GRAZE - Catering Walla Walla

It Takes Time

2012-01-22T21:11:00.000-08:00

Lots of the dishes we make take time. Which requires a fair amount of planning... and a good deal of salt. Morton's Kosher Salt is our favorite. (have I mentioned that before?) Gravalax is one of our favorite things to make. A whole salmon filet, skin on, bones pulled, kosher salt and white sugar, crushed juniper berries, fresh dill sprigs, and thinly sliced lemon. The filets get flipped, and pressed with a weighted pan... two to three days later the cured salmon is ready to be thinly sliced.

We make our creme fraiche, that takes two days minimum, from buttermilk and heavy cream. The wafer thin crostinis we make from a day old baguette, that's another day. To serve we thinly slice red onion, get some capers, and tidy everything up for service.

All in all we work as much with the calendar as we do with cooking utensils.

Here is our prime rib. We use wet aged 21 day prime rib. Which means it has been in the cryovac bag for three weeks, as opposed to dry aging which is exposed to air. Three days prior to the party we trim it, tie it, salt and pepper it, herb it, garlic it... and then set it in the cooler. Three days of salt on a piece of meat works magic.

We put lots of time into our food, for both catered parties and the sandwich shop. Customers seem to notice the difference. (Now this customer may be exagerrating just a bit... but we will take the compliment cheerfully.)

Cheers

Dinner at Longshadows

2012-01-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

We do exactly one benefit dinner a year, and it is for the YWCA. Why the YWCA... well they asked a few years back and it has turned into a bit of a tradition. The last two years the Graze Catering Dinner at Longshadows has been the top money getter. And the same people who bought it last year, bought it again this year. We were pretty proud and flattered. (And super nervous... do you know how nerve rattling it is to cook dinner costing a couple of thousand dollars?)

You, gentle reader, didn't buy the package, but here is a tour of the dinner... bad phone camera shots and all. (I have been photo-ing food since this blog started, and I think I finally appreciate how incredibly hard it is to take really good food photos.)

First course. Pureed cauliflower soup, truffle salt, fried brussels sprout leaves, fried cauliflower leaves, and under the leaf business is a chunck of french triple cream cheese. It was pretty decadent. Served with the merlot blend Pedestal.

Second course. French lentils, creme fraiche and crispy duck confit (they are under the greens), celery seed, topped with a salad of celery leaves, radish, and italian parsley. Served with the Poet's Leap reisling.

Third course. A total gear switch. A bed of red wine beef ragu, topped with pasta and sauteed garlic and curly endive, extra virgin olive oil, shaved parmesan... and not pictured a crostini rubbed with garlic and smeared with a parsley picada. Paired with the Saggi.

Fourth course. A bed of millet (its under there somewhere), roast carrots rutabegas onions and brussels sprouts, leg of lamb, and lamb reduction sauce. Paired with the Sequel syrah.

We finished the meal off with cake from the patisserie and the super awesome dessert wine, Poet's Leap botrytus reisling.

Cheers

Seattle Wedding Show

2012-01-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Seattle People Who Want A Destination Wedding,
Walla Walla is a great choice. We have an airport, a really nice hotel, great event sites, lots of wineries, a top flight golf course, a few super duper restaurants, a cute downtown, pleasant weather (lots of sunshine for nice pictures), some very talented vendors, and one pretty outstanding caterer.

I got to go to the Seattle Wedding Show last weekend to promote Walla Walla as a wedding destination. It was pretty fun. We met lots of nice people. Including these two lovely ladies who were outside, not exactly sure what they were doing, but whatever it was, they were having fun.

Selling white goth bridal gear perhaps?

A nice side benefit to going to Seattle for a couple of days is we got to eat, and eat, and eat. We took a couple of trips to Skillet Diner (it was as close to perfect as a diner can be), hit up The Walrus and The Carpenter oyster bar, checked out Rn74 (What's up Larkin!!! You weren't working the night we stopped in, we cooked together at the ill-fated 26brix.), Quinn's, Nijo Sushi, and a bunch of other places.

Skillet Diner Burger with Bacon Jam

Yeah, we hit up a bunch of sandwich places too. Paseo is closed this time of the year, the second year in a row we have missed trying their creations which make online Yelp reviewers go manic with praise. This is the fifth trip to Seattle in a year, and it is with a great deal of pleasure I can say, "Seattle Sandwich Shops... you can't make this... and definitely not this."

veggie torta pastrami
Cheers

Our Favorite Week of the Year

2012-01-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

January 8th to the 14th is our favorite week of the year.
Do we have a number of big caterings? No.
Do we have the entire week off from work? No.
Is the weather extra nice? Not typically.
Why then?

Our daughter was born January 14th, four years ago. She was very sick and had to stay in the St. Marys Spokane NICU for 100 days. And for many of our weekend trips we would stay at the Ronald McDonald House. We could cook our own meals, play games with our son, and not spend too much money on a hotel room or eating out. It was a good, safe, understanding, and comfortable place. A place that is very important to families with sick kids.

Well our daughter is an all-too-grown-up four year old now. We couldn't be luckier. Here she is striking a pose at Whitehouse Crawford on a date with mom and dad.

For the week of January 8th to the 14th we donate 10% of our sandwich shop sales to the Ronald McDonald House of Spokane.

Yep, that is something to be happy about. Thank You RMCDH!!!!

Cheers

Graze Index

2012-01-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

(This piece of self indulgence has turned into a bit of tradition for me, so please forgive any overly sentimental chatter.)
Oh boy, what a year. Catering isn't easy. A restaurant creates a menu, a vibe, a theme, and does the same thing everyday, with minor tweaks along the way. With catering everything is different, every event, every day.

Number of guests (smallest party 8 guests, largest party 1,000 guests). Environment (bone chilling rain to 110 degrees in a field in July to wine dinner in the barell room)
Guests (nurses, teachers, yuppies, factory workers, seniors, kids, foodies, the list goes on)
Menu (Spanish, French, Italian, Merican, Mexican, Greek, etc etc)
Service (apps, buffet, family style, plated, breakfast, lunch, dinner)

You get the idea. But we love what we do, we like serving people, we like making events better because we are there, we like cooking different things every event, we like seeing guests smile. We are pretty good at what we do. We hope you hire us.

In honor of 2011, I present you with the Graze Catering Index (with apologies to Harper's Index). All totals are Graze Catering only, and do not reflect numbers from Graze 'a place to eat', our sandwich shop.

Guests served in 2006 --- 604
Guests served in 2007 --- 3,319
Guests served in 2008 --- 8,053
Guests served in 2009 --- 12,166
Guests served in 2010 --- 15,468
Guests served in 2011 --- 18,771

Number of events 2006 --- 17
Number of events 2007 --- 66
Number of events 2008 --- 83
Number of events 2009 --- 176
Number of events 2010 --- 194
Number of events 2011 --- 216

Number of events 150+ guests 2006 --- 0
Number of events 150+ guests 2007 --- 2
Number of events 150+ guests 2008 --- 11
Number of events 150+ guests 2009 --- 16
Number of events 150+ guests 2010 --- 26
Number of events 150+ guests 2011 --- 39

Number of weddings/rehearsals 2006 --- 0
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2007 --- 6
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2008 --- 18
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2009 --- 22
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2010 --- 22
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2011 --- 31

2010: Sandwiches served by Graze - a place to eat (dine in, delivery, and pick up) --- 29,619.
2011; Sandwiches served by Graze - a place to eat (dine in, delivery, and pick up) --- 43,609
**** Look out McDonalds!!!

Thanks to all our past and future clients and guests. We look forward to serving you again.

Cheers

Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T14:39:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There is nothing to do but eat, and relax, and spend a few moments reflecting on all the good things we have in our short time on this planet, hopefully with loved ones and friends surrounding us... and every food item on the dining table has the distinct smell and taste of butter... which very well could shorten our already short existence.

Why do these turkeys have no legs? Read further down.

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving a couple of times before the special day, and once more after, and a number of days at the sandwich shop as well. Three Thanksgiving parties totalling 405 guests and a bunch of special turkey sandwiches later we were tired of giving thanks and smelling like butter.

This sandwich is the King of Thanksgiving Leftovers. It has mayo, turkey, stuffing (our stuffing is the bomb), gravy (ditto for gravy), and cranberry on the side. It is toasted, and tastes like the entire thanksgiving meal in every bite. It is ridiculous. This sandwich with a small cup of the mashed potato and corn chowder will satisfy every carbohydrate dream and craving you have ever had.

EDITORS NOTE:
Dear Americans and Food Magazine Cover Photographers,

Stop cooking your turkeys as one big bird. Yes they are pretty for the magazine covers, and it looks great on the table, but please... cut the thing up already. It fits better in your oven and its easier to tell when its done, those legs need longer to cook than those breasts, that's why we cut off the legs and take out the backbone, come on now... who eats the backbone? Which means we get to make a nice roasted turkey stock while the rest of you whole bird cookers (suckers) use canned chicken broth. And stop this brining business already. Brining is messy, and a pain in the butt, really now, who has food grade five gallon buckets handy with fridge space galore? And stop this basting business. There is no reason to baste the bird every hour, it is pointless.

Here is how you cook a Thanksgiving turkey fellow Americans. Follow these simple six steps and you will have happier Thanksgivings forevermore... and a much more satifying life.
1. Cut out the back bone. Cut off the legs.
2. Make an herb paste with fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, and canola oil in a food processor.
3. Using Morton's Kosher Salt (dear morton's we love your salt, we will be happy to be sponsored for all of our dedication and hard work spreading your good name) rub some salt under the breast skin and under the skin of the legs, really get in there, then sprinkle with pepper, then rub your herb paste under the skin. Then sprinkle the outside with salt, pepper, and rub more herbs.
(how much salt? Well for chicken we use 3/4 teaspoon per pound of chicken, but if you do that much salt for a turkey it will burn the flesh of the turkey, so about 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt per pound)
4. Put the turkey in your fridge for 48 hours.
5. Cook it, we like 300 with a convection fan. Pull the breast from the oven when the it registers 158 degrees. Let it rest. Let the legs keep cooking. They are nearly impossible to overcook. Pull them five minutes before you want to eat.
6. Celebrate your success by mailing $100 to 213 South 9th Ave, Walla Walla WA 99362

Cheers

Graze Catering Five Year Anniversary Party

2011-11-16T18:53:00.001-08:00

We held a five year anniversary party a couple of months ago. It was a lot of fun. Friends, farmers, suppliers, clients, neighbors, and employees all came and enjoyed.

Ali Walker, photographer, who is great and does many of the same weddings we do came as a guest. And she took these photos. They really capture the ethic of the party... which shouldn't be much of a surprise, she captures the feel of every wedding she shoots so perfectly.

http://aliwalker.com/blog/2011/11/graze-catering-party/

Cheers! Ali! Thanks so much.

Sunday Mornings

2011-11-15T16:13:00.001-08:00

Normal people go to breakfast Sunday Morning.
Normal people sleep in Sunday Morning.
Normal people go to church Sunday Morning.
Normal people go for runs Sunday Morning.
Normal people love Sunday Morning.

Sunday Morning we ate leftovers from our Mexican inspired wedding buffet, in between washing dishes and preparing for 250 more guests... green chicken mole, whole pinto beans, and mexican rice, and Carmen's 'out of this world mindblowing' red salsa. (and we served carnitas, and posole, and homemade tortillas, oh it was yummy)

We love Sunday Morning too.

Fresher

2011-10-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

My good friend Jeremy used to crack up at this question "um... is the fish fresh?" What answer do you possibly think the waiter/supermarket fish guy/cook is going to say? "Actually sir, the fish I am about to sell you is five days old (from when we got it) and is starting to turn just a bit, but I have no doubt you will be pleased with its quality."

If every supermarket, sandwich shop, caterer, pizza chain, fast food franchise in the country claims its food is "fresh" and "of the highest quality" who in this great nation is serving the "mediumly aged to old" and "low quality" food?

Fresh is a continuum. Everyone can call their food Fresh, but who's is Fresher?

At one catering business the mashed potatoes are fresh out of the can. At another they are freshly made from dehydrated potato flakes. And another peels the little yukon gold suckers with indentations and blemishes and the cooks occasionally peel their own skin and get their fingers cramped from all the tedious work to make "fresh" mashed potatoes. Is it all fresh? Yes. Is it all honest? That is the better question, and very much a personal one.

At one fast food place the beef has "non meat fillers". At another sandwich shop the roast beef out of a vacuum sealed bag, the same they serve at every other sandwich shop in town. At ours, it is medium rare to medium flank steak cooked every couple of days. It is all fresh. Ours is more honest. (okay, okay... it tastes better too, you dragged it out of me.)

We aren't playing 'holier than thou' (okay, maybe a little). We put out honest food. We buy as much as we can from our local farmers and from the farmer's market. We try to stay as seasonal as possible. We always want to look ourselves in the mirror and feel like we put out solid, honest, wholesome food and trade it for your hard earned dollars. It's what we try to do everyday.

Cheers

Palmares

2011-10-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

Palmares is a cycling term that means a list of great accomplishments. Here is our version of palmares.

We received this letter from Glenn and Angie, a Seattle couple who came to Walla Walla for a winery wedding in September. Glenn and Angie are part of something we see more and more of these days, folks who have very little or no connection to Walla Walla who choose to get married here because, well... Walla Walla is an awesome destination wedding location. Neither are wine geeks or afficianados, they came to WW because of the experience WW provides.

They had a smaller reception at Basel Cellars, fifty or so guests. The weather was great, the grounds perfect, as always, and the food once again made our guests and ourselves happy. Here is the letter we received the other day... Angie loves exclamation points!!!

"Graze,
Thank you so much for everything! The food was beyond wonderful and all the guests raved about it! We couldn't have asked for a better experience and your staff was fabulous!
If you want us to write a recommendation for you to any potential clients let us know!
Thank you!!
Glenn and Angie"

Cheers

The Anatomy of a Party

2011-10-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

September 1st Graze Catering turned Five Years Old. September was too busy to have a party, so we had one October the 2nd. We didn't feel like we were cheating, there was only one job recorded in the month of September 2006.

We invited a bunch of friends, and clients, and suppliers, and neighbors, and event space operators, and rental store owners, and landlords, and all the other people associated with the business.

Then we bought the animals. A whole pig and a whole goat. We got the pig from Blue Valley Meats, and the goat from the Youth Market Auction at the county fair.

Then we seasoned the pig and goat. The pig we inserted garlic cloves into and salted the meat for three days. The goat we gave an herb and garlic rub, and salted it for two days.

Then we went to the farmers market, like we do every week for our weddings and events, and filled the back of the expedition.

Pig goes in the cajun microwave. Goat goes in the oven.

Light the fire. Wait.

Open the box, flip the pig. Wait.

Carve and serve.

135 guests. Great company, good beer and wine. Here is to five more years.

Cheers

This Is How We Do It...

2011-10-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

Montell Jordan wrote the classic R&B tune "This Is How We Do It" in 1995. I still want to dance when I hear that song.

This is how we do it deep in our creative minds at the sandwich shop.

We ran this special the last few days. It was super yummy. Shaved prime rib, sauteed peppers, onions, garlic, and fresh oregano. We charged $8.95. Which makes me wonder how Subway/Quiznos/everyotherprefabslicedmeatplace can look themselves in the eye and charge $8.95 (or whatever it is they charge) for a "steak" sandwich.

Ours is good. Ours is real. We make your tastebuds dance. Just like Montell.

Cheers

Palmares

2011-09-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

It has been busy here. The wedding season is wrapping itself up nicely. Only a few more to go. Here are a couple of comments from recent events.

Palmares is a cycling term which means a list of great accomplishments. Here is our version of palmares.

All I can say is fabulous meal and outstanding servers! You run a very good catering service - many out of town guests all complimented the food. We had the "fill in the blank" rep. for Washington State and he was very interested in some potential events this next year. ..... Many thanks...

PS: One of our younger guests made sure to let me know that your son is in his class at school and that he loves your

Laure

Hi Graze,

Thank you! Our dinner was great, service was awesome. We had a little mishap with DJ's arrival so the wedding got started late and your servers were wonderful. I don't know what else to say, other than how perfect the dinner and service was. I just wish I could've spent more time eating that great meal...but that's how weddings go. Lots of talking to the bride and groom I got so many compliments on the food and service. I appreciate your thoughts too throughout the planning. You are mailing us an invoice right? Thanks again!

