Whether you are rewarding employees for exceeding expectations or launching a new product or simply telling customers “thank you,” food that looks good and tastes even better can play a critical role.

Food Matters.

Salads for everyone! This coporate event catered by Serendipity featured an elaborate salad bar as a "thank you" to employees.

Think about the last great meal you had. Where was it? Who did you dine with?

What impression did you leave with? Now think about the last average meal you consumed. Do you remember much about it? Probably not.

Corporate customers often tell Serendipity they want to make an impression at their event. Serendipity can create custom menus that help drive the message home. For example, a graphic design company trying to land a big account may choose to serve the prospective client a colorful salad with edible flowers to help convey its creativity. A software company trying to establish itself as a global company may choose a menu inspired by world travels.

Looking for a more personal way to thank a customer? Send lunch to the customer’s office.

Rewarding and motivating employees can also play a role in business success. How about an ice cream social to reward hitting a big deadline? Consider a monthly birthday lunch to honor employees as they turn a year older. Employment milestones are also a nice celebration – cupcakes for five years of service, appetizers for 10, lunch for 15 and a full-blown dinner celebration for 20 years.

Touting your company’s anniversary or a new building or project is a great way to send a message of endurance, stability and success to your customers. Host an open house for your employees and customers and let Serendipity create a menu that will leave a lasting impression. Consider also providing a bar and topping the evening off with a cake shaped like your company logo.

What to expect

Serendipity can put together an ice cream social like you've never seen! This is a great way to thank customers or employees.

When you hire Serendipity to help create your corporate event, you can expect service and follow-through.

A service consultant will help you choose a menu appropriate for your event. Every detail will be decided from food, to the color of table linens to the number of servers needed to ensure the occasion runs smoothly. Serendipity will coordinate with vendors for rental items and the purchase of alcohol, if you prefer.

An event coordinator and/or catering captain will be assigned and will ensure the set-up, delivery, execution and clean-up of the event is flawless. All servers working at your event will provide you and your guests exceptional service.

From start to finish, working with Serendipity will allow you to create a corporate event that guests will talk about long after the party is over. It will also allow you to enjoy the event and leave the work to our professionally trained staff.

Serendipity knows that great food is the key to a great event!

One of Serendipity’s service consultants, Suzie Loya, said Serendipity is getting a lot of requests for luaus. Suzie and Serendipity’s executive chef put together this menu for one of their June brides.

Arugula Salad with Fresh Vegetables and Edible Flowers
Served with Housemade Citrus Vinaigrette

Sesame Cabbage Salad
Polynesian Inspired Salad topped with Black Sesame Seeds

Kalua Pig
Slow Roasted Pork Butt Shredded and Sprinkled with Hawaiian Salt

Huli Huli Chicken
Chicken Thighs and Breasts Marinated in a Pineapple-Soy Sauce accented with Fresh Ginger

Sweet Potato Puree
Sweet Potatoes combined with Brown Sugar and Island Spices – a Client Favorite!

Macadamia Nut and Toasted Coconut Rice Pilaf

Coconut Cream Mini Pies & Passion Fruit Tartlets

Now if that doesn’t have your mouth watering… Colorado brides seem to be in the know, since honeymoon destination inspired food is popular, especially Caribbean and other island cuisine, according to WeddingChannel.com.

Brides.com highlights organic menus, or menus featuring locally grown food, as being popular with brides. Serendipity, a leader in green event planning in Denver, helps brides with this option by offering locally raised grass-fed buffalo, locally-grown vegetables and internationally inspired dishes made from Colorado ingredients. (Serendipity can go above and beyond the food to ensure your event is green, but those details are for another blog!)

Brides: Complete Menu Ideas

Serendipity: Green Catering

Buffets are still popular among Serendipity brides. Buffets can be very creative and provide a lot of options for guests. However, plated dinners are being requested more this year. One of Serendipity’s popular plated meals includes buffalo tenderloin medallion on a Colorado cabernet reduction and Colorado trout mousse in puff pastry.

