This is my little world of catering for fundraiser events for Farm Animal Rescue.
So far I did 6 big Trivia night events and one art exhibit opening.
I also always love to bake and cook thing for bakesales to support Farm Animal Rescue.
I think these bakesales started it all.
I remember my first Trivia night.
I cooked a 3 course italian dinner with fingerfoods.
I actually didn't expect to ran the kitchen as well, but my partner and I did that night.
And this is how everything started with the Trivia events.
I am not at this stage, that I ran the kitchen and food on my own... with my lovely partner.
The second event was a Trivia night with a 3 course indian dinner + fingerfood. I created a really nice 3 courses dinner.
But I didn't do the fingerfoods. There also was an indian lady, who took care of the rice and also cooked one curry.
The next Trivia was one of my personal favorites. I got free hand to decide the theme and the menu.
So I decided to cook Greek, my favorite food. What a night. Just awesome.
I planned everything ahead. My partner and I ran the kitchen and everythink worked just great again.
We were very happy with everything.
Somehow I also ended up to cater for an art opening from artist Jo Frederiks, later that year.
I was very touched by the artwork and happy to cater for this event. ---
Over the years this Trivia events turned to a favorite fundraiser event.
So we added a European Cruise Tour and we just finished our second Christmas in July, the German way :-)
Let's see, what happenes next ...
Thanks for looking :-)
February 2018 we/Farm Animal rescue and me, organiced a special Fundraiser Trivia event ---
Theme: European Cruise
This really was fun for everyone. I think for me this was specially fun, because I created a menu, what I could cook pretty good, and what covered 4 european countries.
We started in Germany with some fingerfood. German Thyringer Rostbratwuerstchen with mustard/horseradish mix. I am pretty proud of my sausages. I worked a lot on them to get this great German flavour into the sausages, every German loves. This recipe for sure will end up in my book I will going to write one day.
For the next finger food we cruised to Italy. Some delicious tomato and broccocini skewers were waiting for the passengers. A delicous dip into the balsamic and olive oil vinagrette --- perfect for the summer temperatures.
Our next stop for fingerfood was in Spain.
A refreshing Gazpacho and spicy Banderellas, welcomed our guests to prepare for the first course.
The first couse, the starter, was waiting for everyone in Greece! Ohhhpppaaa ....
What better starter to have than a traditional Greek Salad! Homemade European coleslaw, homemade Veta, Kalamata olives, red onions etc etc etc ... fresh bread. Very enjoyable.
Back on board, our passengers enjoyed another round of Triva. How much fun was that.
Just the right to do until the boad locked on in Croatia for the main mean of the journey.
I made traditional Cevapcici (approved from my croatian non vegan, neighbours!!!) served with traditional Djuvec Rice, hot onions and a traditional side salad you get at every Croatian/Serbian restaurant in Germany. The salad contains marinated green beans, white beans, european coleslaw, onion and garnish of tomato and cucumber.
Germans LOVE this cuisine and there are a lot of this restaurants. I actually grew up with this, because my dad only eats at this restaurants. In my childhood, we always went once a month to our Croatian restaurant. When we moved, dad found a new restaurant and still visits it once a month! With ALWAYS eating the same dish.
So this was easy and lots of passion and fun for me to cook. Food, close to my heart ... veganiced :-)
With the last rounds of Trivia, our passengers were informed, that the cruise slowly came to an end.
We returned to Germany again, for dessert.
And I love this dessert --- every German does!
There is no better dessert in summer than "Rote Gruetze with Vanilla sauce" ---
red fruit berry yelly with vanilla custard.
With this delicious dessert, our boat locked on again. Passengers enjoyed their prices,
packed their belongings with a happy, full stomach ... and said good bye.
We hope to see you all again for the next cruise, which for sure, will come :-)
Theme: European Cruise
This really was fun for everyone. I think for me this was specially fun, because I created a menu, what I could cook pretty good, and what covered 4 european countries.
