The Dog Days of Summer

Summer afternoon - "Summer afternoon to me, those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

Henry James

Without a doubt, Summertime is wonderful. It is filled with friends, family, outdoor activities and delicious food and drink! In catering, helping to create summertime memories for clients can be hot, sometimes nerve wracking and stressful but always extremely rewarding. It can be hard work but it is always fun. 

 The Café Louise staff has sweated out many successful summertime parties over the years. The Dog Days of Summer never stop us from creating lasting memories and great food for our clients.

Louise's "American Gothic"

The Kitchen at The Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington

One of the most gratifying and motivating factors about event planning and catering is the satisfaction of creating beautiful and scrumptious meals for our clients enjoyment... suffering through the summer heat or not! 

Café Louise Staff

Our Café Louise staff share a warm camaraderie and we enjoy both having and hearing about one another’s “down time”. Whether it is a shared story about a lovely restaurant meal with the family or a fun day at the lake or beach…Here are a few photos of our key staff with family enjoying 
the Dog Days Off!

My Husband Bill and Daughter Isabelle on my birthday!

Pastry Chef Lesley's Boys

Executive Chef David's Children

The Dog Days of Summer are the hottest stretch of the season. Make a cool drink, sit back and relax by the water. And, it's never too hot to eat and share great food!

Our signature Summer Cocktail is:

Ice Tea Punch

1 Part Fresh Brewed Tea

1 Part Orange Juice

1 Part Apple Juice

1 Part Cranberry Juice

1 Part Absolut Vodka (Flavored or Not!)
And a Sprig of Fresh Mint from the garden!

 Here’s to the Dog Days!

Bon Appétit!

Tea Bread Mania

 We have been providing our Tea Bread for Breakfast and Tea Caterings for years and now they are selling beautifully at Bristol's Farm in Canton as well as our location in West Hartford.

Tea Breads are a great alternative to an overly sweet dessert. It's very nice to have a slice with a cup of tea, but I tend to think of having that during the cooler fall and winter months.  They also make a lovely hostess gift. 

They are a pretty package, can easily be frozen and who could go wrong with the $5-$6 price tag.

Here are some of the flavors we've been doing:

Seasonal Raspberry with Pecan Streusel Topping

Lemon Blueberry

"Our Signature" Double Chocolate Zucchini

Vegan Carrot Cake

Pastry Chef Lesley Moore has also started baking savory tea breads that are to die for like Roasted Garlic, Spinach and Sun Dried Tomato. It is good to the last bite and hard to resist.

Basic Sweet Tea Bread

Yield 1 loaf

1 ½ Cups Flour

½ Cup Sugar

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

½ Cup Milk

½ Cup Butter, Melted

1 Egg

1 Cup of Berries, Nuts or Dried Fruit

In mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar and baking powder

Set Aside

Whisk Together Egg, Milk and Butter

Fold Dry Ingredients into Wet ingredients

Fold in Berries or Flavor of your Choice

Bake in a 350 Degree Oven for 45 minutes

Bon Appétit and welcome to August which is my favorite month since it is my Birthday!

Louise

cafelouise.com

We Have Gone to Bristol's Farm

 We visited Bristol’s Farm, a Canton landmark, this weekend, to deliver some of our baked goods that they are now selling at their market.

The market is run by Josh Bristol, along with some other Bristol Family members. Visiting the Farm and Barn Market has the nostalgic feel of stepping back in time . 

It is located at;

541 Albany Turnpike (Route 44), Canton, CT 06109

(860) 693-8965

 The market is stocked with locally grown fruit and vegetables along with some specialty jellies, honey, oils, soaps and syrup from the area.

The grounds are lovely with most noticeably growing flowers and kale.

Each week we are bringing Café Louise there with a selection of  tea breads and bars. Our selection this week includes:

Breads

Lemon Blueberry

Chocolate Zucchini

Fresh Raspberry with Pecan Streusel

Roasted Garlic, Spinach, Sundried Tomato

$5 each

Vegan Carrot Bread with Walnuts $6

Louise’s Honey Nut Swag Bars $4

  

Louise's Honey Nut Swag Bars were a huge hit along with all of the Tea Breads.

Here is our recipe for the swag bars. They are homemade granola bars with a drizzle of dark chocolate. They are not too sweet but still manage to be a delicious treat!

Louise’s Honey Nut Swag Bars

2 cups Old Fashioned Oats

1 cup Sliced Almonds

½ Cup Coconut

¼ Cup Sunflower Seeds

¼ Cup Olive Oil

4 Tablespoons Butter

¼ Cup Brown Sugar

1/3 Cup Honey

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

7 ounces Chocolate Chips, melted

Combine 1^st five ingredients in a bowl

Spread out on sheet pan and bake at 350 for 8 minutes

Set side

In a medium saucepan melt butter, sugar, honey and vanilla.

Boil and remove from heat.

Combine with toasted ingredients.

Press in an 8 x 8 pan

Bake in a 300 degree oven for 25 minutes

Cool and cut into bars

Drizzle with Melted Chocolate

Stay tuned later this week for some information on the Tea Bread Mania happening at 

Café Louise!

