Pink Room Catering News

Green Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Soooo this past friday my company Pink Room Catering had an order for a graduation party right in Park Slope. We did the entire food order excluding desserts. The menu consisted of mainly caribbean fare outside of the veggie tarts. I am happy to report that the food received rave reviews and nothing was left over. As a caterer just hearing that your food was gobbled up because it was great is the most satisfying thing ever. I was in iron chef mode trying to get everything out on time but I managed to snap a few pics from the order. 

BBQ Chicken with Bajan Fish Cakes

Veggie Tarts

Baked Macaroni Pie

Mixed Beans

I hope this didn't make you salivate too hard and don't forget if your in the New York City area and looking for exceptional catering service to contact us here in the Pink Room at pinkroomcatering@gmail.com. 

Party Cakes by Pink Room Catering

I mentioned before in a previous post that I do cater for persons in the NYC area. My company Pink Room Catering is small scale but our food is second to none. We do Caribbean Fusion Cuisine along with special occasion cakes and cupcakes. Every dish we make uses the freshest ingredients possible and is made with lots of love! If you would like to contact us for an order you can reach us at pinkroomcatering@gmail.com. Here is a cake we did for a surprise birthday dinner, it was red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and decorated with hand drawn chocolate stars. I really enjoyed making this cake and was overjoyed to hear that it received rave reviews from the guest at the dinner.
Here it is one more time:

I wish I could eat the whole thing!

Food Photography and Weekday Lasagna

I really love that food photography amongst the foodie blogs are up there with the likes of fashion photography(at least in my head).  Most of the blogs I follow post amazingly tempting photos of the dishes that they prepare and even if its something that I don't eat..the photo alone opens my appetite. The photos on these blogs are usually taken with a DSLR camera and other high tech equipment that I simply cannot afford right now. I always loved photography but an expensive camera isn't in view for me right now unless Aladdin and his genie makes a pit stop at my house. I have already scoped out a camera that I think would be well suited for me(the Nikon D3100) and hope to be able to buy it sometime this year and take a photography class just to get my feet wet with professional photography...Until then its just my old canon point and shoot or my cellphone camera. I try my best to make the most of it by taking photos in natural light and using some background props and so far the response has been great so I guess I'm doing something right. So I'm hoping my readers will bear with me until the upgrade happens.
Thanks so much..you all are a swell bunch :)

Hey hey hey, that doesn't mean I wont leave you without a recipe today. The catch is that It has no photo but that doesn't mean its anything less than delicious. The recipe is for a quick yummy no meat lasagna. I don't really make lasagna but I wanted to experiment by using some marscapone cheese that was getting ready to expire soon. Marscapone in appearance is similar to cream cheese but in taste its like cream cheeses cousin that lives in the Hampton's and flies by private jet. Marcapone should be available in the specialty section of your dairy isle but I bought mine from my local Trader Joe's.
When it comes to lasagna I'm use to my sisters richer version of spinach lasagna that is so rich it gives you "the itis." I wanted something lighter and quicker for everyday and this recipe hit the spot. It had great texture and taste...my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I hope you all decide to try it out..its superb!

Weekday Lasagna

half pack or 16 noodles of lasagna, boiled

32oz(1 1/2 bottles) marinara pasta sauce

16oz ricotta cheese

8oz marscapone cheese

16oz mozzarella cheese, grated

-  Spray a rectangular casserole dish( I used 14x9) with cooking spray and put a light layer of pasta sauce on the bottom. Also bring oven to 380 degrees.

- In medium bowl mix mozzarella with marscapone cheese, the mix will be clumpy its fine.

- Layer casserole dish with four pasta noodles and spread a layer of ricotta over them. Scatter the several clumps of the mozzarella cheese on top and then finish with a layer of pasta sauce. Repeat this step two more times.

- For the last layer of noodles just remaining pasta sauce and cheese mixture on top. If you have grated Parmesan on hand that can also be spread on top.

- Place lasagna in oven and bake until browned on top about 30 minutes.