We started in Germany with some fingerfood. German Thyringer Rostbratwuerstchen with mustard/horseradish mix. I am pretty proud of my sausages. I worked a lot on them to get this great German flavour into the sausages, every German loves. This recipe for sure will end up in my book I will going to write one day.
For the next finger food we cruised to Italy. Some delicious tomato and broccocini skewers were waiting for the passengers. A delicous dip into the balsamic and olive oil vinagrette --- perfect for the summer temperatures.
Our next stop for fingerfood was in Spain.
A refreshing Gazpacho and spicy Banderellas, welcomed our guests to prepare for the first course.
The first couse, the starter, was waiting for everyone in Greece! Ohhhpppaaa ....
What better starter to have than a traditional Greek Salad! Homemade European coleslaw, homemade Veta, Kalamata olives, red onions etc etc etc ... fresh bread. Very enjoyable.
Back on board, our passengers enjoyed another round of Triva. How much fun was that.
Just the right to do until the boad locked on in Croatia for the main mean of the journey.
I made traditional Cevapcici (approved from my croatian non vegan, neighbours!!!) served with traditional Djuvec Rice, hot onions and a traditional side salad you get at every Croatian/Serbian restaurant in Germany. The salad contains marinated green beans, white beans, european coleslaw, onion and garnish of tomato and cucumber.
Germans LOVE this cuisine and there are a lot of this restaurants. I actually grew up with this, because my dad only eats at this restaurants. In my childhood, we always went once a month to our Croatian restaurant. When we moved, dad found a new restaurant and still visits it once a month! With ALWAYS eating the same dish.
So this was easy and lots of passion and fun for me to cook. Food, close to my heart ... veganiced :-)
With the last rounds of Trivia, our passengers were informed, that the cruise slowly came to an end.
We returned to Germany again, for dessert.
And I love this dessert --- every German does!
There is no better dessert in summer than "Rote Gruetze with Vanilla sauce" ---
red fruit berry yelly with vanilla custard.
With this delicious dessert, our boat locked on again. Passengers enjoyed their prices,
packed their belongings with a happy, full stomach ... and said good bye.
We hope to see you all again for the next cruise, which for sure, will come :-)
Christmas in July 2017
What a great event! Farm Animal Rescue did a fundraiser Trivia with the theme Christmas in July.
For me it was clear, German food it is! In the first place I wanted this theme to show people, that German food is so much more than just Sauerkraut, Brezeln and pork feet. Sausages. Thats what people often think. --- But German food has SO much to offer. Lots of people have on Christmas Eve just Potato Salad and Franks. And the first boxing day is reserved for the big roast. Mostly a goose. With red cabbage, german style kale, dumplings and lots of gravy. In my family we always have this at Christmas Eve. So I stay with this tradition. Also the cold temperature made it clear for me to cook German. This food is just perfect for winter season! And it was SO pleasant for me to cook. No heat for a change and no struggle to cool the food. So much of a pleasure.
The complete event was sold out very fast. How great was that! Made things much eastier for me, because I knew the numbers. --- As fingerfood I made 3 typical German bread spreads and served it on bread.
Liverwurst, of course no liver included!
Teewurst
Hackepeter
And Ange's special brew with some parsley
We spread the bread for the Hackepeter and Liverwurst with sunflower margarine. These are best when served with a buttery taste. Sprinkled with fresh chives. The Hackepeter, what original is raw pork mince (unbelieveable I even ate that once) --- it was served with a pickle and black pepper. And the Teewurst I made, we spread the bread first with onion Schmalz. This is SO good together. So far I don't have this recipe on my page. But I will write it the next time I make Teewurst. This really is so good --- I am very happy I could veganice it.
I also made a kind of a soup we served in little shoots (Stamperln) with some fresh parsley.
For entry I cooked traditional German Potato Soup, served with some sausage. Just the way I always cook it and know from home. One lady was so happy about this soup, she even came into the kitchen to tell me. She said "oh this soup was so great, just the way I ate it in Germany" -- this made me very happy - this is what I wanted people to feel. Germany :-)
For main we had the traditional German Christmas roast. I made the roast and served it with German style red cabbage and kale, dumplings and gravy. All homemade of course. The only thing what wasn't homemade were the sausage on top of the soup and the Spekulatius Christmas cookies.