Stacey & Adam

-----------------------------

Dear Graze

Thank you....I believe my cousin Linda Williams took care of the bill at the catering event today......BTW, everybody was very impressed with the Italian lasagna dinner....I heard raving compliments all afternoon....And you have to remember, we are a family of Italians on both sides of our families, and the meal was absolutely impeccable in every way!.....Thanks again

George

Cheers!!!!!

accepting applications now... u could own this!!!

2011-08-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, The MELT grilled cheese sandwich shop opened in San Francisco. The dude who invented the FLIP video camera gadget teamed up with a venture capital firm and hired San Francisco Chef Guy, Michael Mina (a super accomplished dude) as a consultant to start The MELT. From what I gather they make custom grilled cheese sandwiches and soups.

a place to eat

They are going to open 15 to 25 this year, and the goal is to have 500 storefronts within five years. Franchise start up costs per shop are expected to be $500k to one million American Dollars. You read that right. (a very similar cost for major franchises like Del Taco, Dairy Queen, Arby's, and that is a just under the heavyweights like Taco Bell and Jack in the Box, or so my limited research has uncovered.)

This got us thinking. Why can't we be a franchise? I mean really, why not? Outside of the lack of funding, corporate infrastructure, advertising dollars, bulk purchasing power, media fawning, being located in a town of only 30,000 people, and a four hour drive from a major metropolitan area... WHY NOT? (Have you seen then scene from Monty Python's "The Life of Brian"?... What have the Romans Done for us?!?!?!?)

So 'Graze - a place to eat' is offering for a limited time only franchises starting at a very cool and discounted $200,000 American Dollars. Accepting offers starting... now. (ok ok, $150,000... if you ask nicely we might settle at $125,000)

Cheers

Kinley and Drew's Wedding at the Winn Homestead

2011-07-25T07:06:00.000-07:00

We do a lot of Whitman Weddings. Graduates leave our fair town (voted friendliest in the United States by Rand McNally) and come back to get hitched with all their college friends; re-uniting for a big party. It was our first time at the Winn Homestead in Weston, a huge red barn, with two levels, set in wheat and pea fields. Here is the note Kinley sent us:

Dear Graze,

Thanks so much for everything. The reviews from attendees were seriously unreal - people couldn't stop talking about the food. Multiple people have mentioned to me that it was the best food they've ever had at a wedding, and a couple wonder if you'd travel to do weddings in Seattle :)

Thank you so much for your flexibility, easygoing nature, and excellent culinary creativity - we had such a great time.

Check should have arrived today, tomorrow at the latest. Let me know if you don't see it for some reason.

Also, any chance I could squeeze the recipes for that cous cous salad and the bread/tomato salad out of you? I have a list of about 20 people that have asked me for the recipe...

Excellent work, and thank you. If you ever need another reference, please feel free to use me.

Kinley

Well I think that deserves a hearty Cheers! Our daughter thinks so too.

Blink

2011-07-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Blink and May turns into July. Blink again and your kids are in middle school. How does time go so quickly. How did we just do 14 weddings from the last week in May to today? And how did we fit in all the other parties large and small? I really have no idea, its all kind of a blur.

What is not a blur is that our food and service have continued improved with every event. And we are proud to announce that our pig box has been perfected. A slow roast herb stuffed pork shoulder takes us a good 6 hours, and then the coals on top we use to grill vegetables. Here are Walla Walla Sweets grilling on top of the pig box for the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival backyard donors party.

Our house made meatballs in roasted garlic marinara and braciole, crispy polenta cakes, whole leaf caesar salad and parmesan, wilted swiss chard from stones throw farm, blanched asparagus, and dessert from the patisserie rounded out this meal all the way back in early June for some out of town guests at L'ecole Winery.

My new favorite thing is grilled lemons. We marinate rosemary lemon and garlic chicken for a day before grilling. After the chicken is grilled, we then grill off the lemon rounds over low heat. They caramelize so beautifully, and when they are just a few moments before burnt is when they are perfect, and they make a fantastic garnish. For these smoked paprika and garlic shrimp skewers, we roasted the lemons and then finely chopped the caramelized zest and put a smidge on each skewer. The stuff is addicting.

Cheers

Palmares

2011-07-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

Palmares is a cycling term which means a list of great accomplishments. This is our version of palmares.

We did dinner for a group of guests organized by Whitman College. Waters Winery was the venue, outdoors on the lawn, two extra long tables, seating 62 guests in all. Above is a shot of a new appetizer we made up, cantelope lollipops, dipped in finely minced mint and prosciutto bits (think bacon bits but made out of prosciutto... yummy). Dinner was served family style, a pretty local salad from Welcome Table Farm; then halibut on a bed of english peas, favas, and baby carrots; then grilled Upper Dry Creek Ranch leg of lamb and salsa verde, on a bed of wilted beet greens and arugula with roasted new potatoes and grilled early summer vegetables; finished with petit fours from the Patisserie.

I wanted to tell you how amazing the dinner was on Thursday. You and your staff did an incredible job. Everyone attending my conference (mostly from the east coast) was so impressed with Walla Walla in general, and they just loved the venue at Waters, the wine, and your food. And, you may have left before this, but we had the most incredible moonrise at the end of the dinner (I'll send you a picture). Just icing on top of the cake. I wish you had been there to accept everyone's thanks, but Tracy and Brian came out and let us applaud them. (Dinner was done and I had a softball playoff game to get to!!! commitments, commitments.)

Thank you so much!
Rachna

Cheers

Dear Subway

2011-07-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Christmas in May

2011-05-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

The biz is almost five years old. When we moved in the kitchen had one big prep table, a hobart mixer, a walk in cooler, a walk in freezer, a double stack oven set, and a range stove, and some shelving. A $1,500 investment in some pots and pans and sheet pans and spatulas and tongs and another $850 at Ross for some platters and fancy spoons and we were in the cooking business... with no one to cook for.

The ovens were big and powerful, but highly erratic. Burning edges and corners, and leaving the entire bottom rack raw no matter how long something was in there. But we learned its quirks well, and found we had to open the doors and stir often, or pick just five pieces of bacon at a time from a sheet pan, and to rotate pans from top to bottom and spin them frequently.

These pieces of restaurant refuse served a solid 42,000 catered guests and cooked the ingredients for at least another 38,000 sandwich shop customers. We hated the ovens, but were always grateful for their service... only once did they break down for a big event, but good restaurant friends let us use their ovens... and that is a story for another time.

Well the bottom oven died the other day, leaving us with one very old and inefficient oven and one very old and expensive oven to fix. So we bit the bullet and bought these bad boys from Blodgett Corp in Burlington Vermont. With a little help from eight strapping young Whitman Baseball Players they were installed in no time.

I am no tech geek, or gear geek, or car afficionado, or anything approaching a stuff guy... but don't they look beautiful?

Cheers

palmares

2011-05-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Palmares is a cycling term that means a list of great accomplishments. Here is our version of palmares.

We donate one private dinner for eight guests for the ywca fundraiser auction. (We also donate countless gift certificates to other groups, and dedicate sales to the Ronald McDonald House from our sandwich shop.) The last two years the dinner has been at Longshadows, in their Chihuly Room.

Graze
I can't think of enough adjectives to describe the wonderful dinner we had tonight: suberb, excellent, outstanding, delicious, exquisite, the list goes on. We were awed by each course. It was truly a fabulous meal and we had a superb time wining, dining and visiting with our friends. As a guest treated to your excellent (I'm already repeating myself) culinary cuisine, I thank you. Again, kudos to you for a memorable evening and thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring enough to give of yourself and your incredible talents. - Michelle

Cheers

busy busy

2011-05-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to link my phone to the computer, yes I know how dumb that sounds. But the picture shortage is no longer a problem. Here are some shots from the past few weeks.

As a general rule... we don't make desserts (except for brownies, cobblers, bread pudding, and cookies). But we donated dessert for an auction, and Lori (Brian our cook's wife) loves to make cupcakes. So she made these Spring/Easter inspired fondant covered cupcakes. They were awesome.

Who says there is no good seafood in Walla Walla? These Penn Cove Mussels were harvested on the 18th and served on the 20th. We blanched them, topped them with some garlicky bread crumbs, broiled them and served them with a saffron aioli.

A phad thai noodle inspired salad. Too many ingredients to list.

We call these "shrimp scallop lollipops". Seared on a flat top and then brushed with lemon garlic butter before going to the guests. They never ever last more than a few moments.

Sliders made with Lostine Cattle Company ground beef. Super clean tasting. Caramelized onions, fresh thyme, goat cheese, mayo. We served 800 on Saturday at Leonetti (from 10am to 2:45pm... that is like 170 and hour?) and another 200 on Sunday.

A fruit platter for a nurses appetizer reception. Tangerine syrup is the dipping sauce.

Blanched asparagus with tarragon mayo and Tim's Chips, and a Japanese noodle salad (its the cousin to the phad thai noodle salad).

And this is what the sandwich shop looked like all week... the graduating Whitties getting their last fill of Graze - a place to eat.

Cheers

boom boom

2011-05-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

Since we last checked in... dinner for a church, dinner at Dunham Cellars, lunch for a Republican Congress member and supporters, lunch for Earth Day Volunteers, lunch for Veterans Administration Volunteers, dinner at Dunham Cellars (again), dinner at Dunham Cellars (and again), appetizers for Whitman Alumni at Dunham Cellars (again... again), wine lunch at Reynvaan Vineyards, dinner at Dunham Cellars (and seriously again), apps Friday Night for spring release weekend at Mannina Cellars, L' Ecole Winery, Reininger Winery, and a two day event at Leonetti for over 1,000 guests.

Its been busy here. Wedding season kicks off this week with our first wedding of the season, May 14th at Areus.... and then it gets busier. (Lord help us.)

Pictures to come once my phone decides to start communicating with the computer again.

Cheers

terra blanca weekend

2011-04-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

Three years ago we had the pleasure to cook for Dawn and John's wedding reception in Benton City. It was the first time we had been outside of the Walla Walla-Dayton-Milton Freewater 'metropolitan' area. Last year, Terra Blanca contacted us (the winery Dawn works for), and we did a wine dinner and a cooking class for their Chef Seminar Series. This year we came back for an appetizer party in February and then the big Spring Release Weekend.

Here is what the schedule looked like at Terra Blanca Winery:
Thursday - Brian did a Chef Seminar class.
Friday - I did a tv spot for KVEW Tri-Cities Morning Show (woke up at 3am to get ready and there on time!!!)
Friday Night - Myself and a cook friend did appetizers for 75-100 guests
Saturday - something like 1200 tasters descend on the winery, and we sold small plates to go with their wine.
Saturday Night - we created a buffet for all the winery staff and their guests.
Sunday Morning - left in a fog after packing the vehicle for two hours.

It was a busy and long weekend. Add to it, Brian and Tracy did an appetizer drop off Friday, a buffet dinner for 85 guests Friday, and Saturday served a lovely family style meal at Dunham Cellars for 33 ladies celebrating their "many many years in business" party... and the sandwich shop kept humming along quite nicely.

Here are a few shots.

In the wood fired oven we crisped up some polenta cakes, caramelized some roasted red peppers, and roasted portabella mushrooms with olive oil... here is the finished dish with balsamic reduction, extra virgin olive oil, and shaved parmesan. Is there anything more soul satisfying than cooking with cast iron.

A really terrible photo of our meatballs, with roasted garlic marinara, grilled walla walla bread company baguettes, smeared with roasted garlic... big enough to eat with a fork, but more fun to eat with skewers.

Shrimp, spanish chorizo, and corn fritters with saffron aioli. Addictively yummy.

Cheers

the feast at reininger winery... and downtown

2011-04-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

It was Cayuse Weekend, Feast of Walla Walla Weekend, and Breakfast Week. For some strange reason we delivered breakfast Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. (We aren't as fun and cheery rolling into the catering kitchen at 5:00 am.)

Last Fall Release we did a small plates dinner paired with Reininger Winery library vintages and current releases. It was fun, the guests had a great time, and we were invited back. Saturday we did five courses paired with their Viogneer, Chardonnay, Desiderata, Anomoly, and Semillon. I gave one server the job of reminding me to snap a photo before the first plates went out. The shots were a bit rushed on the phone camera...

Here is the chilled pea soup, bright and vibrant green, topped with some creme fraiche soft like just whipped cream, we served fresh cracked pepper with it for guests to self moderate the pepper levels. [It was so good we served the last bits at the sandwich shop the next day, the first customer of the day bought one small soup, then bought two large ones to take home. Paired with the Voignier.]

What says Spring more than grilled asparagus and garlic rubbed bread, and egg salad (farmer alice's eggs, capers, shallots, tarragon, softened with a good deal of olive oil and a touch of water) so soft it falls partly into the sauce category, with a few prosciutto bits? I can't think of anything more Springy. Paired with the Chardonnay. Simple, rustic, just how we like to eat.

Our version of chicken ballentine (or is it a gallentine?), three pounded thin chicken breasts laid out on cheesecloth to form a sheet of chicken, stuffed with a forcemeat of chicken thigh meat, sweated onions, thyme, parsley, minced tenderloin and cream, rolled into a compact cylinder and then poached to just barely done in a chicken stock. Sliced and set in a rich and reinforced roast chicken stock we call a brodo, blanched carrots, sugar snap peas, and peas. Paired with the Desiderata.

Grilled rosemary and garlic Fehrenbacher Farm rack of lamb, on top of the almost best beans in the world, calypso beans from Welcome Table Farm, roasted sweet onion, extra virgin olive oil. Paired with the 2004 Anomaly. (so yummy)

For dessert... which we don't make... we made. Brian our outstanding cook, made a a bread puddding, creme anglaise, roasted pear wedges, candied tangerine peel, and tangerine syrup, which looked lovely, and tasted fantastic.

Cheers

television the drug of the nation

2011-03-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

I found Hulu a few weeks back. Sad how far behind the times the wife and I are. We haven't had television for something like five years. Netflix was our entertainment choice for quite a while until we found Hulu. First we devoured Kitchen Nightmares (which really is a crash course in how to run a restaurant properly, good food and attention to food,customers, and employees, work hard, try, care, try some more, work harder, keep working, work some more, and if you are good and lucky... things may just go your way. (Gordon Ramsey is a god, he is one of my personal heros, that silly show has taught us so much), then we tackled as many Chopped episodes available, and finally we are stuck waiting for new episodes of America's Next Great Restaurant. (For which my answer to their question is... Hello... successful and reproduceable fast casual restaurant business model patiently waiting for you right here in Walla Walla.))

This was our last week of relative calm for the catering business. Starting this weekend, the next 15 weeks are busy. Like crazy busy. But we are ready and willing. So we spent the little downtime we had wisely, Brian went on vacation, Tracy and I went to meetings, and I messed around in the home kitchen with the kids.

Braciole test cook version number one for Entwine Dinner.

Mirepoix, garlic, pancetta for red wine marinara to braise the braciole.

The extra red wine that could not be allowed to go to waste.

A homestyle roast chicken headed to our ancient oven.

Two big parties coming up we are super excited to be responsible for. The Entwine Grand Dinner and Auction which will be a four course plated dinner for 300 to 400 guests. And the opening gala dinner for the preview of the new Shakespeare Theatre being retrofitted in the old power building, it will be family style multi course for 200+ guests. Those along with lots of dinners, weddings, luncheons, and appetizer events.

We look forward to serving you soon. Cheers.

two new sandwiches

2011-03-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

We added two new sandwiches to the menu. The Spring Asparagus Panini makes its return, replacing the Butternut Squash Panini. It is lovely, blanched aspargus, two year old aged Tillamook Cheddar, provolone, and bechamel made from Pure Erie Dairy here in Walla Walla. Get them from now until the second week in June when aspargus will no longer be local.

Our version of a Vietnamese Banh Mi is brand new and super yummy. Lightly toasted Italian white bread, with a little mayo, sliced cucumber, medium flank steak, black pepper, fresh cilantro, thinly sliced raw jalepeno, and pickled daikon and carrot make up this super fresh sandwich. We love it, and hope you do as well.

