Author: Lionsdeal

Create Exciting and Stimulating Events Using Multi-Hued Foods

Use Colorful Foods to Highlight Your Catered Events

Catering Clients Crave Color

For many reasons, color is a caterer’s best friend. Colorful décor and multi-hued accessories can create a festive atmosphere that boosts enthusiasm levels even before the food arrives. Color energizes the senses and puts people in the right mood for a party. When the food comes out and it is colorful and attractive, well, you’ve captured the attention and triggered the excitement of everyone present and, after all, that’s the goal of every successful caterer.

Colorful Food Takes on New Meaning

As recently as a few years ago, rainbow food was all about health and nutrition; only recently, did “rainbows” and “unicorns” begin to mean Instagram-friendly foods that look great through the camera’s lens. Regardless of why you’re serving colorful foods, however, it looks fabulous and is attractive and appetite-whetting.

Healthy-eating advocates often tell people to “eat the rainbow.” It’s a simple way of reminding people that a variety of fruits and vegetables in one’s daily diet will afford all the vitamins and minerals people need. The concept of eating the rainbow was particularly popular a few years ago – but the legitimacy of the idea hasn’t waned since then – when dietitians, doctors, and other health advisors used the phrase to get people—especially children—to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their diets. It’s a nice catchphrase, but behind the Madison Avenue advertising lies the science that explains why a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables can be both pleasing to the eye and good for your health.

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Discover the Latest Food Trend: Late-Night Nibbles

Serve a Late-Night Repertoire of Foods at Your Next Catered Affair

Serve Late Night Menus with Flair

The goal of today’s trendy caterer is to stay cutting edge and to stand out among competitors. The idea is to always have the ability to reach into your bag of tricks and come up with something unique and interesting that will thrill your clients and delight their guests, and, that will add an element of surprise to the event. One way to give your customers an awesome experience is through an unforgettable late-night menu. Instead of shutting down the kitchen after a traditional dessert, you want to keep the party going into the wee hours by serving original and exciting food that will keep your guests happy and boost the enthusiasm level to new heights. Late-night menus give you an opportunity to think outside of the box and to take your catered events to a whole new level.

The Party That Never Ends

Chances are your customers will want their guests to spend hours and hours dancing, drinking, eating, and socializing at the event they’ve hired you to cater. But partying into the early-morning hours can be draining for the revelers, even for the young and energetic. After two or three hours of dancing, hunger pangs will inevitably set in, especially for those who have managed to dance their way through most of the food, not to mention dessert and cake. So, despite the fact that you provided a hearty meal, your guests will need more fuel.

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Put the Spotlight on Your Buffet Table and Draw Attention to Your Food

Add Dimension and Style to Your Catered Buffet to Stay Current

Fabulous Buffet Design Ideas

Many catering trends come and go, but some are here to stay. Buffets, for instance, never go out of style and they are, simply put, every caterer’s bread-and-butter. In a recent survey, the International Caterer’s Association (ICA) reported that over 40% of caterers said that their most popular service style was the buffet. But because buffets have become so popular and ubiquitous, caterers have to be as creative as possible when designing their buffet tables. Even if your food is fabulous, if you don’t present it with flair and panache, it won’t get the attention it deserves. If you view the buffet as not just an efficient way to feed people but also as a great opportunity to have some fun decorating, you’ll be more likely to get the positive response and feedback you want. Just think of the food as the star of the show (but don’t tell the guest of honor) and view the table as a stage. With the right set design, lighting, backdrop, and decoration, you’ll have a sure hit on your hands!

Leveling: How to Stand Out in a Crowded Catering Field

After you’ve agreed on a menu with your client, think about how you want to display the fabulous offerings. Interesting trays, platters, bowls, and vessels will upgrade your buffet from ordinary to extraordinary. Make sure to use display items in different shapes and different heights. One of the easiest ways to create interest at your next catered buffet is to use risers and platforms of varying heights. A buffet, say many leading caterers, is more attractive and exciting if guests’ eyes are drawn to different levels. A dynamic presentation captures the imagination and, almost magically, causes guests to gravitate to the buffet table.