For dessert I made a traditional German Apple Crumble. Served with a bit cream on side and covered in icing sugar. Just the way you get it in a German bakery :-)
I also baked my Christmas snowballs --- we put them on plates in the middle of the tables with some Christmas Spekulatius. In Germany we have much more on this plate. This plate is called "Bunter Teller" and always placed under the christmas tree. On it all the german christmas delights you can think of.
Empty plates were returned into the kitchen --- the best gift everyone could give me! THANKS
Ah, almost forgot --- of course we also served a huge pot full of Gluehwein (muletwine)
This, really can't be missed on a German Christmas feast :-)
Unfortunately I have not many pics --- there was no time to take pics. But with these ones, you get the idea.
What a great event! Farm Animal Rescue did a fundraiser Trivia with the theme Christmas in July.
For me it was clear, German food it is! In the first place I wanted this theme to show people, that German food is so much more than just Sauerkraut, Brezeln and pork feet. Sausages. Thats what people often think. --- But German food has SO much to offer. Lots of people have on Christmas Eve just Potato Salad and Franks. And the first boxing day is reserved for the big roast. Mostly a goose. With red cabbage, german style kale, dumplings and lots of gravy. In my family we always have this at Christmas Eve. So I stay with this tradition. Also the cold temperature made it clear for me to cook German. This food is just perfect for winter season! And it was SO pleasant for me to cook. No heat for a change and no struggle to cool the food. So much of a pleasure.
The complete event was sold out very fast. How great was that! Made things much eastier for me, because I knew the numbers. --- As fingerfood I made 3 typical German bread spreads and served it on bread.
Liverwurst, of course no liver included!
Teewurst
Hackepeter
And Ange's special brew with some parsley
We spread the bread for the Hackepeter and Liverwurst with sunflower margarine. These are best when served with a buttery taste. Sprinkled with fresh chives. The Hackepeter, what original is raw pork mince (unbelieveable I even ate that once) --- it was served with a pickle and black pepper. And the Teewurst I made, we spread the bread first with onion Schmalz. This is SO good together. So far I don't have this recipe on my page. But I will write it the next time I make Teewurst. This really is so good --- I am very happy I could veganice it.
I also made a kind of a soup we served in little shoots (Stamperln) with some fresh parsley.
For entry I cooked traditional German Potato Soup, served with some sausage. Just the way I always cook it and know from home. One lady was so happy about this soup, she even came into the kitchen to tell me. She said "oh this soup was so great, just the way I ate it in Germany" -- this made me very happy - this is what I wanted people to feel. Germany :-)
For main we had the traditional German Christmas roast. I made the roast and served it with German style red cabbage and kale, dumplings and gravy. All homemade of course. The only thing what wasn't homemade were the sausage on top of the soup and the Spekulatius Christmas cookies.
For dessert I made a traditional German Apple Crumble. Served with a bit cream on side and covered in icing sugar. Just the way you get it in a German bakery :-)
I also baked my Christmas snowballs --- we put them on plates in the middle of the tables with some Christmas Spekulatius. In Germany we have much more on this plate. This plate is called "Bunter Teller" and always placed under the christmas tree. On it all the german christmas delights you can think of.
Empty plates were returned into the kitchen --- the best gift everyone could give me! THANKS
Ah, almost forgot --- of course we also served a huge pot full of Gluehwein (muletwine)
This, really can't be missed on a German Christmas feast :-)
Unfortunately I have not many pics --- there was no time to take pics. But with these ones, you get the idea.
One event I catered for was another fundraiser event from Farm Animal Rescue.
An art exhibit from a remarkable and very talented artist "Jo Frederik's Animal Holocaust Exhibit".
