February 23, 2012

Considering Catering Your Holiday Party?

November 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

November 1st, 2010 | By:

A platterful of catering options in Issaquah and Sammamish.

My first suggestion to potential catering clients is to think beyond the usual, perhaps by cuisine, and begin to do your research. Serve food from India or Northern China. The Internet is a tremendous resource for viewing menu ideas.

An often-overlooked source for catering is local restaurants. Many do an exceptional job of catering parties, and you have the added advantage of dining at the restaurant first and deciding how you like its menu items. Bamiyan Afghani Restaurant in Gilman Village offers intriguing food and beautiful presentations. If your budget is tight, try the PCC or Sushiman, which can provide beautiful platters for pickup. Panera Bread, Back of Bella Deli and Chipotle will deliver and set up at sites within 2 or 3 miles from their facilities. Big House BBQ does a fabulous job, and their venue is mobile. Lombardi’s (Italian), Pogacha (Northwest and Adriatic), The Flat Iron Grill (steak and seafood), and Pallino Pastaria (pasta) will cater with advance notice; Jenny Pho (Thai and Vietnamese) also cooks up wonderful dishes and provides great service at your venue. Many of local Mexican restaurants, such as Las Margaritas and Agave Cocina & Tequilas, also offer catering services.

Some caterers are not so obvious. Who would have thought that the Hilton Garden Inn does catering? They do, and Chef Jessica creates phenomenal food for events. Remmy’s Catering on Front Street excels at upscale menus and offers a full in-home service. If you want the caterer to prepare the meal from beginning to end at your home, rather than delivering food prepared elsewhere, there is My Chef Lynn.

No matter what kind of food you select, make sure you fully understand your contract. Expect your caterer to make a detailed contract stating prices and who is providing items and services such as table service, wait staff, cleanup, linens, decorations, and beverages. Be sure to read through it carefully. Caterers generally require a partial payment of 50 percent at the time the contract is signed, with full payment, including gratuity, when you confirm your guest head count 48-hours in advance of your event.

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How To Create Your Kind Of Holiday

November 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

November 1st, 2010 | By:

Try these fresh ideas for celebrating.

This time of year, holiday merchandise begins creeping into stores and we get excited about decorating, opening gifts, being with family, and feeling comfort in tradition. For some of us, however, the holidays bring stress. Limited time, strained finances, personal relationships, and watching the waistline take the joy and excitement of the coming months and trump them with panic.

However you decide to celebrate this year, whether it’s hosting a festive dinner, taking part in a gift exchange, or sending out holiday cards, consider the details and create an organized plan that you can then execute.

We asked expert Debbie Rosemont, a certified professional organizer and founder of the Sammamish-based professional organizing consultation company Simply Placed, how best to eliminate stress this holiday season. “The amount of stress that we feel during the holidays can be mitigated,” says Rosemont. “What do you want the holidays to be? What’s fun for you? Approach the holidays with intention; don’t just let them happen to you.”

Below are some fresh ideas for approaching the holiday this year:

Get Away from the Kitchen

Just thinking about being in the kitchen, trying to get multiple dishes prepared simultaneously, can be stressful. To ease the burden, join a neighbor in her kitchen and bake and share a selection of cookies a week before the holidays begin. During Hanukkah, fry your potato pancakes outside or in the garage, using a hot plate to keep the smell and the oil out of the house and to keep the kitchen clean.

Play Supermarket Sweepstakes

From shopping for gifts to picking up decorating supplies to buying groceries, your to-do list (and dwindling pocketbook) likely put a strain on your spirits. Instead of giving each other gifts, ask each member of the holiday celebration to contribute $25. During the week or so before the holidays ask your family to go to the grocery store and play “supermarket sweepstakes.” Each person competes to get the most amount of food in a grocery bag for the same dollar amount. Determine a winner and then donate the food. You get the same family time and fun, without the stress and financial burden of making sure everyone has a present.

Express Your Love

When guests arrive at your holiday party, ask them to fill out a small slip of paper and write down why they love the holidays or what they are thankful for. Have them put their slip of paper in a pretty jar or bowl. Before everyone eats, have everyone at the table draw a slip of paper and read it aloud to the group. The exercise is a good reminder for your family and guests of what the holidays are all about. The activity is potentially a new ritual to look forward to each year, and a thoughtful moment of reflection.

Think about these tips while you take in the smell of cinnamon pine cones, snuggle in cozy knit scarves, and laugh with your loved ones. Reconnect to the season with joy and happiness.

Filed Under: Food, Food + Wine Tagged With: ,

Seafood at the Holidays

November 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

November 19th, 2011 | By:

It’s not just for appetizers.

The leaves have turned from bright, shining green to golden yellow and red. The sun hides just above the horizon when it escapes the perpetual blanket of Northwest mist. It must be the holiday season again! The Northwest is diverse, with different cultural and religious holiday celebrations this time of year, but no matter what you celebrate, these festivities all have one thing in common: food! And one Northwest food shines above the rest when friends and family gather for a holiday party: seafood.

Seafood has been a part of holiday celebrations for hundreds of years. The long tradition of eating seafood at the holidays dates from the religious tradition of refraining from eating meat or milk products on Fridays and specific holy days. Most people who observed this tradition would prepare fish cooked in oil as their holiday feast.

Jim Oswalt of Gemini Fish Market in downtown Issaquah can testify to the tradition of seafood on the holiday table, as well as to the change in holiday seafood traditions through the years. “It has only been in the last 20 years that we have seen nontraditional kinds of seafood at the holidays,” he states. Back when he started in the seafood business, in 1987, seafood was used mostly as an appetizer. “Now, there is a movement toward alternate entrées using seafood for the holiday table, probably due to health trends and traditions,” Oswalt says.

So why not shelve that turkey or prime rib roast in favor of Northwest seafood this season? “All Northwest seafood is at its peak during the winter months,” advises Oswalt. “Clams, oysters, mussels, and even king crab are all very popular this time of year.” Oswalt says that many of his Issaquah customers come in to buy ingredients for cioppino, seafood stew, or paella because the whole family can get in on the act of making the holiday meal. He even carries mahi-mahi, swordfish, and other tropical fish at this time of year. “Thanksgiving is the appetizer seafood holiday, with a big interest in shrimp and steamers,” he notes, “but Christmas and New Year’s Eve are more popular for the main-course seafood.”

Whatever the holiday, why not make this year’s celebration sparkle with something new yet traditional. Seafood is in season and ready for your holiday table.

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