Wanted to share this snack the wife and I had last night, garbanzos tossed with garbanzo flour and paprika, cumin, tumeric,, salt, and cayenne, shallow fried in olive oil. Such an awesome little appetizer/condiment/topping for so many different dishes. One of our favorite things at the moment.

Cheers

Palmares

2011-03-04T12:17:00.000-08:00

Palmares is a cycling term which means "a list of great accomplishments". Here is our version of palmares.

Three emails sent to me regarding the Pheasants Forever Dinner last week, 340 guests (of which 40 were added in the last 24 hours) and we served prime rib and whole slow roast salmon filets with aioli.

Dear Graze,

I wanted to let you know that I heard nothing but absolutely wonderful compliments in regards to the food at the banquet. It was just delicious! I had the salmon and it was the best cooked salmon I have ever had (and that’s impressive when you are cooking it for 340 people!). My husband was absolutely obsessed with the whole meal and could not stop talking about how delicious it was. And, I have had many, many people come up to me out of the blue and tell me how much they enjoyed their meal. Your catering was an absolute success and I want to thank you so much. I had 100% confidence in you guys going in, but it always makes me very nervous to have been “the person that picked the new caterer”…as I knew any negative feedback would fall directly on me. BUT, it was the exact opposite!

Thank you so much for all your hard work, for being flexible on the ever-changing head count, and for the beautiful presentation. We were all SO happy with the final result.

Thank you again. It was great working with you.
Alison Brugeman

The food was the best anyone ever had at one of these kinds of events.
-Randy Snyder (pheasants board member)

... and we got this email from a guest at the dinner, and she shared a great sounding recipe with us too...

Hello John,

I was in your restaurant about a week ago... LOVED IT!!!
Then, I went to the Fundraiser, Pheasants Forever
Oh My Gosh, Divine. Everything was !!
Gloria

Cheers

Boom Boom

2011-03-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

Saturday we served 340 hungry pheasant lovers, 15 hungry beef tenderloin eaters, 40 wedding celebrants, and 17 hungry college students, and another 100 sandwich munchers. It was a busy day. Here are few shots from the appetizer party. It was a pretty cool evening of food. 10 different appetizers, a few at stations, a few passed.

We call these shrimp firecrackers (why I really don't know), the shrimp are skewered to stay straight, topped with a tiny bit of ground japanese red pepper, fresh cilantro, and then wrapped in lumpia wrappers and deep fried. Served with sweet chili sauce. They are incredible... really.

Grilled Lostine Beef skirt steak bahn mi. A bahn mi is a Vietnamese sandwich, our version is on a hoagie roll with fresh cilantro, thinly sliced raw jalepeno, fresh cucumber, mayo, and pickled daikon and carrot. We run a sandwich shop... this would definitely be one of our best three. Coming to the menu soon. And the grilled Lostine Beef skirt steak may be my favorite grilled meat ever. Unlike any skirt steak you have ever tasted.

Coconut curry marinated chicken skeweres, with our traditional coconut thai peanut sauce.

House cured gravalax, with creme fraiche, caper, red onion, on a wafer thin crostini.

And this is what you get to deal with in the morning when you serve 400 people.

Cheers

Best of the Best 2010 (and 2009)

2011-02-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

So this is the second year in a row we have been voted Best of the Best by the readers of the Union Bulletin (our WW daily newspaper). Which is pretty cool for a number of reasons. One, at least we aren't the only business in the category being voted upon (drycleaner, dogwash, gourmet grocery, community college). Two, we received zero votes from anybody that works for Graze, or owns Graze, or is a relative of a Graze employee/owner. Three, we solicited zero votes from friends, acquaintances, customers, or mailing list members. We feel we won the silly thing with a clean conscious.

It is really nice to be thought of as the Best... but then again three years ago when Graze Catering was barely know (and we were also the best caterer in town, thank you very much) the Whitman College catering service, which does very very little catering off campus won Best of the Best. So we aren't about to let a little vote in the UB go to our heads. Seriously now, how many people even vote for the category of Caterer?

I believe we are the best catering business in Walla Walla, not because people voted for us, but because we do a very nice job, for a fair price, with real food (as much as we can get from our local farmers)... that we make with love and care and attention. We are proud of what we do everyday, and we are always trying to get better. If you voted for us... thank you very much, and if you have been to one of our events and enjoyed the food enough to tell someone else about it... thank you very much, and if you have hired us (and hopefully would like to hire us again)... thank you very much. And if you have read this far... thank you very much (don't you have anything better to do?).

[True story: In Sacramento the free weekly SN&R, ran the Best of the Best Issue every year... this was way before online voting, mobile check ins, smart phone banking, and facebook, so the vote was entirely paper and pencil balloting that readers actually had to fold and place into an envelope and put in their mailbox. This complete train wreck of a restaurant stuffed the ballot box with their name for the category of 'best crabcake', even though they were some kind of Italian Fusion meets Neighborhood Bar mom and pop joint that maybe served ten dinners a night and probably served frozen pre-made crabcakes. They win, then proceed to make one of those vinyl signs that read "BEST CRABCAKES IN SACRAMENTO! Turn Right Here!" at the freeway exit. I laughed at the absurdity of it all every time I exited the freeway. The next year the free weekly changed the rules and made every ballot have at least 25% of the categories filled out to be valid, while mentioning nameless certain winners in years past had probably been ballot box stuffing. At least the restaurant owners had the good sense to ballot stuff a lame category and not "best Italian" or "best fine dining"]

Cheers

Cattlemen's Association

2011-02-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

What do you do to get your mind distracted from extreme anxiety? I like to play games.

Lets roll play. Say you are going to serve 315 people, and you have done this bunches of times, and the math always works out, but there is always, and I mean always, this nagging question in the back of your mind that says "what if we run out?". What if the guys in the cowboy hats just decide to eat more than they have in the past tonight? What if a platter of food is dropped? What if, what if, what if?

In the mad rush to get everything there, and on time, and fresh, and perfect; some wiggle room is always built in if dissaster strikes. Which means almost always we have fifteen to twenty minutes to kill while waiting to serve our guests.

So I like play games. One of my favorites is the over/under game. Ask any question regarding the event that is quantifiable, and then have everyone guess over or under the number. Something like "how many bridesmaids/groomsmen will there be in the ceremony?" Or, "How much salad/prime rib/chicken breasts/spanikopita will be left over?". But my favorite game is "guess the closest". Every employee guesses how many or much of something is at the event. I always put up the money, ten or twenty bucks seems to do the trick. The servers and cooks guess a number and the closest wins. It causes a lot of anxiety and wrinkled brows, and a healthy distraction from the pressure packed environment.

Our last big question was "guess how many cowboy hats are in the room?" for the Cattlemen's Association Dinner hosted at the Walla Walla Fairgrounds. Ten dollars went to the winner.

Judging from the picture above what is your guess?

Dinner was a huge offering of buffet choices: prime rib and its accompaniments, spinach salad with mandarin oranges avocado red onion and toasted almonds, broccoli salad with sun dried tomatoes golden garlic provolone and balsamic dressing, pea salad with ham and cheddar, buttermilk dressing coleslaw, red potatoes and onions in brown sauce, brians wicked awesome potato salad, cauliflower broccoli and carrots with butter sauce.... whew it was big. And tasty too, kind of a super fresh down home country cooking with a dash more culinary flair than mama provides.

For the record, 15 prime rib at 14 lb averages serves right about 340 guests. And there were 63 cowboy hats.

Cheers

Freddy's Birthday Party

2011-01-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

I have eaten green mole exactly once in my life. It was at Freddy's Birthday Party, which as I recall, was a big deal for the grandmother of Freddy (as he was her favorite) and the family threw a huge bash with lots of great food, dancing, and buckets and buckets of cold Budweiser in cans. Freddy and his brothers and cousins made up the entire dishwashing staff at Paragarys in Sacramento, where I was a newbie pizza/pantry cook, and where I met my lovely wife, and where I fell in love with cooking and restaurants, and where I met Patrick who was the sous chef, and became a short time roomate, and eventually my best man at the wedding, and who now is the king of the Sacramento catering and dining scene, running both Culinary Specialists and Mulvaney Building and Loan restaurant. (hows that for a recap?)

The party was a blast, it was deep in the heart of scary ghetto Sacramento, not too far from where we eventually bought our first house to fix up. Patrick, Becca, and I were the only whiteys at the party, and we were treated like honored guests... and implored to eat and eat and eat. The food was made with as much love as a Mexican Grandmother can muster. And green mole was one of the dishes, which Patrick explained was made with pumpkin seeds, and it was awesome.

Green Mole finished and ready for chicken.

Braised pork ready to crisp in the oven and then gets our chili sauce.

Con Agra called again and we cooked for their all employee luncheon. We were supposed to make green chili chicken (its this tex-mexy homestyle casserole style dish I ripped off from my mom) and braised pork with red chili sauce, which at its core is really carnitas (and is the base recipe for the pork we serve on our sandwich shop torta). All was well, but when I started to make the chicken sauce, I remembered Freddy's Grandmother and had to try my hand at green mole rather than the green chili sauce. With a bit of assistance from Diane Kennedy's "My Mexico" cookbook the mole was superb. And when the guests at Con Agra asked "who made the mole?" they never expected to hear "me". And when the guests asked "is your grandma Mexican?" they never expected to hear "no". And when the guest said "only my grandmother makes green mole, and that was really good" he paid us the highest compliment possible.

Green mole got me thinking about Patrick, and Paragary's, and the old days when I was a pizza cook and Becca thought I was super cute with my flour dusted forearms. So we made pizza for Frances' (our Frankie, kind of close to Freddy, huh) Birthday party. Here is the spanish chorizo, red torpedo pepper, and jalepeno pie, for the adults, the kids got cheese. And in honor of Freddy's Grandma, a shot of our pulled pork torta with a crisp and cold Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Cheers

Ronald McDonald House

2011-01-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

Our daughter was born three years ago today. It wasn't a very happy time. She was thirteen and a half weeks early and weighed one and a half pounds. She was cared for in the Spokane Sacred Heart NICU. Exactly one hundred days later she came home with us, a whopping 4 pounds and 14 ounces.

Our son was just turning four. The catering business was still a zero employee show with negative winter-time income. Becca was not able to work at her hairstyling business. It was a scary time. We spent every weekend in Spokane with little to do except wait by an incubator. The hotel was depressing, and expensive; and eating out was depressing, and expensive.

And then we were referred to the Ronald McDonald House. We had a nice little room, a place to cook our own meals, and toys and video games and books for our son. He still says we should go back someday... and we always say "hopefully not".

Today our daughter is healthy and stong (and still tiny). The business is doing well. We are so thankful to be able to give back to such a wonderful charity that is there for so many people in their time of need. Below is our "press release".

Three years ago John and Rebecca Lastoskie gave birth to a baby girl they named Frances Kay. She was born 13 and a half weeks early, weighed one and a half pounds, and was very sick. After a painfully long and exhausting 100 days in the Spokane Sacred Heart NICU, and just shy of five pounds, Frances was sent home with her parents and brother to Walla Walla. Three years later she is a happy and healthy little girl who likes to annoy her brother... and amuse her parents.

For over three months the Lastoskie Family travelled between Walla Walla and Spokane, checking in on little Frances while trying to maintain two small businesses, and a sense of normalcy for their son. During that time the family stayed at the Ronald McDonald House for short periods and they have never forgotten the comfort and calm the House provided.

It is with great pleasure and a sincere gratitude of thanks that Graze – ‘a place to eat’ will donate 10% of its sales for the week of January 17th to January 22nd to the Ronald McDonald House of Spokane.

Cheers

John and Becca Lastoskie

Graze Index

2011-01-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

(This piece of self indulgence has turned into a bit of tradition for me, so please forgive any overly sentimental chatter.)

Four and a half years ago I started this two-bit little catering business with big ideas and dreams... with no clients, employees, advertising; or any idea how to go about getting the above mentioned. Things have gone fairly well all in all. A few bumps and bruises mixed in with a great many triumphs have paved the way. The part I am most proud of is how utterly consistent we have become. Just one solid meal after another. Yes we have done some glitzy jobs, and some over the top weddings, and cooked in some crazy locations in some dastardly weather, but really it's the everyday plain jane catering meals we put out that make me smile the most. Because after you count up the glitz, and the over the top, and the obscure, the vast majority of our guest counts are just solid, and honest, and cooked with love meals.

In honor of 2010, I present you with the Graze Catering Index (with apologies to Harper's Index). All totals are Graze Catering only, and do not reflect numbers from Graze 'a place to eat', our sandwich shop.

Guests served in 2006 --- 604
Guests served in 2007 --- 3,319
Guests served in 2008 --- 8,053
Guests served in 2009 --- 12,166
Guests served in 2010 --- 15,468

Number of events 2006 --- 17
Number of events 2007 --- 66
Number of events 2008 --- 83
Number of events 2009 --- 176
Number of events 2010 --- 194

Number of events 150+ guests 2006 --- 0
Number of events 150+ guests 2007 --- 2
Number of events 150+ guests 2008 --- 11
Number of events 150+ guests 2009 --- 16
Number of events 150+ guests 2010 --- 26

Number of weddings/rehearsals 2006 --- 0
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2007 --- 6
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2008 --- 18
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2009 --- 22
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2010 --- 22

2010: Sandwiches Served by Graze - a place to eat (dine in, delivery, and pick up) --- 29,619.
**** Look out McDonalds!!!

Thanks to all our past and future clients and guests. We look forward to serving you again.

Cheers

New Phone - Lamb Braise, Old Phone - Pork Braise

2010-12-13T06:23:00.000-08:00

I got a new phone the other day, its got a great camera. I hate the phone, but the camera is great. Here is a lamb shoulder braise headed to the oven. I love braising lamb like this. No pre searing, no sauteing the vegetables, you just have to heat the lamb stock and white wine and lightly oil the meat surface before heading to the 350 degree oven. Once the top browns, the meat gets rotated, brown side into liquid, and the process repeats itself until the meat is tender, but not fall apart tender like beef short ribs or pork carnitas. Reduce the braising liquid a bit and it is perfect with some creamy polenta, and roasted winter vegetables.

Here is our pork braise headed to the oven. We put tin foil over the tops of these and don't uncover them until the final 30 minutes of cooking. This ends up shredded and on our pulled pork torta at the sandwich shop. The key is the salt, 1 Tbs per 5 lbs pork shoulder. And then the chilis, onions, and garlic. We use guajillos, pasilla, new mexico, and japonese. Look at the photo difference. Its all tinny and washed out.

Dinner with the family. Papparadelle, mild italian sausage, spinach, garlic, chili flakes, extra virgin olive oil, chicken stock, parmesan.

Cheers

Mayonnaise Week

2010-12-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

Every so often we like to do fun things at the sandwich shop. We had a "put our phone number in your phone and get a 10% discount or free brownie or free drink" Week. We had a Latronka eating contest and a "pastrami" Week. We had a "happy birthday to us" Week. We just finished up Mayonnaise Week, a celebration of all things good about the creamy loveliness that is Mayo.

You can find out about these fun and exciting things by joining our e-mail list. It's easy, send us an e-mail asking us to join and we will let you. No expensive initiation fees, no credit checks... its easy, its fun (kinda).

Here is our son drawing the winners for Mayonnaise Week, from the super special Mayonnaise Week Mayo Tub. And below is the e-mail we sent out to all those e-mail list people.

Greetings Sandwich People,

We try to do things right at Graze ("right" being a highly subjective idea that we tend to always put ourselves on the correct side of the "right/wrong" continuum).

Mayonnaise, or Mayo for short, is one of those things that always makes us question just how "right" we are.

Consider the following "rightness" scale I have in my head regarding this French classic, descending from most right to least right.
- hand whisked, using fresh peeled garlic and local organic eggs, pure olive oil, lemon, kosher salt
- food processor, peeled garlic, fresh eggs, pure olive oil, lemon, kosher salt
- food processor, peeled garlic, fresh eggs, canola oil, lemon, kosher salt
- best foods mayo (hellman's for you east coasters)
- food processor mayo, jarred mashed garlic (this stuff is toxic, ruins most everything), fresh eggs, lemon, kosher salt
- assorted mayo brands
- heavy duty five gallon bucket industrial strength generic mayo

Now as much as we would like to make mayo for our sandwiches and sauces daily... it just is not practical. And as safe as it is to make mayo from egg yolks, this risk/reward ratio on our part is much to high, and the health department would flip out and make us put warning labels all over the sandwich shop.