Another popular option is a family-style dinner. Theknot.com listed family-style meals among its Top 10 wedding catering trends. Family style not just for Italian food and this type of service allows the food to be the focal point of your tables.

theknot.com: Wedding Catering: Top 10 Catering Trends

Serendipity senior wedding coordinator, Shauna Anderson, said another trend more Serendipity brides are embracing includes a light cocktail hour before the ceremony. For example, guests are greeted by servers with silver trays of spiked strawberry lemonade and a small nibble prior to the ceremony.

If you feed the guests before the ceremony, why not consider a late-night snack, too? Theknot.com said late-night snacks also made the Top 10. Around 10 p.m., when dinner is long gone and cake has been cleared, consider serving something as simple as popcorn or as satisfying as a slider.

The most important trend a bride can adapt is to make her wedding her own! There are hundreds of options when it comes to catering and Serendipity relishes creating custom menus that reflect the bride and groom and help make their celebration one that will be remembered.

Are they real?

Named for Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, aphrodisiacs are substances — including food or drink — that are believed to have the effect of increasing sexual desire.

Although required biologically, food also served a psychological purpose. For centuries it has been debated whether aphrodisiac abilities really exist or whether they are all in our mind.

A Psychology Today article by Dr. Frank Lawlis calls upon modern science to determine that aphrodisiacs may be more truth than myth. Lawlis says biological benefits of many foods, contribute to sexual pleasure.

Oysters are arguably the most popular aphrodisiacs.

Foods considered aphrodisiacs

Many foods are considered aphrodisiacs. Eat Something Sexy provides readers with an alphabetical guide to aphrodisiac foods.

Eat Something Sexy

Some on the list, like apples, bananas, coffee, tomatoes and watermelon seem ordinary, nothing sexy about them. But many foods like oysters, conch, sea urchin and shark sound more exotic, but share the similar benefits as their more basic counterparts – they have nutrients and benefits that may contribute to increased sexual desire.

For example, oysters — perhaps the most famous aphrodisiac — are high in zinc and omega-3 fatty acids. Zinc increases sperm count while the omega-3s improve nervous system function. Both benefits contribute to increased sexual desire.

The apple’s high pectin content delivers a steady amount of energy need to you through vigorous activity, unlike sugar that creates a quick burst of energy followed by a letdown.

In 2008, researchers at Texas A&M discovered that watermelon contains citrulline, a nutrient that has the power to relax blood vessels, similar to Viagra does. It isn’t clear how much watermelon you have to consume to benefit from the properties, but the studies continue.

CBS News: Is Watermelon A Natural Viagra?

Asparagus and avocados help produce hormones like testosterone, estrogen and progesterone. Bananas, high in potassium, help build muscle strength. Red wine contains an antioxidant that increases blood flow, when consumed in moderation. Soy and papaya are estrogenic and act as the female hormone estrogen.

Recipes

When you plan your Valentine’s Day menu, consider using some of these savory recipes to help ensure your evening is a romantic one.

Gaiam Life: 3 (Healthy) Aphrodisiac Recipes

Epicruious: Aphrodisiacs to Sweeten Your Valentine’s Day

History

Historians estimate chocolate has been around for at least 2,000 years. While the word “sweet” some to mind, early chocolate was a bitter tasting drink that came from the cocoa beans. Mayans and Aztecs believed the cocoa beans had magical and even divine properties. Latin America valued the cocoa beans so much, they were used as currency for years.

Mouth-watering sweet chocolate didn’t surface until the Europeans discovered the Americas, according to Smithsonian.com. The Aztecs served the bitter drink to European explorers who added honey and sugar cane to make it more palatable. The new concoction quickly became popular in Spain and eventually Europe.

Today, more than 40 million people worldwide depend on cocoa and chocolate industry for their livelihoods, according to the World Cocoa Foundation. The demand for cocoa has increased 3 percent for the past 100 years with an annual global market value of $5.1 billion.

