Packing tons of flavor in perfectly presented packages, caterers are revving up the creativity in their appetizers and small bites.

Good things come in small packages—especially when it comes to the starters creative caterers are serving up. Packed with flavor and thoughtfully presented, these appetizers and small bites give catering companies the chance to show off their culinary philosophies, one beautiful bite at a time.

When Deborah Miller Catering rebranded during the COVID-19 pandemic—a top-to-bottom repositioning that included a new executive team, menu, website, marketing strategy, business plan and more—the company emphasized small plates.

The idea was to “design dishes meant to create a shared dining experience by giving people the opportunity to dine like food critics and sample more of our menu,” says Justin LaCoursiere, Deborah Miller Catering’s marketing director. “Small plates give the utmost customization and diversification to a menu, combining culinary creativity and trendy ingredients for the ultimate social dining experience.”

The small plates menu reflects four main concepts, notes LaCoursiere:

1. Instagram-Worthy Plating

“More plates of food means more opportunities for guests to snap photos and share said photos on social media,” says LaCoursiere. “The goal is to make dishes that are visually appealing, artisanal and super delicious!”

2. Diverse Menu Options

Deborah Miller Catering’s goal is to reflect “the culinary diversity clients crave,” says LaCoursiere. “Commitment issues? Not a problem. Small plates allow for varying flavors, textures, tastes and styles.”

3. Tapas Catering

“Appetizers are where culinary experts can be more innovative with chosen ingredients, cooking style and presentation,” says LaCoursiere. “Let loose and show people your creative side; encourage guests to mix, match, nibble and socialize. After all, the dining experience is better when enjoyed with others.”

4. Trendy ‘New York’ Catering

“Our small plates are local, organic, seasonal and sustainable,” says LaCoursiere “Pro tip: When designing small plates, stay hyper-focused on building sharable dishes that are as trendy and sustainable as possible.”

Sara Perez Webber is Editor at Catering, Foodservice & Events / International Media Group, Inc.
A version of this article appears in print in the Feature section of Catering, Foodservice & Events magazine — February 2022.

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Finding a balance between creating a vegan wedding menu that both vegans and non-vegans will enjoy doesn’t need to be intimidating. Fortunately, there is a way to stay true to your beliefs and make sure your guests feel happy and satisfied.

At Deborah Miller Catering, we have experience creating full vegan wedding menus that are tailored to the bride and groom’s unique tastes while appeasing the masses. Take a look at our best vegan wedding menu ideas to create a vegan wedding menu options that your guest will love.

Vegan Wedding Ideas & Planning

We know that you really want to knock the socks off your non-vegan guests. When designing your vegan wedding menu, here are some of our best tips to follow:

1. When planning your vegan wedding, you might skip telling your guests in advance that your wedding menu will be plant-based. A lot of guests may have pre-conceived notions about what vegan food tastes like, which can keep them from truly savoring the menu!

2. Bring a non-vegan friend or family member to your vegan wedding menu tasting to ensure it will appeal to all.

3. Trust the experts! When designing your menu, ask your caterer to help you plan your vegan wedding food. These experts are deeply rooted in the food industry and can make vegan wedding catering recommendations to create a delicious, plant-based menu.

Vegan Wedding Catering: Ideas for Vegan Appetizers

Planning vegan wedding food and appetizers for your guests to munch on during cocktail hour doesn’t need to be difficult. There are a ton of vegan finger food and small plate options to choose from. Here are some of our favorite vegan wedding ideas for appetizers!

Crackers and cheese are a traditional wedding appetizer option. If you still want to keep the cheese and crackers, but make it vegan, you can opt for nut-based cheeses served on seeded crackers. We bet your guests won’t even notice the difference!

Crudites and seasonal vegetables are the perfect munchy to snack on during cocktail hour if you are planning a vegan wedding menu. Serve together with some vegan-friendly homemade hummus.

One of our favorite vegan wedding ideas for appetizers is stuffed mushrooms and stuffed tomatoes. Instead of the cheese-laden stuffed mushrooms, fill your mushroom caps with pesto, mixed veggies, tomatoes and maybe even some tofu! Stuffed tomatoes can be filled with vegan goat cheese and pesto with a balsamic glaze drizzled on top. Once heated, these vegan stuffed mushrooms and tomatoes will just melt in your mouth.

