Fox Five Road Warrior at Legendary Event! Five Segments! Five Departments!

What a thrill to have Fox Five’s outstanding Road Warrior Stacey Elgin come and visit  A Legendary Event! Our team showed how to have a Legendary holiday with our very own Legendary experts demonstrating what A Legendary Event has to offer for the holiday table.  Executive Chef Christophe in the kitchen showcased a fabulous Holiday Cranberry Orange Relish.  Executive Pastry Chef Charles Barrett in the Pastry Shop demonstrated how to make our famed Pumpkin Cheesecake Lollipops.  Floral Director Jeanna Graham showed how simple food die and seasonal fruit such as crabapples or cranberries can add a simplistic flair to a holiday table. Creative Director Steve Welsh showed his talents by creatively transforming a wood panel from the hardware store into a stunning and spectacular tiger eye patterned wood dining table that made an exquisite fall statement. CEO and founder, award-winning Tony Conway showed us his festive flair by appointing the perfect place setting with colorful table napkins making a scalloped fold that dressed up the table and resembled a memorable Thanksgiving turkey styled design. The Legendary team showed how limitless the possibilities are at A Legendary Event and when you add a personal touch, everyone enjoys the holiday in style. Try one of our recipes and tell us how it turned out! 

Happy Holidays and may your blessings be many!

Summer Note from Tony Conway

This past week our team had the pleasure of working on a photo shoot with the Atlanta Occasion Publisher Heather Vreeland on her upcoming July Issue! It is going to be amazing and you will have to check out the newest venue in Atlanta, 200 Peachtree! The image above doesn't even come close to doing this event space justice. Our Creative Director, Steve Welsh, and Floral Director, Jeanna Graham, took my vision and really made it come together with the amazing table settings and incredible floral decor…and then Senior Event Manager, Sandi Horgan, led a team of Legendary Staff and Supplier Partners to handle all of the logistics! Drapery was provided by the fantastic Event Drapery and, of course, photographer Ben Vigil made everything come to life! Heather and I have been planning and designing this shoot for sometime, and I look forward to your feedback on the issue…pick it up July! I cannot wait to see what the rest of the issue has in store for us because Heather is amazing at what she does!

I will also be featured in the July issue of Delta Sky Magazine… from what I hear, the overall theme really is going to be fun and innovative …I hope you like the article!

Have a great summer!

Tony

2010 Spotlight Award Voting in Final Stretch

If you haven't already voted for A Legendary Event to become 2010 Spotlight Award Catering Company of the Year, you only have three days left!!! To vote, click on the black box above and enter your e-mail address. It only takes a few minutes and we would be honored to have your support. The voting deadline is on January 31st at midnight. Happy Voting!

For the Love of Coconut

The coconut tree has been called the 'tree of life' because of its multifarious uses- the leaves for matting, weaving, and hatching; the fibrous husks for making rope; the oil for soap, shampoo, and cosmetics; and, of course, the edible part of the coconut for ingredients in countless sweet and savory recipes.

Health benefits of coconut have garnered much attention in recent press. Last year India, one of the top coconut producing countries, experienced a 130% increase in consumption of “tender coconut.” The coconut water found in tender coconut is gaining popularity because its fat free, naturally sweet and electrolyte-rich. In other words, it’s the perfect energy drink. In addition to the elixir-like coconut water-the fleshy, edible part of the coconut, also known as “coconut meat” is much healthier than other fruits. Coconut meat contains less sugar and more protein than popular fruits such as bananas, apples, and oranges. As well, the health benefits of coconut oil include stress relief, weight loss, increased immunity, relief from kidney problems, diabetes, and maintaining cholesterol levels to name a few (I can already hear lines forming at Whole Foods). The coconut, it seems, is quickly achieving, rock star status.

I appreciate all of coconut’s non-food uses and its healthy benefits but I love coconut for one reason, I love to cook with it. From Thai-styled Massaman curry with coconut sauce to a sprinkle on my cupcakes, coconut provides a subtle nutty sweetness that I adore. Below is a recipe that I especially like, popular in the Northern region of India called “Coconut Ladoo.” It’s a simple recipe that’s doesn’t require a lot of time. Translated literally, “Coconut Ladoo” means “balls of coconut.” Combined with condensed milk, and powdered sugar these melt-in-your-mouth treats are truly unique.



Photo courtesy of Philip Shone Photography

Coconut Laddoo Ingredients:
3 cups fresh dry coconut (shredded)*
¾ can condensed milk
1 cup powdered sugarHow to make Coconut Laddoo:
Boil ¾ can of condensed milk in a pan.
When it starts boiling, add 2 cups shredded coconut and mix well.
When the milk gets absorbed in coconut, add the powdered sugar.
Stir continuously on medium flame until mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan.
Remove and make small balls (about the size of a table tennis ball).
Roll the balls in the remaining coconut.
Refrigerate Coconut Laddoos for 30 minutes before serving.