Main Dish Recipes

Although primarily used in desserts and beverages, chocolate can add interesting flavor to all kinds of dishes. Chorizo and Dominican chocolate tapas, chocolate oysters with ginger and green apple, and seared pork tenderloin with cocoa spice rub are just a few of the interesting chocolate combinations Serendipity found.

Chocolate Main Dish Recipes

Recipes from Vosges Chocolate

Dessert Recipes

Chocolate dipped strawberries by Serendipitiy

Chocolate for dessert is an all-time favorite. From basic chocolate cake and brownies to fried chocolate bread, chocolate bark and cocoa waffles, there are hundreds of ways to get your chocolate dessert fix!

Country Living: Chocolate Dessert Recipes

Gourmet: Valentine’s Day Chocolate Recipes

Drink Recipes

Hot, cold, spiked or fruity you can drink your daily does of chocolate! Try chilled hot chocolate, chocolate cream liqueur or a chocolate martini.

Allrecipes: Chocolate Drinks

Mixocology Guide: Cocoa Drinks

Wine and Chocolate Pairings

The flavor of chocolate depends on where the cocoa beans were grown, similar how the taste of wine in influenced by the grape. It is only natural that the two can go together.

Allchocolate.com suggests pairing dark, bittersweet and semisweet chocolate with Zinfandel, Syrah, Tawny Port, Armagnac and Cognac. Milk chocolate goes best with Merlot, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and dessert wines.

Allchocolate: Wine and Chocolate Pairings

Serendipity can sweeten up your next celebration by putting a little chocolate on the menu. Call a service consultant today.

There are hundreds of ways to plan a wedding that minimizes waste, reduces the typical carbon footprint of a wedding and recycles food, clothing and decorations. The trick is finding that caterer, venue and event planner that has experience and expertise in the area of sustainability and eco-issues.

Venue

This venue, exclusive to Serendipity, has ample space for the wedding and reception. It also lends itself to a shuttle service.

Choose one location to hold both the ceremony and the reception, reducing the amount of travel for the bridal party and guests. If that isn’t possible, provide a shuttle service and eliminate the number of vehicles on the road between venues. Try to select a venue that is centrally located for your guests. All of these ideas will reduce emissions created by your special day.

If hotel rooms are needed for your guests, reserve rooms at a facility that is committed to eco-friendly practices. Basic practices to look for include a linen reuse program, low-flow faucets, LED lights, guestroom recycling and use of recycled paper products, according to Global Stewards.

Global Stewards

Invitations

Save-the-dates, invitations, response cards, maps and thank-you notes can use quite a stash of paper. More and more couples are reducing the amount of paper by sending one paper correspondence and then referring guest to a website or event page for more details. Some choose to go entirely paperless. There are a lot of sophisticated e-vite sites that deliver beautiful electronic correspondence and manage responses and thank yous as well.

Greenvelope

Glosite

Paperless Wedding

Flowers

A bouquet from Plum Sage Flowers in Denver.

One of our floral partners, Erin Hornstein of Plum Sage Flowers in Denver, said most people think flowers are “green” no matter what. In reality, most flowers are grown in a tropical location, trucked to an airport, flown to the U.S., trucked to a wholesaler and trucked again to a local flower shop. That creates a huge carbon footprint. Plum Sage focuses on using locally grown flowers as much as possible. Erin also suggests using trees and plants that can be replanted for long-term use.

A tip a lot of brides don’t think about is asking the florist to use recycled vases and pots. Erin said most florists have these on hand for use and it can save money and reduce waste.

Green brides should also consider asking for flowers that haven’t been sprayed with pesticides and fungicides.

Plum Sage Flowers

Food

Select a caterer that is willing to use local ingredients as much as possible, to reduce the amount of emissions created by shipping foods. Serendipity, for example, works with several local farms for vegetables and meat. Green brides can make it easier for the caterer to choose locally by selecting in-season menu items.

Going beyond ingredients, as if the caterer composts food waste and recycles as much as possible. If they don’t, they may not be as “green” as you hoped. Brides can also ask the caterer to provide recycling and composting at the reception.

Serendipity Catering

Resources

These are just a few of the areas where brides can make green decisions. For more ideas, check out a few of these resources.