Finally, another favorite vegan-friendly wedding appetizer is a fresh spring roll. Lots of spring rolls are fried and battered, served alongside heavy soy sauce and sweet chili sauce. For a lighter, vegan option, spring rolls can be stuffed with various vegetables like carrots, romaine, and yellow peppers. Yum!

Planning Vegan Wedding Food

Many non-vegans will be quick to judge when they hear that you are planning a vegan wedding menu. But, with nutrient-rich, vegetable-focused options, we’re sure you’ll leave them all in awe!

Start by serving up a seasonal salad. Fall and winter weddings can choose a heartier option with apples and cranberries, while spring and summer weddings can serve up something light and refreshing like grapes, arugula, red onion, and avocado!

You’ll have options when it comes to serving vegan wedding food for the main course. We love polenta dishes with roasted brussel sprouts, red onion, and cauliflower, and pasta dishes with lots of vegetables. Other favorite pasta dishes include vegan gnocchi with a wild mushroom sauce, eggplant cannelloni and creamy vegan butternut squash linguine. With options this filling, and satisfying, everyone will be blown away!

Vegan wedding food options can be vegetable focused, too. One of our favorite vegan wedding catering options is ratatouie with squash, zucchini, and tomatoes. It’s also seasonally on point for summer weddings! Other vegan-centric dinner options include cauliflower piccata, risotto with roasted vegetables, and creamy portobello stroganoff.

Meat lovers won’t complain when they get an amazing, hearty seitan dinner like seitan steak in beurre blanc sauce.

Looking for vegan side dishes? Serve your pasta dishes with veggies like lemon tarragon asparagus or broccolini. Vegetable-centric dishes can be served with a choice of starch like roasted potatoes, rice pilaf, or quinoa with toasted almonds, cranberries, orange zest and mint.

Vegan Wedding Cake & Desserts

No wedding is complete without a gorgeous wedding cake! With new vegan substitutions, there are plenty of vegan, dairy-free and egg-free vegan wedding cakes to choose from, so you can get the cake you’ve always dreamt of! From salted caramel and chocolate vegan wedding cake to a triple layer German chocolate vegan wedding cake to a simple vanilla vegan wedding cake with buttercream icing, the most difficult part will be choosing what to serve at your wedding! We recommend taste-testing them all to find the one you love.

Along with the perfect vegan wedding cake, be sure to set out vegan desserts for guests to munch on in between dancing and mingling. Create the perfect dessert table filled with vegan goods like shots of chocolate covered espresso beans, chocolate covered strawberries, and shots of chocolate-covered pretzel bites. The team at Deborah Miller Catering can help you design the perfect vegan wedding cake and wedding dessert menu for a sweet treat at the end of the night!

Contact Deborah Miller Catering to Start Planning your Vegan Wedding Catering

We hope these vegan wedding menus and ideas have helped spark some creativity as your planning your vegan wedding menu! At Deborah Miller Catering, we believe that every wedding menu should reflect the unique preferences and tastes of the bride and groom! We encourage you to show your guests how tasty vegan food can be with a full-fledged vegan wedding menu.

Looking for vegan wedding catering in NYC? Deborah Miller Catering is here to help. We’ve helped vegan couples plan the perfect vegan wedding menu that is delicious and appeals to both vegans and non-vegans alike. Get in touch with us today to start planning your vegan wedding menu today.

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If you are looking to make your own candy bar for parties, it’s a lot simpler than you might think! At Deborah Miller Catering, we have lots of candy buffet ideas and candy table decorations to help you make your own candy bar. Take a look at our candy buffet ideas to get started.

Make your Own Candy Bar: Calculating Candy for Candy Buffet

The first step in planning your candy buffet is picking out the candy for your candy buffet. You’ll want to figure out how much candy you really need for your event. We recommend calculating a ½ lbs. of candy per guest. Therefore, if you are expecting 50 people, you’ll want 25 pounds of candy. From here, you can start calculating how many types of candy you’ll need. For large events like weddings and black-tie galas, you’ll want to have about 10 different types of candy. For smaller events like baby showers and birthday parties, 5-8 types of candy should suffice.

What Type of Candy Should I Get For My Candy Buffet?

If you’re struggling to pick out the type of candy you should get for your candy buffet, we recommend putting your guests first and thinking about what they will like.

