Not Too Late to Plan a Special Home Graduation Party

Chef Ziegenfuss has all kinds of ideas for the home planner.

ByCassidy Cleveland

Graduations all happening all over the area. Ceremonies are being staged to honor everybody from Kindergartners to college grads. A family can celebrate this special occasion  by dining out, or host a special at-home gala. Chef Greg Ziegenfuss of the Butler’s Pantry dishes out advise on how to make your event complete and a success for everyone.

Chef Greg Ziegenfuss: Executive Chef Butler’s Pantry on how to plan the perfect graduation party

Patch: How do you start preparing for a high school graduation party?

Ziegenfuss: You need to take into account how many people will be at the party, and what the graduate’s preferences are. Everyone will be mingling, so we’re always mindful of preparing things that can be eaten in one hand. Dishes such as chili, pasta salad, bourbon barbeque chicken fingers and kabobs are always popular.

Patch: How many days in advance do you start preparing for a graduation party?

Ziegenfuss: It’s like any catering affair. We start planning the menu a few weeks ahead of time and we’ll generally do some of the prep work a day or two in advance.

Patch: What type of budget do you recommend for a graduation party?

Ziegenfuss: Generally, you can plan a nice graduation buffet for $25 per person. That will give you a good selection of hot appetizers, cold cuts, a selection of sides, and an array of desserts. We’ll customize a dessert tray to the graduate’s liking. And, for the graduate, you can’t forget about the congratulatory cake!

Patch: Do you have a signature graduation buffet selection?

Ziegenfuss: I love setting up a quesadilla station. We can make this as detailed as you want with different types of cheese, chopped peppers, jalapenos, different proteins, a variety or tortillas, chips and dip. Adults and students have fun with this station.

Patch: Do you decorate the buffet table?

Ziegenfuss: We have a fantastic visual designer. Brian Blasingame will customize any floral arrangements to add a pop of color to your table. He’ll make sure the flowers correlate with your child’s school colors.

Patch: What else should we know about Butler’s Pantry catering?

Ziegenfuss: It’s important to know that we set up everything and clean up everything! You don’t have to lift a finger. Graduation is a busy day. The last thing you want to think about is feeding hundreds of people and making sure you remember the forks. We’ll do it all for you. We’ll bring the food, utensils and clean it all up when we’re done.

For more information, or to book Butler’s Pantry for your upcoming graduation party, visit their website or call 314-664-7680.

Related Topics:Butler’s Pantry, Chef Ziegenfuss, and Graduation

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Chef Greg will be on Show Me St. Louis Friday, May 25th at the 12 o’clock hour. He’ll be offering advice on how to plan the perfect graduation party. Don’t miss it!

Chef Greg Ziegenfuss, Executive Chef at Butler’s Pantry, and Brian Blasingame, Director of Visual Design at Butler’s Pantry, will be appearing on KPLR on Wednesday, May 9th at noon. Greg will be cooking delicious Mother’s Day brunch recipes and Brian will be demonstrating how to embellish the typical Mother’s Day bouquet. Be sure to tune in and get inspired for Mother’s Day this coming Sunday!

Brian Blasingame, the Rebel Florist, has this advice for those of you struggling to come up with the perfect Mother’s Day idea:

“Show the stylish mother in your life that you are in-the-know about what is in style from trendy flower design styles to popular types of flowers and color combinations.

• Popular flower varieties for Mother’s Day gift bouquets include classic types such as calla lilies, roses, hydrangea, lilies & gerbera daisies as well as multiple types of cut orchids which grow in popularity each year and last a really long time.
• Monochromatic flower arrangements are tres chic and always a good bet; pick her favorite color and give her a bouquet composed of a mix of flowers in that hue. Also popular are classic, soft, feminine tones such as blush tones of pink, ivory & cream. Spice that combination up with a dash of a stronger or hotter complimentary color like a darker red or a deep purple.
• Design styles that are fashionable include arrangements composed with flowers arranged in clustered grouping which in a mixed bouquet lend emphasis to each variety it includes. Also popular, style-wise, are arrangements composed of one flower variety en masse. Her favorite flower can be celebrated in that kind of mono-flower type design.

Personalization isn’t just for flowers; do something that suits her interests. If she is a gardener the kids can paint a new watering can so each time she is out in the garden she will be reminded of their love. Or if she is an avid biker, a new helmet that is covered in the art of her children will be worn as a badge of love and long enjoyed beyond its practical use. She will be the only one with one like it in all the world – just like her.

Mother’s Day isn’t the only day to show your love & appreciation. Give your mother an arrangement or plant of the month so that she will know you are thinking of her throughout the year. Each month your thoughtful gift will arrive and be a constant reminder of how much you appreciate her being in your life.

Blooming plants are a great gift for Mother’s Day. For example potted Hydrangeas, Azaleas, Kalanchoe & even blooming orchid plants make a lovely gift that last a long time as they continued to bloom.

Vases personalized by the kids can be a forever keepsake. One way to make them last is take that artwork first to the local copy making business and have them laminate it for you. Many tall cylinder vases can be perfectly wrapped with a laminated piece of art about the size of a placemat. After the flowers have run their natural course she can hang it up or use it on a kitchen table or elsewhere around the house.

This same idea can become a tradition. Just like an add-a-pearl necklace, a gift like this can be started when the kids are young and continued again with a fresh design each year so that she has years of memories to enjoy when the kids grow up and leave the roost.

