Open House Brunch: Delicious Ideas & Incentives Needed!

[purrbal]

I have been invited to come to an Open House with a few other vendors that is Brunch themed. My Director suggested making the Athenian Spinach Pastry Rounds, I had thought the Ham & Cheese Brunch Squares. I also had thought about making pancakes in my silicone pan and making Dill Dip if she is planning on having a veggie tray.

I am in need of some wonderful brainstorming here. I have been to one open house and found doing a demonstration a waste of time so at most I would put the dish together when I get there and throw it in the oven. I did think I could have stations for people to try the most asked things like the UM and the chopper (cukes and nuts respectively) are there other things you guys would station up?

Whatever I do I believe the costs are going to be incurred by me so I don't know that I want to spend too much but I want things exciting. I asked my director on a booking incentive and she suggested I do a free _______ for all those who book & hold shows (her suggestion was like a free scraper of their choice that way they have many to choose from) I would love to hear what you all would do in my shoes and what products you would take, etc... please please please throw those ideas out it means a great deal to me.

 

[ChefTess]

How about the Pumpkin Bread Pudding? It is really good.

 

[purrbal]

Thank you for your recommendation Tess!

 

[purrbal]

Do I stink?I keep trying to figure out why whenever I post something I hardly get any suggestions or input.

I really had hoped some people would chime in and give me some great ideas. Maybe I posted this in the wrong section?

Maybe I have body

odor I'm not aware of, but I swear I

(I even :sing: in there)??? Maybe my singing is awful

I am at a loss here. I guess I am just taking it too personally, I've been sick

and thought this would be a great place to get some good feed back. Did I offend someone over my year here?

Thank you so much ChefTess for your help. I still have a couple of days that maybe someone else might chime in.

 

[chefann]

It's not you, Shannon. Sometimes we (well, I) just come up with a blank and need to think on the problem a little bit.You mentioned dip. I think that's a fantastic idea. You can serve dip in the Chillzanne Rectangle Server or Sectional Server. And it's inexpensive. How about mini quiches in the MMP? If you want to make them go farther, you can cut them in half to serve, then you'll get 48 samples out of one pan of them.

 

[MissChef]

that new greek cheese torta thing! Sorry, is that the propper name? LOL!
I agree with Ann here, it's not you! I saw this last night too and didn't post because I needed to think about it too! If you look at a thread I started the other night about recipes for the seasonings, not many people replied, in fact I think only Ann and Janet..... the 2 that are almost guaranteed to answer our calls for HELP!!! So now you officially have more people that replied then I did! LOL!
Artichoke spinach ring comes to my mind too. But dips are great and cheaper.... a brucheta with baguette bread too!
Good luck, let us know how it turns out!

 

[purrbal]

I hope I didn't come across rude or offensive. I was just at a loss when I saw I haven't had much feedback I thought for sure someone on here would just have some clever ideas. It really isn't a big deal I just had a melt down last night thinking I must have done something wrong or just not getting my posts in the right sections.

 

[ChefTess]

I hope I didn't come across rude or offensive.

I don't think so. I actually enjoyed your post, it was very creative. Plus it got you more feed back, so well done :thumbup:

 

[chefann]

No- you didn't come across that way, Shannon. Sometimes it just takes a bit to get a good response. Some questions are easy because they're about policies or things that are easy to look up. Creative questions can take a little longer.

 

[purrbal]

Hey Ann

at what numbers do you start to get the stars next to your name?

 

[dianevill]

Oh, {{Shannon}} - I just read this thread - I'm sorry you felt you were "ignored"! I sometimes feel the same way. LOL. I thought your "Do I stink" response was really cute, not offensive at all. A while back there was a thread called "Thread Killers Unite", started by someone who though she killed all the threads. It was quite the thread until Greg finally shut it down.

For brunch, I really like your idea of the ham and cheese brunch squares; I also like the mini ham and cheese puffs, made in the Mini Muffin Pan (let me know if you need this recipe). You could also do something sweet, like the cherry cheesecake ring. I wouldn't do a demo either, but maybe have out a few items to chop or grate. Also, you mentioned there are other vendors. I'd maybe do a door prize drawing for a free show.

Good luck!

 

[krley]

Isn't there also a recipe for mini quiche? I don't know it, but sounds like a great idea for a brunch.

 

[wadesgirl]

I made the Quiche Lorraine Tartlets last weekend. They were easy and quick to put together and so GOOD! Took the left overs to work and one of the guys wants to live with us just so he can try all the food I make.

Don't worry about your posts, like Ann said, sometimes it's not having a good suggestion yourself to post. Some people want to see what other's answer to get answers for themselves.

 

[wadesgirl]

Isn't there also a recipe for mini quiche? I don't know it, but sounds like a great idea for a brunch.

You were posting at the same time as me!

