Twenty-five years ago, Susan Lawrence fulfilled a lifelong dream of opening her own food business, and on Nov. 8, 1987, Pepper’s Fine Foods was born. Four short months after opening the doors, seasoned chef John Lawrence entered, seeking a new food service opportunity. Something magical began to unfold, but the magic wasn’t just in the kitchen. Susan and John fell in love over food, married in the midst of it, and have built their lives and a successful catering business around it.

 To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pepper's Fine Catering in Northborough, owners John and Susan Lawrence are holding a social media sweepstakes on the Pepper’s Fine Catering Facebook page.

 Share the story of how you met your significant other or spouse on our Facebook page from November 1^st until December 1^st to be automatically entered in our Delectable Dates Sweepstakes.

 The winner, selected at random, receives a romantic dinner for two provided and delivered by Pepper’s Fine Catering. We will help you create a night to remember with our inspired and innovative dishes—prepared by Pepper’s lauded-chef and using only the finest local and regional ingredients.  

 So, head over to our Facebook page and share your story.

How did you meet your significant other or spouse? Let us know by posting your story on the Pepper’s Facebook wall. Include a photo if you wish and tell us how long you’ve been together.

We look forward to reading your stories!

Corporate events are enormous morale boosters for companies. Whether for a specific holiday or as a fun team-building exercise, they can be held to show off a new office building, honor a client, or as an appreciative gesture towards hard-working employees, reminding them that even if they work in a small department, they’re still part of something bigger.

Planning a corporate party can be fairly complicated. There are so many factors to consider when planning. The first thing that must be done is to clearly define why the event is taking place. Whether for training, motivation, team building, networking, or just to give your employees something to look forward to, it is important to have a goal for the event.

Lay out a budget. Even if it isn’t exact, it will give you an idea of what the event will cost you. The cost of the venue is a large factor here. Some companies choose to use their own facilities, but outside venues can be a nice change of scenery for staff. By working closely with your caterer, you can come up with a price range that is comfortable and will fit the event.

For example, if you’re throwing a companywide family event with two thousand guests, you will want to keep the cost-per-person as low as possible. In that case, a cookout would be a fun, cost-effective solution. If you’re hosting a small dinner for a few big-wig executives, cost-per-plate will most likely not be as much of an issue. Regardless of the cost-per-plate, your catering will work with you to dazzle guests, whether it’s a room of two thousand employees or a select choice of clients, a good caterer will work with you to make it a memorable food experience for guest.

If a company morale boost is what you’re looking for, consider several smaller events throughout the year. This gives employees more to look forward to, instead of one big bash at the end of the year. Your employees are generally the ones that will be attending these events, so it is a good idea to keep them involved in the planning process.

Whatever you’re corporate event is for, by setting specific goals and working closely with those involved, such as the venue management and catering team, you can plan a great corporate party that works with your budget and satisfies your needs.

Susan and John Lawrence have been named recipients of the 2012 Veterans Inc. Whiting Award for Philanthropy.  Pepper’s will receive the award on October 20^th at the biennial Military Ball Gala for Veterans Inc., a Massachusetts-based non-profit organization serving to provide supportive, transitional and permanent housing, food assistance,  and employment services/training to veterans and their families.

Pepper’s Catering has been deeply involved with Veterans Inc. since 1999. During the past 13 years, the Lawrences have provided culinary classes as a resource for veterans and given cooking demonstrations focused on healthy meal preparation. And each year, John and Susan donate the Pepper’s staff and expertise for the biennial Military Ball Gala, catering the affair free of charge.

“Since the beginning of their involvement with Veterans Inc., John and Susan have been champions in our organization,” said Lieutenant Colonel Vincent J. Perrone, President and CEO of Veterans Inc. “Their involvement really goes beyond their generosity as Pepper’s Catering. In addition to volunteering food-based services like cooking classes and catering, John and Susan are actively involved in soliciting donations and additional volunteers for events as well as working on the logistics that are so important for continuing the work we do to help our nation’s veterans and their families thrive.”