Her paintings are amazing. They present everything people need to know about animal cruelty. To see her incredible art visit her page here jofrederiks.altervista.org/home.php
"Fifty percent of all art sales during the exhibition are being donated to Farm Animal Rescue by Jo, and Jo has offered her piece "Three Little Pigs" up for a raffle with all proceeds going to the sanctuary. The painting will come framed owing to the generous support of Poster Paradise."
I was delighted to do the fingerfood for this great event.
I really enjoyed doing this and was also very touched by Jo's art work.
For this event I created 3 different fingerfoods.
Greek Salad skewers
Turkish Chi Kofta wrapped in iceberg lettuce and turkish Cacik
Rissol canapes with cashew/horseradish/mustard cream & caper + fresh dill
In November 2016 Farm Animal Rescue hosted another fun night of Trivia and great food.
This time I decided to cook what I love most --- Greek food!
It was a lot of work, I actually almost thought I can't finish it. A lot of elements.
But everything I planned ended up on the peoples plates. What a night!
For fingerfood I created greek pastries. Filled with a tofu herbed mix. I also made some Greek salad skewers.
For entry we enjoyed stuffed zucchini with Sordalia Dip.
For main I made Bifteki (Greek rissols stuffed with feta),
Souvlaki skewes, greek ricenoodles as side, a bowl of Tzatziki and a Greek salad with european coleslaw.
For dessert I decided to make Bougatsa with strawberry sauce and grapes.
My sweetheart and me ran the kitchen and everything really worked just awesome. When everything was done, we ended up with an Ouzo for everyone. Because this is the way we know it from Greek restaurants in Germany. There is ALWAYS the little Schnaps on the house. And it always is Ouzo of course.
This fundraiser event was a lot of fun to do.
I want to tell you about my first big event I cooked for.
My first huge cooking was for a fundraiser event to support Farm Animal Rescue.
A Trivia Night with a 3 course Italian dinner.
I was on fire! I love italian cooking and I had plenty of ideas to create a menu for this event. When I started to plan this menu, the amount of people was by around 30 people. I was nervous, but could not wait to start on everyting. Every week I received a new number of people and to the end, the event was sold out and I cooked for 62 people! WOW - what a challenge. I only have a normal size fridge and kitchen. Where to store all this food? Thanks god my friend stepped in and offered room in her fridge, what made things easier for me. And I was also thankfull about the temperatures outside. It is still winter in Australia, so the temperatures where perfect, I could store all the veggies on my patio.
The dinner I created was:
As starter when people arrived and had a drink, we served Bruschetta (the italian way) and my famous vegan
Feta & Spinach pastries.
As an entry we had Tomato and vegan Mozzarella Salad, served with cucumber, red onion and fresh basil - topped with homemade Balsamico dressing. --- sorry no recipe yet!
For main it was the italian classic Spaghetti Bolognese, topped with Vegusto cheese and rocket salad.
Here you find a similar recipe I cooked. When I cook a minced Bolognese, I use half Tofu, half soy mince. Before I mince the tofu, I fry it crisp. This way you get a better texture to the Bolognese!
And for dessert the most delicous italian classic --- TIRAMISU.
Served with fresh strawberries, mandarins and a little piece of homemade coffee chocolate.
I cooked all this in 4 days! Thanks god I started earlier than planned --- otherwise I would had been in a lot of trouble to finish all this. Everything went just great. No big disasters, only a very small one I could fix again. I also prepared myself mentally on to work in the kitchen that evening to plate everyting up. I had a huge support from my lovely partner and 3 lovely girls, who also volunteered to help. We never met each other and to bring all this together was huge. But we made it. I hope all the people really enjoyed my food --- but all the plates returned empty to the kitchen, so I assume everyone was happy :-)
Well, I learned a lot in that 4 days. Specially about myself! I so enjoyed all this, I can't wait for the next event. In my mind I already create a menu, haha. But til then --- some pictures of this great event. The pictures were taken by the fabulous photographer Carol Slater!
When you are ever in Brisbane or the Goldcoast, come and visit this fantastic Rescue Farm! Sponsor an animal or volunteer to support the farm. They are often looking for new volunteers!