 

[JAE]

What about the Profiterole Puffs? You can display the EAD, Executive pan, Mini Muffin Pan, Stackable Cooling Rack, and the other tools used for this. If you want the guests to be involved they could fill their own puff.

 

[Katrob]

I participated in a vendor brunch at a women's home before Christmas and I think it was easiest just to bake my dish before I left my house and put it in the wonderful hot carrier we have. I was bad and used my own recipe instead of a Pampered Chef one. The good thing is, people asked for the recipe and I was able to collect e-mail address from them and add them to my monthly newsletter. When I got there and set up my display I only had to worry about talking to people. You have to get their attention because the other vendors there want them to book parties and buy their stuff too!

 

[purrbal]

My food choicesWell I know she is going to have: a fruit tray, a quiche, muffins, bagel breakfast sandwiches, etc.
...so I thought I would definitely do the Athenian Spinach Pastry Rounds, plus I thought I would make up a batch of pancakes in the silicone floral pan (super in-expensive I thought), and since she isn't having veggies I thought I would focus on our sprinkles and make up the cream cheese/caramel sprinkle dip/spread for her fruit tray and get an extra crescent dough for little cinnamon rolls...which as I type it out sounds so sweet hmmm...I will sleep on it!

btw I REALLY need to get the mini muffin pan, I don't have it.

 

[krley]

Ok, I'm curious (confused) how do you do pancakes in the silicone floral pan? that's like a cupcake pan (deep). Do you make cupcake shaped pancakes? or am I missing something?(wadesgirl - not only same time, but same idea! Great minds think alike!)

 

[purrbal]

Silicone Bakeware Floral Cupcake PanWe just so happen to have a file on here that has a few ideas for the SBFCP. Take a peek

 

[krley]

Thanks Shannon! I'll have to give it a try - as soon as I get the silicone floral pan!

 

[riggs62]

In place of the demo, I like your station idea. This is something similar I've done before.
Carrots with the julienne peeler and vegetable peeler...I'm still amazed at how wonderful our peeler is!
limes or lemons, cukes....ultimate mandolin....

quik stir pitcher with water and glitter shapes in it for people to play with.

our cookware vs. cheap pan with ice cubes to melt in

a cheap knife vs. forged cutlery with some potatoes for cutting

Easy accent decorator with butter in it (softened) to make cute little butter pads. (maybe add italian seasoning to the butter for some flair!)

This puts their hands on a bunch of products!

GL on your show!!! :chef:

 

[purrbal]

Easy Accent Decorator

In place of the demo, I like your station idea. This is something similar I've done before.
Carrots with the julienne peeler and vegetable peeler...I'm still amazed at how wonderful our peeler is!
limes or lemons, cukes....ultimate mandolin....

quik stir pitcher with water and glitter shapes in it for people to play with.

our cookware vs. cheap pan with ice cubes to melt in

a cheap knife vs. forged cutlery with some potatoes for cutting

Easy accent decorator with butter in it (softened) to make cute little butter pads. (maybe add italian seasoning to the butter for some flair!)

This puts their hands on a bunch of products!

GL on your show!!! :chef:

Funny I told my hubby last night I was going to make up the caramel sprinkles with cream cheese then I am going to put that mixture in the EAD to give them a squirt to try that way!

 

[riggs62]

Easy accent decorator with butter in it (softened) to make cute little butter pads. (maybe add italian seasoning to the butter for some flair!)

I forgot to add...put these in the freezer for a short time to set up (got this from my AD
Can't wait to try it!
The Cream Cheese w/ sprinkles sounds awesome!!

 

[purrbal]

My suggestionsNow that I have completed my second open house-ish type show...I would recommend a set up of entertaining...3-Tier Stand, App Plates Caddy, etc... simple tasteful and then some easy bite sized treats. Like one tier could be spritz cookies, one could be some appetizer bites (like the little cups), etc... but definitely things that are ready to go no keep warms or colds. If need the keep warm focus on the chillzannes. Keep the display simple and small, elegant. I am sure each pairing would be different.

Now this one had designer handbags, jeans, jewelry and Pampered Chef. These women were ALL about the purses, quite funny/cute in many ways. But seriously an elegant simple design was all I needed to do. The ones that bought from me just took a catalog and sat down and chatted amongst all the purses. Most of the ladies came in dropped their purses, ran over to the purse section and grabbed the bags that they were drawn to. They put them on carried them around, in essence trying them on. They tried on jeans, tried on jewelry then commented to each other on them about all of it. However for me no one really seemed all that interested in trying out the tools they wanted to eat, shop/try-on and socialize.

The little cinnamon rolls were a hit at my show but too many people are picky about spinach and the pancakes need to be warm so they didn't go over too well (although they did think they were a cute idea). I think people liked the idea of the cream cheese/caramel sprinkles in the EAD but I think it would of presented better with some crackers or if I would have made a cookie/brownie bites to put a cute dollop on.