Top Chefs Support NFTE Fundraiser at Villa Woodbine

Thursday night, under the stars at Villa Woodbine in Coconut Grove...an amazing night of food, fun, and wine.  Wolfe’s provided the wine, NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurism) board members and others donated fine wines for the wine auction, Royal Caribbean donated two cruises, Bill Hansen Catering and Villa Woodbine provided the butlered hors d’oeuvres, the staff and the facility, while some of the area’s top chefs donated their time, food and talent.

Included in the parade of top chefs were:

Tim Andriola of Timo and Bill Hansen Catering

Timmon Baloo of Sugar Cane

Aaria Kagan of Food Networks Next Celebrity Chef

Howard Kleinberg of Bull Dog Barbecue in North Miami

Michael Gilligan from the W Hotel on Miami Beach

Vito de Salvo from Park Central Café on South Beach

Chef Steve and Jackie Mosley from S&J Catering in Miramar

Lindsey Richman from Por Fin

The Ng Family from Sushi Maki

Sean Brasel from The Meat Market on Lincoln Road

265 tickets were sold at $75 each…and guests left raving about their experience at Villa Woodbine.  Oh what a night!!

February 22 is National Margarita Day

February 22 is a day to celebrate margaritas which continually grow in popularity….But first let’s start with a recipe for a non-alcoholic one (unleaded if you will), which is what I’ll enjoy on Tuesday:

• A 12 ounce can of frozen limeade 
• 4 cups of sparkling water 
• A cup of ice cubes 
• Flavor extracts: Coconut, Banana, Mint, Vanilla, Orange, Lemon, Strawberry, Kiwi, Pineapple, Blueberry or Cherry 
• Sugar (optional) 
• Food coloring (optional) 
• Fruit slices (optional) 
• Sprinkles (optional)

Blend the limeade, sparkling water, ice and extracts in a blender…top with fruit and sprinkles.

For the real deal, the leaded variety try different ratios of tequila, triple sec and lemon or lime juice.  Here’s a chart that I found online to help you.

• 2:1:1 = 50% tequila, 25% triple sec, 25% lime/lemon juice 
• 3:2:1 = 50% tequila, 33% triple sec, 17% lime/lemon juice 
• 3:1:1 = 60% tequila, 20% triple sec, 20% lime/lemon juice 
• 6:3:1 = 60% tequila, 30% triple sec, 10% lime/lemon juice 
• 1:1:1 = 33% tequila, 33% triple sec, 33% lime/lemon juice 
• 7:4:3 = 50% tequila, 29% triple sec, 21% lime/lemon juice

For some color, add some Blue Curacao…also, try different fruit juices such as mango, banana, apple, strawberry, or raspberry in lieu of lemon or lime.

Enjoy responsibly.  CHEERS!!!

Bill Hansen Catering's Beef Tenderloin

Ok, I’m not a chef...I’ve always said, “I book it and our culinary team cooks it!”  However, I love share some of our favorite recipes...this one courtesy of my best friend and late partner Bill Hendrich.

If you want to have a fabulous main course for eight to ten guests do this.

1. Purchase a whole beef tenderloin which will weigh between five and seven pounds.  It will cost somewhere around $60.
2. Bring it home, trim off the fat and silver skin.
3. Marinate it in your favorite meat marinade for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.  We use crushed garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil as ours.
4. Brown the whole piece of meat on your grill outside or in a frying pan.  This will take about 7 minutes or so.  You do not need to cook it all the way through….that comes later.  Let the meat rest.  If for more than a couple hours, refrigerate.
5. 30 to 45 minutes before serving time place the whole tenderloin in a preheated oven (375 degrees) and roast for about 25 to 30 minutes.  We like it medium rare with an internal temp of 130 degrees or so.  I know some folks like it well done, but it’s simply not as good and is very dry!  In my opinion, well done is a great way to ruin and excellent piece of meat.
6. Let the meat rest for 5 to 10 minutes and then slice.  The small end will be more well done, the center is the best part and the large end has the most flavor, but it has a firmer texture. 

Serve and ENJOY!!