So we choose to use Best Foods as our only mayo. But here is the deal. Five gallons of Best Foods Mayo costs us $62.50. Any idea how much the generic industrial heavy duty stuff sells for.... $32. Yep, we are idiots. But without Best Foods our basil mayo would be lackluster, our russian dressing would suffer, our chipolte mayo would be bland, the caesar dressing would taste greasy.

Best Foods is so good, so fantastic, so that much better than the alternative, so as close as you can get to a house made mayo without the tiny health risk while being incredibly non-perishable, that we are going to celebrate it the only way we know how. This entire week at Graze is Mayonnaise Week!!!!

Here is how it works. Come in. Order. Then say "Bring Out the Best". For every sandwich you order you get to place your name in... wait for it.... wait for it... the Best Foods Mayo Gallon Tub. And we will hold a drawing at the end of the week and award the lucky winners their choice of a Graze T-shirt or a Graze Handbag. Three winners this glorious glorious Mayonnaise Week.

Cheers

Random Appetizers

2010-11-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

We had the pleasure to make a few appetizers we haven't done in a while. First up, a decidedly non-winter app that a client insisted we make... sometimes I am so glad we do things we would not normally do. She said she wanted some goat cheese and sauteed vegetables with crostinis. So we found these little green zuchinni and sliced them into thin rounds and just super quick sauteed them in olive oil. Then we hard sauteed some red peppers and piquillo peppers and added really large thinly sliced garlic. For the goat cheese we pureed some basil with lemon and salt, and then whipped up a batch of goat cheese mousse. A new favorite for anytime of the year. Thanks for the inspiration Julie!

A twice baked red potato, filled with yukon gold pureed potatoes, with cheddar and pepperjack cheese, bacon, and chives, topped with paprika. So yummy all Brian and I could do was think of breakfast. So we popped an egg yolk in the hollowed out and roasted potato, topped it with some bacon and chives, and baked it in the oven for a few minutes... until the yolk was barely set... and it gushes all over the plate when cut into. Yeah, it was one of those kitchen moments of bliss.

Who doesn't love a good Thai spring roll? Here is the ingredient list for our spring rolls. Rice paper wrapper, somen noodles, rice wine vinegar, mixed greens, finely shredded carrots, mung beans, clover sprouts, cilantro, basil, and mint. Packed with flavor they are super tasty. Although pretty much everyone in our kitchen hates making them, they are time consuming beyond belief with that many ingredients. We serve them with sweet chili dipping sauce and/or our homemade peanut sauce (you know that gloppy kind that reminds you of wallpaper paste but coats your mouth with peanut butter and hoisin flavor... not that kind.) Our peanut sauce is a puree of sauteed red torpedo peppers and garlic and cilantro stems, peanut butter, lime, salt, and coconut milk. Its fantastic.

A dim and bad photo of our fall dessert tartletts. Pumpkin pie and chocolate pecan pie.

Cheers

Reininger

2010-11-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

We have had the pleasure of working for and with Reininger Winery for a long time now. Their annual Holiday Barrell Tasting Party was one of our very first big winery jobs. Appetizers for 150 people for a two hour party. I was scared silly at the time. These days 150 person appetizer parties are kind of run of the mill.

For this year's Fall Release Weekend we were happy to do a first ever for Reininger, a tasting and pairing of small plates for a group of 33 guests. Here is how the evening broke down. Guests had a couple of small passed apps as Chuck Reininger gave them a tour of the facility. Then the show began. First course was a heirloom squash soup with sage cream, prosciutto di parma, and a mini butternut squash panini with roasted garlic and fried sage - paired with a reserve chardonnay. (here is the dish right before the panini went down for service.)

Second course was a herb de provence crusted pork tenderloin with butter braised brussel sprouts, bacon, and roasted fingerling potatoes - paired with the SoRo Helix. (not pictured) Third course was a crispy polenta cake/cup filled with Thundering Hooves red wine braised beef ragu, wilted chard and garlic, and parmesan grana (shakily pictured below) - paired with Helix Sangiovese.

The fourth course was a minimalist cassoulet. Calypso beans from Welcome Table Farm (close to the best beans I have ever had) The beans are cooked in chicken stock, wine, lamb braising liquid, and thickened with a duck fat roux. We then incorporated the lamb neck meat, crisp duck confit, and seared cubed saucisson, then topped the whole thing with duck fat mini croutons. (picture of the lamb braise as it heads to the oven, sorry no pic of finished dish)

The last course was as unlike anything we have ever done. We poached dried mission figs in helix merlot, then reduced the liquid to a yummy syrup. Made some marshmallows, and broke off cubes of Girardelli Chocolate. The whole thing reminded me of a smore, so we added a skewer, and let guests toast up the mallows at their tables over the tea lights. It was pretty darn good, and pretty fun to do.

For this years Holiday Barrell Weekend Reininger is switching gears and not doing the appetizer party. They are planning something much better. A vertical tasting of Cima (their super tuscan themed red) led by Chuck, followed by a really simple buffet meal of our red wine beef ragu, creamy polenta, and roasted fall vegetables with sage brown butter.

Cheers!!!

Thanksgiving x 3

2010-11-26T09:35:00.000-08:00

We served Thanksgiving three times over the last two and a half weeks. First we served 90 staff at the Walla Walla Clinic. Seven days later we served 170 Corps of Engineers staff and family. And six days later we served 130 Con Agra employees (a new mexico version, chipolte stuffing, and jalepeno and red torpedo pepper cornpone (cornpone you ask? it's a midwest corn casserole I tweaked from my grandmother and mother's holiday table)). That makes 490 Thanksgiving dinners served. Brian and I both do not want to see another turkey until November 2011.

And we do it right too. Gravy is made from turkey stock. Stuffing from leftover sourdough and italian bread from the sandwich shop. Potatoes from scratch... etc etc. Turkeys are salted and herbed for three days prior. And the best part is the leftovers turn into sandwich shop specials... that are truly fantastic.

Thanksgiving soup. Turkey gravy, thinned with stock, leftover turkey scraps, sauteed celery and carrots, fresh thyme. Its like a full thanksgiving meal in a cup.

And the special sandwich... like a thanksgiving meal between bread.

And the two combined... comatose heaven. (And can you believe it. 490 meals served... and not a single picture of the roasted bird. I am an idiot.)

Touched

2010-10-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, around 2pm or some other non-descript slow restaurant time, a single college age student had a sandwich and left us a little note, semi-crumpled on her dining table.

This is our first ever piece of customer generated sandwich art. And the kind and thoughtful words give me that lump in your throut, 'I kinda want to cry feeling'.

Here is what is says:

"I'm at Graze by myself. I ordered a Turkey sandwich. I miss Michigan. Walla Walla is a very different environment. I miss the forests and the the smells. I wish I felt better about my move. Good food is important to me that's why I came to Graze. My dad and mom would eat here. They both have worked in the restaurant industry for their whole lives. They taught me the difference between a good dish and a bad dish."

We have had this little scrap of paper push-pinned to the wall ever since she left it.

Cheers and Thank You to the young lady.

"the chipolte incident"

2010-10-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

I read this book a while back called... oh I can't remember it now. But it was about famous chef guys and gals and their own personal pro cooking screw ups, nightmares, horror stories. Batali, Keller, that dude with the famous 'best restaurant in the world' Spanish guy, Bourdain, all the usual suspects. It made me smile, remembering the time I let two gallons of fryer grease overflow the catch pot onto the floor of Creektown Cafe (rip) to begin a day that would see us serve a hundred or so lunch patrons. Or the time (as a very newbie cook) I was making a batch of pesto in a blender. Apparently I was unhappy with how quickly the basil was working its way toward the blades. so holding the blade end of a chefs knife I poked the basil downward with the wooden handle, only to hit the spinning blades, nearly cutting myself... and to the horror of the other cooks immediately proceeded to reattempt the failed exercise... hitting the blades again.

This definitely not a mistake! Roast delicata squash, acorn squash, garlic, onions, rutabegas,

sage brown butter. For a tiny little wedding this weekend.

I recall all of this because we had an accident the other day at the sandwich shop I would like to share with you. It went like this, the cook, great person, newish to the trade, was making chipolte mayo for the pulled pork torta (have you tried it yet? chile garlic onion braised pork, smashed avocado, fresh cilantro, our house quick pickled jalepenos, tomatoes... I digress). The secret recipe goes like this, one can of a certain brand of chipoltes, nine cups of mayo, blend in food processor till smooth. The smoothing out process can take awhile, chipoltes can be a bit tough, and we don't want any chuncky bits. Something made our young cook unhappy so she stuck her spatula into the running machine. Of course it hit the blade (I could have told her that...) and the whole machine started to rattle, and shake, and immediately spurt chipolte mayo everywhere. She panicked, and rather than shut the machine off, she tried to dislodge the spatula, which only seemed to make the machine spew faster. By the time she got the thing stopped, the aftermath was not pretty.

Being the extraordinary boss that I am, I immediately started laughing and taking as many pictures as I could before the clean up started. And now for your viewing pleasure, the day that will be fondly remembered in 'GRAZE - a place to eat' history as "the chipolte incident".

It hit everything...

...the ceiling...

...across the entire cook area...

... into the dining area...

... it was awesome!

Cheers

pro-fesh-uh-nall

2010-10-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

The difference between my camera phone and the professional photographer's lens is well... jaw dropping. Photos from Brenda and Keith's Wedding Reception. Courtesy of Wilton Photography.

Summer's finest. All purchased at the farmer's market Saturday Morning and prepared for 200+ guests Saturday Night. Sweet corn saute, zuchinni, basil, Maria's perfect cherry tomatoes.

Prime rib. Don't you hate grey prime rib, thats what you get when its cut too hot, and placed in a chafing dish. We carve ours in back, keep it warm with a heat lamp, cook it between medium rare and medium, and serve it on a crisp white platter. Salt and herb cured for three days prior to service... we don't gloat... but yeah its probably the best prime rib in town... by a longshot.

Kimi's Rockstar Salad Mix, and just cut vegetables with a couple of side dressings. Kimi is the proprietor of Stone's Throw Farm... amazing salad greens.

Ron's green beans, sun dried tomatoes, toasted almonds, parmesan, extra virgin olive oil, golden garlic. Do you have any idea how long it takes to trim and blanch 40 lbs of green beans? Answer... too long.

Cheers

fun stuff

2010-10-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks we have done some fun stuff. Mostly winery thingamabobbers and whatchamacallits. A trip up the hill and dinner in a gazebo for Cadaretta, family style dinner at Dunham, appetizers at Longshadows, buffet at Waters, plated dinner at Amavi (poor JF, the winemaker for Pepperbridge, I think he ate at three dinners of ours in four days, and had a few sandwiches in there as well), wedding in Dayton, and ran all over Walla Walla delivering sandwiches.

Here are some random photos.

The Cadaretta gazebo built on some vineyard property (near the Seven Hills Vineyard on the Oregon side of the border). The gazebo at sunset and the inside of it setting up for dinner.

Brian's paper thin crostinis with white bean arrabiatta and seared shrimp.

A special at the sandwich shop. Grandpa's favorite sandwich was a huge slice of tomato from his garden, lots of mayo, salt and pepper, and a fat slice of raw onion. We upscaled it a bit... I still think his is better.

So this picture looks pretty horrid. It is tiramisu we served for the Washigton Wine Commision field trip to Walla Walla. We did a family style dinner for 70 guests, and finished up with this dessert. I swear this picture doesn't do it justice. We don't normally make dessert... but we are starting to rethink that with our tiramisu.

Same deal. This looks bad right. But it was killer. We cut yellow, green and red heirloom tomatoes in half, removed the seeds, stuffed them with fresh mozzarella, egg washed the cut sides, and breaded them with panko bread crumbs, then shallow pan fried the breaded side, then flipped them and roasted them on the grill to just get them warm, then drizzled pesto over the top. You will never want to have a regular caprese salad again after eating these.

The view of Walla Walla from the Cadaretta Vineyard site.

Cheers

Summer is dead... Long live the Summer

2010-09-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Ask any farmer, vineyard manager, gardener, and avid farmer's market shopper and he or she will tell you 2010 was not your typical Walla Walla growing season. Spring was cold and long. Summer was mild and never really showed up until late July. I think July 4th recorded a high of 84! (shocking considering our first four July 4ths as Walla Walla residents came in at 102, 104, 108, and around 119, or at least they felt that way) And when our summer heat finally did arrive it didn't come with any gusto, every night cooled considerably, which seems to be a major contributor to tomato ripening (or at least that what my farmer friends say). So here we are, the last days of September, a couple of weeks later than usual for grape harvest and crush, and the weather is just a perfect 80 everyday, with pleasant nights, and those tomatoes I dream about in July are here in abundance... and all I want is for this to last for at least another month. That seems fair considering how inconsistent our weather has been this year.

My favorite tomato photo of the year.

Heirloom roma tomato, oven dried, on a wafer thin crostini, extra virgin olive oil, and a couple of leaves of fresh thyme. Boring to look at, fantastic to eat. We were going to serve these with a bit of goat cheese... glad we didn't, they were so clean tasting served so simply.

Fresh picked local corn soup, thyme cream, and prosciutto bits. I told Brian (the cook) to infuse some cream with a ridiculous amount of fresh thyme. It was so powerful the cream was faintly green, and by itself tasted rather medicinal and unpleasant. But as a component for the smooth sweet corn soup it was perfect.

So we have been obsessed with tomatoes and watermelons ever since we did a large salad for a wedding in July. This was our sixth or seventh version of the paring done for a wine dinner. We blanched and peeled all the cherry tomatoes, flash fried some sweet cayenne peppers, splashed some extra virgin and kosher salt, and drizzled the whole thing with some balsamic glaze (which is the part I would rather take back) and a tiny dash of smoked paprika.

The most lovely kitchen assistant I have ever had. This little lady (who is also my little lady) came to Terra Blanca Winery with me for a cooking demonstration/class. She was a big help, and looks super cute in the Graze apron.

Cheers

Well Now....

2010-09-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

Summer has been a blast. It has been so long since our last post we might as well do a summary. Since June we have done 18 Walla Walla Weddings, ranging from down home country cookouts to three course plated affairs; numerous conpany events, and lots of medium and little stuff. Here are some photos from the last two months.

Took the boy to his first Mariners game... they lost in 13 innings... he cried.

Our version of dessert, cobbler, or we make brownies, or we cut pre-made cheesecake.... or we order it from the patisserie.

We tie, salt, and herb all our roasts for three days. Tenderloin headed to the oven.

Tracy our Event Manager tending the buffet.

One of my favorite things to make, gravalax. Three days with salt, sugar, lemon, gin, and dill. Served with creme fraiche, capers, and fresh dill, stunningly good.

Pork loin bone in, coriander, fennel, garlic. Possibly the best thing we make. Rice salad, japanese black rice, basmati, sauteed red peppers, carrots, marjoram, parsley, red wine vinaigrette

Stuffed portabella mushrooms, sauteed zuchinni, red peppers, roast garlic, melted provolone, roasted portabella. Awesome.

The evolution of a dish. Tomato and watermelon salad with balsamic reduction, and chive sticks. Super yummy. And then we needed an intermezzo for a wine dinner, so we reduced it to a single skewer, blanched and peeled the cherry tomato, and sat the seedless watermelon in a tiny pool of balsamic glaze. A touch of kosher salt and extra virgin olive oil and we were in business.

Seared shrimp, white bean arrabiatta crostini. Needs a bit of minced parsley to really make it pop, don't you think.

Our first wedding reception at Waterbrook Winery. 240 guests for appetizers. A lovely day.

Ridiculous

2010-08-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

You want to know what is ridiculous? Having the last picture of food posted on this blog be asparagus. It is the middle of August for goodness sake.

We really do cook seasonally, I swear. It has just been busy here.

Cheers

The Month In Pictures

2010-07-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

This blog has a problem. There aren't enough pictures. So to mix things up... here are a bunch of pictures without a lot of words.

