A la Carte | Fresh Dish Fall 2007, Vol. 2

Autumn in Washington leaves the humid summer air behind, brings fresh apples, football and of course farmer's markets and nurseries laden with pumpkins. Did you know pumpkins are a fruit, actually a berry, a very BIG berry? They are related to cucumbers, gherkins, melons, and are indigenous to the western hemisphere. Europeans didn’t know about these treasures till the late 1400s even though they have been grown on this continent for over 5,000 years. Pumpkins come round, oblong, mini; in orange, green, yellow, red, white, blue, tan, and gray.

Orange is the most popular for a personal harvest. We tap them, survey the best side, weigh them and proudly drive them home secured with a seatbelt – then what? Do you carve, glitter, paint, drill, illuminate, cook or leave au natural on the front stoop? Here are some ideas to please your palate or palette. >>

Enjoy, Karen Baker, Proprietor

Things that make you go BOO.
It doesn’t take Nostradamus to predict sweets in your future. Halloween candy was on the store shelf alongside "Back to School" supplies. So let’s dive in, here are a few tricks to dress up your boy ghoul party. Turn the tables on those zombies, we have ideas for fast and tasty, flaky ghosts. >>
For a more grown up taste, try bloody champagne with dead spiders. >>

What can À la Carte do for you? Arrange a custom menu, plan your event, serve up some fun, find the ideal haunt or all of the above? Well all of the above of course.

We would like to introduce you to Adale our remarkable Event Manager, look for her to be featured in our new Holiday Menu.

Adale is one of our outstanding staff members in front of and behind the scenes. You'll get to know her and her ability to put your mind at ease while guiding you through your next event.

Fabulous food — it is just the beginning of a long and gracious relationship. Call us today and relax tomorrow.

Just add Punch.
As we enter the Holiday season, we spin our color wheels. What works? For your next at-home affair, try adding punch; a punch of color.

Go for contrast, try a rich crème offset with ruby reds. Mix up several textures of crème for chair ties, tablecloths, napkins even swags along a stair rail; then set them off with ivory china on red chargers and a ruby red center vase with curly willow in hues of red. Fold the napkins in squares and tie with ribbon like a package. Affix the swags with matching red ribbon. High contrast will give you that initial wow factor; try indigo and snow, blueberry and lime, chocolate and orange. Allow the food and drink to add the balance of table color and/or tuck in some greenery.