Top Tips
#Portions
A popular FAQ regarding ordering on our website we get from customers is about portions and quantities. At the side of all our products you are able to add the number of quantities of the product you wish to add to your basket. This relates to the number of portions, ie if you order 4 quantities of cake, this will be enough cake for 4 people.. not 4 whole cakes! If you order 10 quantities of pasta salad, you will be given 10 portions of pasta not 10 bowls of pasta!
#Sandwiches
When ordering sandwiches on our website you get one whole sandwich cut into 4 triangles for every 1 portion you order.
#Conferences
If you have an event which needs lunch and more than 1 round of tea and coffee, our conference menus would save you money! Click here to see our full range of conference menus.
#PlanningEventsAndParties
We’re all the same, as soon as we decide to have a party we worry: How many people shall I ask? Will I have too many? What drink and food should I provide? What will it all cost? And, most important – for the girls among us – WHAT SHALL I WEAR?
We’ll leave the last one to you, but follow our tips below to have a great party.
Plan ahead. You’d be amazed at how many calls we get only 2 or 3 weeks before a big event asking us to cater. Whether you are doing everything yourself of using others for food, music, marquees etc. you need to start early. Outside companies get booked up well in advance in the summer and when you go to the shops for the special decorations you want; they’ll be gone.
Theme. We come across a lot of variations on theme but one of the best is to ask for “a hint of” colour/country/film. That way your guests don’t have to go and buy a whole new outfit and everyone joins in. One of the best ones we organised was for 3 different people and each one had a colour so as guests mingled they knew whose friends were whose just by a red earring or a blue shirt. You can take your theme through to the food and the table decorations too, or, in a marquee the colour of the lights. So simple things like table cloths and napkins can follow the theme without adding cost. It's fun and a good talking point.
Food. Well this is our main bit as we are a local food caterer! If you are catering for yourselves don’t forget to think through:
- When are you going to make the food? How long will it be pre-prepared for?
- If you are trying something new do a dry run and try it out on your friends.
- How are you going to store it? Remember that you mustn’t leave food out at room temperature (unless its the crisps!) for more than 2 hours. DON’T IGNORE THIS; IT’S THE BIGGEST CAUSE OF FOOD POISONING.
- Have you checked your fridge temperature recently? If not you can buy fridge thermometers really cheaply. CHECK IT. Your fridge should hold temperature at less than 5 degrees and remember that it has to work much harder to do that when the fridge is full rather than half empty – TEST IT BEFOREHAND.
- Will you be able to fit all the food in your fridge or can you rent an extra one in for the night or ask your neighbour.
Equipment. Sit down with a friend a write a list of what will be needed for the event. Have you got enough knives, forks, plates, bowls, dishes to put the food on? Disposables are much easier to clear up after and you don’t want to be washing up for 2 hours at the end of the night. You can get bio-degradable cutlery and glasses. On glasses, if you have children or teenagers PLA (bio-degradable plastic) should be a serious thought. We’ve spent many an evening trying to clear up glass before someone hurts themselves: even worse if there are animals around.
Electricity. Again a common source of anxiety and problems. You need to think through how many extra appliances you are putting on your system with the music, lights, fridges etc. Check it out and don’t suffer the disaster of fusing the whole thing! Most electricians will pop out and check it for you and if you have a marquee in the garden it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to get a proper cable run out to it for the evening.
Bonus tip … don’t forget to tell the neighbours!