Tag chocolate

All-Star Vendors Spice Up PTC Customer Appreciation Event!

This past Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of attending – well, working –the Parties That Cook Customer Appreciation Event. I must say, it was SO much fun! Watching our guests meet and mingle was entertaining, and it was great to be able to meet some of our loyal customers and biggest fans.

In addition to our FUN cooking portion of the event, we added an extra special touch to the evening. Upon arrival, guests had the ability to explore and sample treats from a variety of vendors. Who wouldn’t love on-site beer brewing from San Francisco based Pacific Brewing Laboratories, and a cheese demonstration from Artisan Food School?

The wine tasting provided by Duckhorn Wine Company was a big hit as guests enjoyed select red and white wines throughout the evening. For those who preferred drinks of the non-alcoholic variety, thirsts were quenched by fresh roasted coffee from Ritual Coffee Roasters and Lorraine Ottens’ unique sodas from Drinkwell Softers.
With a constant swarm around its table, it was obvious that guests were intrigued by the exotic gourmet chocolates from Coco Delice! My favorite, Forais, is a dark chocolate ganache with organic sea salt and caramel. Yumm! Schirts even had its own table, offering free American Apparel t-shirts customized with the Parties That Cook logo. I made sure to snag one, and now find myself donning PTC gear all over the city!

All in all, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves at the Customer Appreciation Event. Though from the smiles seen and laughs heard, I have a strong feeling they did.

Dining Barefoot Contessa Style

The spreadWhenever I tune in to Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network, Ina Garten’s whipping up some over-the-top masterpiece of a meal with whole roasted chickens and enormous platters of smoked salmon. Most of the time, episodes revolve around recreating a romantic feast Ina once cooked for her husband Jeffery (aka that lucky bastard).

Taking a note from the jolly couple, we nominated the Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks for our monthly Parties That Cook staff Cookbook Club. Not to anyone’s surprise, all of Ina’s recipes were nearly flawless with all the right amounts of heavy cream and butter duly noted and clearly instructed. With no recipe changes to review at the dining table, we resigned happily to feasting: