Tag hands-on cooking

Parties That Cook Fundraiser Recap: Cooking Up Success for Women’s Initiative

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in News & Events Tagged with cooking party fundraiser, cooking up success, hands-on cooking, parties that cook, women's initiative for self employment May 3rd, 2012 @ 4:14 pm

Wednesday, April 18, Parties That Cook hosted its most successful fundraiser ever! Over 100 tickets were sold to Cooking Up Success for Women’s Initiative, and we were adding folks to the guest list right up until the morning-of. This was our third annual fundraising event benefiting Women’s Initiative, and the community support for this amazing cause was evident.

For those of you who might not know, Women’s Initiative for Self Employment is a Bay Area non-profit that provides high-potential, lower-income women the training, resources and on-going support to start and grow their business. This amazing organization has been in San Francisco for 24 years (longer than someone in our office has been alive)!

Once again, Bibby gave her famously engaging cooking demo, with insightful tips and tricks for the evening’s recipes. Attendees were relaxed and mingling throughout the event, even as they were divided into smaller teams to prepare the menu of international tapas. Guests enjoyed delicious wine graciously provided by Banshee Wines, and there was even a little “marketplace” showcasing the products of five Women’s Initiative graduates.

Near the end of the event, Women’s Initiative graduate, Azalina Eusope, told an inspiring story of her experience with Women’s Initiative and how she launched her successful Malaysian foods company, Azalina’s. We caught tears falling from a few eyes, but promised we wouldn’t name names. Beautiful professional photos from the event (featured in this blog) were taken by Women’s Initiative graduate, Aurora Meneghello, and they can all be found on the Aurora Meneghello Productions Facebook page.

And now, for the statistic everyone’s been waiting for: The event raised the staggering amount of $17,500!! Parties That Cook is as proud as ever to have lent a hand to Women’s Initiative and our community.

Parties That Cook’s 2011 Corporate Holiday Events Wrap-Up: Part I

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in Entertaining, News & Events Tagged with 2011, chef's table, cooking parties, Corporate Holiday Events, hands-on cooking, Holiday Events, Holiday Events Wrap-Up, Part I, parties that cook, sumptuous small plates January 9th, 2012 @ 1:25 pm

2011 is OVER. Time to close that great chapter, and begin the next. There’s just a little something we have to take care of first… This post is Part I of the final round-up of our corporate team building events and private cooking parties for 2011!

In mid-November, McGraw-Hill Higher Education hosted the first of a series of Parties That Cook events for a mix of staff and customers in Chicago. After finding us through an internet search, host Megan G. thought we had offered the most flexibility, the best venues… and “awesome recipes!” On working with our Chicago event planner, Megan said, “Christina Turner is top notch! She is a real asset to your organization. Right away, everything went smoothly and she made me feel completely at ease with the process. She was professional, friendly, and accommodating.” What kind (yet accurate) words!

The bar was set high with Christina’s customer service, but we did not disappoint! After the event, the raves continued. “The event was a great kick-off and a great way to achieve camaraderie right off the bat. It provided us with a way to make our customers comfortable and to break the ice before our event officially started.” Megan added, “Molly, Brandy and the team were amazing. We were so lucky to have had them running our event, they really went above and beyond!”

A few days later, Genentech hosted an intimate Chef’s Table, 4-course meal for 13, at the gorgeous Mumm Napa. Host Lisa D. is no stranger to Parties That Cook, and opted to stick with us after a successful first experience. On working with veteran event planner, Rosie, she commented, “Rosie made the event seem super easy and everything was organized and complete in a timely manner. The party was wonderful! The best part was the teambuilding and fun!!!!” *No exclamation marks were added to this statement.

To round out November, VelocX hosted a fun event for 16 in Portland!! It’s always so exciting to see events come in for our newer cities. After checking out a few of our different corporate event ideas, host Holly F. thought Sumptuous Small Plates was the “best event for the type of meeting [she] was planning.” No buyer’s remorse here! Despite some fears of skeptics in her group, post-event, Holly reported, “All of the guests were engaged and enjoyed the evening. The event was successful due to Chef Carolyn and her work in supporting our objectives.“

Carolyn, our wonderful Operations Manager and event chef, agreed! “It was lots of fun! They were a great group, we made delicious food, and the venue worked out well (Great to hear of our first Bargreen Ellingson experience). Everyone loved it, even the skeptical ones that Holly forewarned us about. Lots of thank you’s from the guests, and interest in what else we do. Holly loved it and said she could see using our services again for her clients.”

Closing out a 15-event week for Parties That Cook was an especially fun Clearwater Group dinner in Seattle. This wasn’t just any corporate dinner. Host Paulette L. opted for the beautifully decorated destination venue: Efeste Winery. She also spiced things up a bit by adding a competition twist to their evening of Sumptuous Small Plates. “It sounded like it would be a fun way to have a party,” Paulette explained. And she was right! Lead Chef Pam noted that this was a fun, enthusiastic group, and that it was a great menu for them. Afterwards, Paulette reported that the best part of the event was “the interactive nature of cooking together as a team, and yes, event was very successful!”