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Learn How to Make Pickles and Find Out Why They’re Good for Business

Homemade Pickles: Ride the Latest Catering Trend

Make Your Own Pickles

A little while ago we discussed how your catering business can benefit if you use made-from-scratch condiments. Your customers will be impressed by the originality of your approach and they will appreciate the homemade flavor of the food that you produce in your very own kitchen. Now that you’ve perfected your ketchup and mayonnaise, it’s time to move on to another perennial crowd-pleaser: pickles. Making these delicious treats and serving them fresh and crispy at your next event, will put you on the map as the Pickle Maven of the catering world.

Pickles Are Hot

According to the National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot” survey for 2018, homemade pickles are one of the most popular food trends right now. Crunchy and sour, pickled cucumbers – or, simply, pickles – can be eaten on their own or used in sandwiches and salads to add a fabulous tang. Street food in general, and pickles in particular, are having a moment, and the green wonders are being reinvented in all colors, sizes, textures, and flavors.

But, you may ask, why make my own pickles? The real question is, why not? When produce is in season – at peak flavor and in top-quality, inexpensive abundance – it makes sense to grab it while you can and make it last. By making homemade pickles, not only are you taking advantage of the monetary savings, you’re showing clients that you can take a trend to a higher level, mixing the pickle craze with the make-your-own-everything trend that is apparently here to stay.

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How Vegetable Shakes and Smoothie Bowls Can Put Your Business on the Map

Serve Vegetable-Forward Drinks to Impress Your Catering Clientele

Cater With Vegetable-Based Drinks

An important part of any catered event is quenching your guests’ thirst. Nowadays it’s not enough to place a few bottles of sparkling water or Coke on each table; a beverage station – serving hot perked coffee, freshly brewed tea, and blended drinks that are created on the spot – is a feature that no event can do without. Smoothies and shakes have long been part of a caterer’s beverage repertoire, as they allow guests to customize their beverages with ingredients of their choosing. Now, however, with the arrival of warmer months, along with the increase in healthier menu offerings, it’s time to liven up your beverage menu by introducing your guests to fresh, bright, vegetable-based smoothies.

Eating and Drinking Healthy is Here to Stay

There are basically two options for including a beverage bar at the events that you cater: you can handle all the drink-making yourself (with staff that you hire and train), or you can outsource to a company that specializes in serving beverages at catered events. Either way, the drinks that you serve at your upcoming events will have to conform to the current trends: healthy, sustainable, and seasonal. When it comes to drinks, this means that your clients will be looking for freshly squeezed juices and blended smoothies made from organic, local, and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Many people are trying to incorporate more vegetables in their diets, and juicing is a great way to capture a lot of vitamins and minerals from raw produce that might otherwise be lost during cooking.

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Use Edible Flowers, One of the Hottest Trends of the Year

Stay on Top of the Latest Trends by Using Edible Flowers

How to Use Edible Flowers

Cooking with edible flowers is once again a trend. After going out of style for many years, cooking and garnishing with flowers is back in vogue and on the buffet tables at catered events everywhere. As a savvy caterer, it’s time for you to embrace the edible flower trend to add a touch of elegance to all your affairs.

The Use of Edible Flowers Goes Way Back

In “The Edible Flower Guide: Cooking with Flowers from the Garden,” the Gardening Channel offers advice and tips on using edible flowers safely and beautifully, and lists the many edible varieties, including those we’ll mention below. As the site explains, edible flowers are experiencing a renaissance, of sorts. They’re popping up everywhere – on top of wedding cakes, in cocktails and even in soups and salads. And not just the usual and well-known edibles, like lavender or nasturtium; in addition to the tried-and-true favorites, other flowers, like pansies, tulips, violets, and orchids are getting the culinary treatment.

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How a Legal Catering Contract Can Keep You and Your Client Safe and Protected

How to Write a Contract to Protect Your Catering Business

Effective Catering Contracting

Catering is a challenging business. Running a successful and busy catering business is akin to juggling and keeping a lot of balls in the air: finding and keeping dependable labor; contending with ever-rising food costs; and fighting the competition in a marketplace that is close to saturated. We gave you advice about starting a catering business and we hope you’re making a go of it. Now we’re going to explore an often overlooked area of catering – the contract, without which every job can become way more trouble than it’s worth.

