Dietary Needs

multicultural holiday season
Religious Dietary Practices December 15, 2016

A Multicultural Holiday Season Calls for a Special Feast

Religious Dietary Practices December 15, 2016

December and the winter season is a time for celebration! It’s a multicultural holiday season and as we design our menus and activities, we can consider the many opportunities we have for an especially inclusive feast. Here are several reasons we often say “Happy Holidays” as a greeting and farewell during this celebratory season. In order according to the Gregorian calendar: Eid-al-Fitr More than 1,300 years ago, the prophet Muhammad received the Muslims’ holy book, the Koran. Muslims show their love for the Koran and Allah by praying and fasting during the month of Ramadan. The dates of Ramadan change…

Read more

thanksgiving food allergies
Community Dietary Needs Food Allergies November 23, 2016

Thanksgiving Dishes for Guests with Food Allergies

Community Dietary Needs Food Allergies November 23, 2016

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful opportunity to come together, but it can also be a bit intimidating for a number of reasons. Whether you are hosting, catering, or bringing a dish, it’s tough to make sure there will be something for everyone. Thanksgiving Food Allergies are just one of many ways to make your guests feel welcome. Chances are someone, most likely more than just one someone, will have dietary restrictions of some kind. Here are just a few recipes to consider that will help address the Big Eight allergens as well as a few other common dietary restrictions. Just…

Read more

Hand writing Diabetes | managing diabetes
Dietary Needs Food Service Meetings & Events November 9, 2016

Celebrate Diabetes Awareness Month by Savoring Delicious Nutritious Foods

Dietary Needs Food Service Meetings & Events November 9, 2016

Managing Diabetes at Meetings can Improve Health for all  If you follow me on social media, you may have already noticed it’s Diabetes Awareness Month. The celebration is a combined effort across U.S. government entities, medical professionals, individuals with diabetes and their friends and families, those who want to learn more, and organizations across more industries than you would think to help those managing diabetes to eat and feel better. “National Diabetes Month is observed every November so individuals, health care professionals, organizations, and communities across the country can bring attention to diabetes and its impact on millions of Americans.”…

Read more

Lifestyle Choices November 1, 2016

Happy Vegan Month and World Vegan Day!

Lifestyle Choices November 1, 2016

November is off to a great start and one of the reasons is that November first is World Vegan Day. I’m not promoting we all need to switch to veganism, but I am promoting more vegan dishes in our menus. Not only will be making a concerted effort to meet the needs of our custom eaters, we’ll be opening our events to a vast and surprisingly delicious world of innovative vegan dishes. With a growing number of people turning to vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, the effort to create meat-like dishes is long gone. Occasionally, we still see tofurkey, fish-like tacos,…

Read more

Jack O' Lantern on the Halloween party
Food Allergies October 27, 2016

Halloween: Keep Your Custom Eaters Safe from Forbidden Foods, Not Just Pesky Ghouls

Food Allergies October 27, 2016
Five Ideas for Frightfully Festive Cocktail Hour Fare Halloween parties are a fun opportunity to get creative while maintaining that special balance between making everything look creepy and delicious at the same time. It’s almost an art form and the catering craft has certainly seen its share of epic wins and brutal scares. One thing that shouldn’t be scary on Halloween is knowing whether the food is safe to eat. Anyone with food allergies can attest to the difficulties inherent in eating at parties. Add to that the additional vigilance needed when meals are disguised for a theme and it…

Read more

Dietary Needs Religious Dietary Practices October 21, 2016

Convening Kosher – from Facilities & Destinations Magazine, Summer 2016

Dietary Needs Religious Dietary Practices October 21, 2016

Convening Kosher  Communication and knowledge are key to ensuring the F&B experience pleases all parties At a recent Tourism Ireland event, I was intrigued by a query to guest host Lady Dunleath about the menus available at Ballywalter Park, Lord and Lady Dunleath’s Northern Ireland home. A meeting planner representing a law firm in Manhattan’s financial district inquired about the availability of vegetarian, vegan and kosher meals at the estate, whose Mansion House is offered for group functions. In the ensuing conversation, the planner noted that, given the costs involved in obtaining kosher provisions, she tried to investigate if attendees…

Read more

Dietary Needs Food Service Lifestyle Choices Meetings & Events Recipes October 18, 2016

October: Vegetarian Awareness Month

Dietary Needs Food Service Lifestyle Choices Meetings & Events Recipes October 18, 2016

October is Vegetarian Awareness Month! This doesn’t mean there is a sudden call-to-action for all meat-eaters to go veggie, but it’s a great way to stop and appreciate that there are some amazing veggie dishes out there that are worth building into our main course menus. And if we were to build just a little more veggie-life into our personal weekly menus, we might find we are actually experiencing this delicious world in an even more interesting way. Quick Run-Down on Vegarians: Vegetarian Awareness Month has two purposes. One is to be aware of vegetarians and the reasons for their…

Read more

Food Allergies October 11, 2016

Global Handwashing Day – It’s a Lifesaver

Food Allergies October 11, 2016

This month is packed with food related hashtag days, recognition days, and awareness days. What month isn’t, right? But this month, in particular, has a few I want to recognize. I have a few articles coming your way to help us celebrate, but this Saturday, October 15th, I am recognizing Global Handwashing Day. Now, Global Handwashing Day may not be the most glamorous sounding event, but when you stop to understand and think about it, we’re marking a day of awareness that helps to save lives! That’s right, washing hands with soap saves lives. The homepage for Global Handwashing Day…

Read more

Dietary Needs Food Service Meetings & Events October 4, 2016

Rosh Hashanah – A Food Primer – Shanah Tovah!

Dietary Needs Food Service Meetings & Events October 4, 2016

Shanah Tovah, or A Good Year to you. This is the traditional greeting on Rosh Hashanah, which marks the Jewish New Year. This 2016, Rosh Hashanah begins the evening of Sunday, October 2nd and lasts to the evening of October 4th. The holiday commemorates the world’s creation.  It marks the beginning of a ten-day period of introspection and repentance called the Days of Awe. Yom Kippur is known as the Day of Atonement and represents the end of the Days of Awe. Together, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are considered the two High Holy Days of the Jewish religion. Some…

Read more

Food Allergies September 1, 2016

Cross-Contamination, Cross-Contact, & Food Safety at Your Event

Food Allergies September 1, 2016

Cross-contamination is a commonly understood concept. It occurs when bacteria or viruses contaminate food. It can occur during preparation and storage. Often, proper cooking will reduce or eliminate the contamination, so foodborne illness is less of a risk. Occasionally, people forget what they are doing and put their newly cooked hamburger patties on the same plate they used to hold the patties when they were raw. This just reintroduces the contamination. Luckily, professional kitchen staff are trained in the proper handling of food and risk is minimized. When discussing food allergies, we really need to be more aware of cross-contact.…

Read more