Eco-Beautiful Weddings

Recycled Bride

Green Bride Guide

Serendipity is Denver’s only caterer that has received the Certifiably Green Denver certification. Call a Serendipity event coordinator to help you plan the beautiful, green wedding of your dreams.

Host

Don’t be disappointed. It is not a statement about you or your cooking when a vegetarian passes on the meat. Being vegetarian is a lifestyle chosen for health, religious or ethical reasons. Honor your guests commitment to being vegetarian and don’t take is personally.

You can be proactive by asking new friends about their food preferences when an invitation is extended. This not only helps you identify vegetarians, but also any food allergies an invitee may have.

Once you are aware of a vegetarian guest, you don’t have to cancel you plans to serve meat. Just make sure to serve a couple of side dishes that are vegetarian. If you choose to eliminate meat from the menu, there are a lot of ways to use protein substitutes in your favorite recipes.

Allrecipes.com: Vegetarian Cuisine

Here are some quick and easy vegetarian recipes.

Cooking Light: Quick and Easy Vegetarian Recipes

Real Simple: 41 Easy Vegetarian Recipes

Pita bread with a variety of hummus is a great vegetarian option.

Vegetarian

Etiquette experts offer a variety of suggestions to vegetarians when it comes to accepting dinner invitations. A common thread is to let the host know you are vegetarian when you accept the invitation. It is suggested to take it one step further and offer to bring a vegetarian dish to the party, or make is clear you are happy eating side dishes. This takes the pressure off the host to try and prepare something special.

If you arrive at a party without the host knowing you are vegetarian, politely say “no thank you” to the meat but emphasize how delicious the rest of the meal is and a how much you enjoy the good company.

On the flip side

If you are a vegetarian planning a dinner party, let the guests know ahead of time they will be getting a tasty vegetarian meal. Just as you may suggest brining a vegetarian dish to a party, allow your guests to offer a meat dish as well.

Serendipity's Cherry Tomato Caprese Bites are great vegetarian-friendly appetizers.

Working with a caterer

Serendipity strives to accommodate all guests at your party, including vegetarians. When working with us, let us know in advance that you have vegetarian guests and we will ensure they are well fed.

Serendipity has a collection of savory vegetarian options that even meat lovers relish!

When in doubt

There are hundreds of resources available to answer vegetarian etiquette questions. Here are a few to check out. You can also consult with a Serendipity event coordinator. All of our coordinators are experienced with vegetarian menus and would be happy to help you plan your event.

Vegetarian Times: You Eat What?

The Kitchen: Vegetarian Etiquette

Denver Green Streets and Choose Outdoors are two organizations Serendipity will be working with in 2012.

Choose Outdoors, founded by Bruce Ward in 2008, is a nonprofit organization that brings together outdoor enthusiasts, advocacy groups and outdoor industry leaders to find a common voice. Bruce has contributed to the formation of a Senate caucus on outdoor recreation and is working on bark beetle issues in Colorado, to name just a handful of the projects Bruce and Choose Outdoors are committed to.

Most recently, Choose Outdoors is heading up the 2012 Capitol Christmas Tree. The U.S. capitol’s tree next year will come from the White River National Forest. While this sounds like a simple mission, Ward is envisioning it to be much more.

“It’s a month-long journey,” Ward said about the tree’s trip from Colorado to Washington, D.C. Choose Outdoors is envisioning outdoor activities and celebrations in each town along the route, a chance to promote common ground among outdoor enthusiasts.

Capitol Christmas Tree

Serendipity donated cupcakes that were distributed at a press conference held at REI shortly before Christmas to announce the 2012 tree will come from Colorado. Serendipity will also be providing snacks for a quarterly short-film series intended to promote discussion about outdoor policy and issues.

“It requires collective energy for success,” Ward said about working with companies like Serendipity.

Part of that collective energy and also on Serendipity’s radar for partnering this year, is Denver Green Streets.

