Photo courtesy of In Good Taste.
1112 In Good Taste
Mary Drennen and Tiffany Vickers run In Good Taste catering.
Lately, In Good Taste Catering owners Tiffany Vickers and Mary Drennen have been experimenting with short rib grilled cheese sandwiches, sweet potato rolls with smoked chicken and pear barbecue sauce, and endive Caesar salad bites, much to the rave reviews of their clients. Even as their menus change for each event, though, one thing remains true every time — the fun their business brings to a party.
“We end up being friends with many of our clients,” Vickers said. “We have fun, and the people we cook for have a good time with us.”
The idea for the business came to Vickers and Drennen when they were both working in Cooking Light’s test kitchen in 2007. A catering venture would be a way to try new things and stretch themselves from a food perspective, they thought. The duo found a niche in catering small, upscale events like dinner parties and since then have expanded to larger and more diverse occasions.
No two parties they cater are alike.
“We tailor every party based on conversations we have with people throwing the party and throw out several different options,” Vickers said.
Recently they catered a paleo diet menu — what Vickers calls a fun challenge — for a reception honoring longtime Sidewalk Film Festival Chairman Alan Hunter.
In Good Taste’s Homewood connections run deep, especially in Edgewood — not far from Vickers’ home. They recommend clients to Dreamcakes Bakery, owned by former coworker and friend Jan Moon, for events, and Saw’s owner Mike Wilson, another friend and former coworker, offered a lot of advice when they started catering. Vickers and Drennen have catered an Exceptional Foundation event and were judges at the nonprofit’s Chili Cookoff for a couple of years. They also shot photos for their website at a friend’s house in Hollywood.
Vickers and Drennen seem to more than have their hands full with small children, jobs (Vickers as Assistant Test Kitchen Director at Cooking Light and Drennen now as a freelance recipe developer and food stylist) and a catering business, but they don’t look at it that way, even as they are preparing for holiday parties.
“It’s never been work for us,” Vickers said. “It’s like hanging out with friends, and I think that really comes through in our events.”
For more information about In Good Taste, visit ingoodtastebham.com or call 968-0882.
Tips for Thanksgiving Success
From Tiffany Vickers
- Make your stock from turkey wings and necks a week prior to Thanksgiving and freeze it for extra delicious gravy. Any leftover stock can be held for up to a month in the freezer.
- Plan to thaw the turkey in the refrigerator for up to three days prior to Thanksgiving. Make sure you have it done earlier if you are brining your bird.
- Get an oven thermometer and check the temperature of your oven the week before Thanksgiving. If you are following family recipes or magazine/ book recipes, correct oven temperature will help you avoid unpleasant surprises from over- or undercooked dishes.
- Plan to have some items that cook on the stovetop in addition to things in the oven. It will cut down on the oven space panic.
- Consider making a breakfast casserole on Thanksgiving day that can sit overnight in the fridge. After all that cooking and eating, having something to simply pop in the oven to feed the masses will be a real treat!
- Consider pulling all your platters and special plates and flatware the weekend before the holiday to make sure they are in good shape and clean. It’s better then than when your turkey is carved and the guests are blowing dust out of the glasses.
- Have fun and love your family... the food is just food but the family is something to really cherish.