When one chapter closes...

http://www.alloutbangalore.com/

I have finally finished my journey towards my Bachelors in Hospitality, and it wasn't an entirely happy one to be honest. Many times I wanted to quit, other times I wanted to switch majors, and especially now with the economic state of not only the country but my city I wished I did something that would have proved more profitable to me instantly. On the other side of my brain I do love to bake and cook but not so much for a restaurant because cooking under pressure takes away all the fun for me. I hate the repetitiveness of cooking for a restaurant also but I can definitely do it if it will bring home the bacon. With 2010 coming to a close and my degree in hand I started thinking about the next chapter of my life and what I should be doing. Ideally I would love to play lotto and be a couple millions richer so I could open my guesthouses in the Caribbean but since that is far fetched I need a plan B. I do love to bake and make sweet things so I have been devising a plan for a confections business in the new year. I took  restaurant management class this past semester that taught me the basics that I need to get the business going but I need to figure out my concept first. I have already began to think this out wholeheartedly and ask advice from some of my friends considering similar ventures. Along with the prospects of being an entrepreneur I have a list of goals for 2011 such as:

1 -  Finishing my Driving Lessons

2 - Getting my NYS Food Handlers Certificate

3 -  Learning to sew

4 -  Continue working out at the gym 

5 - Clear old debts

6 - Move out

7 - Become a better gardener and overall crafty person

I will work my hardest to achieve all of these by the end of 2011 and even some other things. I truly believe life is about steady progression so I will strive to achieve these goals in the oncoming chapter so that I can reach my happily ever after that much sooner.

Change of plans

Some brown rice, whole grain quinoa, and organic tortillas from whole foods.

Everyone that knows me knows that I am a long time foodie. I've had a passionate love affair with food as long as I can remember. My mom tells me I learned to read at the age of 3 and ventured into cooking soon after. I climbed on my step stool and cooked until I was tall enough to reach the stove, baked cakes for Christmas when I was 7, and made spaghetti bolognese that I still reminisce about even though I don't eat beef. When I cook I sing and it makes me happy, when I'm sad I cook to lift my spirits, when I'm happy I eat, and when I'm sad I eat. I take pleasure in reading my favorite food publications and websites to keep abreast of trends and openings and when money is flowing I take even greater pleasure in sitting down to a good meal at a great restaurant. So now that I have poured out my food lovin' soul to you, I have to confess that I cannot continue in my hungry hungry hippo ways of devouring all goodies in sight. Its not good for me and my waistline and I have a gym regimen to keep up with so too many extra calories are not gonna be conducive to the plan. With that said I have constantly been trying to keep bad food out of my diet ( minus all the sinfully good things I make at home :) and have gradually switched from conventional milk to organic, cage free/organic eggs, wild caught fish when I can afford it, and overall just switching out conventional grocery items in my home for all natural or organic when I can. In an effort to lose some more weight for an upcoming trip to Trinidad W.I for carnival I am considering going partial vegan and gluten free and upping my workout regimen when I can. I do have my doubt about this whole plan that's why it hasn't happen as yet...for instance is this food going to be as yummy as what I'm used to is my main concern for this discerning palette of mine. I have done my research and started going through the vegan and gluten free cooking blogs and have started buying ingredients to try out. I hope this wont be too much of a challenge for me and as I try recipes I will keep you all updated on my successes and failures. Hopefully it wont be too much of the latter.

Restaurant Management

This post is aside from my regular recipe post but as time goes on you will see see a larger variety of post coming from me. Currently I am on the road to graduation and I am feeling like a combustible ball of excitement and fear about what the future holds. I would like to do so many things but most importantly I would like my career to involve food writing and traveling. My dream has also been  to have a brick and mortar place of my own. Since I was a kid family and friends that tried my baked goods have always told me to open a place of my own and that it will be flooded with people, but anyone in the industry knows that opening a business is not as easy as 1,2,3. Most new restaurant fail within the first few years so proper research is definitely needed before any contracts are signed. I don't have any mentors currently and I really need to take the initiative to look for a few so I can have someone in the industry to guide me along this journey. Fast forward to today which was the first day of my restaurant management class. So far I think it will be the most beneficial class of my semester. The ultimate goal of the class is to make an official business plan for your business. This really came like a blessing in disguise and I cannot wait to learn all the strategies and tips a new business owner would need to have a successful restaurant/bakery/lounge/etc.