarsugar*, but that goes without saying.


On the Amy Atlas Events blog, Amy herself shares a few tips and tricks that will help the DIYers out there create an incredible dessert buffet. Speaking as someone who recently discovered that she likes designing the look and feel of events, I’d wager that something like a candy buffet or dessert buffet would be a relatively simple project. Much less stressful than, say, baking a wedding cake or sewing a wedding dress.

*my drug of choice

Good and Bad Ideas Plus a Caution from Four Weddings

Saturday, October 16th, 2010

If there’s one wedding reality show I find myself really enjoying of late, it’s Four Weddings on TLC. For those unfamiliar, four brides getting married in the same area around the same time attend one anothers’ weddings and score them on the gown, the venue, the food, and the overall experience. The bride whose wedding gets the highest aggregate score wins a fabulous honeymoon to a surprise location, and the other three, well, they get to be on TV and attend three weddings without having to come up with a gift and being utterly free to snark or gush about whatever they please for the nation at large.

The two episodes I watched last night were particularly interesting to me, in that they included some really brilliant and some really, really questionable ideas. Take a look after the cut to see what I’m talking about.
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Orange: It’s Not Just for Halloween Anymore

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

My mother always said orange was her favorite neutral. If there’s one thing I learned at her knee, it was that her eye for color was impeccable. These days, orange is my favorite neutral, too.

Oh I know it’s a bright, aggressive color. I know a little can go a long way. I also know it goes with and brings out the best in a wide variety of colors. I also know it’s a wonderful color for a happy celebration like a wedding.

Not convinced? Take a look under the cut at the cheery gallery of orange wedding details I’ve put together. Please note that there is not a single one that looks like Halloween.

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Pretty Tasty

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Brides and grooms who choose to incorporate flowers into their reception menus more often than not turn to that old standard, the wedding cake decorated with blooms that match the bridal bouquet or reception table centerpieces. And as common as it is to see cakes with edible flowers like roses, violets, pansies, or lilacs, go to enough weddings and you’ll eventually see non-edible flowers on the cake as well. These are removed before the cake is served… in fact, most floral embellishments on wedding cake are removed before serving since not that many flowers taste really good on wedding cake unless sugared first.

flowers as food

I said “on cake” because there is no rule stating that flowers must be used on or in desserts. Cooking with flowers is coming back into vogue and has a long history. Flowery cookery can be traced back to ancient Rome, China, India, and the Middle East. Edible flowers were particularly popular in the Victorian era during Queen Victoria’s reign. And now edible flowers are starting to appear in dishes at wedding receptions.

edible flowers

I think it’s a fun (and potentially delicious) idea that can add a little pizazz and personality and color to a reception meal. If you go this route, make sure your caterer has some experience working with or cooking with flowers to avoid things like, oh, food poisoning or pesticide poisoning. That’s important, since even though there are plenty of edible flowers, not all of them are grown to be eaten. Stick to organically-grown blossoms or blooms grown specifically for human consumption.

flowers as food 2

Thinking about DIYing your wedding menu? Rosalind Creasy’s book Recipes from the Garden has plenty of recipes featuring fresh flowers, from stuffed zucchini blossoms to vibrantly colorful fresh salads.

edible flowers 2

Brides and grooms not putting together their own reception lunches or dinners can still approach their caterers with floral recipes they’ve found in cookbooks and online. SheKnows has recipes for things like rosemary flower biscuits and pansy herb salad. No matter who is doing the cooking, be sure they know that flowers should be used sparingly in recipes since most blossoms function like herbs. They can have strong flavors (think spicy or minty) and can also be difficult to digest in large quantities.

eating flowers

Doesn’t that look lovely… and yummy, too?

How Do I Feed All These People?

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

For me, one of the most enjoyable aspects of wedding planning was deciding on food. I love to eat, I love to cook, I love to feed people. Mr. Twistie and I were bound and determined that nobody but nobody was going home hungry from our reception.

On the other hand, when one of my cousins got married, my aunt was convinced one single, solitary salmon was going to feed all two hundred people coming to the wedding. If my grandmother and great aunt hadn’t stepped in bringing a brigade of church ladies with them, goodness alone knows how many would have starved that fateful day.

I feel very sure nobody here wants to host a reception that peters out due to famished guests making a run for the nearest fast food option. I feel equally sure nobody here wants to offer up something that half their guest list can’t eat. And of course due consideration must be paid to budget concerns, family or ethnic traditions, your own food morals, and availability of ingredients.

Sound complex? Don’t panic. This is mostly a matter of common sense intersecting with taste and a touch of consideration for your guests. You do this every time you invite someone over for dinner. This is just putting the same principles to work on a larger scale.

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Let Them Eat… Cookies!

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

So you’re leaning toward wedding desserts over wedding cake or you’ve decided that edible wedding favors are right for you and yours. If you want to lose the cake, but not the colors — you have to admit that wedding cakes are growing ever more gorgeous — custom cookies can be a pretty and unique alternative dessert or favor.

wedding cookies

These tasty examples come from Better Batch Bakers, a cookie company in MA that ships its sweets via postal mail. The bakers and cookie designers at BBB will work with you to extend your wedding theme (or color scheme) into your dessert or wedding favors. Sure, they’re a little pricey at $3.25 per 2.5″ cookie, but that’s no more expensive than most other wedding favors or wedding cake serving prices out there.

Reception Desserts: They’re Not Just Cake Anymore

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

For many years, cakes have ruled wedding receptions. One of the first questions people ask about weddings is what the cake either looked or tasted like.

Over the course of the past few years, though, the cake has started losing its place at the party. Oh, it’s not like they’re going away anytime soon. I expect them to continue to be the most popular dessert at weddings for a very long time to come. It’s just that now more people are more open to variations on the theme.

One popular variation that’s sprung up of late is the dessert bar. With this option, the couple may or may not have a traditional cake, but they will offer multiple options in sweet ways to end a meal.

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