Lovely Champagne Reception

Here are 2 pictures from a recent bat mitzvah we catered at Congregation Beth El. The highlight, of course, was the bat mitzvah herself - but food-wise, I think the grown-ups liked the champagne best.

The milk & cookie "shots" were at the top of the list for the kids. All black & white decor - finger food only! Very elegant!

Hannah's Excellent Idea

Hannah's excellent idea was for us to serve soup and bread on each table. The guests visited the buffet when they were done with their "first course". It was a great way to start the meal. I wish I'd thought of it back in the days of Beth El Catering last year. It worked so well for a large crowd, and we got to use all those crazy soup tureens Maggie bought!

Here's Hannah's menu, and Marlene - if you're out there - perhaps you have some pictures to share?

RUSTIC LEEK & POTATO SOUP

ASSORTED ACME BREADS

BAGELS

with lox, cream cheese, sliced cucumbers, red onions & tomatoes

PASTA with BASIL PESTO

CAPRESE SALAD

FRITTATA

tomato / basil / olive

with sun dried tomato pesto

MIXED GREEN SALAD

COFFEE / TEA / LEMONADE / SPARKLING WATER

Zuzu's Petals cooks!

Congratulations to Shane and Hannah and their families! Shane became Bar Mitzvah at Beth El two weeks ago, and Hannah became Bat Mitzvah there last week. Zuzu's Petals provided the flowers for both events. Strangely enough, Zuzu's Petals also provided all the FOOD! We all had a great time at both events THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!! A special thank you to photographer Shoey Sindel.

Now, for the new group of B'nai Mitzvah families who are wondering why florists are fooling around with food - I used to have a catering company of my own, and I worked for Beth El Catering. I'm also partnering with Heidi Di Pippo who is the owner / chef at Digs Bistro in Berkeley. If you haven't eaten there - GO! Here is Shane's menu:

ASSORTED BAGELS

with plain and lox cream cheese, sliced cucumber, red onion, tomato

FRITTATA

sun dried tomato / basil / olive

mushroom / onion / swiss cheese

with sun dried tomato pesto

SAUTE OF CHERRY TOMATOES

ROASTED FINGERLING POTATOS

MIXED GREEN SALAD

COFFEE / TEA / ORANGE JUICE

DESSERTS

provided by friends and family

Adrienne 3/14/09

A little kippot surprise for Adrienne

daffodil centerpieces

Little daffodil "balls for Caffe Verbena tables, 3/14/09

Aaron - Temple Sinai / Caffe Verbena

Social Hall and Bimah arrangements at Temple Sinai, daffodil centerpieces for lunch at Caffe Verbena

Congratulations Adrienne & Aaron!

Two families near and very dear to me had wonderful celebrations for their children this weekend. Adrienne became bat mitzvah at Temple Beth El in Berkeley, and Aaron, bar mitzvah at Temple Sinai in Oakland.

I was lax in photographing either of these events myself, as I was involved in everything from producing "floral hummus" for 400 to mopping the floor after a taco / cotton candy / jelly bean frenzy. But! Shoey Sindel and Nan Phelps will no doubt be able to help us out soon with some visuals.

I was the official event planner for Adrienne's event, and I want to convey my gratitude to a raft of fantastic volunteers, Karla Tesch, and Beth El Catering for helping us realize our sometimes crazy desires. In addition to the aforementioned cotton candy/jelly bean event, there was a quiet and elegant adult dinner right in the next room. It worked out so well, and we could not have pulled it off without every single one of you. Maggie would have been so proud of us all.

My thanks also to Collier Cole, manager at Caffe Verbena (where Aaron's party was held). Dan and I were unable to attend, which was so sad, but at least I wasn't obsessing over the details. Collie is my hero.

Spring!

Congratulations to Ben and his family - so nice to work with! We had forsythia branches all over the place along with other lovely yellow flowers. The delightful photographer Shoey Sindel is responsible for these pictures. If you've got good eyes, you might be able to see Jasmine Catering's menu - yum!

Pink & Orange!

Here are a couple of photos (Nadine Samuels again) of Rachel's pink & orange extravaganza at Beth El last week. She picked out the color scheme herself, and I was so happy I had those crazy velour sticks in the perfect colors for the buffet table!

Here is Nadine Samuel's photo of the bimah arrangement for Jacob's Bar Mitzvah at Beth El a few weeks ago. Susan asked for muted colors with lots of green. I used 3 copper cube-shapes containers pushed together. When the service was over, we separated them and put them on different buffet tables.

Welcome!

Welcome everybody! I'm going to do this blog so that I have a place where all you B'nai Mitzvah families can see what I've been doing in the way of flowers and decorations. I'll be asking photographers for pictures, so you can see their work as well.