Rick and Jo-Ann Babchak are long time customers who have become friends throughout the years. They are the proud parents of 4 gorgeous young woman and we are proud to say that we have catered many of the important events in this family's life. Eleven years ago we catered the "baby" of the family, CiCi's baptism and just this past weekend we catered the eldest daughter, Priscilla's high school graduation party.
This weekend was the start of record breaking horrible hot weather and unfortunately
The first hour and a half consisted of
we served mostly kid friendly hors d'oeuvres
...cows in the comforter - a signature presentation
...house made pizza bytes on tomcat foccacia
...meatball sliders in housemade cheddar biscuits
...moroccan salmon cakes spiced with chermoula
...tempura shrimp with sesame lemon glaze
...smoked salmon biscuits with wasabi cream cheese
...4 cheese puff cigars
...jewels of siam - filet mignon with asian glaze
...sassy indian samosas
...Priscilla's chicken parmesan crostinis
I think there were a few more offerings but for the moment they escape my memory
the dinner buffet was awesome - there was something for everyone
and lots of unusual offerings that the guests went gagga over
Chef Andrew Crossan and his assistant Chef Tom Kaelin
worked a flambee cheese station
using a half a wheel of pecorino romano,
with Grappa,
had been heated and tossed with
made using farmers market basil,
I didn't seem to get a photo of the flames
Tom and Andrew make a good team
and here's a photo of the kids oggling the whole procedure
for sure the flambe cheese station is a quick fire draw,
it gets everyones attention and they are always amazed
at how cuisinetc does this!
doing what cuisinEtc does best, eater-tainment...
Because the guest count of 150 or so,
was equally divided between adults and kids
(ranging from 8-18) we decided to go heavy
on the pasta offerings.
The asian crab salad featured a recipe
based on Vietnamese crab coleslaw
with julienne of nappa cabbage and carrots,
bean sprouts, fresh crab,
fresh asian spinach noodles
(yes more pasta) with a chili jam
lime & cilantro vinaigrette
The crab coleslaw is
a refreshing summer offering
and looks so pretty in the
red asian takeout boxes
sitting atop our signature apple riser.
It also makes for easy eating
since there is always limited seating
house parties like this
orange bbq glazed meatballs
a kidz in all of us favorite
(comfort food with an attitude)
cajun bbq crusted chicken fingers
don't ask - don't tell
a cuisinetc secret as to why they are so addictive...
caribbean coco loco chicken drummers
- yummer drummers - falling off the bone goodness.
thai style broccoli salad with sweet pepper rings and sweet and spicy vinaigrette
aren't our copper chafers gorgeous... the hostess was so impressed with them...
french potato salad with haricot vert, marinated artichokes and dijon wholegrain vinaigrette
minted tortellini greek antipasto salad
with chickpeas, dolmatis,
lots of fresh mint, oregano, feta, fire roasted bell peppers,
tortellini and more...
that's Ben serving the mac and cheese - we offered it two ways,
traditional and an adult rated aged pepato provolone enhanced version
DOUBLE YUM!
Dessert was a chocolate fountain with lots of goodies to dip, a nice graduation cake and lots of fresh fruit. Let's just say that no one went home hungry!
as the guests were leaving and we got a slew of thank yous and "it was incredible and outstanding" one of them remarked that we should get a bonus for working in the heat.
well the bonus was that we still managed to have a great time and produce a great party where everyone went home happy and thinking about the wonderful celebration. I was happy to get this nice email today from Jo-Ann thanking us.
"Lisa, Thank you so much!
Everyone has been Raving about you!
Everything was perfect.
So sorry about the heat.
Your staff is amazing.
Jo-Ann "