Pepper's is proud of our efforts to help nonprofit organizations and the local community.  Our volunteer endeavors have included working with The Worcester County Food Bank, the Special Olympics, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Rachel’s Table, the Girl Scouts, Go Red for Women at Saint Vincent’s Hospital, the March of Dimes, the United Way, the VNA Care Network, and the Veterans Administration.

About Veterans Inc.

Veterans Inc.’s mission is to help veterans re-gain control of their lives so we can eliminate homelessness among veterans. In many cases, Veterans Inc. actually saves lives, as our clients tell us time and again. We aim to remain a leading provider of services that improve the lives of veterans and their families by providing the highest quality services; and continuing to create new opportunities in the areas of health, employment and housing. Visit Veterans Inc. online at www.veteransinc.org.  

Apples contribute more than 2 billion dollars to our national economy. Just as importantly though, they help contribute to a healthy diet. Apples contain valuable fiber and antioxidants, plus they are cholesterol and fat free.

It was the Pilgrims that first introduced the apple to the America’s. Today, over 2500 varieties are grown in the USA. The value of the annual Massachusetts apple crop is nearly 22 million dollars. That adds up to a whole lot of apples.

With nearly 400 apple orchards in Massachusetts, virtually everyone has a local apple source just minutes away for fresh picked goodness.

If you’re planning a fall wedding in New England, what could be a more perfect and picturesque venue than an apple orchard? There are plenty of orchards in the area that would be more than willing to accommodate your event. Pepper’s Fine Catering has worked with a few of these orchards, including Carlson Orchards in Harvard and Red Apple Farm in Phillipston.

Making apple sauce, apple cake and apple crisp are terrific, mouth watering ways to add some apple to your seasonal enjoyment, but there are plenty of other creative ways to incorporate apples. Have you ever considered adding diced Granny Smith apples to a Lobster Salad with lemon mayonnaise & bacon? Oh, my! Play with that idea for a bit. Complementing the crunch of celery with the crisp tart apple is simply wonderful.

One of my favorite, simple apple treats is a variation on apple fritters. I say variation as I rarely repeat the exact recipe components. Sometimes it's the variety of apple I use, or sometimes it’s combining apple with dried cranberry, candied orange, candied lemon, or even candied ginger.

The variations are truly endless. Give the following recipe a try and be mindful to play with your food. 

For more info about our local apples, click here.

Apple Cranberry Fritters 

1/2 Cup.         Apple Jack or Calvados

1/3 Cup.         Half & Half

1 Stick.           Butter, unsalted

1 Tbsp.           Sugar

1/4 Cup.         Dried Cranberry, coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp.           Orange zest

1/4 Tsp.          Sea Salt or Kosher salt (omit if you have neither)

2 Cups.           Flour, unbleached all-purpose

5 Ea.               Eggs, large

1/2 Tsp.         Baking powder

2 Ea.               Cortland apples or your favorite

1 Qt.               Vegetable or canola oil

Directions

Combine the first 4 ingredients and bring to a boil. Add in the cranberry and let sit for a minute to soften, then mix in the flour. Follow the flour by adding the eggs, one at a time. Next, add the baking powder and lastly, the apples. You’re looking for a thick consistency like that of pancake batter.

Heat your vegetable oil to 360- 370 degrees and drop tablespoon size portions into the heated oil, with 5-7 per batch. Try not to overcrowd the oil. Turn the fritters over in the oil and cook until golden brown, about 1.5 - 2 minutes, and transfer to a paper towel lined pan. Dust immediately with sugar or a cinnamon-sugar blend (do this as soon as they come out of the hot oil, as the oil helps the mixture stick) and serve warm. These are terrific with a warm mug of mulled cider.

A pinch of Vietnamese cinnamon is a nice touch to add to the batter, as well. Vietnamese cinnamon, also known as Saigon cinnamon, has the highest concentration of essential oils out of all the cinnamon varieties. 

photo credit: paco lyptic

In our never-ending desire to seek out the best in quality and local products, Pepper’s is going “all in” with an outstanding regional chicken producer, Murray’s Chicken. In a tasting panel of 15 Pepper’s palates, an overwhelming thumbs up went to Murray’s for taste and moistness.

