Catering and Soup go together during winter and Holiday Parties!!

Winter food is served to take the chill off,, warm the soul, and gather the family…  We try to do this with catered events, allowing the host to relax and entertain while guests feel the warmth and hospitality of a job well done.   The best way to start is with a bowl of nice hot homemade soup.  With the diversity in today’s palate’s, the best way to entertain them all is to offer a simple soup bar.  Be like the caterer and use a soup tureen (these can be rented from any party rental company) with a host of delectable toppings.  This will certainly be the hit of your winter holiday party!

A nice and simple twist on a traditional chowder is to add lots of seafood and create a bountiful seafood chowder.  Either red Manhattan, or a real New England chowda!  Mussels, clams, shrimp, and tidbits of firm fish like tuna or swordfish are perfect.  A nice, and inexpensive, twist is to add golden potatoes, leeks, and rainbow carrots, and fresh thyme of course.  To add a little excitement, nothing excites more that a fresh lobster bisque!

Not everyone eats seafood and there are lots of really great other options.  Lately we have done a traditional potato leek soup and not so traditional eggplant and chickpea with a hint of curry, and a really colorful and tasty bi-color split pea!  The split pea starts with a strong vegetable stock that we made during the fall…  Cook the yellow and green peas separately, puree, and serve on opposite sides of the tureen – what an eye catcher!

My current favorite hearty soup is a homemade beef barley with wild mushrooms.  Tiny pieces of seared sirloin are simmered with diced green onion, celery, carrot, parsnip, bay leaf and parsley, in a good hearty beef stock.  The stock can be made ahead and kept in the freezer for months.  Add partially cooked barley towards the end of the cooking process to avoid the soup becoming porridge!  To finish, add the sauteed mushrooms.

Some other popular soups this year are Greek chicken Orzo, Chinese hot and Sour, Minestrone (there are dozens of delicious ways to prepare minestrone!), White Chili, Cream of Broccoli with Cheese, the list goes on…

Some condiments that work well are, leftover bits of baked virginia ham, crumbled crisp apple smoked bacon, Creme Fraiche, Greek yogurt, crispy rice noodles, oyster crackers, fresh croutons, herbed crostini, diced scallion, roasted pepper, fresh grated Parmesan, fresh herbs, different salts, and freshly ground black pepper.

Kick of that cold winter night right and GO SOUP!!

Chef Scott

I love winter!!

The chilly crisp air, warm fireplace, sweaters, snugly blankets, snow falling, and of course, hearty comfort foods!

I may be in the minority with my feelings towards winter but I really think there is nothing better than to consider a winter wedding.  First of all, lets be honest, January and February are slower in the catering and event design world and the prices are better for most everything!  Vendors have more time to spend with you and winter foods are so exciting!  As always, The Cantering Caterer will customize the perfect wedding menu for you, let you create and taste!  We love new and exciting themes, ideas and menus and welcome your thoughts…

There are a couple of choice venues that lend themselves to winter weddings.  The Waveny Mansion in New Canaan, CT is PERFECT for a winter reception.  Last year, one wedding in particular stood out.  It was a multi-ethnic wedding where the bride was from a large Italian family and the groom from an Indian family.  The menu was a perfect blend of their cultures and the floral, food, style and color, perfect for a chilly December day.  They chose red and gold as their color scheme – lots of candles and low light which is gorgeous in the winter.  The fireplaces roared and their menu was an eclectic mix of traditional Italian, Indian, and American foods.

If you are looking for something a little different and out of the box, we LOVE the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport, CT.  Because it is an actual theater, the space allows for dramatic lighting – pin pointed spot lights on the center of each table, and “show quality” dramatics and ambiance.  The band can actually play on stage!  The weddings we have catered and designed in that space have been spectacular – truly, one of a kind!

This year the hot color is PLUM!  Plum, gold, deep red, ivory and icy blue are my color choices for the season.  Lots of candlelight brings a romantic and sensual feel to any winter wedding reception.

