Kim WB

Thanks all... I've decided to request menus from Shafer, Stage Left, Growth, and Ome. I've used Ome the last three years, and have been happy, but I'm always looking to stay ahead of the curve...Stage Left is a new addition this year, so we'll see what they have to offer, and I'll keep you aprised. Thanks again for all your input.

Yes, that's my hesitations with Stage Left, I enjoy their food at home base...but can they travel well? Previous Caterers have all been Caterers only..they need to have the resources to bring the stoves to the spot, impeccable prep and packaging of the food, set up, timing, and a smiling staff...still seeking opinions, specifically from anyone who has used the Catering services of Schafer or Stage Left? Thanks everyone for the input so far.

These are the approved vendors for an event in Far Hills..but Caterer's location is not an issue..they will all be on site the day of the event..it's a large tail-gating like event, but taken to the nth degree, if you know what I mean. Good..Corporate Cafe, one less business to contact and request menus..though I would have most likely omitted them based on their name!

Life's been mercilessly busy lately...so I unfortunately have a little bit too much first hand experience here. However, I'm sure there are better choices, but I'm watching the scale, so I've been sampling the salads. My choices: KFC coleslaw and buffalo chicken salad...Wendy's Southwestern Salad. Though McDonald's fries would be my first choice, and my "parking lot dinner" ( I love that phrase, Ellen) would include a White Castle Burger and a Wendy's Frosty.

This hads been a bean salad summer for me..I've always made them, but somehow this summer they are my first choice for a quick and easy meal...I like heat with beans, so there is usually a hot pepper of some sort, or at a minimum red pepper flakes! I make a red bean chipolte concoction that I'm very fond of...

I am hosting an event that obligates me to use a caterer from their approved list, at an outdoor location. If anyone has opinions or feedback on any of these, I would appreciate any info you have. I am interested specifically in very high end, premium product ...no sandwiches, crudites, antipasta platters need apply. Hot food a must. I will of course request menus and referrals, but it's an extensive list and any assistance in narrowing it down would be greatly appreciated! 24 Cabot-Raritan Butler's Pantry-Far Hills Califon Fine Foods-Califon Catered Affair-Florham Park Corporate Cafe- Mt. Arlington Country Picnic-Bedminster Crystal Bay-Parsippany Exquisite Entertaining- Millburn Feast Catering-Westfield First Avenue Caterers- Denville Food Company-Cranford Grillmaster-Bedminster Growth Caterers-Basking Ridge Kings Catering- Short Hills Monterey Gourmet- Bernardsville NY Caterers and Party Planners- NYC Ocean Place Conference Resort- Long Branch Ome Caterers- Whippany P and V Enterprises- NYC Redwoods- Chester Shefield's- Mountainside Stage Left- New Brunswick Tim Schafer's Cuisine- Morristown Watson's- Greenwich, CT Zappia's- Summit

Proposal:Since the cost is so unbelievable reasonable, how do the guests feel about tacking on two or three dollars to the $4 cost to pay for paper goods and garbage bags? I'd volunteer to do a big Sam's Club order and get them there...this would insure that we have the necessary clean up materials, and enough plates to eat off of! Perhaps cases of water, too. I'd also suggest that any leftover papergoods can be donated to God's Love We Deliver, a Food kitchen in New Brunswick..I'll drop them off there the next day. One more suggestion, if we dod decide to do this, anyone who was planning on bringing paper goods could instead pre order some bread, and donate that. So, what do you all think?

Wedding number 1: brought our kids to the Brooklyn Heights diner, had BLT's after being married by a judge on Court Street. David went back to work at the River Cafe. Ah, romance. Wedding number two: married at a B and B in Lambertville, 18 guests including our own three kids , had a great catered lunch with fabulous wines.. Friends drove us to Philla airport Hilton or Hyatt, and we ordered from room service later in the evening..in thinking about it, I might have ordered a BLT... Is there a correlation between cured pork and matrimony? Lucky for me, marriage number two has already surpassed marriage number one..so I don't think its a longevity issue! Fun topic.

I'm not sure that the USA version is meant to be taken seriously...it's so over the top campy,, from the announcers to the costumes to the cell phones to the crowd...I treated it as a parody of sorts, and enjoyed it as such. And I'm not quite sure I am willing to conceed that Japan Iron Chef is as serious and knowledgeable and respecful as presented by some on this thread..the general guy comes into the stadioum on a white horse! The judges seem just as clueless, unless the translation is flawed ( I don't know ..that giggling actress translates pretty clearly! )

But following that train of thought, it 's going to take a while to dring a quart of beer..say 60-90 minutes. Won't the beer become warm,a nd loose its fizz? I'm just guessing here, I have absolutely no knowledge of carbonation..I will admit that the "fizz" when you open up a bottle creates a Pavlovian response in me, and perhaps is why I'm advocating the smaller bottles.