“We are the voice for green in Colorado,” said Robbie Knight, managing editor for the online magazine. Almost 1 year old, Denver Green Streets features blogs about green topics, a listing of green businesses and any and all information you could want about living green in Colorado.

Knight said the website is taking cues from social media and features staff bloggers but also allows site visitors to post green news and events of their own.

Denver Green Streets will also be sponsoring several events in 2012. First up is the Posh Earth Event to help raise funds for solar lights in underserved countries. She said these are the type of lights that can hang outside to charge up during the day and be carried inside at night. Entertainment at these events will be provided in the dark, to give people “a sense of what people did after the lights went out,” Knight said.

Denver Green Streets

All of us at Serendipity are excited about the year ahead. From weddings for special couples, corporate events for the best companies in Denver, to birthday and anniversary celebrations, we are very fortunate to be able to share our love of great food with our clients, as well as show our support of eco-responsible causes.  Here’s to a great year!

Just a few Highlights from 2011

• Serendipity moved its kitchen to a new location in early February. The new location on Park Avenue West in Denver, features floor to ceiling windows and state-of-the-art culinary equipment.
• Eco-Beautiful Weddings and Serendipity formed a partnership. This partnership is part of Serendipity’s commitment to leading the catering industry in green practices. Eco-Beautiful Weddings is the first and only quarterly online magazine and daily blog dedicated to eco-friendly weddings.
  

  Guests take pictures of Miss Colorado at the Green Cube Show Home in Denver.

• Sponsoring the catering for the Balanced Energy Economy Series offered by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce was another natural fit in Serendipity’s green commitment.
• Gov. John Hickenlooper and Sec. of Interior Ken Salazar enjoyed Serendipity’s food at the grand opening of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Visitor Center in May.
• Serendipity turned 10 on June 28, 2011!
  

  Serendipity proudly displayed its Denver P2Partner certification at a luncheon at the Serendipity Kitchen.

• Stacy Simonet joined the Serendipity team as the public relations director.
• The Green Cube Show Home in Denver, featured on the DIY Network, was put on display and guests were treated to Serendipity’s food and service. I’m sure Miss Colorado enjoyed the savory food.
• Serendipity became the first catering company to earn certification under the Denver Pollution Prevention Partners program. In September, Serendipity celebrated the occasion by inviting guests to a lunch where the mayor’s office presented the certification to Laura Zaspel, Serendipity co-owner.
  

  Mayor Hancock enjoyed a Serendipity breakfast at the Denver Bike Sharing sponors' breakfast.

• Kraft Foods selected Laura as a member of the Kraft Foods Cultivar Community. Laura will share her expertise with other industry experts to help shape foods of the future.
• Serendipity was chosen as a preferred caterer for the Lone Tree Arts Center.
• Mission Tortillas has tapped into the Serendipity team of professional chefs to create recipes using the new line of Artisan Tortillas.
• Because of its green practices, Serendipity was chosen to cater the Denver Bike Sharing sponsor event. Mayor Hancock enjoyed the breakfast prepared by Serendipity.
• Serendipity donated cupcakes to the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Event held in Denver.  The sweet treats were handed out by Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in honor of the tree coming from Colorado.
  

  Boy Scouts hand out cupcakes at the U.S. Capitol Tree event in Denver.

The lights are dim as an early morning holiday breakfast awaits office workers in downtown Denver.

Planning for a beautiful holiday feast begins at the Serendipity kitchen on Park Avenue in Denver. A service consultant works with the client to plan a menu, table settings, decorations and coordinate third-party vendors (like live music, rented china and glassware, securing a venue) if necessary.

The service consultant then transitions the client over to a Serendipity event designer. The designer makes a visit to the venue to create a floor plan and ensure the space fits the vision. The designer creates an event worksheet, determines the number of staff needed for the event and communicates the menu to the executive chef.  The executive chef then communicates all the details of the menu preparation to his kitchen team, including our pastry chef partner Jene Alie of Anything But Vanilla.

Most of the food is prepared in the Serendipity kitchen and transported to the event in insulated boxes that ensure food it kept at the required temperature. Timing of staff arrival and food arrival are coordinated to provide the freshest, hottest food possible.

