by Matt Fairchild, Extreme Cuisine Catering

Whether a simple cake reception or a full service catered event, so many new and fun ideas for receptions are out there and the possibilites are limitless!  What to cater should be determined by several things:  budget, size of your wedding, time of day, and most importantly, what you want.  Remember, a good caterer works within your budget to provide you exactly (or as close as possible) what you want without sacrificing quality.

A nice option for afternoon receptions that is budget friendly is simple but beautiful fruits, vegetables and cheese displays. The addition of melons carved into swans or your names carved into watermelons can be used to highlight the presentation. The addition of mini-croissant sandwiches or a nice spinach dip with bruschetta can round the display nicely.

A noon wedding usually requires heavy hors d’oeuvres or a light lunch.  The afore mentioned reception menu plus stuffed mushrooms, chicken and beef flank steak skewers with dipping sauces, or delightfully filled filo cups.  These may be plated or served buffet-style.  If it is lunch you are serving, let your caterer know what you would like or ask for creative ideas and suggestions.

An evening wedding will warrant a dinner or very heavy appetizers for hungry guests and also serve as a balance if alcohol is served.  Dinners may be plated or buffet depending on where they are held and what facilities are available. Prime rib and steamship round beef carving stations are great additions here.

Let’s not forget about the brunch; a wonderful way for a morning wedding to be followed.  Usually served around ten or eleven in the morning, everything from scrumptious pastries, tasty pasta salads, to ham and turkey carving stations are found in brunches.  Coffee bars with plenty of flavors and condiments to accompany along with mimosas and wine.

Many other creative options are out there as well from mashed potato bars, dessert receptions, themes from around the world and whatever your imagination thinks up. Remember this is your wedding – your food!

by Sue Newhouse
This is the fourth in a series on local farms in and nearby Denton County

In my search of farmers, I’ve discovered that not all farmers grow food. Some, like Regina and Troy Dale of Bartonville, raise animals and plants for the fiber that can be made from their wool or material.

The Dales’ purchased the raw land some 15 years ago. When they saw the huge pecan tree near the front of the property, they fell instantly in love with the land. They have a round pen and adjacent pasture that is home to 9 gelded Huacaya and Suri alpacas, 7 angora goats and 2 Corriedale sheep.

Alpacas are a cousin to the llama. Huacaya alpacas are fluffy outside and crimpy near the base.  On the other hand, the Suri have a curly overcoat and smooth undercoat. The Suris’ outer hair is reminiscent of dreadlocks and is professionally sheared once a year.  Regina uses only that taken from the saddle area of the animal due to its superior quality. Once collected, she either processes it herself or sends it off to a mill for professional processing. She uses the resulting fiber for weaving and knitting.

The fiber sheared from the angora goats is called mohair.  The Dale’s shear them twice a year, resulting in approximately 3-4 pounds of useable mohair with a 2”-3” staple length from each shearing. It’s important, for alpacas, goats and sheep to be sheared in a timely manner to insure they’re kept cool in our hot Texas climates.

The two Corriedale sheep, appropriately named Bo (brown) and Peep (white) weigh about 200 lbs. each.

These animals are sheared only once each year, each providing about 6 lbs of wool.

Since good feed is essential to a good quality fiber, Troy cuts and bales his own acreage of coastal. This ensures they know how the fields are managed and what’s being fed to their animals.

The last fiber grown here is actually a plant – cotton. Did you know cotton comes in three natural colors – white, Mississippi Brown and Nandine Green? These plants are part of the hibiscus family and are grown here in containers from seed as an annual.  The plant flowers for 1 day and then closes and creates the seed, or the bol.

Left alone in nature, the cotton would carry the seed by air for dispersal, but we’ve intercepted that product as a fiber source.

Regina plans to sell her fibers next summer at the Bartonville Farmer’s Market.  To learn more about Regina and Troy and the products they offer, check out their website at www.howlingwolfherbs.com, or email them directly at hwh@pwhome.com

For more local farm info:
www.SlowFoodUSA.org
www.LocalHarvest.org
www.NaturallyGrown.org
www.EatGreenDFW.com

More importantly, if you know of great farm in your community, email me at suenewhouse@yahoo.com