When holiday party guests discard their gloves and mittens, the best caterers are ready to offer toasty beverages for their cold hands to cup. It’s a challenge to keep the mugs full when hosting a sizeable event, which is why most caterers rely on large commercial percolators.

Serv-U offers percolators that are perfectly suited to brewing anywhere from 10 to 110 cups of hot coffee, however this is the perfect season to experiment with putting your percolator to work for more festive purposes. You can make your kitchen equipment serve double duty during the holiday season with recipes for hot mulled cider and spicy holiday punch.

Mulled Cider for 40

In percolator basket combine: 1 ¼ teaspoons allspice, a 6 inch cinnamon stick, 2 ½ cups brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Pour 10 quarts of apple juice or cider into the part of the percolator reserved for liquids.

Percolator Punch for 60

In percolator basket combine: 2 tablespoons allspice, 2 tablespoons whole cloves, 2-6 inch cinnamon sticks and 4 sliced lemons. Pour 6 quarts unsweetened pineapple juice, 6 quarts cranberry juice cocktail and 3 quarts cold water into the potion of the percolator reserved for liquids.

Percolators don’t just vary in their serving capacity, you also have a choice of materials and styles. There are basic aluminum coffee makers and fancier stainless steel models for more upscale events. Keep in mind that brewing time for percolated beverages is about 1 minute per cup. If you want cider for 60 guests, start percolating about an hour before they arrive!

How many times have you arrived at a party, only to find that the buffet has already been picked over--the mini-quiches are cold, the cocktail weenies lukewarm and the serving utensils scattered? Don’t let your guests suffer the same fate this party season! By investing in quality chafing dishes to serve up holiday hors d'oeuvres, you ensure an appetizing spread that can survive even the lengthiest soirée.

Chafers are the best way to build a buffet table that looks both professional and inviting. Guests have easy access to hot food, since the dish has its own fuel source. Depending on the setting—high, medium or low—your liquid chafing fuel will burn for 3, 6 or 8 hours, maintaining food temperatures from the first bites of the party to guests’ final nibbles. The fuel is used to heat water that in turn heats the serving dish but there is no direct flame on the food pan, so your meatballs can marinate without being burned.

If younger guests or health and fire department codes make maintaining an open flame too much of a concern, an electric heater is another option. Two electric heaters will keep a full size 8-quart chafing dish warm; no matter how many times your guests open up the lid to indulge in extra helpings.

With a chafing dish, you can stuff your mushrooms and bake your tarts in the foil pans ahead of time to minimize energy spent on food prep during the party. Just before everyone arrives, fill the lower water pan with about 2” of hot water and place the food pan into the chafer. During the party, the two 4-quart pans allow you to reload one pan, while leaving another behind for guests to continue to enjoy. One chafer can also work double-duty by housing two different types of food—buffalo wings in one pan and barbeque chicken wings in the other.

After the guests are gone, clean-up is easy; the pans can be placed directly into the fridge and reheated in the oven.

Alternatively, the chafing dish can be used to keep your salads and shrimp cocktails cool. Placing ice in the water tray, rather than using fuel or electricity, keeps food fresh and cold for hours.

For a stylish presentation, the chafer can be displayed on a beautiful wrought iron stand. You can also compliment the stainless steel chafing dish with elegant buffetware.

Compared to a standard serving platter, the chafer is an ideal piece of kitchen equipment to present favorite appetizers while saving you the time and energy needed to a give your guests top-notch service.

Taking on a meal as important as Thanksgiving dinner requires major planning and preparation. More important than stuffing, yams or even pumpkin pie is the centerpiece of your table – the turkey. If it’s your first time trying to perfect the holiday poultry, compiling an arsenal of turkey cooking supplies may seem overwhelming. However, a simple roasted bird requires only a few basic kitchen supplies.

Roasting Pan The roasting pan you purchase to cook your turkey may not be a piece of kitchen equipment that you use on a daily basis, but the proper pan is a valuable addition to your stock of cooking supplies for holidays. Selecting the right roasting pan ensures a moist and golden bird. When buying a roasting pan, look for a shallow depth, heavyweight pan with handles. The pan should have good heat conducting qualities so the bird cooks evenly. Stay away from dark roasting pans; those will burn the roasting juices at the start of the roasting period, resulting in a subpar gravy. Fit is also important—the pan should just hold the turkey. If a leg extends over the pan, drippings will fall on your oven, but if the pan is too large you risk burning the juices.

What’s a turkey without basting? Throughout the roasting process, you will need to paint the turkey with a basting sauce using a basting brush. Both white nylon and bleached boar bristle brushes will work well to coat your poultry with a buttery sauce and are able to withstand oven temperatures of up to 500 degrees. While the turkey roasts, a basting spoon can be used to scoop up the juices and redistribute them on the skin. Serv-U offers stainless steel basting spoons in a variety of lengths. All spoons have easy-grip contoured handles with a thumb notch. Slotted and perforated varieties are useful for straining out solids to be discarded when the roasting process is complete.