Bride’s Wedding Dress Stolen Three Hours Before Her Wedding Ceremony

Ladies, picture this?  It’s less than two hours before you are to walk down the aisle, your hair is picture perfect after leaving a downtown Miami beauty salon, you open your car door and your wedding dress, which you left there only a short hour ago is no where to be found!!!!  It obviously was stolen……Panic sets in…

Meanwhile, back at the reception site, Villa Vizcaya on Biscayne Bay a mere two miles south of downtown Miami, my crew is putting the final touches on the ceremony and reception set-up.  Out of the corner of my eye I see the bride’s wedding planner frantically dialing her cell phone, surrounded by her posse and some of the bride’s family.  It was late Sunday afternoon and all of the Miracle Mile bridal salons had already closed, but the bride’s planner, a Miami legend Lois Beinhorn, had the home phone numbers of the owners of her favorite shops.  In a manner of minutes one salon owner sped from her home to her salon, the bride was whisked to Coral Gables, fitted with a new dress (she was a perfect size 4) and arrived at Vizcaya only an hour late.

As the caterer, I quickly realized that the guests would be arriving before the bride, so my team jumped into action, opening the bars and passing hors d’oeuvres to keep the arriving, hungry and thirsty guests happy until the bride arrived for her ceremony.  And they were quite happy when the bride arrived for her postponed ceremony.

The rest of the evening went off without a hitch….I in fact I still have a photo of the bride dancing contently with her father during the father daughter dance.  I’ll never forget how happy she looked, her chin resting on her dad’s shoulder with a smile of contentment.  However, the wedding guests were more than curious as to who stole the wedding dress.  Rumors swirled throughout the party, but with no resolution.  Everyone went home without knowing the answer….

Early the next day, the bride’s brothers arrived at my catering facility to pick up a few left-behind items, and I asked him, “Did you ever discover who stole the dress?”  “Yes we did,” he angrily responded, “it was the GROOM’S FORMER GIRLFRIEND!”  I never found out what happened to her, but the bride’s insurance covered the cost of the stolen dress, and the good news was that the one she bought at the last minute cost considerably less than the Vera Wang that was stolen….more money for the new home, the kids and college!!!!

This is a true story…one that hopefully should never happen again. 

Catering for both the President and Pope on the Same Day!

It was September of 1987 when Pope John Paul II and President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan met at Villa Vizcaya in Miami.  At this historic meeting, the Reagan’s welcomed the Pope to our shores.  Two weeks prior, my firm, Bills’ Catering (now Bill Hansen Catering) received the call from the powers-that-be that we were selected to provide the catering.  What a thrill….a country boy from Holland, New York (Population 3,000 and declining), via Cornell and the U. S. Navy was now going to be preparing food for two of the most powerful men in the world. 

After being cleared by the Secret Service we planned the menu…simple yet elegant.  Crudities with Dips, Fresh Fruit Skewers, Finger Sandwiches and Canapés.  These choices were not fancy or filling, since the meeting was late on a hot and humid South Florida afternoon, after lunch and before dinner.

We had prepared the same food for 200 others too, with the Secret Service, randomly selecting food from various trays, then isolating these platters inside Vizcaya, under top security, for the Reagans and the Pope.

The Reagan and Pope John Paul II met inside Villa Vizcaya, and were served by the President’s staff…These were Filipino stewards who regularly worked in the White House.  (As a former Naval Officer serving at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, I had worked with many stewards from the Philippines, and had, and still have nothing but the utmost respect for all they did.) 

Later on, my staff and I were invited to Vizcaya’s Casino Mound, a couple hundred yards from the main mansion and witnessed the international press conference broadcast around the world.  (This is a very special place for me personally, since this is where my son Jim married his bride Joette in 1999).

Prior to the conference, news anchor Sam Donaldson entertained the assembled press corps with some humorous stories as the correspondents sat sweating on bleachers in front of the podium.   Standing a mere 60 feet or so from these two amazing men, goose bumps and emotions got the best of me.  I was in total awe as these two men spoke…yes, my body ached from the very hard work during the 12 previous hours, having carried by hand over 20 cases of soda a quarter of mile from the nearest entry point on the south side of Vizcaya by Mercy Hospital.…but it was all worth it…and yes, we saw the Pope Mobile parked nearby.  Somewhere I even have a picture of me standing next to it…of course, without the Pope in it.

President Reagan and Pope John Paul II stroll through Vizcaya’s gardens

Other than the wonderful memories of that day, I have amongst my mementos, a thank you letter signed by President Reagan on White House stationery, a set of Presidential cuff links, along with a split of Presidential champagne, and White House cocktail napkins….….and wow have times changed…..also I have a package of Presidential cigarettes and two packs of White House matches.

And the story continues into the 1990’s and 2000’s as I catered for both President Bushes…..George H. W. Bush twice!!!

