Colorful, festive, and filled with imaginative ideas, this superb Christmas cookbook features cakes, cookies, and other holiday favorites, plus full-course menus, great gift ideas, and much more. Full color photographs and B & W illustrations throughout

Provides practical advice for beginning a catering business, discussing such details as planning menus, meeting schedules, and marketing a catering service, and offers menu suggestions and recipes

During almost two decades of catering everything from the Academy Awards to a fete for Queen Elizabeth to an intimate dinner for Julia Child to a “Roller-Disco” Bat Mitzvah, Nicole Aloni has learned more than a few tricks-of-the-trade. And whether you’re planning your umpteenth dinner for twelve, or you’ve only just figured out that there’s a kitchen in your apartment, Secrets From a Caterer’s Kitchen is the manual on entertaining. This comprehensive, accessible and easy-to-use book offers insider tips and guidance about: Menu preparation for both large and small gatherings Finding special locations for events Decorating advice for “theme” festivities Creating invitations Maintaining a budget Over 125 tried-and-true party recipes Whether it’s a candlelight dinner, a kid’s birthday party, or a holiday extravaganza, you can put on a show like a pro—and keep your guests guessing—with Secrets from a Caterer’s Kitchen!

In this invaluable reference, The Culinary Institute of America provides all the information that caterers and would-be caterers need to set up and run a successful catering business of any kind. From launching the business, establishing pricing, setting up a kitchen, staffing, and marketing to planning events, organizing service, preparing food, managing the dining room and beverages, and developing menus, it provides detailed guidance on every aspect of the catering business, showing operators how to troubleshoot and creatively solve problems. Illustrated throughout with 50 photographs and 30 black-and-white illustrations, Catering is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to succeed in this highly competitive field.

Matt Lee and Ted Lee take on the competitive, wild world of high-end catering, exposing the secrets of a food business few home cooks or restaurant chefs ever experience. Hotbox reveals the real-life drama behind cavernous event spaces and soaring white tents, where cooking conditions have more in common with a mobile army hospital than a restaurant. Known for their modern take on Southern cooking, the Lee brothers steeped themselves in the catering business for four years, learning the culture from the inside-out. It’s a realm where you find eccentric characters, working in extreme conditions, who must produce magical events and instantly adapt when, for instance, the host’s toast runs a half-hour too long, a hail storm erupts, or a rolling rack of hundreds of ice cream desserts goes wheels-up. Whether they’re dashing through black-tie fundraisers, celebrity-spotting at a Hamptons cookout, or following a silverware crew at 3:00 a.m. in a warehouse in New Jersey, the Lee brothers guide you on a romp from the inner circle—the elite team of chefs using little more than their wits and Sterno to turn out lamb shanks for eight hundred—to the outer reaches of the industries that facilitate the most dazzling galas. You’ll never attend a party—or entertain on your own—in the same way after reading this book.

Create, manage, and grow a successful foodservice operation in any cultural institution The Complete Guide to Foodservice in Cultural Institutions provides insight, strategies, and information needed to run an appealing, efficient, and profitable foodservice operation that lives up to the commitment, standards, and quality expectations of any cultural institution. It is a unique and invaluable resource for administrators charged with ensuring the quality, profitability, and safety of foodservice operations in any cultural institution. A series of case studies recounts the problems and shortcomings encountered by a number of cultural institutions' foodservice programs. These studies demonstrate how to achieve improved financial performance, management efficiencies, visitor satisfaction, and integration with each institution's mission and culture. Through presentation of these case studies, this comprehensive guide shows administrators at museums, zoos, and other cultural institutions how to: * Use catered special events to encourage membership and sponsorship * Develop and market a private special events program * Create a restaurant that enhances the visitor experience * Evaluate and assess in-house restaurants and special events programs * Renovate or expand an existing foodservice operation * Ensure food quality and safety