Do not allow yourself to be exceedingly busy this coming Turkey Day. If you’ve hosted the big event before, you know how overwhelming it can be to take care of every little thing yourself.

You have an idea what the table decorations will be, but are you set on the menu? With mashed potatoes, stuffing, and turkey you have the classics by your side. You’ve covered the bases in terms of the main meal, get together the sides, but alas! People did not come to play. The rest of the feast needs starters, salads, and the biggest appetites will be ready for post-dinner treats.

What will you use to pack a final delicious punch? Will it be festive cookies or pumpkin pie? There are so many decisions you have to make for your Thanksgiving meal.

We know you have a lot on your plate this Thanksgiving

Despite your busy schedule, your test as the designated holiday party host has begun. But do not fear, for we will help you on your path! With our full-service Thanksgiving catering, you can save all those hours you’d have spent on shopping, cooking, and most of all, clean-up.

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Work, travel, and busy schedules have probably made it harder for you and your family and friends to stay in touch. Everyone is biding their time, waiting for the holiday season when they can all get together.

Unless it’s a costume, you don’t want your apron hanging from your neck this Halloween. It’s been a busy year and with the holiday season just around the corner, it will only get busier.

Spooky Halloween parties are great reconnecting opportunities. Set up your family and friends for this experience by choosing Catering by Michaels as your holiday event planner. We have fun and creative ideas that will keep up the creepy theme, usher in the holiday spirit, and make the experience uniquely yours.

Let’s see how many of your co-workers can stomach treats designed like snakes, eyeballs, spiders, mummies, and all sorts of monsters!

Freshly prepared food for your guests

Your party planning starts with setting the menu. The food items you serve your guests will have a great impact on how the whole experience turns out. Are you going to serve hot or cold foods? Is the food adult-oriented or focused on the children?

Our event and culinary team can help you put together a great menu attending to all tastes at the party. We have various options, such as hot and cold foods, sweet and savory treats, and we can theme your menu according to your guests: adults, children or a mix of both.

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Everyone loves a celebration!

And there’s no celebration without food, it seems. Regardless of their culture or religion, people love to eat when they are celebrating.

Food enhances the experience, promotes interactions between people, and provides a platform for bonding. If you love food as much as we do here at Catering by Michaels, you don’t even need a reason to eat.

But why is food so inexorably tied to celebration?

The Role Food Plays in Celebration

During many celebrations, the host offers food both as a gesture and reflex action.

It’s a gesture of love shown to people we care about whether on a sunny Sunday afternoon, at a wedding, or really during any sort of event. It’s also a physiological response to the mood. Naturally, certain mental states just make you want to eat something, both happy and sad.

Food is also an expression of who we are. We associate certain types of food with certain cultures and religions.

Apart from marking the event, the food served reminds the guests that the host has certain beliefs. That there’s something the owner of the event stands for. Without food, this would be difficult to convey.

Then again, who wants to attend a celebration without food?

The Celebration Dictates the Menu

Simply put, the host uses food to send a message to the guests.

That message is something to the effect of “you’re welcome,” “you’re cared for,” “this is who I am,” and “let’s celebrate.”

As the host, you put a lot of thought into setting a menu. So it’s not just that the food is tasty, it also sends the right message for the event.

At Catering by Michaels, we’re always ready with event-specific menus and offer various menu options tailored for different celebrations. We realize that you are looking for great menu options that fit your celebration to help you accomplish your goals, and our staff is eager to attend to your every need.

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Here at CBM, we spend a great deal of time talking about food.

However, when planning an event, we know that food is but a part (a great part, but a part nevertheless) of the whole experience.

With this in mind, let’s talk about the non-food elements of an event and how they affect the final look and cost.

Major Event Spending Categories to Keep in Mind

Besides the food itself, there are a few other major spending categories that you should consider when planning your catered event.

Budget

We like to remind our customers to always begin with the budget. Plan within your budget; don’t budget within your plan. Successful low-cost events featuring only the basics are possible.

Vendors

For larger-scale events, you will inevitably deal with many vendors. You may decide to be your own event planner or hire someone else to act as your middleman.

To help understand which route to take, ask yourself:

• Are you confident you can get the best deals?
• Do you have the time?
• Would you rather order your own rentals or let the catering company do it?

Your staff is your army. With full-service catering, Catering by Michaels takes care of many event details for you.

Aesthetics

Decorations can dramatically improve the look of your event. Depending on whether you DIY or hire a decor company, they can also have a big impact on budget. Be realistic about your available time and ability to handle the decor for your event — it may turn out to be more cost-effective to hire out this part of the process.

Entertainment

Entertainment is another important consideration for your event’s budget. Depending on the type of event, you’ll have different options for entertaining your guests — a DJ, full band, or even individuals hired to do things like read tarot cards, draw caricatures, and so on. It’s important to know where to draw the line, especially as it relates back to your budget for the rest of the event.

Identify the Necessities & Nice-to-Haves

You don’t want to give everybody a great memory and leave yourself with a painful one. Know what non-food elements are a must and those that aren’t. This will help you to be realistic about your budget for the event.

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At the end of the 25-hour Yom Kippur fast, our bodies demand a proper meal.

Traditionally, many go for light foods like bagels and lox, cakes, and assorted cookies. These dishes are comforting and easy on the stomach. And after such a long time without digesting anything, you don’t want to “shock” the system.

Even more importantly (and this is where Catering by Michaels shines) most Yom Kippur meals can be made ahead of time. This means there’s no waiting around for food to cook when you’re at your hungriest.

Placing Your Yom Kippur Order

We’ve made it easy and stress-free! You can curate the perfect holiday spread from our menu of traditional Yom Kippur favorites and have your order delivered right to your doorstep (pickup also available).

You can download the Yom Kippur menu right now (pdf) or go to our website to start planning an event around the holiday. If you have employees that celebrate this holiday, you can place an order personally or through a corporate account.

The Yom Kippur Menu

Our Yom Kippur menu consists of dishes that can be served cold or at room temperature. These include deli platters and salads, bagels, tenderloin displays, smoked fish, and desserts.

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