Murray’s Chicken is fed an all-natural, all-vegetable diet of 100% soybeans and corn. Many people do not realize the amount of antibiotics, growth hormones and drugs that are in most chicken feeds. In our humble opinion, this is simply not right. Humane conditions are also important to us. The chickens at Murray’s are never caged—they have plenty of room to stretch their wings, and enjoy access to sunlight and fresh air. We strongly believe that this makes for a much healthier, tastier chicken.

Murray’s Chicken is the first chicken certified as ‘lean’ by the American Heart Association, and the only chicken to be labeled ‘lean’ by the USDA. A Murray’s chicken is a hormone and antibiotic-free heritage chicken. Their quality of life eliminates the need for antibiotics, as unsanitary and inhumane conditions are generally the reasons why birds develop and carry the types of diseases that call for antibiotics in their feed.

Murray’s Chicken is a true leader in sustainability—in fact, you can actually trace a Murray’s chicken back to the hen house where it was raised using Google Earth.

Pepper’s is proud to feature Murray’s chicken on every Pepper’s menu with a dish containing chicken. We know that when you taste it for yourself, you’ll certainly agree. 

On Thursday, September 27th, Chef John and the Pepper's team delivered a delicious and beautifully presented four course meal to patrons at the Clarke Culinary Center in Milford as part of the event, "An Exploration of Local Heirloom Tomatoes & Corn with Chef John Lawrence."

Dish highlights included a tomato sampler plate, chilled Cape Cod lobster salad with tomato tarragon vinaigrette and a sweet corn fritters served with seared local salmon. 

The event, prepared on the high-end, industry quality appliances at the Clarke showroom, allowed Chef John to showcase the unique attributes that make up Pepper's Catering--an emphasis on local foods, exquisite presentation and innovative food pairings in an intimate setting with guests. 

Throughout the course of the evening Chef John spoke about the importance of utilizing local ingredients and working with local farmers, as well as the extra steps one can take to make their food truly stand out. 

 What: An Exploration of Local Heirloom Tomatoes & Corn with Chef John Lawrence

 When:  Thursday, September 27th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

 Where: Clark Culinary Center, 393 Fortune Boulevard, Milford, MA 01757

 Price: $85.00

In case you missed the August 15th event at the Mass Horticultural Society, there will be an opportunity to experience another, tomato-focused tasting event at Clarke Culinary in Milford on Thursday, September 27th.

This educational tasting event will feature a discussion lead by Chef Danny and Chef John about tomato varieties and ways in which you can incorporate fresh, local heirloom tomatoes into cuisine in exciting and unique ways. This menu, prepared on the exquisite high-end kitchen appliances sold in-house at Clarke, will expand upon the heirloom tomato menu served last month at Mass Hort. In addition to a tomato sampler plate, participants will be served a crisp nasturtium fritter with a poblano mint salsa, accompanying fresh grilled striped bass-direct from the waters off of Cape Cod. The bass with be napped with a local sweet corn crema and sweet corn ice cream for dessert. Yum!

To register for this event, click here. 

Temperatures are dropping, and the leaves will soon be changing from green in brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow. Halloween will be here before you know it. Halloween is a much loved holiday, by young and old alike. For the kids, it’s the one day every year when it’s okay to dress up like a superhero and make off with pillowcases full of candy, while for adults the end of October signals Halloween party season.

Make your Halloween party a hit by following these simple tips:

Plan ahead - Pick a date early and send out those invites! Parties just don’t happen, especially when they involve time-consuming costumes. You want to give your guests plenty of notice so they can prepare. The more time you allow for them to come up with costumes, the better those costumes will be, and your party will be more memorable.

Decorate! - When you walk into a Halloween party you should know it immediately. Halloween has got one of the most recognizable color schemes and décor—orange and black, dark and creepy. Your guests will likely be going the extra mile to be imaginative with their costumes, so should you with decoration. Go above and beyond the simple orange and black streamers and paper goods. One quick and extremely effective mood changer is a one night replacement of your regular light bulbs with red or green bulbs to give the party rooms an eerie glow. Put out creepy crawlies and Jack O’lanterns. Cob webs, fog machines, strobe lights and scary music are also great additions. It’s not just a party on Halloween, it’s a Halloween themed party! Your imagination is the only limit!