Blanched asparagus salad, smoked trout, potato crisps, tarragon mayo... dinner for 8 at Longshadows.

A shockingly similar plate arrangement for the same dinner! Beef tenderloin, sauce bordelaise, roasted asparagus, roast walla walla sweet onions.

Chipolte adobo avocado sliders for the wine bloggers at Figgins Family Estate luncheon.

Castoldi Farm roasted baby carrots and walla walla sweet onions, on the sheet pan prior to service... for Northwest Farm Credit party at Watermill Winery.

Nora's Hawaiian Wedding Reception, an appetizer of fruit skewers and citrus mint dipping sauce. The kahlua pork was really yummy.

A less than stellar photo of some guests at Dumas Station's wine club party. The view was lovely, and the party ever so pleasant.

Is is possible to mess up a salad with Stone Throw Farm's greens?

Have I mentioned we do not do dessert? Unless it is something as simple as this mixed berry shortcake, our sweet cream biscuit, whipped cream, and the bounty from our farmer's fields.

Does this guy look like a banker to you? Attempted to eat five Latronkas in under 40 minutes. Each Latronka weighs in at 17.5 ounces with 8 ounces of pastrami. He ate two in fifteen minutes before calling it quits... three days later some other dude ate 2.5 in eighteen minutes. Did we create a monster? (Editors Note: It has come to my attention this was not the case, that the challenger ate only 1.75 in eighteen minutes. Keeping this fellow as the current Latronka eating champion.)

A wedding in the gazebo at Pioneer Park. The short bald guy is Brian, our outstanding cook. This is what we do to make food taste good. Cook as much as possible on site.

Coriander, fennel, garlic pork loin roast, bone in, with creamy polenta, wilted swiss chard, roast baby carrots, and sauteed snap peas. For Pepperbridge's Vine Club Luncheon.

Lots more went on the last month, but per usual we failed to bring a camera or remembered to take pictures. Needless to say it has been busy and a whole lot of fun. The sun has finally decided to come out here... what an odd spring and early summer... so tomatoes should be appearing this weekend or the next... which always makes me happy.

Cheers

Palmares

2010-07-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

Palmares is a cycling term meaning a list of great accomplishments. Here is our version of palmares.

"Dear Tracy and John and all the Graze staff,
    We can't thank you enough for the wonderful meal you catered for Megan and Malcom's wedding! All of you who served were so friendly and helpful. The guests raved about the quality and the flavors of every dish, and it was beautiful as well.
    When we came into town on Thursday and had lunch at Graze, I was certain the wedding food would be delicious. Knowing that helped pave the way for a relaxed and enjoyable evening.
Many thanks,
    Sally"

I tell brides, and mom's of brides, and very rarely grooms and dad's of the bride or the groom... to relax, have fun, don't worry about what time it is or what event is scheduled to take place next (if events are scheduled) (the really nervous ones I counsel to not wear a watch... and I get thanked for this piece of advice more often than any other). I tell them they are throwing a big party, and their only job is to have fun... and provide a nice time for their guests.

And when you can relax, and not worry about stuff, you really do have a good time. We feel honored to be able to do that for our wedding parties.

Cheers

Palmares

2010-07-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

Palmares is a cycling term for a list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares. A letter we received today from Ted who puts on the Columbia County Grain Growers Annual Meeting.

"I just wanted to drop a note and thank you for the wonderful dinner you provided us on June 24th. We have received numerous compliments on your behalf. They began during dinner, after dinner, and several times since the meeting a week ago. More kudos than any other meal we have provided our patrons. Your staff was very punctual, courteous, and especially professional. I wish you a great summer and look forward to working with you again. Sincerely, Ted"

So we have been really busy the last couple of weeks. And this letter just sums it up for me. The day of this event we served 140 other guests at a winery. These fine wheat farmers and a large group at Watermill Winery, and both were super happy. And neither had any idea we were doing the other event because everything came off without a hitch... and this was in the final stretch of 23 events in 14 days.

It has been the busiest last two weeks in Graze Catering history. We will get you an update on what we have been doing soon. The wedding parade begins for real this coming weekend. At least one a weekend for the next two months.

Cheers

Stealing, Lending, Appropriating

2010-06-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

My father gave me some sage advice when I began substitute teaching. "Steal whatever you can" he whispered. He did not wish for me to steal copy paper, number two pencils, or text books. What he was suggesting I steal were ideas. Any lesson, child management technique, room arrangement, roll taking system... etc etc. It was good advice. Good teaching isn't magic, it is really a set of skills most anyone can employ, and pretty much everything has been done before. What my father was telling me really boiled down to "there ain't much new under the sun and no sense in beating your head against a rock trying to invent everything yourself."

When a local business called and said they had guests from China, no seafood, and they weren't too fond of our American Diet (and I make pretty horrible Chinese food)... I remembered my brother and his wife. They both lived in China for nine months and they make some great Chinese food. It is always light, fresh, clean, and wholesome. I immediately recalled a dish they made for us the last time they were in town, lionshead meatballs. A perfect blend of ground pork, ground shirmp (omitted for our seafood phobics), garlic, ginger, green onions, soy, and chili flakes, simmered in chicken stock with sauteed napa cabbage. Here is a picture (yes its blurry, yes it looks gross, and yes it is very difficult to photograph a dish of this nature with a shaky camera phone... and my brother and his wife would have been proud.)

The rest of the stuff we made was non-chinese, but chinese-friendly. Sauteed broccoli raab and garlic with hot peppers, beautiful green salad with soy ginger dressing, fresh fruit spiked with mint, and steamed rice.

Its been a pretty chill last few weeks here. Mom and Dad and Grandma have been in town. And we have had some time to play in the home kitchen. My latest obsession has been ribs. And as always, pizza.

Cheers

Are You a Localvore?

2010-05-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a teacher joke this pretty terrible teacher I worked with used to say "What are the three best reasons to be a teacher?... June, July, and August.

Here is my lame Walla Walla joke riff. What are the three best months to live in Walla Walla?... May, May, and May. Not that there aren't plenty of other great months, but May really is our crown jewel. May begins with Spring Release weekend (where we practiced our trade at Leonetti, Le Ecole, and Mannina Cellars), which is followed by The Balloon Stampede (where we cooked outdoors on a hill overlooking the valley), which is followed by a weekend of little importance excepting it is the third weekend of the best month of the year (where we cooked a beautiful localvore dinner for visiting Land Trustians), and is completed with the much ballyhooed graduation of Whitman Seniors (which saw us feed most all of them at the sandwich shop, or at least if felt that way, and run all over town doing backyard graduation parties).

Lots of really solid work by Team Graze this last month but here are our two favorite parties.

Bogin Bogin Bogin. Thats his name.

I met this guy playing poker. He had this weekend rental loft apartment he was in the process of building on a hill just outside of town. He made his own vinegar. We traded stories. He lent me some vinegar mother. The wife and I stayed at the rental for a couple of nights and in trade cooked for some of his friends at the loft apartment. Paella... a big beautiful local greens salad... wine... a lone table for 16 and lots of green wheat. A thunderstomy day turned perfect... a perfect May perfect. Here are some photos.

Landtrust Berkenstock Wearing Crazies Invade Walla Walla.

A really fantastic lady called me from Georgia and asked if we could do a "localvore dinner" for visiting Land Trust trainees from three Pacific Northwest states. She said she wanted everything we served to be from the Walla Walla Valley. So we did. The only items we used that were not grown proper in Walla Walla were: bay leaves, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon. I think I went a bit beyond what she was expecting in adhering to the local theme by being so hardline, but it was a blast, and she and the guests loved it.

Here is the menu:

- Thundering Hooves roast pork shoulder stuffed with sage, dried chilies, thyme, oregano.

- Thundering Hooves tri-tip with chimichurri of sage, oregano.

- Calypso beans, sauteed garlic shoots and broccoli raab shoots.

- Grilled walla walla spring onions.

- Blanched asparagus, bechamel.

- Salad, heirloom radishes, oak leaf lettuce, pea shoots, arugula, spinach, walla walla vinegar vinaigrette, feta cheese.

- Baguettes and butter (which we made from a local dairy's cream)

- Patisserie dessert (which Dave conjured miraculously from local products)

During the summer/fall wedding season we buy probably about 90% of our produce from local farmers. Just about every Saturday you can catch me at the farmer's market loading up the Graze Truck with boxes and boxes of produce, most of which we cook and serve that day at our wedding receptions. But this localvore dinner was different because we couldn't cheat (or at least we felt like we couldn't cheat) and add that one thing like garlic cloves or lemon zest to a dish. The food felt so authentic... and we felt so tied to Walla Walla... and our farmers... and the land. (Boy that sounds really cheesy, but it's the truth.)

Thank goodness Emily and Andy had these Calypso beans in dry storage. They filled in our starch component for the meal (absolutely no potatoes, root vegetables, this time of year). The only bean I have had in my life better than these Calypso's were the fresh Coco beans we had in Italy. Stunningly good. Beg and plead with Welcome Table Farm for some when they harvest them later this summer.

Cheers

Here... There... and Everywhere

2010-04-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

The best part of catering (and the worst part) is how varied the cooking experience is. Breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, simple appetizers, fancy appetizers, drop offs, plated meals, family style, sandwiches, greek, italian, 'merican, vegetarian, mexican, spanish, asian... and then we cook at our kitchen, off site in a great commercial kitchen, in bad kitchens, outdoors in the sun, rain, wind... the list goes on and it is never boring, never.

Here is what we have been up to the last two weeks. Played for two nights in the kitchen at Walla Walla community college, cooked up an evening of appetizers for the visiting aauw conference, and the following night served the same 150 ladies a plated three course meal. And that same day we served appetizers to a group of WSU vetrinarian grads at Cougar Crest Winery.

The following week we did breakfast for the Baker Boyer Milton Freewater branch, breakfast for some nurses at the hospital, breakfast for the Baker Boyer main office, lunch for the Baker Boyer main office, a few really large sandwich deliveries, and then put our party hats on and did some awesome appetizers for the Whitman Class of 1970 in the Dunham Cellars Hangar Lounge. Two days later we did a vegetarian buffet for the Walla Walla Valley Academy, while the same night we made dinner for Desales High School's graduating seniors and parents.

If you are coming to Walla Walla for Spring Release we hope you can make it to these fine establishments to sample our wares, Le Ecole, Mannina Cellars, and Leonetti... and of course GRAZE - a place to eat, for a pleasant lunch or light dinner.

Cheers

Let The Fun Begin

2010-04-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

March was kinda busy, or at least it felt like it... until I looked at the calendar and realized there were lots of empty white days and only a few blue bars. Maybe having both my wife and I's parents visit for an uninterrupted 17 days made March seem a bit busier than it really was. (parents and visitors have a way of doing that don't they?)

But now the real show begins. That google calendar is filled with all blue bars now. Tomorrow we do five caterings (seriously), today we did three... and they just keep coming. (note to potential clients, please call us, please)

Last week we had the priveledge of cooking up some Lostine Cattle Company Beef for some folks at the Leonetti Upland Vineyard Site. Chris Figgins has started a grass fed beef business. And here is the shocker, it is incredibly good, not "for grass fed" but incredibly good "beef". (We did some test cooking with all kinds of cuts from their first few animals harvested... and being a huge skeptic... and having poor grass fed beef experiences prior... I was not exactly thrilled about being the cook being led to slaughter (so to speak). The beef was fantastic, clean tasting, tender, and alltogether wholesome and satisfying. So for this group of visitors we fired up three mini slider burgers (goat cheese and caramelized onions, chipolte adobo and avocado, and blue cheese and bacon) along with a few tasty sides.

And to finish things off, Heidi, uber-consultant said she wanted to end lunch with a giant chocolate chip cookie... which we don't make. So we made our regular cookies and then glued two together with bittersweet chocolate. Oh man, that was heaven. Not as heaven as the Walla Walla Hills on a perfect Spring day, or the taste we had of the Figgins Family Estate wine, kind of a lower level heaven... if you catch my drift.

And last but not least... meet the new Graze Trailer complete with its brand new grills. Coming to a Walla Walla wedding reception near you soon!

what we have been up to...what have we been up to?

2010-03-02T22:01:00.000-08:00

Its been busy around these parts. Since we last checked in we made a lovely little meal for 160 or so folks who listened to the Walla Walla Academy Orchestra play some lovely tunes. Served a charmingly large group of couples a vegetarian pre-valentines day meal. Ran ourselves ragged with sandwich shop deliveries. Did a fun and quite enlightening test cooking for the Lostine Beef Company (really yummy grass fed and aged beef... really.) And hosted our (almost) first dinner at Graze (the sandwichy shop the doubles as a pretty cool private dinner place).

And to make things even more fun Lifestyles Magazine did a profile on me and GRAZE - a place to eat. Here is a shot from the article.

Also had a few great comments passed on from previous wedding clients of ours. Here is a shot from Seth and Cindy's Reception held in Dayton, about which Cindy opines "Thanks again for such a fantastic feast for our wedding reception."

And these kind words come from Diane who organized the Orchestra party. "Thank you so much for the very professional and exceptional service you provided our orchestra. The food was fabulous! I will not hesitate to recommend your fine company. Thanks again."

And starting Thursday we begin a stretch of nine events in eight days... highlighted by the Showcase Dinner for 300 or so Walla Wallans. Cheers.

Dinner at Graze

2010-02-08T21:33:00.000-08:00

Dinner at Graze. Sapere Consulting rented out our eatery a couple of weeks back. Twenty one Sapere principals and employees enjoyed our hospitality and food. We had such a good time we have decided to do it again. So February 27th we kick off our (almost) first ever dinner party. Email our super secret email for more info at info@grazeevents.com

Cheers

Palmares

2010-01-31T10:46:00.000-08:00

Palmares is cycling term for a list of great accomplishments. Our version of Palmares.

We just received this email from a wedding this past summer at Mill Creek Gardens. Happy thoughts for the cold and grey January weather.

"Dear John and the Graze staff:
I thought you might like a few pictures of the lovely food at Michael and Leah Simon's wedding this past July. You did such an amazing job -- not only was it beautiful, but it was absolutely delicious, and the service was impeccable. We were so happy with how it all came together. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a wonderful part of this special day.
Best... Deberah"

Cheers!

Why Not?

2010-01-12T23:46:00.000-08:00

GRAZE - 'a place to eat' is officially open Monday through Saturday 10am to 7pm starting Monday, January 18th. The wife and I were planning on this little expansion for the Spring. But after a moment of reflection we figured if March is good, why not January?

So here is the deal. Now you can get our just better than decent food all day long. And wine and beer prices are downright silly. $2 domestic beer, $2.50 micros (terminal gravity esg), $5 and $6 glasses of wine. Bottles for $16 and $20.

Catering has been a hoot as well. Served up 311 hungry Cattleman's Association Dinner Patrons the other night. What did we serve? 200 pounds of prime rib of course. And all prospective Walla Walla Wedding clients, we seem to be getting ready to send out menus and the whatnot... maybe... sooner hopefully than later.

Cheers

2009 Year in Review

2010-01-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

2009 was a busy year for Graze Catering. The collective "we" of Graze, grew from me and whomever I could get to work on an on call basis, to me, Tracy the Event Manager, Brian the Cook, and our previous list of part time servers and cooks. Now when I say "we" in reference to Graze it really means "we", a group of people, not "we", John as cook, server, dishwasher, and event manager.

We also added a downtown eatery. It is pretty good... you might like it.

In honor of 2009, I present you with the Graze Catering Index (with apologies to Harper's Index). All totals are Graze Catering only, and do not reflect numbers from Graze 'a place to eat'.

Guests served in 2006 --- 604
Guests served in 2007 --- 3,319
Guests served in 2008 --- 8,053
Guests served in 2009 --- 12,166

Number of events 2006 --- 17
Number of events 2007 --- 66
Number of events 2008 --- 83
Number of events 2009 --- 176

Number of events 150+ guests 2006 --- 0
Number of events 150+ guests 2007 --- 2
Number of events 150+ guests 2008 --- 11
Number of events 150+ guests 2009 --- 16

Number of events 500+ guests 2006 --- 0
Number of events 500+ guests 2007 --- 0
Number of events 500+ guests 2008 --- 3
Number of events 500+ guests 2009 --- 3

Number of weddings/rehearsals 2006 --- 0
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2007 --- 6
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2008 --- 18
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2009 --- 22

Thanks to all our past and future clients and guests. We look forward to serving you again.