As Always,

Louise

cafelouise.com

A Vegan Experience

 

 

A Vegan Experience

 

 

We just catered a Vegan Wedding! Catering a Vegan Wedding was a fun and informative venture in learning about alternative dining choices.

The definition of Vegan is: a strict vegetarian who consumes no animal food or dairy products and also: one who abstains from using animal products (such as leather)
 

 

In a nutshell, there seem to be three main reasons for being Vegan:

For the animals:

This one is pretty self-explanatory.

For the people:

We take grain from starving countries to feed animals to kill and eat ourselves.

Heart disease and Cancer are top illnesses causing early death and they have been connected to the consumption of animal products

For the planet:

The business of raising animals to kill and eat contributes to climate change, animal extinction, water pollution, deforestation and wilderness destruction.

 

The thought of creating a Vegan Dining Experience may seem intimidating without the use of meat and dairy.

Our Executive Chef David Tolly created some innovative and delicious menu choices for the Vegan crowd.

 

Vegan Wedding Menu

Hill-Stead Museum

Farmington, Connecticut

 

 

Butlered Hors d’Oeuvres:

White Bean and Artichoke Bruschetta

Sesame Won Ton Chips with Black Bean Shiitake Salad

Mango, Avocado and Rice Vermicelli Spring Rolls

Grilled Mushroom Caps with Gremolata

Vegetable Samosas with Cucumber Mint Raita

Buffet Dinner:

Spinach Salad with Mandarin Orange, Shaved Red Onion and Champagne Dijon Vinaigrette

Greek Salad with Tomato, Cucumber, Artichoke, Kalamata Olive and Tofu

Kidney Bean Bourguignon with Carrots, Mushrooms and Tomatoes

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with Kale

Enchiladas (sweet potato, black bean, spinach, peppers) with Cilantro Avocado Cream

Grilled Vegetable Skewers with Charmoula Sauce

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

 

 

Being Vegan is certainly not for everyone, but there are many reasons that people choose Veganism and it was a fun and deliciously good time. As a matter of fact the vegan carrot cake was so good that we are selling it at Bristol Farms in Canton, with some of our other baked items! We have a selection of Tea Breads and other Goodies on sale now!

541 Albany Turnpike (Rte. 44), Canton, CT 06019 860-693-8965

 

 

All the Best,

Louise

cafelouise.com

Put it in a Jar



by Pastry Chef Lesley Moore

I love jars. I love them small, tall, wide, narrow, with lids, handles, or without…

Jars can attractively display anything- flowers, spices, kitchen staples such as flour, sugar and salt, dry pasta, iced tea, salad dressing, candles…the possibilities are endless.

However, my favorite way to utilize and enjoy jars is for baking and serving desserts. Anything that can be baked in a tin, cake pan or glass casserole dish can also be baked in a jar.

It is a common misconception that jars will easily break in the oven. Jars that are made for canning easily withstand heat up to 400 degrees in a standard oven. The most popular brands of canning jars are Ball, Mason and Kerr. They can be found at most supermarkets or hardware stores this time of year.

My most recent jar dessert at Café Louise was a summer picnic Chocolate Meringue Pie. The same steps are used as with any pie. I press the crust in the bottom of the jar, bake, add the chocolate filling and broil the top with a mile-high meringue!

Whatever favorite dessert recipe I enjoy making, serving or eating, I put it in a jar. I choose the jar based on both the event and the dessert going in it. I like to use a fancier jar filled with something like a rich Crème Brulee or a delectable Flourless Chocolate Cake for a seated dinner. For a backyard get-together, I like a jar with a handle filled with anything from a stacked Strawberry Shortcake to Old Fashioned Apple Pie.

 

If dessert is on your summer time menu, put in a jar!

 Or call Café Louise and let us do it for you.

 

 

Louise

 

 

The Mayo Myth

 

 

 

By Executive Chef David Tolly

 

Potato salad, pasta salad, chicken salad, tuna salad-the fear of putting mayonnaise in any of these picnic items has crossed all of our minds at some point. However, the fact is, over 60 years of research has proven that commercially prepared mayonnaise and mayonnaise-type dressings do not cause foodborne illness; rather, these commercially prepared products help fight the growth of bacterium with ingredients such as vinegar, lemon juice, and salt, which have been used for thousands of years in food preservation. Commercial mayonnaise and mayonnaise-type dressings also contain pasteurized eggs that have been heat-treated to destroy harmful bacteria and ensure product safety.

 

 

 

Sweet Potato Slaw 1 cup Mayonnaise ¼ c. Apple Cider Vinegar 2 Tbsp. Honey 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice 1 Tsp. Lemon Zest 3 c. Peeled, Shredded, Sweet Potatoes 2 c. Shredded Napa Cabbage 1 Granny Smith Apple diced into small pieces ½ c. Toasted Pecan Pieces Salt and Pepper to Taste.

Combine mayo, vinegar, honey, lemon juice, lemon zest, and S&P in a bowl and mix well. In a larger bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, cabbage, and apples. Pour dressing over vegetables and toss well to coat evenly. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Top coleslaw with pecan pieces and enjoy!