Make it fun - Halloween is a day to let your inner child free! Silly, cheesy games and art projects that would often be scoffed at on other days can be a lot of fun to play on Halloween. Plan some events throughout the night to keep things light and interesting. Crafts and games are always a good idea to keep people laughing and mingling all night.

No matter what the theme may be, Halloween or otherwise, theme parties work well because they wow guests and take them out of their usual ho-hum. Themes are a great way to get people to open up, and generate conversation between guests who may otherwise have little in common.

Halloween is the ultimate theme party, because it’s sort of a “pick your own theme” theme party. By planning ahead, making your place look the part, and mapping out a fun game plan for the night, you can make your Halloween party one to remember.

And if spooky foods are in the fortune tellers cards, dont hesitate to call Pepper's for a terrifyingly fun and delicious night!

Photo credit: wwarby@flickr

 Tomatoes are well known in the culinary world for their wide range of uses; they are both sweet and acidic, they can be eaten cooked or uncooked, whole or broken down in sauces. The ways to use tomatoes are limited only to the imagination of the individual preparing the dish.

Tomatoes are great for your health as well. They contain large amounts of lycopene, a powerful naturally occurring anti-oxidant that helps our bodies fight off certain types of cancer formations, as well as other types of health complications and diseases. Our bodies do not naturally produce lycopene, so it is important to have some in your diet. Other fruits and vegetables contain lycopene, but not in the concentration that is found in the tomato.

Heirloom tomatoes (also called heritage tomatoes) are quickly becoming one of the more popular varieties out there. Heirloom tomatoes are in effect the “purebred” of the tomato world, meaning they are not hybrids of other tomato plants. You will find them in all different colors and sizes, some with stripes of different colors running throughout. This odd coloration is because heirloom tomatoes lack a genetic mutation that gives them that uniform red color. This mutation that makes tomatoes all red also happens to mute the natural sweet flavors of the fruit, therefore heirlooms are sweeter and more flavorful than their uniformed cousins.

Recently, Pepper’s Chefs Danny Morgan and John Lawrence held a cooking demonstration for the Mass Horticultural Society as part of their “Garden to Table” program series. This event featured fresh, local heirloom tomatoes and it demonstrated the wide variety of uses for this wonder fruit. Creative and unique dishes such as tomato mousse with a basil reduction and balsamic vinaigrette were featured. This just goes to show you that in the right hands and with a little bit of imagination, tomatoes can be made into virtually anything. Keep an eye on our blog for more info on upcoming demonstrations.

Photo credit: Mrsdkrebs

On August 15^th, Chefs Danny Morgan and John Lawrence will pack up their pots and pans and hit the road to give a cooking demonstration at Elm Bank, home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society (Mass Hort), as part of their “Garden to Table” program series.

The Garden to Table program was developed to offer the public an opportunity to join together in the beautiful setting of the Mass Hort gardens at Elm Bank to learn about growing, cooking, and preserving healthy food. About 40 percent of the produce grown in the garden at Mass Hort will go directly to the Wellesley Food Pantry, the Natick Food Pantry, and A Place to Turn, food pantries that service families and individuals living in MetroWest.

This educational tasting event will feature a discussion lead by Chef Danny and Chef John about tomato varieties and ways in which you can incorporate fresh, local heirloom tomatoes into cuisine in exciting and unique ways. 

The menu will feature fresh, local produce with a focus on heirloom tomatoes and mouth-watering corn, including: tomato mousse with basil reduction and balsamic vinaigrette, a tomato sampler plate, chilled Cape Cod lobster salad with tomato-tarragon vinaigrette, and sweet corn ice cream with gingersnap tulles.

• To Register: Call 617-933-4943 or order online here
• Cost: $65 for Mass. Hort. members, $75 for non-members
• Where: Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street (Rt.16), Wellesley, MA 02482
• When: Wednesday August 15, 2012 - 6:00pm to 8:00pm