There are different reception styles for all weddings and we are happy to do whatever makes you happy!  There are NO rules!!  A cocktail reception, a bufffet, sit-down OR a mix of all…  Casual, formal, or somewhere in between. 

Food trends are always changing…  this year we are finding that the classics are making a big comeback – but with a modern twist.  Local produce is hot, organic everything, gluten free cooking, bold flavors, spices, and sophisticated sweets!

We customize all of our weddings would love to talk with you about yours.

Please call us, we would love to hear your thoughts.

Becky

September is Wedding Month in Connecticut!!

What a season!!!!  Well, the economy is certainly on the rebound!!  We are busy!  September reigns again as the busiest wedding month of the year – though Becky still insists winter weddings are the best…  That is another post!

The Cantering Caterer was just selected to cater and provide event design work for Earthplace in Westport!  This is their annual fundraiser and their first actually at Earthplace!  The space is fantastic.  It features dozens of acres of woods and hiking trials, a wildlife sanctuary (with some pretty amazing rare birds of prey!), a play-based pre-school, a dynamite space for a corporate retreat, or even a fantastic outdoor wedding.  Please be sure to check out their event calendar – you would not believe the things they are doing right under our noses…!  Visit, join, participate!

We are doing an event at an estate (one of our favorite clients homes!) this weekend featuring Senator Coburn from Oklahoma, 2 Events for the new David YurmanStore in Westchester, and getting ready for Rosh Hashana next week…

We have a very intimate and special wedding in Milford – the property is fantastic, a really nice wedding at the Fairfield Beach Club, – the last wedding we did there saw a full moon that simply melted into the horizon, and we are providing food for a clients jet as their family travels to Asia for a quick vacation… Lots going on!

We are pleased to announce that Jeanette Buttner has joined our staff. Jeanette runs our offices (and helps keep Christian organized!!!!!!) and assists with customers. She is usually the happy voice you hear on the phone. She is near the completion of a BA from WCSU in Danbury, CT. Jeanette sings with The Naugatuck Valley Community College Choir and Vox Concordis in Waterbury and Saint Thomas More Chapel at Yale University in New Haven. Jeanette is a member of the Performing Arts Collaborative in New Haven and is currently working on their production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
We are very excited to have Jeanette on board.

We have enjoyed this summer’s harvest from our own organic vegetable plot! Our success was overwhelming (well, my mother and Becky’s success)! The tomatoes, lettuce’s, squash, peppers… You name it! We will definitely expand this next year – don’t miss out on the late season corn available now – the sweetest of the year! My kids will even eat it without butter – for those that know my kids, that is a big deal!!

Whew!  The snow is gone and apparently summer arrived late last week!  The Cantering Caterer has LOTS going on in this busy time…

May is busy and we are excited to be working, planning, and partying with all of you!!  It is a big summer coming up…  Shaking off the cold and the economic blues.  We have lots of outdoor weddings this summer as people opt for less formal venues – Lots of second weddings too, mine is June 7!!  Very exciting!  The cocktail party season had an early start this year when people heard that last weekend would be in the eighties – our phone started ringing off the hook!  So, shake it off, everything will be alright and Have a Party!

Christian is mentioned in Chinese Weddings By the Knot!  Scroll through a few cocktails, photos, and ingredients!  All are absolutely perfect for Summer!  Some of his ideas are also mentioned in the 2009 Wedding Guide, Boulder Colorado!

-The RiverVine is open and booking fast!  We are excited to start a “Saturday Night Fish Fry on Thursday Nights!”  Beginning Thursday, May 14 from 4:00-9:00pm, The RiveVine will feature a traditional New Orleans Fish Fry menu and live music!  The Cobalt Rythym Kings are playing the 28th from 6:00-9:00pm.  They are amazing and play blues and jazzy favorites from John Lee Hooker, Louis Jordan, and originals…  Check out the Vine website for more info and to make a reservation!!  Kayak fan??  Come check out our new 1938 Folbot wood frame canoe plant holder!  This thing is cool!