Bobbi labels insulated containers so the crew knows what dishes are inside.

While guests relax and enjoy the occasion, the Serendipity staff is hard at work behind the scenes keeping food hot, adding fresh ingredients to dishes, preparing replacement platters of various dishes and filling beverage containers, among other tasks. Imagine tackling this job in a vacant office, maybe a storage room or conference room that doubles as a catering staging area.

This is the challenge Serendipity conquers on a daily basis through planning, organization and experience. Planning for such a challenge in an art – it requires being prepared for any situation that may arise. From serving spoons to salt and pepper to skewers, every item must be packed and organized for easy access. Just like Santa, Serendipity makes a list and checks it twice for each catered event. Once the equipment is on site, it must be assembled into a make-shift kitchen, allowing staff to maneuver with efficiency.

Todd and Shauna prepare tapas in a storage room at a venue.

Many of the staging areas available don’t have running water. Catering teams have to haul containers up stairs and down long hallways to get the necessary water.

When the event is over, dirty dishes are gathered, the make-shift kitchen is packed up and linens are removed.  Very happy guests are the only proof the Serendipity team was there.
The Serendipity team thrives on this challenge and thanks all of its clients for choosing Serendipity.

Happy holidays!

Figgy Pudding (also known as Christmas pudding or plum pudding)

Made famous by the carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” this pudding, more like bread pudding, is British and dates back to Shakespeare’s time. This is known because the English Puritans banned it because of the high alcohol content! This cakelike treat is loaded with dried fruits, including figs, and has brandy, cognac or rum in the mix and often poured over the top.

Most figgy pudding recipes call for hours of steaming. Some contain exotic ingredients. However the base of the scrumptious dessert is somewhat like carrot cake loaded with dried fruits.

Good Housekeeping offers a simplified recipe for the traditional Christmas dessert.

Good Housekeeping: Figgy Pudding Recipe

Christmas Goose

The classic tale of “A Christmas Carol” featured a goose at the holiday table. “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” sings about the goose as well. Why goose?

The goose is popular in Europe, where they are served as part of a traditional holiday meal in many countries, according to Food Lover’s Companion. In olden days, the goose was very accessible and affordable so it adorned the table of the working class. The turkey was only for the European rich.

In the United States, because turkeys were abundant, they became the holiday bird of choice. However geese are available and graded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A Grade A goose is the best. Grade B is less meaty and Grade C is not typically available to consumers. Geese contain a lot of fat and taste best when roasted.

Here is a basic recipe for goose.

Simply Recipes: How to Roast a Goose

Fruit Cake

“The worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.” Those are the words of Johnny Carson, former host of the Tonight Show. The fruity dessert may not be featured in a carol, but it has a long history and is a holiday treat for many.

As far back as the Middle Ages, people cooked candied fruits into bread as a luxury for special occasions. In the 18^th century, fruitcake was outlawed in Europe for being “sinfully rich.”

For those of you haven’t dared take a bit, fruit cake consists of large chunks of fruit and nuts held together by a small amount of cake. A lot of sugar is used in preparing the dessert.

The Joy of Baking features a fruit cake recipe.

Joy of Baking: Fruit Cake

Sugarplums

We have visions of sugarplums dance through our heads during the holidays. But wait. What does a sugarplum look like? You may be surprised.

The true definition of sugarplum is a sweet, sugary treat made around a seed or kernel, according to “Sugar Plums: They are not What You Think They Are” in The Atlantic.

Using a process called panning, successive layers of sugar are poured over the seed and allowed to harden. This is the same process used to make Jawbreakers. This process is tedious and time consuming but can have a delicious outcome for those willing to try.

While this recipe uses plums, research indicates the sugarplums referred to in the famous poem, had not fruit in them whatsoever. They were called sugarplums because of their shape.

Historical Recipes: Sugared Plums Recipe

Let Serendipity help

Your visions may not include sugarplums, but instead savory food inspired from around the world. Let Serendipity create a menu just for you.