*Depending on taste, add 1 level tsp of cardamom powder to shredded coconut.

Shredded coconut is also a wonderful garnish to any type of leafy green salad composed with fruit and nuts. Recently, we created a Toasted Coconut and Blood Orange Salad as the salad component to a four course Tapas platter for a poolside party. We dressed the salad with a Coconut Rum Vinaigrette. The salad was a perfect sweet and tangy blend and paired beautifully with the other courses.

Coconut black tea and coconut flour are two more wonderful coconut products. Blended with tropical coconut, coconut black tea is a hearty and tasty twist on classic black tea and is making its presence known among tea drinkers for its subtle sweetness. For extra nuttiness, coconut black tea can also be served with almond milk.

Another relatively new coconut-based product is coconut flour. Although not readily available in every supermarket, coconut flour is receiving growing acclaim. Prior to the availability of coconut flour, those with certain dietary restrictions were forced to forego many desserts and baked goods. Alas! Imagine the tragedy of a life lived devoid of chocolate chip cookies, blueberry muffins and German chocolate cake. Since coconut flour is 100% gluten free, those with wheat allergies are finding coconut flour to be the perfect substitute. As well, since coconut flour already has a mildly sweet taste from the naturally occurring sugar from the coconut meat, baked goods need less sugar added. Now that coconut flour has arrived on the market, it has become much more than a substitute for traditional flour; it’s become an essential dietary element for a growing number of health-conscious consumers.

Sustainable Entertaining

The ozone thins. Natural resources wane. Wall Street seizes. In order to consciously combat depleting reserves and a topsy-turvy economy Creative Director Steve Welsh and Floral Designer Kim Vasil created a “sustainable table” for a recent annual fund-raising event. “Struggling with the aftermath of a recent drought, we wanted to send a strong message of conservation and sustainability by using plants that live off the moisture of their own leaf systems,” Welsh remarked.

Welsh, Vasil, and the design team pavéd the entire table surface with wheat grass, then added a series of vignettes using hearty succulents, cacti, and unique ground cover such as hens and chicks, flapjack succulents, and creeping sedum. One of the vignettes, for example, was a low row of sequential pencil cacti nestled in white landscaping rock—another was constructed with ground cover, jade, kale, and decorative moss balls. A quirky combination of kosher rock salt, split peas, and personalized name placards were visible through each hand-cut recycled glass section that topped each of the fourteen organic place settings. Many of the plants utilized in this design were so hearty that they also served as a perfect place to set butter dishes and votive candles. Another level of recycling consciousness came from our ability to present our guests with the actual potted plants from the tablescape as take-home gifts. Presenting our guests with some of the plants they’d been admiring all evening sent a resonating message of the gift of nature.

Since most of you don’t have an entire design team at your disposal, in regards to sustainable entertaining Floral Designer Kim Vasil says, “The most important thing to remember is to use what you already have—dig up something from your garden to use as a centerpiece, use antiques chockfull of personality. I have incorporated my collection of antique globes into my table designs on numerous occasions. Use anything that you can get your hands on to make your table more unique and festive—the more personal the better. Personality, in my opinion, always creates a lasting impression.”

Instead of spending money on party items that will likely be discarded later, access the rich vault of your personal possessions. Root around your garage. Bring a piece of forgotten furniture back to life with a fresh coat of bold paint. Surround your table with assorted hand-painted chairs for an eclectic feel. Incorporate a family heirloom from your what-not-shelf into your unique table décor. Use beakers from an old chemistry set for sugar and cream, a rack of test tubes as individual bud vases. Stand napkins vertically by using artful bookends. Open your refrigerator. Create a colorful centerpiece using bright orange tangerines and yellow lemons along with some garden fresh white daisies or roses. A variety of home grown flowers will work beautifully with a citrus centerpiece.

There are plenty of items in your home just waiting to be featured the next time you entertain. Whether you use an armful of flowers from your back yard or a handful of lemons from your refrigerator—sustainable entertaining is a win-win situation for everyone. The environment wins, your pocketbook wins, and you’ll win smiles from your guests for creating a memorable occasion with an earth-friendly spirit.

Also, it’s best to keep the environment in mind when sending out invitations. If you don’t use e-invitations, at least use soy ink on recycled paper. Promote sustainability as well when you’re planning your menu. Most people aren’t aware that the start-to-finish process of raising and distributing red meat causes more greenhouse gas emissions than any other food group. Choosing chicken or fish as your entrée is far less destructive to the environment. When selecting seafood, however, it’s best to select seafood that is responsibly harvested. Many fisheries continue unsustainable fishing practices and habitat destruction. For example—Atlantic cod, Chilean sea bass, and Yellowtail flounder are among the least environmentally-friendly and should be avoided at all costs. Pacific halibut, wild Alaskan salmon, and bay-farmed scallops are just a few examples of seafood that is responsibly farmed. To learn more about environmentally sustainable living and for a more extensive list of sustainable seafood choices go to http://www.eartheasy.com/.