Cheers

Christmas

2009-12-28T21:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was a work day for us this year. We fed the numerous and hungry Nelson Irrigation staff. Later that day we were fortunate enough to have my family fly in to celebrate the holidays. So we made a special dinner. A new york strip roast fresh out of our ancient home oven. A few side plates of roasted mushrooms and blue cheese, sauteed butternut squash, garlic mashed potatoes, and brussell sprouts and the feast was on.

And for extra measure one too many bottles of wine for good cheer.

Cheers

8 Ounces of Love

2009-12-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

The whole point of this blog was to showcase the efforts of Graze Catering (and to do so without spending dollars... thank you blessed internet and blogspot). 10,000 hits later (a good thousand of which need be attributed to my family, and another thousand to my diddling with the blog) that goal seems to have been accomplished. Sadly the last couple of months this blog has become a restaurant starting - sandwich obsessed forum, which does nothing to inform folks our main purpose in this cooking business world is to cater.

Now that we have that all clear. Here is a shot of the special prime rib sandwich we served the last few days. Wow, 6 oz of prime rib, caramelized onions, blue cheese, provolone, mayo, and la brea ciabatta. Which was made possible because we served 350 Key Technology employees a prime rib dinner. Our over ordering makes a Graze lunch spot patron a lucky recipient. In the last month we have put on 23 events, and had the lunch place open six days a week. It's been busy here.

And more Graze 'a place to eat news'... we added three new sandwiches this week.

A panini of roasted butternut squash slices, roasted garlic, fried sage, mozzarella, and provolone (which has the option of adding proscuitto). Upon taste testing one of the cooks said "wow, I don't like butternut squash and that is awesome."
Another cold vegetarian, tons of avocado seasoned with lemon and salt, cucumber slices, sprouts, tomatoes, mama lils peppers, and provolone.
The Latronka. A huge 8 ounce pastrami bomb. All the same fixings as the original 'just big' pastrami. House made sauerkraut, russian dressing, and swiss cheese. Plus we add some mild deli peppers.

As 2009 winds down and we finish off the holiday season this blog will happily return to its roots and showcase our catering talents. We look forward to chatting with our 2010 wedding clients and prospective clients in January and February. Till then Merry Christmas!!!

Cheers

Pastrami

2009-11-30T23:04:00.000-08:00

This is what I had for lunch today. 5 South Colville. 10am to 3pm.

Cheers

Dinner at Graze

2009-11-12T20:22:00.000-08:00

Barrel Tasting Weekend Saturday Night December 5th, Graze (look at all those capitals) will host its first dinner... ever. For three years we have been schlepping our stuff to wineries, houses, and fields. This time we are home.

Join us for dinner. We can seat around 24. Arrive at 6:15, share a glass of bubbly and a few appetizers, dinner to start in a timely fashion thereafter. Menu goes something like this: bi-colored soup, white and purple salad, something that went baaaaa, and dessert from the Colville Street Patisserie. (menu accomodations made if possible.)

Price: $50 a person, beer and wine not included, wines promise to be yummy and attractively priced. All guests seated family style, bring good cheer and conviviality, if you bring wine corkage is $10 and sharing will be... expected?... required?... who wouldn't want to share with so many new friends?

Email for reservations and our long list of requirements at info@grazeevents.com

Here we go

2009-11-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

Ok, practice week is over. Guess its the real deal Monday. Three days of practice in our new space has done wonders. We may not be the quickest kids on the block yet, but we'll get there.

A few notes on the menu. The pastrami is very good... so good I can't even really work out how we can make it much better... and that kind of bothers me (this pastrami thing has become an obsession, anything that takes twenty-some days to cure gets under your skin). The meatballs make me happy, as they did to the couple of new yorkers who stopped in the other day. I want to eat the chimichurri sauce for the flank steak on nearly everything. And thank goodness Becca made a beautiful little roasted pear salad at home a few weeks back... its my favorite adding grilled chicken; a lovely light lunch. If there is a better condiment to place on a sandwich than Mama Lils Peppers I would like to eat it. And the silly paninis we served at the farmer's market the last couple of years are still mighty tasty.

All in all I think it is a place I would like to eat at (hope you feel the same)... now if I could only find some time to sit down and do that I will be a very happy man.

Cheers

Open... kind of

2009-11-05T07:39:00.000-08:00

We opened Monday for delivery. Did three orders. The most panicked and frightened three orders you could possibly see put together. I do weddings for 250, wine dinners for 50, appetizers for hundreds... three orders freaked me/us out. Tuesday was calmer and did 18 or so. Wednesday we moved all our stuff from the catering kitchen to the storefront so everything has a home at least, and a sense of calm set in.

This morning we will walk in and it should resemble 'a normal, what everyday should look like', day. We may even let a person or two walk in and order. Monday is the official open day. Woo hoo.

Cheers

Failure

2009-10-31T23:15:00.000-07:00

We failed our final inspection. Eleven failures. But not to worry. All will be tidied up by Monday, and a re-final will be attempted (and passed) Tuesday. Same goes for the health department inspection Tuesday. So Wednesday we will have all the rules, regulations, hoop jumping, T-crossing, i dotting, fee paying - silliness completed. (Until some unbeknowst to us public entity demands forms, fees, and more hoop jumping... opening a business is the fastest way to joining the Libertarian Party.) Unless you count the beer/wine license which is still working its way through dark and murky government channels.

First all employee meeting today, which consisted of ten minutes of form filling out, five minutes of rambling and confusing "leadership talk", and two hours of intensive cleaning. Monday we start delivery service for businesses (permit to cook in our storefront still in limbo, the cooking will be done at our catering kitchen).

This really is happening... Becca walked through the sandwich shop kitchen today and said "Frances, look around, here is your college tuition". I wonder if its jc or university grade?

With all the crazi-ness of getting the storefront ready the catering keeps on ticking. A luncheon for the Blue Mountain Action Council, dinner for Stores Online, and the pic above dinner at Waters Winery.

For Waters Winery we did five courses: a roasted pear and greens salad, sauteed scallops and apples and quatre epices spices, cauliflower soup and duxelle cream, and the main of beef tenderloin with red wine reduction sauce, brussels, yukons sauteed in clarified butter and brussel sprouts, patisserie dessert... quite yummy.

Cheers

Your Mile is My Inch

2009-10-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

Lots of people still have lots to do. But its getting closer. Deliveries start Monday November the 2nd.

It may not look like it, but we are really close... at least that is what I keep telling myself.

Cheers

primer to floor color

2009-10-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Cheers

Progress

2009-10-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

Logo on the door.

Floor color to primer color

Cheers

dun Dun Dun DUUUNNN... the menu

2009-10-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

Here is the menu, so far, pricing is semi-accurate, as is the ingredient list. Of course a lot will change as the official week of full blown test cooking arrives. Monday November 2nd we begin delivery service only. So if you want a sandwich you are going to have to call one in. Here is the number 509-522-9991.

hot ones
meatball, hoagie roll, roast garlic marinara, whole milk mozzarella, garlic 6.95
pastrami, house cured sauerkraut, russian dressing, swiss cheese 7.95
porchetta pork loin, aioli, lettuce * 6.95

panini ones
turkey, bacon, provolone 6.35
italian meats, sun dried tomato spread, whole milk mozzarella 6.35
portabella mushroom, roasted red peppers, basil, provolone 6.35

cold ones
italian hoagie, mortadella, sopprasetta, salami, coppa, 7.95
mama lils peppers, shredded lettuce, provolone, oil and vinegar
rotisserie turkey, avocado, green leaf lettuce, provolone 6.95
flank steak medium, chimichurri, mama lils peppers 7.95
roast beef, blue cheese, caramelized onions green leaf lettuce 6.95
grilled chicken, basil mayonnaise, tomato, green leaf lettuce 6.95
veggie, hummus, cucumber, feta, kalamata olives, red peppers, sprouts 6.95
garden delight, seasonal vegetables, changes often

salad ones
caesar, chopped romaine, croutons, parmesan, (add grilled chicken) 5.95 / 7.75
green leaf, roasted pears, blue cheese, candied nuts, vinaigrette 5.95 / 7.75
(add rotisserie turkey or sautéed chicken)
spinach, provolone, toasted almonds, sun dried tomatoes, 5.95
roasted onions, balsamic dressing
mixed green, carrots, cucumber, red peppers (choice of dressing) 4.95

hot liquid ones
two soups made daily, always one vegetarian (6 oz, 10 oz) 3.50 / 5.00

sugar ones
double chocolate brownies 1.25
chocolate chip cookie, coconut cookie, pecan chocolate tartlets 1.10

Cheers

Progress... still progress

2009-10-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

The drywall is done, hvac goes in a couple of days, finish plumbing next week, concrete patching in a day or so, big equipment comes next week, and we interviewed for employees yesterday. So many nice folks, I wish we had more positions to fill, its going to be hard to select our opening crew.

This weekend we did a few smaller events: a 40th birthday party at Mannina Cellars, a drop off dinner for some Whitman folk, box lunches for a bunch of geologists on a wine terrior field trip, and a wine dinner at Dunham Cellars for a group from Seattle. Here is a photo of the soup at Dunham, pureed cauliflower (actually quite light, chicken stock and half and half, no cream) with a mushroom duxelle cream, truffle salt, and cauliflower croutons. Pretty yummy.

Sandwich shop menu is coming along nicely. Three paninis, two hot sandwiches, seven cold sandwiches, three salads, and two soups (rotating daily). Soups aren't quite this elaborate, soups for the storefront fall more in the cauliflower, beer, cheese category of soup making. Sample menus to businesses that call in deliveries go out this week.

Cheers

Progress, Inch by Inch

2009-10-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely we are getting there. If you walk by the storefront it still looks a long ways off, but its not really. This week the ac unit is installed, drywall gets done, and concrete patching finished. Rough plumbing is done, electrical is almost entirely complete, and we got it painted Sunday.

We even are getting ready to hire folks. All the chairs and tables have been purchased. Big equipment shows up end of October... and well, you know... then I guess its time to open the doors.

Wedding Season is Officially Over

2009-10-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

The wedding rehearsals and receptions are all finished up for 2009. Yeah! Another successful year of feeding newlyweds and their loved ones great food on their first day of holy matrimony.

Since we last checked in we gave sustenance to Sasha and her loved one, Janel and her baseball loving Brent, aviation inspired Jerry and Janet, NY NY living Sheri and Erick, Kristina and her beau, and Seattle-ites Cindy and Seth. All totalled 22 receptions and rehearsal dinners from May 31st to October 3rd.

Other recent catering fun has included a Macy's appetizer party for happy shoppers, feeding Democrats (this company will gladly feed Republicans as well), feeding Masons (will also feed Odd Fellows, Eagles, Shriners, and all other special clubs), snacks for Kerloo Cellars coming out party, Sheep to Shawl at the Kirkman House, a cooking class for Whitman Sorority girls, and another lovely dinner at Reininger.

Palmares: A few recent customer comments.
"I didn’t get a chance to see you before you left, but wanted you to know how much we enjoyed the lamb lunch. It was heavenly! Thanks for hitting another one out of the ballpark!" - Kirsten

"John, The dinner was fabulous. And, let me tell you, this group isn't always easy to please. Everyone was still raving about it today. You NAILED the tenderloin. It was perfectly cooked. The vegetables were fresh and amazing and the dessert was totally yummy! Thank you for making Kurt's birthday wonderful! If you ever need a testimony for a client, let me know."
- Jennifer

"John I meant to email you last Friday - our lunch was AMAZING! Everyone gave you 'high 5's' - thanks so much. It tasted great - just my kind of food - fresh, wholesome! Your presentation was nice too." - Laurien

"That was the best lamb we have ever had!" - Mary Jane Fehrenbacher (She grows the lamb, I cooked it for Sheep to Shawl, her lamb is really spectacular, it is what I bring to any wine dinner we do lamb for, truly special stuff)

"I heard that Jen’s party was delightful as I knew it would be. I just wanted to say thank you again so much for making it a special evening for the girls. They loved the “lesson” and I understand that the food was outstanding as well." - Sara

Even got quoted in the paper from the Sheep to Shawl luncheon:
The owner and operator of Graze Catering was serving braised and grilled lamb with a Harissa sauce. “I love it. I absolutely love it. It is probably one of my favorite meats to work with. And it’s a great local product,” Lastoskie said, noting Fehrenbacher’s lamb goes great with local syrahs.

Now that the Summer is over, and the slower days and cooler weather have returned, it is time to finally get down to business and get this storefront rolling.

First step: buy lots and lots of stuff.... and then go back for more.

Cheers

Happy Anniversary!!! ...Really I Am Not Making This Up

2009-09-01T12:41:00.001-07:00

We signed the lease today for a downtown location. 5 South Colville will be our eatery, 213 South 9th will remain our catering kitchen. We are gonna call it Graze. What else could we possibly name it?

Our tagline for Graze Catering is "a beautiful catered event" (English majors seem to have a problem with the grammar of that phrase, me not so much). Our tagline for Graze is going to be "a place to eat". Because really all we want is our little 750 square foot shop to turn out nice, honest, and wholesome food at very affordable prices. A lunch place by design, so sandwiches, salads, soups, and lots of deliveries.

Three years ago to this day, September 1st, I signed the lease to the catering kitchen, a solitary cook running a one man show. And now here we are today on September 1st, signing a second lease. It is truly amazing how far this little catering business has come in three years. Here are two photos of the catering kitchen, after (!!!) I had gone to the restaurant supply to get ready to cook. The place looks barren in comparison with today. (now we have trouble finding where to put things!)

Three years ago I had an idea of what Graze Catering would be, and I was scared and frightened beyond belief. Today we (the wife, the employees, and me) have an idea of what Graze "a place to eat" will be, and we are also scared and frightened beyond belief. (Do you have any idea how much money one can lose in the restaurant business?) But its a good and energetic scare... and we are looking forward to serving you soon.

Cheers

Signing Day Cometh

2009-08-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

We are gonna sign. We are gonna sign. We are gonna sign. Tomorrow!!!

Cheers

Palmares

2009-08-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Palmares is a cycling term meaning a list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares.

"John, Thank you for catering our event on Saturday. The food that you provided was fantastic and our guests really enjoyed it. You and Pete did a great job putting the menu together. The cook that was on site also did a great job." - Zuzana (Bellevue Athletic Club Tour, lunch at Reininger and appetizers at Dunham)

"Dear John,
We are so appreciative of the wonderful lunch you prepared for our wedding at Grant House. The entire menu was fabulous, with such wonderful attention to detail. From the fresh vegetables (those heirloom tomatoes--oh, heaven) to the delicious dolma to the outstanding flank steak skewers (I think several people wept at the experience of eating them) everything was perfection. Our guests loved their meal and your ears must've been burning from all the compliments. You made our special day all the more special. Thank you for everything. I really look forward to eating your food as soon as I can. We will certainly recommend you to anyone looking for the best." --- all best, Marie and Rick (Wedding luncheon for 50)

"Hi John: Thank you so much for all you did for our wedding. It really was a perfect day for both of us, and we received rave reviews about the food, so many thanks to you and your crew on that end." -- Carrie and Dean (Wedding at Mill Creek Garden for 120)

"This morning our folks were still talking about last night's dinner. The food and your staff were wonderful!" --- Amanda, Washington State Dental Association (Basel Cellars Buffet for 60)

"We all thoroughly enjoyed it. One couple in our group is relatively new to me. I didn't know he doesn't like beets and she dislikes lamb. He ate every single beet and loved it and she still hasn't stopped talking about the lamb. She usually eats half of what is on her plate for weight loss, but licked it clean. Two converts!" --- Zari (Dinner for 12, five courses, at Reininger)

New Favorite Things:

I am always running into clients who would make really really really great catering coordinators. Amanda from the Washington State Dental Association would be perfect. When she tried to book us for their yearly gala event, which they hope to hold at Basel Cellars... in 2012, I knew she would be perfect for the job.

Cheers

Time flies... when you are busy.

