Inside Design Cuisine

Field trip to Ayrshire Farm

design.cuisine — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:21:10 +0000

We recently enjoyed a beautiful day at Ayrshire Farm in Loudon County. We love the mission of the farm and went for a visit to see their incredible operation up close. Our fearless tour guide, Susie Hass, treated us to a full farm tour where we got to see everything from the Shire horses in the barn to the Gloucester Old Spot hogs lazily enjoying a nap in the woods.

The Farm is a certified organic farm, specializing in rare and endangered breeds livestock and heirloom fruits and vegetables. Their product can be purchased wholesale as well as found at their store in town, The Home Farm Store and at their local tavern, Hunter’s Head Tavern.

Here are some highlights of our day!

Setting out in our mini-bus with coffee + breakfast snacks

Arriving at the Main House, built in 1912

Visiting the barn and learning about the care and training of the Shire horses
that compete regularly in carriage races

One of the Farm’s several beautifully restored carriages

Meeting the fabulous hogs!

Executive Chef Shannon Shaffer and Sales Executive Rob Mello

Organic Turkeys…..wonder if they know Thanksgiving is only 3 months away?

This says it all….

Fun collection of boots in the chicken house

Gorgeous collection of fresh produce at The Home Store

Kate Kennedy and Nikki Grant enjoying the sunshine

Back in the bus with Nick Watts. Where to next? Boxwood Winery just down the street!!

Look for highlights from our winery tour coming up next….many thanks to our fabulous
photographer for the day – Nikki Grant.

Watch Fox 5 Monday Aug 1st!

design.cuisine — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:22:34 +0000

Executive Chef Shannon Shaffer shares details of the fun new menu at this year’s tournament on
Fox 5 between 8am-9am. Don’t miss the action at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic presented by GEICO.

Ticket Hotline: 202-721-9500 or http://www.leggmasontennisclassic.com/.

In the Press: Dana + Quinn on Martha Stewart Weddings

design.cuisine — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:55:55 +0000

We were delighted to be included in the wedding celebration of Dana + Quinn last October. Owner Bill Homan and Event Planner Rob Mello collaborated with an incredible team to produce a beautiful wedding with the perfect personal touches. Here are few details…..check out the full story on
Martha Stewart’s Weddings.

Beat the Heat with our new Summer Cocktails

design.cuisine — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:30:34 +0000

The Washington Summer heat is here….how better to cool off than with crisp and refreshing Summer specialty drinks! Beautiful stemware filled with sweet, fresh, citrus concoctions - you can’t help but perk up after your first sip.

Design’s sales team took on the job to create new cocktails and sample them at a staff Happy Hour. Professional mixologist Martin Adamczyk joined in the fun and masterfully prepared over 22 cocktails. Armed with rating sheets our sales team starred down 14 fabulous drinks. Through our rigorous grading scale we chose six new drinks that we love offering to our clients!

Here are three of the selected drinks, beautifully photographed by Rodney Bailey.

Cheers!

Flower Power

Carrot Chic

Bee’s Buzz

Edible Art: Mt Vernon Groundbreaking

design.cuisine — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:37:53 +0000

Our Pastry Chef, Patrick Carreau created this custom dessert for the ground breaking dinner of the new George Washington Library at Mount Vernon on April 14^th. The dessert is a chocolate mousse timbale, garnished with a handmade chocolate cherry tree branch, and served with a roasted vanilla and strawberry compote. The handmade and edible scroll features a George Washington quote and signature which were copied from one of his letters. The quill pen was also handmade and edible.

Fun Spring details from our weekend

design.cuisine — Mon, 02 May 2011 21:13:06 +0000

We had a busy and fun weekend creating events for our clients. Here are some fun details…..

Summer Salad Mini-Bowls
paella salad | orzo salad Amalfi | cobb salad

Potato Salad Bites
a twist on an old fashioned favorite!

Strawlini
strawberry puree | champagne | strawberry garnish

Welcome to Spring!

design.cuisine — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:13:57 +0000

March 20th marked the official start of Spring, and we are having fun designing new looks for the Spring + Summer months!

Here are a few of our favorites:

The hot new color of Honeysuckle pink gets kicked up a notch with bright pink napkins.

Bright lime green linens are offset by eggplant purple.

Industrial gray never goes out of style, no matter what the season.

Thank you to our partners at Ociana Group and Rodney Bailey photography!

Happy Valentine’s Day at Design

design.cuisine — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:01:14 +0000

Here are some fun details from our Valentine’s Day…

A striking arrangement greeting guests at our host’s door, designed by Amaryllis Designs

Our pastry shop made DELICIOUS heart shaped cookies [over 2,000 of them!]

Thanks for the great pics, Rodney Bailey!

Our staff packing Valentine boxes

A fun detail on our plated first course

Wishing everyone a wonderful heart shaped day!

Guest Blog Post on Martha Stewart’s “The Bride’s Guide”

design.cuisine — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:24:31 +0000

We were thrilled to ring in the New Year by being asked to guest post on Martha Stewart’s
The Bride’s Guide.

Answering questions from brides was so much fun – here was one of our favorites:

What are the hot new colors for 2011 weddings?
Though we love crimson, industrial gray, and honeysuckle pink for spring, we encourage brides to choose colors that show off their personality and theme. Trends come and go. Your wedding day is a time to reflect who you are as a couple, so your palette should come from the heart.

Click here to see the post!

Fabulous Cocktails for New Year’s Eve (and Winter Weddings!)

design.cuisine — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:13:32 +0000

We were thrilled to be featured with the fabulous Sandi Hoffman on Washington’s Channel 4 yesterday. Great drink ideas for your New Year’s Eve celebration!

Click here to see the video!

Here are the recipes…Happy New Year to all!

Snowflake Martini

1 ounce Hypnotic Liqueur

1 ½ ounce Citrus Vodka

3 ounces White Cranberry

1 ounce Coconut Shreds

Rim Martini glass with simple syrup and roll in coconut shreds. Serve shaken over ice in a martini glass with the shredded coconut rim. Serves 1.

Hot Mulled Cider

2 quarts Apple Cider

2 Cinnamon Sticks

2 Whole Allspice Berries

2 Whole Cloves

1 orange, thinly slices

Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer on the grates of the frill or over a burner. Divide among individual mugs and serve hot. Serves 8.

Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail

1 Sugar Cube

1 Fluid Ounce Pomegranate Juice

3 Fluid Ounces Dry Sparkling Wine

Pomegranate Seeds, Optional

Place a sugar cube in the bottom of a champagne flute. Pour the Pomegranate juice over it, then the sparkling wine. Drop a few pomegranate seeds into the glass. Serve. Serves 1.

Moscow Mule

1 1/2 oz Vodka

1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice

4 oz Ginger Beer

Fill either a Collins glass or a double-rocks glass with ice, add all ingredients, stir and garnish with a lemon twist and fresh mint. Serves 1.