Category Entertaining

Parties That Cook Corporate Team Build Event Recap: Quadruple Threat

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in Entertaining, News & Events Tagged with corporate team building activity, corporate team building events, Genentech, hands-on cooking, hands-on cooking party, LBA Realty, Navigant, Omnicell, small plates, small plates challenge, small plates plus October 14th, 2011 @ 5:08 pm

Boy was September a busy month for Parties That Cook! With 28 events in only 2 weeks, we had a little time to spare! Now that we’ve got a chance to breathe before our mad holiday rush, we’re taking a look at 4 of those 28 crazy events.

First on our list: another Genentech event. On September 9th, Genentech host, Jessica S., brought this group of about 80 to San Francisco’s Ferry Building. According to Jessica, “I thought the outside venue at the Ferry Building was very creative and different! This was a beautiful venue, not to mention entertaining with all the public roaming around to watch. It was the perfect experience of San Francisco for those who don’t get to venture into the city too often.” And we agree – The Ferry Building is a great venue for large groups!

Chef Scott led this Small Plates event with an added competition aspect, and he thought it was a great event. Jessica confirmed, stating, “My group had an AMAZING time and appreciate all of [the] staff’s enthusiasm and hard work during our event! The best part of our cooking party was the culmination of the actual cooking and the presentations given by each team. Our group really got into the competition and we were very entertained watching each spokes person present their dishes!” Sounds like a fun group!

Jessica also reported that she thought Chef Scott was awesome, and that the other staff was absolutely wonderful. She added, “They were very nice, warm and inviting. The chefs assigned to each table were extremely knowledgeable about their craft and open to any and all questions about the food and cooking. The group was excited to work together in teams, but having a professional chef to assist them through this adventure was VERY helpful!” She thought the food was actually amazing, explaining, “Parties That Cook gave us wonderful and fresh ingredients that made the food taste delicious!”

A few days later, Omnicell hosted a fun Kitchen Challenge event at the Dolce Hayes Mansion in San Jose. This group of about 40 arrived at 3pm to a pantry of ingredients like Chicken Breast, Quinoa, Tomatoes and Zucchini. For dessert (the one dish they’re given a recipe for), host Michelle S. selected our Warm Chocolate Budino with Raspberry Sauce. Yum!

Chef Laura reported that the event went really well. The guests quickly warmed up, and there was a nice balance of jokers in the group that made for a fun event. Sounds like we have another great group of guests! According to Melissa, “Chef Laura was wonderful. I couldn’t ask for a better chef, and the rest of the staff was very much engaged and helped when needed.”

Melissa also added that everyone had a great time. The Kitchen Challenge event was engaging and got everyone away from normal work activity, but they’re open to trying other corporate team building activities from Parties That Cook in the future! Who knows, they might even take advantage of our option to host the event at their offices. We love that attitude!

The very next day, Navigant hosted a traditional Small Plates event at the Ferry Building – their second time there. Based on the verbal feedback he received from guests, Chef Irfan reported that the event was a success! There was a lot of fun and joking going on, and Irfan thought the guests were a delight to work with. Everyone loved the food, and there were basically NO leftovers! He explained that it was due to an “excellent selection of dishes. During the presentation, we focused on the international nature of the dishes chosen, and labeled it ‘A trip around the world’. For the dessert (our Double Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Tartlets), Chef Carolyn had a great idea. We mixed crumbled cookies with the mousse, and served it in cups. The clients loved it!” Nicely done team!

Navigant host, Erin P., later told us, “The best part was that it took almost no effort on my part to plan or set up. All I had to do was pick a date, pick out dishes (great choices!), and pick the music. Parties that Cook took care of everything else! Everyone was so impressed that everything was prepared and ready to go when we got there, and that the staff was very courteous and helpful. It was perfect! Everything was so delicious! The arepas were the most popular, followed by the hazelnut tarts, but EVERYTHING was eaten!”

When asked about Chef Irfan, Navigant host, Erin P. said, “He was very fun, as well as professional. We learned a lot from his tips demonstration, and he also showed us how to tweak dishes along the way for an extra special experience. All of the staff were super professional and courteous and very helpful. Rosie, as well as other staff, helped answer all of my questions and made the whole planning experience very simple. My office has worked with Parties That Cook before and the parties are always so fun and educational! There is a great opportunity to network and mingle while we prepare food and share wine. It’s great! I’m very impressed with all of the options that Parties That Cook offers.” Aw, shucks, Erin!

Finally, let’s chat about LBA Realty’s Kitchen Challenge on September 22nd. Lead Chef Jed could tell they had fun, and received many compliments before the night was done!