-The Cantering Caterer launched a new program to combat hunger in our community.  “Feed our Friends,” is a project to collect safely held leftover foods from caterers and restaurants in Fairfield County and deliver to a shelter in Bridgeport.  This particular shelter feeds 2200 people per day!  Lets take hunger off the table because while we may be hungry, they are starving.  It seems so simple that here in this country, in this county, there are hungry people…  There are.  Let’s help together.

-Follow us of Facebook and Twitter!

Eat your greens!  Get them local, keep our economy going, and get healthy too!

In out constant drive to find the freshest, finest ingredients in the world we are often shopping no further than our geographic backyard!  Connecticut and New York have such a plethora of fantastic farms that you are never more than an hours drive from fresh ethically harvested meats and vegetables that often can be delivered to your door!

Here are a few of our favorites:

Shortt’s Farm and Garden Center in Sandy Hook, CT 203-426-9283.  Farm fresh eggs, organic foods, gardening supplies, and great advice!

Guy’s Eco Garden, 276 Leavenworth Road, Shelton, CT 203-929-3080.  Kale, swiss chard, tomatoes, and evenything in between!

Bloomingfields Farm – Fantastic Daylilies and lots of other goodies from a farm run by a biologist and an artist -perfect combination… 860-354-6951

Holbrook Farm – 45 Turkey Plain Road, Bethel, CT 203-792-0561.  Pesticide and herbidcide free for 30 years, they specialize in vegetables, cut flowers, herbs, and berries.  They are open through December.

Middlebrook Farm and Orchard 112 South Main Street, Newtown, CT 203-426-8226

Millstone Farm in Wilton, CT. 180 Millstone Road 203-834-2605.  This website is a fantastic resource for chefs, farmers, curious people, and anyone interested in sustainable and ethical farm practices.  Dont miss their links page!

And always check out Connecticut Grown for lists of farms, growing seasons, and great locations for apple and berry picking!  You can subscribe to their email list for “in-season” alerts, recipes, and lots of fun stuff!

More to come…  Remember the Holiday Season is here – call now for our NEW HOLIDAY MENUS for pick up, drop-off, and full-service!

The flood gates have opened, the holidays are here!! So, lets plan that party and spread the good cheer!!

The holiday planning season has started with vigor!  Despite the economy, maybe even because of it, people are planning holiday gatherings with family and friends.  We have several Thanksgiving packages available for pick up and of course we offer full service catering.  We are almost sold out of pre-ordered Turduckens as they are so labor intensive and done fresh the day before!

For Christmas and Cocktail parties we have put together lots are really great packages to fit all budgets and of course, Becky, Amanda, and Jacquie are always available to customize a menu with you, arrange a tasting, or a site visit.  Please call soon as Christmas and Holiday Parties book fast during the last half of November!

Our newest facility, The RiverVine is scheduled to open next week and can accomodate groups of any size.  This new event space, on the Housatonic River in Derby has fantastic views of the river and is next to the famed Yale Boathouse!  This is the perfect place for Weddings, Bar Matzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, School dances, Birthday Parties, Graduation Parties and more…  New Haven Counties newest wedding reception site is now in business!!

Call us for simple cost cutting holiday entertaining tips as we demonstrated on Fox News New York.  And, don’t forget to sign up for our monthly news letter on the homepage.

LOTS happening at The Cantering Caterer this time of year!  Tomorrow we are meeting with editors at The Knot.com, PartySpot.com, Elegant Bride, and The Bridal Guide.  These interviews will be about new things happening in weddings, green conscious weddings, summer parties, and new trends in catering and event design.  We are really excited!

The Cantering Caterer was just hired to cater and design a fantastic wedding in Easton, CT.  Working out of an acre sized clearing in the woods we will deliver a memorable night to 100 guests under a tent and canopy of trees.  The very next day we will transform a private home into a magical setting based on “Where the Wild Things Are,” for a childrens birthday party.

We were hired today to cater an opening for a French artist at the home gallery of a prominent collector in Greenwich.  We will do a classic French menu, paired with amazing wines, (all white!), and our service staff that day will all be native to France.  This will be an unbelievable event!