2009-08-09T21:28:00.001-07:00

My father reminded me the other day I haven't posted anything on the blog in a while. When he named the date, June 22nd I realized two things. 1) My parents pay more attention than I think, and 2) that was a long long time ago.

So here is what Graze Catering has been up to the last month and a half.

Shanna got hitched at a private residence and we did a family style dinner under a big old tent and a pretty blue sky for a bunch of people. And Caitly and her beau tied the knot and partied down at Mill Creek Garden.

The Columbia County Grain Growers ate a bunch of prime rib at their annual meeting, and the Farm Credit folks let us grill up some tasty meat at Mannina Cellars for their special guests.

Prescott High School held their annual all class reunion and Reininger hosted some folks for a good old fashioned hootenanny. Rachel's daughter had a reheasal dinner on the Fourth of July, and the folks at Con Agra had us back to do a posole feed for their entire work crew. Then we went back to Reininger for a WSU event, and then back again for a really fun and yummy intimate dinner.

What Now Productions let us cook lunch and dinner for an entire month for a movie shoot, Leah got married at Mill Creek Garden, Kristi got married at the future site of Reynvaan Family Vineyard, Sykes had us do a company bbq for 800 employees, Washington Dental Association ate like kings at Basel Cellars, Carrie and Dean tied the knot at Mill Creek Garden, Nikki bound herself in matrimony and threw a big old party at Assumption Parish Hall, Tracy's daughter tied the knot and we cooked it up at Three Rivers Winery, Shakespeare UnCorked let us host their pre-opening night dinner, and Rick and Marie hitched up and had us do a really pleasant luncheon.

Somewhere in there the family went camping in Hood River, the wife and children went to Portland, the wife and I escaped without children to Joseph OR for one glorious and peaceful night, my softball team reached the championship game before losing in heartbreaking fashion, and I missed the 2009 Walla Walla Wiffleball Tournament due to a very special wedding (even though I vowed to cater and win the thing last year, I re-vow for 2010).

And just this last week a space came up for lease downtown... there may be a few more hours in the day.

Cheers

Palmares

2009-06-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

Palmares is a cycling term which means a list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares. A thank you from our Greek Wedding.

"Hi John,
I just wanted to tell you how impressed and utterly amazed I was by your quick and perfect set-up, great servers, and most of all, your fantastic food! I knew you guys were good but WOW.... we were blown away and so were all of our guests. I had at least 10 people independently comment on how fantastic the food was and how pleasant the whole wedding was... which would not have been possible without you and your crew. It was such a pleasure to work with you...

So, please pass along to your servers and staff how pleased we were by the top-notch, friendly, efficient service and to you: what an amazing meal. We LOVE good food and eat out frequently at delicious restaurants and your food was some of the best I've had.

Thank you again for being so easy to work with and helping make our wedding night and party memorable and highly enjoyable.

All the best,
Carolyn (& Pete)

Carolyn's Greek Fest and Leann's Tex-Mex Throwdown

2009-06-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

Two more down. Fourteen more to go (we picked up another wedding this week).

Here is how a typical conversation with a bride and groom transpires. I ask what they like food wise, what the feel of the reception will be like, and if any themes are possible to build around. Carolyn let it slip that her future husband has a crazy long and confusing Greek name, something like Korfilaiatisisas (but not really, I never once tried to pronounce it, people mangle my seemingly simple Lastoskie daily). So I proposed a greek buffet and they loved the idea. Leann told me she loved mashed potatoes, and heard we made really good ones, but then she mentioned many family guests were from the Southwest, so we tossed the mashers idea out the window and went with a simple Tex-Mex theme.

The Greek Bazaar was in the Dunham Cellars Hangar Room (they are still undecided if wedding receptions will be held there often, but it is a great spot, beg and plead to let them be your host). Here is a shot of the reception room.

Mill Creek Garden played host for the Tex Mex Reception, awesome hosts as always. We didn't bring the camera to the reception, hopefully some will be emailed our way.

New Favorites Things

Greek Mothers. Pete's mom approached me towards the end of the evening and offered beautiful words regarding our food and service. I thanked her profusely and asked if the buffet was Greek enough (as this was our first crack at a Greek themed... anything). "It was soooo Greek!" she exclaimed. "Oh my goodness, my husband even told me this is better and more Greek than his cooking!" Kinder words could not have be offered.
The Grill at Dunham. We grilled/roasted 20 whole chickens that had been marinating in oregano, lemon, pepper, and salt for 24 hours. That machine is incredible, it sounds like a jet engine when the burners are on. I can't wait to use it again.

Cheers

Andrea and Michaela's Weddings (Not to each other)

2009-06-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

Two down, Fifteen to go.

We kicked off the wedding season in grand style Saturday. Andrea and Marc celebrated their union at Hence Cellars with 175 guests and a huge appetizer buffet. Michaela and Taylor filled Areus for a 130 person family style meal blowout.

Taylor and Michaela's Menu
- passed appetizers during cocktail hour
- whole leaf ceasar salad, poached salmon, poached shrimp, seared scallops, garlicky croutons
- red wine glazed grilled beef tenderloin with bordelaise sauce, rosemary grilled chicken with herbed vinaigrette, israeli cous cous and spring vegetables
- blanched asparagus, roasted walla walla spring onions, sauteed morels

Andrea and Marc's Menu
- too many appetizers to list... here are the highlights
- deviled whole egg, caper, shallot, dijon, mayo mixture
- french styled pulled pork
- paninis, turkey and bacon, portabella mushroom and roasted red pepper
- shrimp and scallop skewers with lemon butter

New (not so) Favorite Things:

My son was born 5 1/2 years ago. After a short nicu stay and a healthy period of growth the head lady and I threw a party in his honor. I was a teacher at the time, but did the food for the 70 or so guests out of our little kitchen. It was a Spring theme, asparagus, grilled oysters, a picnic ham, and one of my favorite things ever, deviled eggs (a version ever so similar to Chef Rick Mahan's at Waterboy in Sacramento). To be tricky, I perfectly hard boiled 150 eggs, had my 80 year old grandmother peel most of them (she always wants a job, to this day she reminds me of her slow egg torture) (which left us with 100 perfectly intact eggs), sliced off a bit from the bottom, sliced off a cap from the top, scooped out the yolk (which left us 80 intact eggs), made the deviled mixture, piped the mix into the standing eggs (which left us with 70 intact eggs), and put the original top back on. The end result is a standing hard boiled egg, unblemished, filled unbeknowst to the guest with pure delight. I was thrilled with the result, but downcast due to the amazing amount of time and effort it required. I vowed never to do them again for more than say... ten people. But I am stupid, and forgetful, and temporarily lost my mind when discussing the menu with Andrea and her mother (Anne from Amore Flowers). And so I agreed, no proposed, to do my special eggs for 175 people. And the day before the reception I spent 5 and 1/2 hours working on eggs... only eggs. So again I proclaim (and will probably forget) to never again do my special eggs for more than 10 people.

Cheers

Palmares

2009-06-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy May here at Graze Catering. So busy we keep forgetting the camera. Here are two very nice thank you's from two very nice clients.

From Shari and Otto's 25th anniversary dinner at Longshadows. A four course family style meal. Arugula and Beet Salad, Sweet Onion Soup and Caramelized Onion Custard, Olive Oil Poached Halibut with Red Onion Jam, Fehrenbacher Farm Leg of Lamb with Crispy Polenta Cakes and Creamed Spinach, Dessert from The Patisserie.

"John: We can't thank you enough for what was truly the highlight of our anniversary weekend. Our dinner at Longshadows was absolutely amazing, from the appetizers through dessert. I could live on that beet salad! The tables were beautiful and your crew did a great job. Right down to the full moon and beautiful view, the evening was perfect. If you ever need recommendations, please use our name. We think we had one friend taking pictures that night. We will check with him and forward you anything we have."

Thanks again.Shari and Otto Klein

From the Kirkman House luncheon. A plated composed salad, Butter Lettuce Leaf with a Roast Chicken Waldorf Salad, Patisserie Mini Croissant, Blanched Asparagus with Romanesco Sauce, and a Perfect Hard Boiled Egg.

"Hi John, Thank you so much for all of your hard work; I cannot say enough about the perfect meal and service for the Kirkman House’s inaugural luncheon! The mix of foods, the portions, the presentation….it was all wonderful. I look forward to working with you in the future."

Regards, Kirsten R. Schober Executive DirectorKirkman House Museum

Cheers

Palmares

2009-05-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

From our 'party in the snowstorm'. (see our post in December.)

"My name is Kristy Guldhammer. You probably don’t remember me, but you catered some very delicious food for my dad’s 90th birthday in December 2008. Every time I think back to that event, I think of the wonderful food and how much I appreciated how you guys braved that snowy winter night to make our party such a success. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the effort you had to make so that it could happen for us. I had many comments about the high quality of the food, and I have made four or five referrals to Graze Catering as a result of that event. People just loved your food."

And from the Steelheaders crab and shrimp feed.

"We went to the Tri State Steelheaders Crab feed on May 14th that Graze catered. I wanted you to know that all of the salads, bread and beans that you provided were wonderful! I just loved the spinach salad and the asparagus salad. Those were fantastic. Good job and very well done! Thank You"….Jan Torland

And from my wife.

"Oh, honey! You are so great. But why do you cook nice food for other people and make the children and I eat leftovers."... Becca

I guess you can't please them all.

Cheers

Palmares

2009-05-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

Palmares is a cycling term which means a list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares.

A note from Libby, who coordinated the Desales senior class dinner at the Wine Country Golf Club.

"Dear John and Crew,
Thank you so much for the awesome catering job you did for our senior class dinner last Sunday! People are still raving about the food! .... Thanks again! (and send any recipes you share my way.)" - Libby

And another one. A note from Forgeron regarding their brunch.

"Everything was Awesome!"

Cheers

2009-05-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

I started this blog to market my catering services. It worked, and was fun. The group Tourism Walla Walla even had me join as a guest blogger for their website. And then something strange happened this Spring. I got too busy, and every time I thought "I better add this to the blog", I didn't, because I was just too busy. Between my part time teaching at the culinary school, a pretty full catering schedule, watching our two children, and trying to have an occasional conversation with my wife and our friends left little time for the blog. New potential clients call or email and I keep referring them to the out of date blog, which is embarrassing.

It has gotten so bad I keep forgetting to take the camera to events. Anyway, here is a quick run down of what we have been up to since March.

Lots of luncheons, sandwich platters, and box lunches.

A great trip to Portland and Hood River with my parents, grandmother, brother, sister, wife, and children.

Went to the ACF Conference in Seattle to watch my friend Jeremy's culinary team compete and win a gold medal.

Did the Whitman Alumni 40th reunion dinner at Basel Cellars

Threw a big ole party for our one year old daughter at our house, complete with a jumpy house and pig in a box.

Spring Release Weekend we did six events in two days, brunch at Forgeron, box lunches to Basel Cellars, dinner at Dunham, appetizer reception at Corliss, lunch at Dunham, and dinner for graduating seniors and their parents at the new wine country golf club. After doing appetizers for 300 at Corliss we then whipped up a big batch of paella for the last 35 guests. Here are a couple pictures of the empty room after the event and the paella.

A shot of the tent at the new Wine Country Golf Club.

Cheers

Gourmet Getaways

2009-03-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

I was a lucky host chef for the Tourism Walla Walla event Gourmet Getaways. Eight visitors to our fair city (town, hamlet) stayed two nights at a bed and breakfast of their choice and were participants in a cooking class of Spanish tapas and paella. Basel Cellars provided the yummy wine of which I was happy to sample as well.

Gourmet Getaways ran from mid February to late March in various restaurants. Other host institutions included Brasserie 4, Whitehouse Crawford, WWCC Jay Entrekin, and Someone's in the Kitchen, among others. My class was held in the enology center's kitchen since my commercial kitchen is not the best place in the world to host wine tasting and to sit down and have a meal.

The guests were super fun. A couple of ladies from Puget Sound (one of whom makes a giant seafood paella once a year from her frozen crab stock), and three siblings who grew up in Walla Walla and now live elsewhere in Washington, only to have their mother suck them back with Christmas gifts that require them to return home. And the siblings brought their significant others as well. Eight guests and me. A most relaxed and pleasant bunch. We had a great time.

Menu:

Chilled mussels in their shell with cucumber mignonette

Arancini, cheese stuffed saffron risotto balls and sun dried tomato dip
Sherry and garlic chicken wings

Paella, chicken, spanich chorizo, mussels, clams, shrimp

Cheers

Showcase (raw and uncensored)

2009-03-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Last week we did the Showcase Dinner. I still am a bit confused as to what Showcase is all about. I 'think' it is the coming out party for the WW Fair Court and a skit of some kind. I was more concerned with feeding 260 some guests than trying to figure out what was happening out front. Despite my cluelessness as to the proceedings, a good time seemed to be had by all.

Homestead Catering did this party for the last umpteen years, so the adjustment to our food may have come as a bit of a shock to regular Showcase attendees. Not a jarring shock, more like a quizical "I haven't seen that before" kind of a shock. Needless to say it was the largest full meal/service event we have taken on, and we presented ourselves quite well.

Menu:

Herbed prime rib, horseradish cream, and au jus

Rosemary chicken and garlic cream

Twice baked stuffed yukon gold potatoes

Orzo pasta salad, sun dried tomato dressing, red peppers, golden garlic, whole leaf parsley, toasted almonds

Whole leaf caesar salad

Blanched asparagus and lemon extra virgin olive oil

La Brea ciabatta and baguettes

Here are the comments from Cory the lady chairperson of the whole event (raw and uncensored). Being our first time with this group I asked her for comments both positive and negative.

"Positive side: Overall the meat was a hit....we have received "that was a great meal" from several and they wanted the name of the caterer....and did not hear one comment on no salad plate...that was good....

"On the negative side--a couple of things: the Caesar salad presentation (they like it cut up) , the cold rice salad and cold asparagus --"some" expected it to be hot.... I repeat..."some".... I loved the rice salad!!! Towards the end of serving...you ran out of potatoes (hard to monitor when people over plate)..... "some" ...repeat "SOME"....said the whole meal was not warm.

All & all .... of the 265 attending....approximately 240 completely enjoyed the whole meal.....and raved about it. Like my staff...and myself...we loved it...refreshing and great flavor. Look forward to working with you and your staff again..... Cory"

I wish we would have done two things differently 1) chop the caesar, I love whole leaf caesar salad, but from this point forward they are going to be cut up unless a client specifies otherwise 2) we made just over 300 stuffed potatoes (but they were smaller in size), and when they came out of the oven I thought "uh oh, those look too good" and sure enough we ran out right at the end. We need at least one and a half per person because they really are too good.

Cheers

Referrals

2009-03-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

A prospective client asked for a couple of references yesterday. This prospective party is really similar to a dinner we did last Fall. So I sent the e-mail address, and in hunting down the address I came across the thank you letter from the Fall dinner. I didn't post it at the time because... well, its a bit... umm, effusive in its praise. But re-reading it made me smile recalling the dinner we did, and why not post an over the top thank you? Not everything in life need be measured and calculated.

Dear John,
OMG! You did a FABULOUS job! Everyone ranted and raved for the rest of the week-end about the food...and the details/essence of every dish....."the tomatoes! the vinegrette! folks that typically aren't fans of polenta LOVED yours! the lamb was perfect...and the food was hot! the ratatouille! the appies!" John, things flowed so nicely for our casual group. I got to really enjoy myself as a host. Bottom line....you took care of me and my guests beautifully! And dear Morgan, so helpful.
I found you via Google and your blog. The images and copy of your blog just spoke to me. I am so grateful for your professionalism, talent and gentle demeanor. I can hardly wait to recommend you to someone from my world here on Bainbridge Is/Seattle area.
Your work is so about "making memories" in peoples lives. What a mantra to guide you through your life. We live in such a wild world these days...what will tomorrow bring? No matter what, our dear friends and my dear husband received a gift of friendship, love and celebration...and you played a big part. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart!

With great fondness,
Debbie and birthday boy, Mike

See a bit over the top, but we gladly take it.

Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(see, even I can get a bit carried away sometimes)

Palmares

2009-02-28T20:50:00.000-08:00

Palmares is a cycling term meaning a list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares.