Check on thier webpage here ....
http://www.farmanimalrescue.org.au/
Yes, that was my very first really big event --- :-)
My first huge cooking was for a fundraiser event to support Farm Animal Rescue.
A Trivia Night with a 3 course Italian dinner.
I was on fire! I love italian cooking and I had plenty of ideas to create a menu for this event. When I started to plan this menu, the amount of people was by around 30 people. I was nervous, but could not wait to start on everyting. Every week I received a new number of people and to the end, the event was sold out and I cooked for 62 people! WOW - what a challenge. I only have a normal size fridge and kitchen. Where to store all this food? Thanks god my friend stepped in and offered room in her fridge, what made things easier for me. And I was also thankfull about the temperatures outside. It is still winter in Australia, so the temperatures where perfect, I could store all the veggies on my patio.
The dinner I created was:
As starter when people arrived and had a drink, we served Bruschetta (the italian way) and my famous vegan
Feta & Spinach pastries.
As an entry we had Tomato and vegan Mozzarella Salad, served with cucumber, red onion and fresh basil - topped with homemade Balsamico dressing. --- sorry no recipe yet!
For main it was the italian classic Spaghetti Bolognese, topped with Vegusto cheese and rocket salad.
Here you find a similar recipe I cooked. When I cook a minced Bolognese, I use half Tofu, half soy mince. Before I mince the tofu, I fry it crisp. This way you get a better texture to the Bolognese!
And for dessert the most delicous italian classic --- TIRAMISU.
Served with fresh strawberries, mandarins and a little piece of homemade coffee chocolate.
I cooked all this in 4 days! Thanks god I started earlier than planned --- otherwise I would had been in a lot of trouble to finish all this. Everything went just great. No big disasters, only a very small one I could fix again. I also prepared myself mentally on to work in the kitchen that evening to plate everyting up. I had a huge support from my lovely partner and 3 lovely girls, who also volunteered to help. We never met each other and to bring all this together was huge. But we made it. I hope all the people really enjoyed my food --- but all the plates returned empty to the kitchen, so I assume everyone was happy :-)
Well, I learned a lot in that 4 days. Specially about myself! I so enjoyed all this, I can't wait for the next event. In my mind I already create a menu, haha. But til then --- some pictures of this great event. The pictures were taken by the fabulous photographer Carol Slater!
When you are ever in Brisbane or the Goldcoast, come and visit this fantastic Rescue Farm! Sponsor an animal or volunteer to support the farm. They are often looking for new volunteers!
Check on thier webpage here ....
http://www.farmanimalrescue.org.au/
Yes, that was my very first really big event --- :-)
My next big cooking was another Trivia Night --- with a 3 course indian dinner.
Unfortunately there are no pictures available --- execpt the 2 I took from my entry and dessert.
I was cooking for 50 people again. For entry I created a fresh indian carrot salad. I served that with homemade Tandori skewers, onion Bahjis and some homemade Raita. The Tandori skewers I made with gluten flour and tofu. Marinated with all the indian spices for a Tandori. I also made the cheese for the Raita --- I was pretty happy with this entry.
My dessert was Cardamon Rice Pudding with homemade Gulab Jamuns, homemade poached pears, rosewater syrup and some roasted almond flakes
For main I cooked a Butter Tofu Curry. Sorry, no pics for this. --- This also was a crazy week for me. I like Indian cuisine, but it is not one of my favorites. So I was very nervous. Specially because I got help from an indian lady, who also cooked a Curry and took care of the rice. But I was very happy --- I got a pretty good feedback from lots of the people! When the service girls returned to the kitchen to get more plates, I got the message "complements to the chef" from that or that table - that felt pretty awesome :-)
The latest event was a bake sale from Farm Animal Rescue.
I always love to be a part of this events, which are once a month. This time I baked my famous Feta & Spinach pastries, German Easter Striezel, made some Zaccici and Majonaise. The complete bake sale was a full success ---