Host Kaylen P. thought the best part of the cooking party was the team building aspect. On behalf of her team of about 20 guests, she added, “Everyone got into their roles and as a group created two delicious meals. The event was definitely a success. Jed was entertaining and got our group excited. Everyone was enjoyable to work with and very helpful.” Kaylen even reported having received emails the next morning from her team saying it was their “Best team-building event”! Now that’s what we like to hear!!

If you would like to see your Parties That Cook event featured in a blog, let us know!
See you in the kitchen soon!

Parties That Cook’s September Cookbook Club: Complete Indian Cooking

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in Entertaining, Menus & Recipes Tagged with cookbook cl October 10th, 2011 @ 5:15 pm

Now that we have so many people in our office, cookbook clubs have become quite the gathering. 14 Office workers mean 14 different dishes trying to share space on our dining table already crowded with large dinner plates. Luckily, this month’s meeting included some really new team members (2 great interns!), so we didn’t actually have 14 dishes… just 12. Come next month, with everyone cooking, we may have to get serious about inviting more guests to help us eat!

Bibby selected September’s cookbook: Hamlyn’s Complete Indian Cooking. Bibby’s tried many Indian cookbooks over the years, and this is the only one she’s found that doesn’t give her the urge to “off-road” with the recipes. Don’t get us wrong, there’s nothing wrong with taking a route less-traveled with any given recipe. Sometimes it’s just refreshing to find recipes that seem complete on their own, where all the guesswork has been taken care of for you.

This book comes equipped with vibrant photos of each and every dish – VERY helpful to those unfamiliar with Indian dishes. Unfortunately, while the recipes are written clearly, some details are not provided. Some of us ran into issues of not being given exact measurements (how large or flat should the naan dough be?) or specific ingredients (exactly which green chilies should we be using?). Still, everything tasted amazing and the menu was deliciously balanced. Now on to the dishes – we have a lot to cover!

Indian Split Pea Soup – Christina brought in this chilled dish as a nice, light start to this marathon meal. Whatever she may have done to stray from the recipe, the results were simply delicious!
Balti Mixed Vegetables – Gina selected this dish for her first cookbook club meeting! The recipe didn’t name specific vegetables to use in this dish, giving Gina a lot of freedom. Of course, she made the perfect selections for the season, and her dish turned out wonderfully.
Naan – Beth would have liked a little more guidance in the process. It’s tough to know how fluffy your naan will be if you aren’t told how flat to press the dough. Also, little guidelines are given for the cooking in a hot pan before finishing in the oven.
Panir Mattar – For maybe the second time ever, Erin did not select a dessert recipe! Instead, she chose a dish she lovingly referred to as Peas & Cheese. Despite a minor mishap that essentially tripled the recipe, this dish turned out great! Erin said she had enjoyed the texture of the cheese a bit more the night she made the dish, but there were no complaints around the table.
Aloo Sag – Rebecca chose this surprisingly simple recipe with surprisingly few ingredients. While she was worried about a lack of flavor, boy was it tasty! She would have liked to have been told a type of green chile to use, but took the opportunity to decrease the potential heat of the potatoes.
Greens with Tomatoes – Kelle selected this dish for her first cookbook club contribution. Though the recipe originally called for spinach, she made the executive decision to substitute rainbow chard for even more color and texture than she would have otherwise had. Excellent choice, Kelle!
Saffron Rice – Michelene selected this recipe after having received a ton of Saffron straight from Egypt! The dished paired well with all the others and provided a nice break from the potentially overwhelming spice of the meal.
Vegetable Biriyani and Raita – Melissa made Vegetable Biriyani with the hopes of eating it all week. She went above and beyond, also making Raita, a refreshingly cool yet sneakily spicy yogurt that accompanied almost every dish perfectly.
Chicken Tikka skewers and Date and Tomato Chutney – Not to be outdone, Carolyn also opted to make 2 dishes. She brought in deliciously tender skewers of chicken tikka (marinated in a yogurt mixture) that paired perfectly with her date and tomato chutney. Yum!
Beef Buffad – Despite a slight misreading of the recipe, Crissy’s dish was amazing! The beef, braised in coconut milk, was incredibly tender. The sauce was also delicious!
Kheema do Pyaza – Bibby selected this out-of-the-box lamb dish and hardly off-roaded at all! As with other meat dished in this cookbook, the minced lamb is cooked in yogurt. The results: absolutely delicious!
Kheer – Rosie selected this Indian variation on rice pudding. Let me just ask, “Who doesn’t love rice pudding??” While she would have liked even a ballpark estimation of the amount of sugar to use, we were all happy with the outcome – not too sweet, but definitely still a dessert dish. The only problem was that this was served last, and many of us did not have much room left! At least it made a great breakfast…

In the end, we were all stuffed! After throwing the possibility of a productive afternoon out the window, we cleared the table, leaving no evidence of the feast… Unless you looked in the fridge. Next book on the list: unknown. If you have an idea for our next cookbook club, let us know! We’re always open to suggestions.

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