Parties with primarily adults in attendance like bridal showers and weddings can have more sophisticated choices that correlate with a specific color theme. For example, choose school colors for graduation parties or candies that match the bride and groom’s wedding colors for bridal showers and weddings. Baby showers can have fun pink or blue candies for whether it’s a girl or boy and holiday parties can have candy buffets with candy that are inspired by the holiday colors. Or, cheer for your favorite team by putting together a candy buffet in an array of your team’s colors. The possibilities are truly endless. If you are opting for a colorful theme, just be sure to vary the shapes, sizes, and flavors to add an interesting element. For seniors, you might want to opt for nostalgic candies like butterscotches and old-fashioned candy sticks.

For children’s parties, you can find fun lollipops or include fun character themed candies like princesses, superheroes, or cartoons. Children tend to love gummi bears, sour candies, candy necklaces, and jawbreakers, so you can get creative with candy buffets for kids. Plus, kid parties can generally be more colorful than adults only parties.

Some of our favorite candy for candy buffets are mints, sour candies, gummies, hard candies, taffies, Hershey’s Kisses, candy corn, jelly beans, junior mints, and Reese’s pieces. And, you don’t have to limit your candy buffet to just candy! Offer a variety of sweets like cupcakes, cookies, and cake pops. There truly are no rules when it comes to designing your custom candy bar for your next event!

How to Display Candy on your Candy Bar for Parties

One of the key factors to arranging a beautiful candy buffet is figuring out how you will display candies at your party. We recommend using tall vessels, jars, small bowls, and trays to arrange candy on many different levels. You can use a tiered stand like a cake or cupcake stand to arrange cake pops and larger candies, while tall vessels and jars hold smaller candies like M&M’s, Jordan almonds, and gum balls. For bulk candies without wrappers, you’ll want to make sure you have a large serving spoon or scooper to allow guests to get candies with ease.

Arranging your Candy Buffet Table

When it comes to arranging your candy on the buffet table, you’ll want to strategically place candy so that it is easy to reach. Before you begin to arrange the candy buffet jars on the table, lay down a beautiful table cloth that matches your theme.

Elevate the candy on the back of the table with cake stands or use taller containers. Don’t use bulk candy containers in the back of the table since it is difficult to scoop the candy in the back. Place apothecary jars, small baskets and candy dishes in the middle of the table and place bulk candies towards the front of the table so that they are easy for guests to access. The front of the table should be reserved for short containers, trays, and decorative boxes. Leave a spot for bags or boxes near the front of the table as well as a marker so guests can write their name!

Candy Buffet Ideas & Candy Table Decorations

Once your vessels, jars, and trays are placed on the table, you can start to fill in the details with candy table decorations. Add in decorations to blank spaces with framed pictures, printable signs, flowers, and garlands. You can create a backdrop for your candy buffet with ribbons, fabric, bows, and streamers. Try and match the rest of the event’s décor by pulling in some of the same pieces from the event’s centerpiece. Enhance your candy bar with other elements like balloons, flowers, signs, and labels for to make the table come to life.

Create a Beautiful Candy Buffet with Deborah Miller Catering

If you are looking to make a statement at your next event, allow Deborah Miller Catering to help. Our team can create a beautiful candy buffet that looks as good as its tastes! We can assist with your event’s catering menu, table decorations, and bring your vision to life. As a leader in the New York City catering industry, we will wow your guests and make your event sparkle. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our candy buffets and catering.

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Spring is a perfect season for pastels, soft clothes, and subsequently, a perfect backdrop for pretty baby showers. The Deborah Miller Catering team gets many requests for in-office baby showers at this time of year, so we brainstormed office baby shower food ideas to put together a fun and easy menu for the planners of these parties and take some of the pressure off. Whether your colleague is having a boy or a girl, there’s no reason why coordinating a little get together on their behalf can’t be seamless or fun. Read on to see some of our office baby shower ideas and menus in the afternoon that help celebrate the new bundle of joy!

