Archive for the ‘Menu Ideas’ Category

We are pleased to announce that we are now serving Cane and Abe Freshwater Rum.  Produced by Old Sugar Distillery, Cane and Abe is distilled in Madison, Wisconsin, from domestically-grown cane sugar and aged in American Oak barrels.  This aging process imparts Cane and Abe with flavors that are both smooth and robust.  Our in-house mixologists are gaga over the subtle hints of brown sugar and maple syrup the rum conveys, and they are especially thrilled with how well Cane and Abe mixes with a wide variety of cocktail flavors.  Tried neat, on ice, or with a favorite mixer, Cane and Abe always refreshes.  We are confident you will agree.

We have started to harvest some of our Fall/Winter veggies and we are pretty pleased with our results.  I particularly love our heirloom carrots, they colors are just amazing, though not as amazing as the story of why we eat orange carrots.  While I prefer just to roast my carrots with a little salt and pepper, here are some great ideas on how to use to tops to cut down on waste and try something new.

As caterers deeply vested in offering our clients the freshest, most local ingredients, we are often faced with the dilemma of seasonal availability of these ingredients. Event menus are crafted well before our events are scheduled to take place, up to a year in advance in some cases, and often without knowing which fruits, vegetables, or meat products will be in peak-season, peak-quality or available in the quantities required for our events.

To remedy this dilemma, Susan Gage Caterers has partnered with D.C. area farmer Georgia Ravitz of East Lynn and Fair Oaks Farms to design our event menus in conjunction with Georgia’s year-round harvesting schedule so that we might offer our clients truly local ingredients at the moment of optimal freshness and availability. We believe this collaborative effort with Georgia in planning our menus around the production/harvest cycle of Georgia’s farms will allow us to bring local, farm-to-table ingredients to event menus with more seasonal regularity. While will continue to source as much of our local ingredients as possible, we feel by taking this more holistic approach to planning menus and planting/harvesting schedules in conjunction will not only allow us to become a much greener company, but to greatly improve the quality level of our food as well.

If you have questions regarding our season offerings, or what’s growing on Georgia’s farm in any given season, please feel free to contact a company Account Executive.

In 1972, Dr. Robert Atkins showed our country the power of protein and we’ve been hooked ever since. So it’s no wonder that in the year 2011, we’ve started incorporating protein into the one pure carbohydrate people just cant seem to give up- desserts.

The bacon craze is here to stay and it’s making its debut in cookbooks, restaurants, TV shows & bakeries across the country. Top Chef first sparked the bacon craze with bacon ice cream and America welcomed it with open arms and empty stomachs. Bakeries diligently began experimenting with this salty cured meat. The result? Everything from chocolate bacon bars, bacon cupcakes, bacon peanut brittle and even bacon jelly beans.

Our pastry chef decided to jump on board with the bacon trend and recently experimented with salted caramel bacon turtles, bacon maple cupcakes & bacon caramels. The salty, sweet & smoky flavor in all of the desserts is the perfect combination.

Cameron Pastrick



All of us have gotten very used to having nearly all of our favorite vegetables available to us nearly all the time. Strawberries in February, why not! The recent extreme weather throughout the country however have put this to a test. As you can see in the attached pictures, there is going to be a shortage in many of the fresh fruits and vegetables that we have grown used to. This is one more reason to try to eat local seasonal foods throughout the year. Many locally grown vegetables are able to store well throughout the winter months, so make sure to include, apples, potatoes, rutabagas and other ‘winter vegetables’ on your menus, they will taste great and save you some dough. There is also a great variety of locally preserved fruits as well as pickles and chutneys to add some summer flavor to your winter meals.