Vases themselves can be easily trimmed and embellished in other ways. A plain, clear glass vase can be dressed up by using nail polish as an alternative to paint to draw on flowers or other fun shapes and forms. The way it dries on glass leaves an embossed character to their image or design.

Here at Butler’s Pantry we take pride in our commitment to maintaining the highest standards, especially when it comes to training our employees in alcohol awareness and food safety. 58 of our employees are TIPS CERTIFIED and 42 are ServSafe Certified. Both of these programs are dedicated to providing the most comprehensive training in their respective field and we are proud to have so many of our employees trained under their certification.

“TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) is a dynamic, skills-based training program designed to prevent intoxication, drunk driving and underage drinking by enhancing the fundamental “people skills” of servers, sellers and consumers of alcohol. TIPS gives individuals the knowledge and confidence they need to recognize potential alcohol-related problems and intervene to prevent alcohol-related tragedies.”

“Sanitation
Managers will learn the dangers of foodborne illness, how to prevent it and the keys to food safety. They’ll see where contamination starts, the components for good personal hygiene, and how every employee can be a safe food handler.

The Flow of Food Through the Operation
Managers will discover how to prevent cross-contamination, and how to utilize time and temperature control effectively. They’ll get the inside story on safe receiving, food storage, preparation and serving, and cooling and reheating. They’ll also learn how taking active managerial control of critical foodborne illness risk factors makes all the difference for a safe operation.

Sanitary Facilities and Pest Management
Managers will cover all aspects of cleaning and sanitation in a practical, applicable manner. They’ll also learn about pest management, and how to keep pests out of the operation .

Finally, your managers will cover the way to keep employee training ongoing, to keep food safety working in every location.”

Read below to hear what Brian Blasingame, our Visual Designer at Butler’s Pantry, had to say about planning a spring wedding in this article from Ladue News.

By Laura Graesser Ladue News; March 15, 2012

The visual aesthetics of a wedding are important for creating a memorable atmosphere on a bride and groom’s big day. We asked Brian Blasingame, director of visual design for Butler’s Pantry, to share some popular trends that couples can incorporate into their spring or summer weddings.

BOUQUETS

CENTERPIECES

• The container for a centerpiece is not just a vessel to hold flowers, but an opportunity to extend the design. Choose containers carefully to help further define the visual characteristics of the arrangement. If you’re going for a chic, romantic garden design, you might use mirror-lined or leaf-lined cylinders on the tables.
• Brides like the collection style— using several different components for the table, instead of one. For example, you can use different bottles, vases and mason jars, each holding just a few flowers. Each individual container may look simple on its own, but the overall impact is achieved when you gather them together.
• You also can do centerpiece collections that are more sleek and streamlined, using three containers of different heights, each with one flower type. You can mix that look up for each table, creating variety while keeping cohesion across the whole look.

LIGHTING

• Personalization throughout the entire wedding is very important now, even down to the lighting, because it gives the bride and groom a chance to express themselves, both individually and as a couple. For example, if they love nature, they may choose a lighting effect that spreads the illusion of branches across the ceiling or walls of the venue.
• Candlelight is a key factor, whether it’s an indoor or outdoor reception. Put a collection of hurricanes on some of the table centerpieces for a romantic glow. Use hundreds of votives to line the walkways for outdoor receptions. Arrange tealights on the ledges of windows in a loft space. Fill the fireplace and mantle in a farmhouse with lots of pillar candles.

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Come to the Flower Power Lunch on May 10th at 11:00am at the Piper Palm House in Tower Grove Park and see P. Allen Smith! Click here for ticket information.

P. Allen Smith is an award-winning designer and lifestyle expert. He is the host of two public television programs, P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home, P. Allen Smith’s Garden to Table and the syndicated 30-minute show P. Allen Smith Gardens.

Smith is one of America’s most recognized and respected design experts, providing ideas and inspiration through multiple media venues. He is the author of the best-selling Garden Home series of books published by Clarkson Potter/Random House, including Bringing the Garden Indoors: Container, Crafts and Bouquets for Every Room and the recently published cookbook, P. Allen Smith’s Seasonal Recipes from the Garden inspired by the abundance of food from his farm and a family of great cooks.

Whether you’re hiring a caterer for a board luncheon or a gala, you want the food and service to make the right impression.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation events might be large affairs or more intimate parties. Kris Marino, senior foundation and donor events coordinator for the foundation, said one way to find caterers is through local professional meeting planning groups or through referrals from others. “If someone has had a marvelous experience with a caterer, I’d like to try them,” she said.

In addition to great food, creativity, especially in presentation, is what stands out. “When a caterer can bring a little pizazz, it’s a winner,” she said. If you have a theme in mind, ask the caterer to come up with a menu around that. “Sometimes you want something safe you know people will enjoy. Other times you want to be wowed. A good caterer should be able to follow your direction,” she said.

If you’re considering two or three caterers, ask for personalized tastings to help you gauge “what the food looks like, the presentation and general style of each caterer,” she said. “Go with your gut and taste everything.”

As executive assistant to the president of Hortica Insurance & Employee Benefits in Edwardsville, Jean Hughes oversees arrangements for quarterly board meetings as well as company-hosted chamber or industry functions.

Establish relationships with a select group of caterers “so they know what you’re expecting and can produce that,” she said. “We like things done nicely, but obviously we’re looking for value.”…

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Food-drink pairings add flair to parties

by Karen Deer

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