A note from Cheryl in Dayton regarding the buffet dinner we did last month. We have been to Dayton twice now in our two and a half years of business. Hopefully we will return many times over.

"Thanks so much, John. It was just wonderful. People raved about the food. I was trying to find my checkbook when Traci said you would bill me. Feel free to do that by email. I called Traci this morning to thank her. Would you please thank Nick for me and let him know there is a gratuity coming. I’ll send it along with my payment.Many thanks again, and several people have already inquired about your catering service, so I bet you’ll get some more business from others down the road."

Best,
Cheryl

Cheers

Summer Vacation

2009-02-20T22:34:00.000-08:00

I was a junior high/high school science teacher in my previous life/career. When the family and I headed North from California I got the crazy idea to cook for a living (more like enacted, I had the ‘got’ part a long time prior). I liked teaching and was pretty darn good at it, but the siren call of the sauté pan was too much to resist.

I loved summer vacation, as do all teachers. There was a saying that the bad teachers really liked to laugh at “what are the three best reasons to teach?… June, July, and August” In the catering world we are just ending “June, July, and August” and the real work begins again. Oddly enough, during this ‘Summer Vacation’ my previous life has resurrected itself; I am teaching two classes for the culinary program at the junior college. It is a kick in the pants to teach what I love (my wife says the thrill has more to do with talking to/at a captive audience than the teaching part).

Here are my students for the quarter. Six individuals I get to mold and influence (hopefully for the good!). They have made tremendous progress in only six weeks. This week in a five hour class they produced:

5 gallons of veal stock
3 gallons of roast chicken stock
Two versions of French tomato soup
French onion soup
Asian vegetable soup
Two different chicken and tortilla soups
Three versions of béarnaise sauce
Four versions of avgolemono (Greek lemon sauce similar to hollandaise)
And three cut fingers.

Pretty impressive! Cheers.

2009-02-14T07:50:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again. Time to start working again (albeit very casually until the weddings hit). We did two small things this week, a hospital luncheon and a drop off dinner for the school district, and have a couple of mid-sized buffets next week. Below is the note from our new friends at the Walla Walla School District.

"Tracy,

I want to thank you and GRAZE for a delicious meal last night. Everything was perfect - presentation, taste, clean up. We will certainly use GRAZE again for future events. - Betsy, WW Public Schools"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The wife and five year old boy are in Portland this weekend visiting friends and family. It got me thinking about our Fall trip to Portland and the beautiful farmer's market dinners we cooked up at K&L's house. I can hardly wait till May for the Walla Walla Farmer's Market to start back up.

A saute of heirloom cherry tomatoes, fresh cayenne peppers, garlic, and basil. That weekend was my first experience with a padron pepper, a small mild green Spanish pepper. We got an order at Lovely Hula Hands, quick fried with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and a few cherry tomatoes. I was smitten... we all were. Found the grower at the farmers market but they were all sold out (they did have fresh coco beans though, and that my friends was a very good thing, which made a great accompaniement to the fish, this rambling has got to stop)

An about to be roasted wild mushroom and potato gratin, no cream, chicken stock, butter, herbs, covered for the first roasting and uncovered for a bit of caramelizing. Yummy.

Cheers

Welcome to the Family

2009-02-05T07:15:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce the lastest addition to the Graze Catering Family. Tracy Hartwig has been added as our event manager.

Tracy managed Homestead Catering for 20 plus years. She has a tremendous amount of experience with groups large and small. The addition of Tracy gives us a greater ability to handle smaller luncheons (a service we have rarely provided).

If you would like to contact Tracy she can be e-mailed at tracy@grazeevents.com or 509-529-7354.

Cheers

Palmares

2009-02-04T20:42:00.000-08:00

Palmares is a cycling term meaning a list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares. A note from Erika and Steve Lessard regarding their wedding reception.

"A belated but very sincere thank you for doing the great food for our wedding. You guys did a terrific job, and it was also just a pleasure to get to know you. You're a great guy (now I am blushing).

We'll be seeing you around I know - but till then, best of everything! Thanks again so much"

The Lessards

Cheers

Pizza Love

2009-01-23T19:59:00.000-08:00

My first kitchen job was at Gina's Ristorante in Southern California. I was the dishwasher and made the few pizza orders that accompanied the family style pasta dinners. For a short time I was the dough maker at Pizza Hut in Davis California. My first job at a good restaurant, Paragary's in Sacramento, was making hand tossed wood oven pizzas. My wife and I met there, and she says she fell in love with me because the flour dust on my forearms made me look so... manly.

Our son turned five the other day. So we did what any parent would do, threw a birthday party, and did what any restaurant type people would do, offered up lots of food and drink for the adults. Our 1930's oven managed to crank out 16 beautiful pizzas in just under an hour.

Sam's Five Year Old Birthday Menu

- Cheese Pizza

- Pepperoni Pizza

- Pepperoni and Sausage Pizza

- Spanish Chorizo, Torpedo Red Peppers, Cilantro, Sriracha Pizza

Cheers

Palmares

2009-01-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

Palmares is a cycling term meaning a list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares. A thank you from Janet regarding their wedding at Three Rivers Winery.

"John,

We want to thank you for catering our wedding on October 18th. We had a great time. Thanks to your production. You set a beautiful classy table. The food was luscious, everyone commented on how much they loved the meal. It was the perfect day!

Larnie and Janet"

Cheers

Saffron's Belated Christmas Party

2009-01-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

How awful does this sound? Throw your restaurant's Christmas Party and then jump on a plane to Italy for two weeks of quiet gastronomic excess. (I would assume pretty great if you are not hung over.) Chris and Island asked us to come back and do their party again and we were honored to do so.

Chef Chris Ainsworth has a tattoo of a pig sectioned into its primal cuts (or does he just want to get that tattoo, I can't remember). The man likes porcine products. So I was really happy to bring our version of porchetta to the restaurant's Christmas Party. It truly is one of my favorite things to make. And the day he busts out the version he plans to make I will be the first customer on the reservation list.

Menu:
crostini, white bean arrabiatta, seared shrimp
tapenade, feta, cucumbers, ciabatta
spanish tortilla and brava sauce

whole leaf ceasar salad and garlicky croutons
roasted fingerling potatoes and aioli
butternut squash manicotti, spinach, roasted garlic bechamel
roasted acorn squash, pearl onions, cauliflower, brown butter and fried sage
thundering hooves pork, porchetta (herbed, garlic, caper, lemon zest stuffed pork shoulder)

New Favorite Things:

I rarely get to make tapenade for parties. I have tried and tried (subtly) to get hosts to include it with appetizers and rarely is my suggestion taken. By now I have given up. And then Island calls and says make what you want John, and I love her for that, and then I get to make tapenade (a process I love) and I get to scrape the food processor with torn bread and bring the extra I made home, and eat giant spoonfuls slathered on ciabatta... and then I remember why I used to try so hard in the first place.
The idea when our kids are old enough we will be spending two weeks in Italy.

Cheers

The Good Old Days

2009-01-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

A rare night in our house. Sam's friend Quinton spent the night, so he needed zero attention. Frances was asleep by 6:30. And I came home from the market with dungeness crab, scallops, and shrimp. So the wife and I did what we used to do before we had children... cooked a nice meal. For all you children-hopeful bride and grooms to be, live it up now, the opportunities for enjoyable meals become few and far between when the munchkins arrive.

The broth is crab stock, vermouth, and saffron. Sauteed cabbage, carrots, spinach, garlic, and celery leaves were added to the earthy garbanzos. For good measure we added a garlic rubbed toasted baguette, a pretty side salad, and a bottle of bubbly.

A great in home date night.

More Graze Catering news. I am a guest instructor at the community college culinary program for the winter quarter. I teach two courses. A lecture class about the food industry as a whole and a five hour block making stocks, soups, and sauces. It should be fun.

Cheers!

Year In Review

2008-12-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

It was quite a year for Graze Catering. In 2006 I started this little business on a shoestring budget, with no clients, a few contacts, zero advertising, and a very poor understanding of marketing. What I did have was an idea that Walla Walla needed high quality catered food. Good, honest, seasonal, and as much as possible locally sourced food. I think we have hit that mark, and fortunately our clients seem to think so too.

In honor of 2008, I present you with the Graze Catering Index (with apologies to Harper's Index). 2008; the year Graze grew up, from a little-itty-bitty maybe someday business into a real grown up business.

Guests served in 2006 --- 604
Guests served in 2007 --- 3,319
Guests served in 2008 --- 8,053

Number of events 2006 --- 17
Number of events 2007 --- 66
Number of events 2008 --- 83

Number of events 150+ guests 2006 --- 0
Number of events 150+ guests 2007 --- 2
Number of events 150+ guests 2008 --- 11

Number of events 500+ guests 2006 --- 0
Number of events 500+ guests 2007 --- 0
Number of events 500+ guests 2008 --- 3

Number of weddings/rehearsals 2006 --- 0
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2007 --- 6
Number of weddings/rehearsals 2008 --- 18

Farmer's market paninis sold 2007 --- 925
Farmer's market paninis sold 2008 --- 1452

Thanks to all our past and future clients and guests. We look forward to serving you again.

Cheers!!!

Pops Turns 90

2008-12-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

In the last week Walla Walla has found itself bombarded with snow. The patio table at our house is measuring 24 inches of snow since last Saturday. Walla Walla is just not prepared to deal with two feet in a week. (Spokane got two feet in 36 hours! Last January due to the birth of our daughter we were in Spokane for the largest one day snowfall since 1950, 11 inches, and that almost shut the city down. I can't even imagine what things are like in Spokane this week.)

That being said. We provided dinner for 32 guests at a surprise 90th birthday party. When we started cooking it was snowing and when we left for the event it was snowing, and when we left the event it was snowing, and when the last dishes were done and our kitchen was scrubbed... you get the point. Probably a good six inches. Add catering in giant snow to the list, along with huge windstorm, brain melting heat, driving rain, and perfect blue skies.

Menu:
- Butternut squash, spinach, roasted garlic bechamel lasagna, and fried sage
- Chantrelle and porcini risotto cakes with mushroom ragu
- Green leaf salad, orange segments, hazelnuts, red onion, champagne vinaigrette
- Spinach salad, balsamic roasted onions, almonds, sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, croutons, balsamic vinaigrette
- Roasted carrots, beets, pearl onions, rutabegas, parsnips, cauliflower, chives, and orange oil
- Roasted baby portabella mushooms, roast red peppers, roast garlic, extra virgin olive oil
- La Brea Bakery baguettes and butter

No pictures of course. Do you think my lovely wife is going to let me take the camera in a snowstorm?

This was our last event of 2008!!! Coming soon the Graze Catering Index. (Basically the Harper's Index)

Cheers

Watermill Winery, Seneca Foods, A Neighbor, And A Doctor.

2008-12-13T13:29:00.000-08:00

Busy weekdays and a family weekend.

Wednesday we popped over to Milton Freewater for a retirement dinner at Watermill Winery. That is the nicest winery kitchen in town. Scratch that, the best winery kitchen and better than 80% of the restaurant kitchens in town. If you ever need a spot for an appetizer party for like 70 max or a dinner for like 30 max, that is the place.

Thursday we headed to Dayton and did a prime rib lunch for 80 guests. They enjoyed us very much and we are invited back to do it again in 09.

Friday we did a little drop off food for the neighbor's Christmas Party and then headed to College Place to drop off food for a doctor's Christmas Party.

No pictures from any of these events. How lame. So to relax today I made a giant batch of posole, and then took a gussied up picture of a very comfort food dish.

Cheers

Holiday Barrel Weekend

2008-12-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

We broke the month of November interlude by serving up a thousand guests for Holiday Barrel Weekend, Dec. 5th, 6th, and 7th. Longshadows was our venue Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during tasting hours. Reininger held their wine club party Friday Night and we dropped off platter appetizers for a house party Sunday.

Hand passed appetizers at Longshadows:
- cheese filled saffron risotto balls and sun dried tomato dip
- crostini with caramelized onions, gruyere, prosciutto bits, and thyme
- crostini with red wine beef ragu, brie, and parmesan
- swedish pancake filled with apple butter and fresh pear (this paired so well with their late harvest reisling)

Platter appetizers at Reininger:
- cheese filled saffron risotto balls and sun dried tomato dip
- puff pastry filled with caramelized onions, goat cheese, and prosciutto bits
- fingerling potato chip, medium rare flat iron steak slice, and blue cheese cream
- italian sausage skewers with roasted garlic marinara
- portabella mushroom skewers with roasted red pepper dip

New Favorite Things:

Blue Cheese Cream. Great blue cheese, mixed with heavy whipping cream, then passed through a fine sieve to eliminate any lumps, then whipped with sour cream, a tiny bit of garlic puree, a dash of worstcheshire, salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon. It tastes like the best blue cheese dressing ever, but super intensified, and holds its shape in a nice little dollop on top of a steak slice. It is the perfect accompaniement to nice steak and a crisp fingerling potato slice.

Magazine Photos. Lifestyles magazine ran a photo of our riso ball app. Amazing how many guests exclaimed "I am so happy to get to try them!"

Apple Butter from Rome Apples. I make apple butter a lot from extra apples. I love the stuff. (Grandma and Grandpa had a saying "He doesn't know sh** from apple butter." It's always cracked me up.) All apples make nice apple butter, but some are a little too tart, or a little too sweet. But there is something about the Romes that make it special. The tart, sweet, and acid all blend perfectly. They aren't so tasty as an eating apple, but perfect for cooking.

Finished the busy weekend off by sharing a lovely bottle of 03 Reininger Cab with my daughter Frances.

Cheers

Relaxation and Sapolil

2008-11-24T11:08:00.000-08:00

The Fall and Winter are the just fruits of a busy Spring and Summer. I could get used to just a couple of events a month, quite relaxing. My days now consist of playing with my children, bothering my wife, and procrastinating home projects (and not returning next year's wedding bids!) All we have done this month is a wedding rehearsal dinner and this weekend's gig. And that is fine by me.

Saturday we dropped off a simple buffet for 20 with our friends at Gifford Hirlinger and then jetted back into town for a four course dinner at Sapolil Cellars. The dinner we donated as part of an auction item for the ywca. Sapolil provided the next to perfect space, as seen above, and the Kate Bray Band provided the stellar entertainment.

Menu:

Arugula and beet salad, fresh apple, candied nuts, goat cheese
Cauliflower soup, marsala sauteed crimini mushrooms, truffle salt, cauliflower crisp
Beef burgundy, reduction sauce, creamy polenta, roast butternut squash and sage brown butter, bacon braised brussel sprouts
Chocolate mousse and vanilla cream from the Patisserie.

New Favorite Things:

The soup above is pureed cauliflower, a little butter, onion, thyme, chicken stock, and half and half. It is a third as rich as it looks, really. It is earthy, and full bodied, and the perfect base for the flavorful mushrooms and truffle salt. I used to make cauliflower croutons to top this, but this time I made little dehydrated cauliflower trees. Cutest little things, and they taste great too.

Back to Work - after an easy Thanksgiving we get crazy. Barrel Tasting at Longshadows, Reininger, Waterbrook, and possibly a couple more. If you are coming for Barrel Weekend make sure and stop by one of these fine establishments to taste our snacks with their great wine.

Cheers

Palmares

2008-11-07T13:36:00.001-08:00

Palmares is a cycling term for list of great accomplishments. Our version of palmares.

Recieved this note from Angela and Ryan regarding their wedding reception.

"John,

Our wedding day was spectacular thanks to you and your team! You were all seamless and the food amazing - our wedding guests are still raving about how wonderful it was. We cannot thank you enough for pulling together such a beautiful menu 15 days prior to the Big Day! Everything was fabulous from the food to the staff to the delivery!

Thank You!!! - Angela and Ryan"

Kind of makes my heart get all fluttery. Angela and Ryan's reception dinner had originally been planned with a another caterer, whom got all flaky. And then they found me. The good feelings are mutual.

Tonight is a wedding rehearsal dinner and tomorrow morning the wife and I fly to Sacramento for a good friend's wedding. (The kids are staying with Grandma and Grandpa!!! Whoopee, our first night away from offspring in almost five years.) Patrick happens to be a great chef, mentor, former boss, former roomate, my best man, and caterer. It will be a blast to see good friends again.

Cheers