Clients Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Caterers have to be great cooks, shrewd business people, skilled diplomats, and sympathetic listeners, as they deal with clients who are faced with what is usually a major event in their lives. Most of these people will be reasonable and pleasant clients who are good to work with and who are happy with the result. However, along the way, you may also meet difficult and indecisive customers who cancel events with no warning; are argumentative and penny-pinching; who fight about every dime and nickel when it comes time to paying the bill; who are demanding, who expect an instant response whenever they try to contact you; and capricious patrons who change plans on a whim. These types of customers are part of the challenge of running a busy catering company, which is why caterers need two things to succeed: a thick skin and an iron-clad written contract.

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Understand Veganism to Cater a Fabulous Plant-Based Event

Catering Events for Vegans Can Enhance Your Reputation

Keep Vegan Guests in Mind

As a caterer, you’ve probably found yourself having to prepare food for all types of clients, including vegetarians, glucose- and lactose-intolerant customers, those with nut allergies, and clients who adhere to sugar-free or low-fat diets. Veganism is just one more fad in a long line of trends for which you must bend over backwards to please your customers. Special requests are part of the business, and to make it in the dog-eat-dog catering arena you need to be flexible and know how to accede – with grace and generosity – to a range of requirements (even those that lead to extra work). However, when you do go that extra mile, it’s worth it, as your reputation as an accommodating and professional caterer will precede you.

What is Veganism?

Veganism isn’t a new concept, but it has been receiving more and more attention lately. The term “vegan” was coined in 1944 by a group of vegetarians who then formed the Vegan Society. In addition to not eating meat (like vegetarians), vegans choose not to consume dairy, eggs or any other products of animal origin. According to the Vegan Society website, “Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.” The term vegan was created by combining the first and last letters of the word vegetarian.

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How to Cater for Clients Who Want Gut-Friendly Foods

Tips for Catering and Creating a Gut-Friendly Menu

How to Create a Gut-Friendly Catering Menu

For years, we thought of bacteria as organisms that are bad for us, even deadly. However, research has shown that the human body is loaded with “good bacteria,” which help us to digest food and contribute to our well-being. Serving “gut-friendly foods,” – foods that contain friendly bacteria that aid digestion and help to prevent certain diseases – is a big catering trend right now. Add these foods to your menu and your customers will appreciate the effort you make to help keep them healthy while they enjoy your tasty food.

What Are Gut Bacteria?

The gut is simply another word for our gastrointestinal system, which starts in the mouth and includes the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, small intestine, colon, and rectum. The gut is essential in sustaining and protecting the health of our bodies, starting with the intake and absorption of nutrients. The digestive process is the foundation for our body’s ability to function and stay healthy.

Roughly 300 to 500 different kinds of bacteria live inside our gut, along with other tiny organisms, like viruses and fungi, which form the body’s “microbiome.” Every person has a unique microbiome, which is influenced by genes, as well as diet and lifestyle. Our gut bacteria line our digestive system and affect everything from our immune system and metabolism, to our moods and temperament. Gut bacteria help to break down the foods we eat and aid in the digestion of the nutrients that support our body’s functions, such as energy production, skin health, and mental health.

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Salmon: Loaded with Nutrients and Flavor

Salmon: The Fish That Everyone Loves

Salmon: Versatile, Nutritious, and Delicious

When it comes to foods that meet what are arguably the three most important criteria – taste, nutritional value, and ease of preparation – salmon heads the list. Salmon is delicious, it just about cooks itself, and it has more health benefits than we can keep track of. Salmon is also super-versatile – it can be baked, broiled, grilled, and poached, and with so little work on your part, it never fails to be delicious.

All About Salmon

Salmon is an outstanding and unusual fish; outstanding because it’s incredibly tasty, and unusual because both fish lovers and non-fish lovers tend to like it. It’s a fatty, succulent fish with plenty of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, plus a big dose of protein, and an abundance of vitamins. It’s readily available all year round, and, even the most inexperienced (or lazy) cook can prepare it in no time.

Salmon is the common name for fish in the order Salmoniformes. Salmon are “anadromous,” which means that most types of this fish are born in fresh water, migrate to the salt water of the open sea, and then return to fresh water to reproduce, or “spawn.” After living for years at sea, salmon travel a long-distance home to return to the river in which they were born in order to spawn. After spawning, all Pacific salmon, and about half of the other species, die within a few weeks. The salmon that do not die can spawn two or three more times.

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