Ok, I'm in for a case of bottled water, too.

Why? Wouldn't this larger bottling quantity affect the carbonation? i'm not sure that it would. do you have any thoughts on why it might? i have to say that cleaning the bottles is the biggest hassle of homebrewing. quart bottles are a great idea, assuming it doesn't mess with the carbonation. Yeah, thinking it through, I guess it wouldn't affect it...but I'm a stickler for carbonation, and won't even buy 64oz bottles of diet coke..I need the fizz from the can each time...and I encourage my husband to buy the Corona nips whenever possible, it just seems colder and fresher..yesterday we set up the galvanized tub with ice and corona nips, a ziploc full of lemon and lime wedges, add some Snyder's hard pretzels, and a stack of Sunday papers, and after an hour we didn't feel too bad that it seems like the entire world is at the beach but us!

Hi Dumpling, I'm sure Rachel will answer this, but it looks like she has enough to do with adding and updating the lists... our traditional e-gullet policy is to bring your own alcoholic libations, with enough to share. I assume people who are bringing kids will bring sodas and such for them..a few cases of bottled water might be a good idea...but the blueberry pie sounds even better!

It was hugely entertaining..the commentary was so bad, that it became good, if you know what I mean. Wow, that Todd English is a handsome fella...Kerry is more cute than handsome. They focus more on personalities than the food..."what is that! What is that strange piece of equipment there??!! What is Kerry Simon making???" "Ah, I think you'll find that it's an Icecream maker, Jim! I think he might be making an ice cream of some kind! "

Why? Wouldn't this larger bottling quantity affect the carbonation?

What is that funky taste in a Molson? IT tastes malted or something to me. I like Yuengling, and what's that Mexican dark ale..Negro something? I like Pete's summer, with "grains of paradise", too. But mostly I'll have a Corona if its really hot..I 'll stick with my Bass ale through mid June, then switch back mid September.

Right of passage, of sorts, for teenage boys and their dads.

Rachel, please add a guest to my name...also, I have 3 e-z up tents that I can bring if the weather is iffy. I will be away for the two days preceeding this event, so I will bring a dessert. Purchased... something pretty from my friend Pierre at Wegman's . I know this is not in the spirit of the event, but its the best I'll be able to do.

Searing. Thanks to Alton Brown. I am the Roast Beast queen of NJ. Microplanes. Coarse and fine. Thanks to a reference in Cooks Magazine. I'm addicted to zest and cheese and chocolate shavings. Rice Vinegar. Thanks to Jinmyo. and Torakris. I jsut never thought of it often enough before, now I do all the time. Ethnic markets for ingredients. Thanks to the NJ Board. It's cheap to buy most stuff, even if you mess it up the first time around. If you go often enough, they answer your questions and then some. After you experiment, you can buy the top of the line ingredients at Wegman's. Wegman's market. Inspiring. You walk around there, and you just want to CREATE.

I always wear an apron whil cooking...I have some very pretty heavy weight ones with differnt patterns and such, but I prefer the thin, soft commercial white ones I have that are over 15 years old...though I recently bought an Iron chef one from FN that is a comversation starter. K.

I thought that we had some sort of unspoken/unwritten ban of the above named establishment for at least six months... Tommy - I couldn't agree with you more on this post...there is nothing that I can put my finger on as to what makes this place appealing(other than as mentioned the elaborate wine list), but it seems to indeed stimulate me enough to return...I myself have been there for dinner probably 3 or 4 times in the past several years normally before an event at the Meadowlands...and I'm sure there will be more visits to come... I love it when the NJ bad boys start getting in touch with their feelings and stuff...

Or, watching the young employees at the Crab Claw explain to the "captains" that they can't dock without a reservation, and pointing them to the Town Dock...and having the Captains wheedle and whine and threaten, they curse and storm off...happened three times in the two hours we were there.

What are the commonly accepted pros and cons of boiling vs. steaming? Seems like its a real point of contention between folks in the ChesBay area.

Understatement of the year...it was awful! But we had extenuating circumstances that obligated us to eat there...Bistro was much more fun. Crab Claw was great..although I am in the BOILED crab camp over the steamed...which is apparantly a major CHesBay conflict. Thanks all for the recs, and comments.

I was just there this past weekend. Lovely. But skip the food at the Inn at Perry Cabin...even the breakfast was bad. The Crab Claw was great...get there early on the weekends, by noon the outdoor deck had a wait. We chose the Bistro for our second dinner...predictible but well done and great service.