Learn Secrets to Keeping Your Wedding Photography Costs Down Without Losing Quality

One excellent way to save money on the cost of your wedding photography is to hire your photographer on an hourly basis.  All images are turned over to you for printing.  This will save you lots of money, although it will require more work on your part.

 

Also, consider leaving disposable cameras on each table for guests to take their own snapshots, and then of course, be sure someone collects and develops the film after the wedding.

Do It Yourself Weddings Web Site Offers This advice:

1. If you are lucky enough to know someone who is skilled with a camera, consider asking them to shoot your wedding photos for you. If it is a person who would have been invited to your wedding anyway it could be your wedding gift from them! This person doesn't have to be a professional photographer either, but make sure it is someone who would be comfortable in that role because you want them to have a good time too! If you are doing it this way, it is an even safer bet to ask two people to be in charge of taking photos, because it takes the pressure off. Also, especially during the reception, both of them could end up taking great candid shots from different areas of the celebration. Be sure too that they take photos of both sides of the family, not just yours.
2. Call a community college or University's art department and speak to one of the professors. Ask them if they have any students that would be interested in shooting a wedding, give them the date and then state your price. They'll ask around for you and likely hook you up with a student (or several) that is willing to accept the discounted price because they need to build their portfolio.
3. Newspapers (especially smaller newspapers or ones in small-medium towns) often employ several photographers at a time. A call to the local paper is a great way to find photographers that are skilled and talented but don't necessarily specialize in weddings. This means they'll be cheaper! Trust me, you tack the word "wedding" onto any service and you are guaranteed to pay more. A lot of photographers don't specialize in weddings because although the money is good, they don't want to be busy every weekend doing the same thing. However, a lot of them are more than willing to do a wedding for some extra cash every once in a while!
4. Yet another way to find an affordable wedding photographer is to put an ad on Craigslist.org or any other local community based board. Again, you are likely to find students or other photographers that are willing to work at a decent price to gain experience and portfolio material. Many of these boards have photographers that will post their services and state their price too! Get references.

Secrets to Saving $$$ on Champagne Toasts

Picture This:  There’s an hour to go at your wedding and you’ve invested $2,000 or more in Dom Perignon for your champagne toast, right before you cut the cake.  The wait staff proudly pours your pricey bubbly, passes it around from guest to guest, your best man makes an awesome toast, your guests take a sip and leave most of your Dom in half-filled glasses on the tables!!!!!!  Hundreds of dollar’s worth of fabulous vintage champagne from France warming in the glass...soon to swept away into the kitchen and poured down the drain. At least we hope so, but you can be assured that at some catering facilities the staff may enjoy a few quick chugs before the boss comes around (not my firm of course).  In my opinion, this is a huge waste of money...and I’ve seen this happen more than once.

First of all, if you’re going to toast with Dom, do it early in your reception when guests are still in the mood to drink it.  By the time the party winds down, most are thinking of DUI’s, their waist lines, the possibility of a hangover and what time they need to get up the next day.  Of course, by serving the Dom early, you will need more of it for guests who wish refills...and they will...but if you can afford over $100 for a bottle of champagne to serve six guests, then what’s a few more bottles?

For more conservative brides who are saving money for their honeymoon or a home, simple sparkling wine will do.  Many caterers include an inexpensive sparkler in their beverage service.  There are some decent sparkling wines that are available that won’t break the bank.  My advice, unless you have deep pockets, stick to cost-saving sparklers for your toast.

Or, if you’re lucky, perhaps your rich Uncle Louie will give you two cases of Dom as your wedding gift!!!!  Salut!!!!

Let There Be Light

Let there be light, and plenty of it.  Many brides and caterers overlook the importance of lighting at events.  Why go to the trouble of creating beautiful food displays, or fabulous over-the-top centerpieces that cannot be seen?  I’ve seen this happen way too many times to count.  As recently as last night at a SoBe wedding,  it was obvious that there was not enough lighting so that the guests could see each other....and the food....this was not by plan, but because there were issues with the circuits in the building the bride had booked...so beautiful...for was barely recognizable.  Too bad....where is the electrician when you need him? 

Yes, lighting is not inexpensive, but without it, you will lose the ambiance that you wish to create.  So what should you do?

First, plenty of candles create an awesome look....on dining tables they can create an intimate, and warm atmosphere.  Floral centerpieces need to be lit with pin spots to get the greatest effect.  Lastly, food stations and buffets need to be lit for effect, but also so that guests can see what they’re eating.

The key is to allow room in your budget for lighting...or insist that your event facility include lighting in rental agreement.