1. 1. Mini Buttercup Cupcakes – a dainty dessert is exactly what a mom-to-be would want, and is a perfect sweet treat for guests as well. It’s light, pretty, and can be customized in pink, blue, or any other color, for that matter!
   2. Rainbow Fruit Skewers – a lovely medley of strawberries, pineapples, berries, and grapefruit skewers for baby showers are healthy and fun without really trying, and so easy to grab and go. This is perfect for any office event, but especially cute and charming for a baby shower that might take place later in the afternoon.
   3. Individual Boxes of Popcorn – Another fabulous snack that no one has to feel guilty eating, especially the future mommy-to-be. We have two delicious flavors, Truffle Parmesan or Lightly Salted, that are easy to grab and enjoy, or even bring back to your desk to answer that last-minute e-mail.No one will notice, we promise.
   4. Homemade Lemonade in Mason Jars – sweet, refreshing, and perfect for spring. This drink will make the coworker you are showering still feel like she can enjoy something a little different and tasty, even though it’s alcohol-free. We can also get festive straws in various colors to add a little something extra special to each drink, and make you look like the most creative baby shower planner ever. Wins all around.
   5. Mini Pancake Stacks on Pearl Skewers – adorable, soft, sweet – what else could be better for a baby shower event? Even if your celebration isn’t an AM thing, this is still a fun treat for any hour of the day, sure to be enjoyed by all in both taste and presentation. Thank us later.

1. Shots of Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Trail Mix – this snack is sure to satisfy the sweet and savory cravings of everyone at the party, and is a healthy snack choice too. Kid you not, anything with dark chocolate, pomegranate, and seeds is automatically loved and never questioned. You can’t lose with this one.
2. Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Points – While not always safe for pregnant women, this snack is fun for guests and feels like a taste of spring with its light and lemony flavor. Plus, if you’d really like to get fancy, the pinkish color of the smoked salmon is adorable if the mommy-to-be is having a girl. But we’ll let you decide that for yourself.

So the next time you’re blessed with the honor of planning an in-office baby shower party, look forward to it and trust Deborah Miller Catering for creative out of the box baby shower catering ideas to make it super easy for you. We can customize the event as much as you want and make it fun for both the guests and the future mommy to enjoy!

Check out our event and snack catering menus for more details!

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Cinco de Mayo: The Ultimate Spring Holiday

In the United States, however, Cinco de Mayo has absolutely exploded and has become almost as important of a holiday to celebrate as Memorial Day, sans the long weekend. Americans from California to New York rise to the occasion, throw on sombreros, rush to the nearest Mexican restaurants and bars, and of course, host amazing parties and office happy hours.

So why is Cinco de Mayo so popular in America anyway? Many Americans confuse the meaning of the holiday and think it’s for Mexican Independence Day. But if that’s the case, why isn’t actual Mexican Independence Day in September also a big deal? How did the anniversary of a battle that Mexicans in Mexico barely celebrate become such a big occasion here in the States?

Well, to start, Cinco de Mayo comes at an ideal time of year, right in the middle of spring. People in New York are especially eager for a reason to be outdoors enjoying the weather. Imagine celebrating Mexican Independence Day in September with the same excitement? Back to school season, chilly temperatures, it just doesn’t feel the same. But May 5th…what a perfect date and season to celebrate with the food and drink of a warmer climate.

Which brings us to our next point. Everyone wants an excuse to indulge in margaritas, tacos, and cheesy nachos, among other things. Mexican cuisine is what cravings are made of, aka not the healthiest, but everyone wants to have a reason to spoil themselves at least once before staying disciplined for the upcoming summer (if that’s actually a thing). And finally, for this year in particular, Cinco de Mayo falls on a Saturday, which provides a perfect schedule for exciting weekend plans, and also a perfect opportunity for Thursday and Friday office parties. Literally could not have better timing.

Therefore, this week is particularly busy for the team at Deborah Miller Catering, as we plan multiple Cinco de Mayo lunches, afternoon snacks, and happy hours for our various corporate clients. With our liquor license, we can put together a fabulous margarita bar, with various flavors and tequilas, or if a client wants to keep it alcohol-free, we’ll create a delicious mock tail with a Mexican twist. We have everything from a Make Your Own Taco Bar or Nacho Bowl, to Mini Empanadas, to our signature Individual Cups of Guacamole and 5-Layer Dip with plantains and chips. And for dessert, we have classic Mexican churros, fried dough coated with sugar and served with chocolate syrup, for that delicious final touch. So if you want to throw an amazing party or afternoon snack to celebrate this fun holiday, give us a call today. We get it, and we’ll help you ace it too.

Looking for advice on how to cater your Cinco de Mayo party? Read all of Deborah Miller Catering’s tips here.

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