Roger Williams University just contracted us to cater their tailgate before and after an away lacrosse game on Saturday.  We will have an exciting barbeque in the cold as we cheer The Hawks to victory!

 Every caterer says “now is the time to start planning your summer party.”  Now, its true!  Now IS the time to schedule your date.  Despite the gloom and doom in the financial papers lately people are booking parties and events more that ever before.  We noticed that over the Christmas school break many people that normally would have been away stayed home and had parties.  Small dinner parties, large cocktail parties…  Now really is the time…

Lastly, we were just contracted to cater a Kentucky Derby Party.  This is the day of the year in the sport of kings!  We are service a traditional Derby menu and we start testing Mint Juleps this week!

Wedding season is fast approaching and we are seeing lots of new and exciting things things this year.

-Locations – we are seeing lots of non-traditional venues…  Museums, galleries, beaches, private homes.  We have been named exclusive caterer at the Downtowm Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport and this is one of the most amazing places we have ever worked.  2 floors, cabaret style seating, a fantastic stage and light system.  The theatre has some sound capability, and the staff is very friendly and easy to work with.  The price is right and we have recently done 2 weddings and a Bar Mitzvah there – it is definitely worth looking into.

Speaking of lighting, we are seeing more attention being paid to lighting this year.  Candles can create an intimate atmosphere and in some situations can reduce the need for more expensive equipment.  With creative lighting you can make a large space smaller and a smaller space appear larger.  Using ambers and pinks will really make your skin look great in photos too.

 Another fun thing we are noticing is brides with 2 dresses.  The traditional formal wedding gown that gets ditched after the ceremony!  I have seen cocktail dresses, slim gowns, and a really hot red dress recently.

 Rental jewels…  You can rent a pair of Vera Wang designer diamond earings valued at 2600.00 for about $100.00! 

Documentary style wedding videography catches the whole day from begining to end…  It is on the expensive side but will give you a great look at the buildup to that fantastic moment! 

The movement toward green and environmentally friendly foods is really gaining steam!  People want to know that their foods were raised, harvested, and prepared in an ethical way.  At The Cantering Caterer, we are leading the charge in trying to buy as much local organic produce meats, and other ingredients as possible.  This has many advantages…

-By not trucking foods all over the world we are reducing emissions.

-Buying locally supports your economy – in fact, we are going to hire a driver this spring to pick up our produce and meats from local farms daily.  We can now tell you that the lettuce you are eating at 6:00pm was cut at 4:30am!

-Flavor, freshness, quality!  We can see the products that we serve as they grow!  We visit the farms, talk with the farmers, taste things as they develop…  One local farm is going to grow organic herbs just for us this year.

-Organic and Fresh is healthy!  No preservatives, no growth hormones, no pesticides.

Sustainable food sources are another hot item.  We are buying our fish from sustainable populations only.  As the world gets smaller and access to once exotic ingredients is easier we are able to be less dependant on stocks that have been overfished.  For example, once rare Baramundi from Australia and New Zealand is in our local grocery stores right now…

Next week we will post some ”green decor” tips. 

Some helpful green links:

Corporate Catering and Corporate Service

The Cantering Caterer has started a new division! The Cantering Caterer Express uses the same fantastic ingredients, the same very talented staff, and the same smiling people on the phone, but we deliver the most amazing lunches to Fairfield County! Starting this week, we are sending a daily menu to companies that have requested to be on our mailing list. From Fairfield, Westport, Norwalk, Stamford, to Greenwich!

Corporate lunches are competitive business. Every deli, restaurant, and caterer does them… We do them differently! Our main business is high-end weddings, cocktail parties, and events. We have the best food products in the world come through our doors every day! We turn these ingredients into creative salads, fun soups, outrageous drinks (Jalapeno Lemonade), the list goes on… There is no delivery charge… Please call us anytime to get on the list. One of our Weddings last Saturday – a fantastic estate on the water in Southport! 200 guests, amazing grounds… At one point you could not tell where the sky and ocean met – it was the most beautiful shades of pink…