Article by Caren Grant

We all love parties being either the host or the guest. Everybody enjoys parties. If you are having a party to celebrate a special occasion then you have preplanned it. However, if you want to throw a party just for enjoyment you can arrange for a theme party. Theme parties are fun. You first choose a theme. I can give you some idea on this, like winter wonderland party, luau party, jungle, nautical, Hollywood, Christmas to name a few.

With help from culinary blog, you can select the menus and the recipes. If you are choosing winter wonderland theme on Christmas, decorate your house with artificial snowflakes, snow covered Christmas trees and the menu as follows:1) Wassail2) Finger Sandwiches3) Fruit-n-Cheese Trays4) White chocolate fondue and cupcakes topped with white icing and flaked coconut5) Stack mini popcorn balls like snowballs for a fun, seasonal party snack.6) White Chocolate Truffle and Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake7) Hot chocolate with whipped cream and a peppermint stick.

Do not forget to greet your guests with hot chocolate and champagne.

If you want a theme for your kid

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Peranakan is a culture that you will only find in South East Asia countries, especially in Malacca, Penang and Singapore. This culture is very unique, it is formed from the mix marriage between Chinese and Malay people, their kids are call “Baba” for guy, and “Nyonya” for girl.

Hence, the new fusion food called Peranakan is formed from the mixing of Chinese and Malay style of cooking recipes that is cooked by the Nyonya culture since 16th century. Since then, Nyonya food become one of the famous authentic foods in South East Asia.
The uniqueness of Peranakan food is, it has stronger flavor and taste, focus more in sweet, sour and spicy. Each of the sauces ingredients they use has easily more than 10 spices, thus you can imagine how fragrant it is. Peranakan foods mainly come from Malacca at the beginning, then slowing it spreads to Penang, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
Peranakan foods have many great dishes like Penang Laksa, Nyonya spring roll, sweet and sour pickle mixed vegetables, crispy meat roll, nyonya curry chicken, lotus leaf steamed egg and prawns and many more. Below is the one of the most famous Peranakan recipe – The Chili Crab.

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Ingredients:

1. 450 gram mud or sea crab 2. 4 tablespoon flour 3. 3 tablespoon vegetable oil 4. 8 clove garlic, minced it 5. 5 pc fresh red chili, chop into minced. 6. 1 pc egg. 7. 2 pc spring onions 8. 1 teaspoon freshly squish lemon juice 9. 1 cup of Water 10. 5 tablespoon tomato sauce 11. 1.5-3.0 tablespoon Sugar 12. 1.5 tablespoon Corn flour 13. 1 tablespoon Miso paste 14. Quarter teaspoon of Salt 15. 1 bunch coriander

Method:

1. Wash and brush the crab in details, remove all the mud or sand. Cut into half, set aside for later use 2. Heat up a frying pan with vegetable cooking oil, once the oil is boiling, put in garlic mince to cook for 1 minute, then add the red chilli into the pan and fry until fragrant 3. Put in the crabs and fry until the crab shell slightly turning to red color. Add in the water, tomato sauce, sugar, corn flour, miso paste and salt. Stir evenly and cover up to cook until the shell become red in color. 4. Open up the cover, add in the egg and lemon juice, quickly stir evenly and switch off the fire. 5. Dish it out on to a plate and decorate with coriander on top of the dish.

Enjoy.

The post A Great Fusion Food – Peranakan Recipes Also Known As Nyonya Food Recipes appeared first on Catering on the Move.

Great Birthday Themes and Catering Ideas                           

As we get older, we become a little more relaxed about having birthday parties and styling a theme to become a real party.  Generally most of us are a little more financially secure than when we had our 18th or 21st.

Today we receive many enquiries for 40th 50th and 60th Birthday Parties.  These are great parties that on occasions work to a theme and have suppliers to suit the evening.  Cabaret Night, Movie Star Night is very popular, with guests generally having clothing and costumes in their wardrobe to suit.

The evening can be welcomed with guests arriving at a particular time.  This works perfectly if you have a gate or partition that guests will have to wait if they are early.  Building the atmosphere is wonderful in this regard, and really gives guests a chance to talk and get excited about the night ahead.

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Providing a drinks table on arrival, with staff to serve is a great way to start a party.  The best cabaret party we have been too had staff dressed in theme, which really was a great talking point.  It allowed guests to loosen into the party and have a few laughs.

When catering to an older crowd, it can be a lot of fun when selecting a menu and caterer to suit.  As guests will appreciate the food supplied, it is up to you to choose the style, quantity and budget to suit.  Mix the service up with Thai Chicken Curry, Stir-fry’s, Beef Stroganoff or simply anti-pesto and fruit platters to suit everyone.

A flamboyant menu does not need to cost a fortune, and if guests are staying late into the night it may be a great idea to offer mid-night munchies to guests.

While having catering provided, with service for 2 hours…do keep in mind that guests will become hungry again later in the night.  Easy to make food that is filling is great to serve once guests have had an intake of alcohol. 

Enjoy your Birthday Party, and don’t be shy to have it your way! 

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