A burnt or undercooked turkey can be the downfall of an otherwise outstanding Thanksgiving meal, so be sure to check the temperature of your bird, with an accurate meat thermometer. The Taylor brand is known for its precision temperature technology to alert you when the meat reaches 180 degrees.

Finally, when the roasting process is over, it’s time to sharpen up that knife and dig in. Carving the turkey is a much-anticipated process that should be approached with care in order to preserve the flavor and the texture of the meat. You are best to choose a sharp, thin bladed carving knife. Stain-free steel blades provide a clean and durable option for slicing your turkey.

By using top-quality equipment the fruits of your holiday roast should be plentiful. The centerpiece of your Thanksgiving meal will be a cornucopia of thighs, wings, and breast meat, well worth the investment in quality kitchen supplies.

Captain Jack Sparrow would be excited to know that this Saturday is National Rum Day. To help you kick off one of the last weekends of the summer why not open a bottle of rum (yo ho) and have a party at your restaurant.

If you are not familiar with rum (or just want to brush up) this is a great informative site. Once you know all the basics about this popular spirit it is time to start coming up with some interesting drinks that will help set your restaurant apart from every other one celebrating this day. This is a great list of mixed drinks featuring rum as is this list.

While your guests are hanging out enjoying their cocktails they might decide they are interested in some appetizers to help those tasty drinks go down. While you probably already have a list of trusty appetizers, an event like this is a great time to try more. Allrecipes.com has a great selection of appetizer recipes that can be viewed by type.

Even if you can’t get everything ready to celebrate National Rum Day by Saturday it is a great item to feature during a future celebration. Your Serv-U representative can help you get all of the glassware you need to feature your tasty rum-based concoctions and all the plates you need to serve your incredible new appetizers. So give your representative a call today and prepare to celebrate Captain Jack’s favorite drink (just don’t celebrate it quite as much as he does, ok?).

The Month of August:

            National Catfish Month

            National Water Quality Month

            Romance Awareness Month

August 2: Celebration of Love Day

August 3-9: National Smile Week

August 3: Friendship Day

August 4: Coast Guard Day

August 5: National Mustard Day

August 13: International Left Hander’s Day, Middle Children’s Day

August 15: Assumption Day, Relaxation Day; Julia Child’s Birthday

August 18: Bad Poetry Day

August 19: National Aviation Day

August 25: Kiss & Make Up Day

August 26: Women’s Equality Day

For a list of even more holidays, go here.

July is National Picnic Month, which seems like a great idea for restaurants to get behind. One of the greatest things about going on a picnic is getting out of a stuffy building and experiencing the warm, fresh air of July. While you may not have a large stockpile of picnic baskets and a team of runners ready to take a feast to people in the park, it is very likely you have some outdoor space that would work perfectly for a picnic vibe.

No matter what your outdoor space looks like it will work great for a picnic, as along as you keep it fun and casual. Have nice outdoor tables with large umbrellas to shade your patrons from the harsh summer sun. Serve ice cold drinks in colorful tumblers with parasols tucked into the drink. You can use a smaller, lighter weight plate than what you would use indoors in a colorful pattern to add some whimsy to your meal. Fill your menu with traditional summer favorites that will sound appealing in massive heat, such as salads. Finally, finish off meals with an ice cold dessert served in a fun piece of fountainware.

With these little steps it will be easy to create a relaxed picnic-like atmosphere that will be sure to bring your guests back and get them to tell their friends all about the incredible meal they had. You Serv-U representative can help you get everything you need to make the perfect outdoor eating area for your restaurant this summer.

Now that we’re all back from a nice long weekend, one question comes to mind: what did you eat on the 4^th?

Honestly, I had turkey and lemonade (and maybe a mojito or two), but I’d be willing to bet that a great many Americans feasted on hot dogs this past weekend.  And this came to mind as I was browsing one of my favorite websites, Serious Eats.  In honor of our national holiday, Serious Eats created a really well researched blog post about the venerable hot dog and its many variations across the country.

Besides the mouthwatering pics in the blog, I was also struck by the number of truly heartfelt responses this particular post received (45 when I read it).  The hot dog tradition is alive and well across the USA—and its price tag is attractive to many feeling the pinch of gas prices.

So if you’d like to add hot dogs to your summer lineup (and what better time than now, during National Hot Dog Month), Serv-U can get you all the equipment you need.  Take a moment to browse our hot dog cookers  as you think of the next great topping arrangement!

 (photo by thebusybrain of Flickr Commons)