this is going to be short & sweet.

this is going to be short & sweet, we have a lot to get done by wednesday.

we have sign making going on. balloon ordering. ice cream mixing. blogging to remind all you fine, ice cream eating folks to get your buns on over to catchy. this wednesday for the FREE KIDDIE CUP ICE CREAM GIVEAWAY - yes!! it's finally here and this is so happening.

just six shorts weeks ago, i was sitting in a car with my daughter frankie when she said "mom, i think we REALLY need ice cream in hohokus. why don't you make it and sell it at catchy.?" boom. only eleven years old and that kid has business acumen. i like it. we quickly got to work at flavor creation, ice cream production, sign development and advertising (four kids means four grades of children who are hearing and seeing NOTHING but ice cream pictures on their Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook feeds. word. way to use your kids as child labor. the laws there are fuzzy people, it's legal, really).

so in less than two months, we have turned this idea into a reality. we've added some kids menu items to our repertoire, a little picnic table on the patio for your adorable little nuggets to enjoy coloring books, crayons & cups of our frozen magic while their moms enjoy a salad and a scroll on their insta in peace (your welcome). we are even going to be partnering up with a craft company and offering kid's ice cream birthday parties on sundays on our patio for those of you who hate hosting at your homes (god do i NOT miss those days or sticky fingers and exhausting). as usual, catchy. has got you covered.

plum. tuckered. out.

sorry for the delay on the blog. but i am

plum. tuckered. out.

but man, am i excited! do you see this stuff?? bright pink BANGIN' BUBBLEGUM! drippy, delicious chocolate with fluff whistled through it with those large, chewy pieces of oreo make up our WHAT THE FUDGE? do you want to know the names of the other flavors? what's in them? just how unbelievably FREAKIN' INSANE tasting they are?? yeah. can't blame you. but i gotta keep something under my hat.

so on march 20th (the first day of spring), we will be giving away a kiddie cup to each person who pops into catchy. (well, until we run out, and i'm doing my best to make sure that doesn't happen...48 gallons and counting being made). and come april 1st, it will be for sale EVERY. DANG. DAY. from 11am-7pm you can buy yourself a little cup of nirvana. but on march 20?? CHECK IT OUT!! free ice cream!?

what else do we will have for those kiddos of my town? well, in addition to our handmade ice cream, starting april 1st we will be selling some candy, bags of chips to go with our kickin' catchy. dog (all beef dog wrapped, literally, WRAPPED in our buttery crescent roll crust, omg omg omg you have no idea how good). jalapeno popper dip for mom & dad to enjoy out on the patio while the kiddos are slurping up their ice cream and coloring in our array of coloring books (that's right: it's a KID ZONE FOLKS). or you can try our sweet, twangy thai chicken lettuce wraps. or another new bowl we haven't quite named but who's flavors (capers, olives, manchego, chorizo - seriously??) will blow your hair back. so many options.

so get your groove on down to 614 north maple. i mean, all of this is available for ordering online at www.thecatchycaterer.com with delivery TO YOUR DOORSTEP, but who wouldn't want to come down and join the fun?? i hope you won't miss it.

it gets me every time

i'm watching the oscars tonight with my kids. looking at all these beautiful people streaming down the red carpet and up on stage (while i enjoy a frosty cocktail), and i'm. in. awe. all that talent and drive and determination in one place. it gets me every time.

whether it's the academy awards or the masters, the super bowl or even just serena williams latest post on her instagram about women and "crazy (if you haven't seen it, GO NOW)," i'm forever in awe of that thing called passion. passion: it's what makes good great. it's what drives someone to work day in, day out on their craft until they perfect it, only to have to do it all over again the next day. you fall down, you get it. i live for passion and harnessing it in everything i do to make something good into something GREAT.

i am one of those people who searches to be better than in every thing i do. bigger. better. faster. at times it's over the top - i know, i know, i'm working on it. but at other times, it is what shows my kids just what can be accomplished when you put your mind to it. find your passion and you will find a career that is easy, satisfying and joyful. because no matter the amount of work: the headaches, the fear and sometimes the failure, if you are passionate, it will drive you past all those difficult hurdles with a smile on your face each day.

here at catchy. we are constantly striving for GREATNESS...for everyone. i think we have the 30+ ladies demographic sewn up. word has it that you ladies are likin' what we do from our fresh, flavorful salads to our catering your book clubs & rose-infused ladies nights - whoo! thank you! now from the seamless, grub hub and online sources: it would seem the millenials are jammin' on catchy.'s fresh lunch fare, ordering enough burgers, sandwiches and crispy panko crusted chicken fingers to sink a ship with our online business soaring up and over the 500% mark in the past year - word. where else can we improve, expand, grow?? who is the next?? ahhh, i know. THE KIDS.

in the next six weeks, as the weather turns from frigid & blustery to (hopefully) sun-shiny & springlike, we are busy at work putting together a kid-focused campaign that we hope will brighten the hearts of every kid out there (big and small). my kids and i have brainstormed it over the past week away on vacations and our smiles below are a testimony to just how EXCITED we all are! we are mixing and testing, brainstorming and concocting. and hoping we will remedy the problem of the one thing hohokus doesn't have for the kids (not telling!)

we are hoping to usher it in this spring (march 15th maybe??) with a vengeance and put smiles back on the faces of all those kids out there. in the meantime, enjoy all these tasty delicious goodies sprinkled across the page by ordering online at www.thecatchycaterer.com. you can enter your info right on our website with your address and credit card and never have to type it again! no need for door dash and uber eats because WE DELIVER!! just call or order online!

so i have a girl crush.

so i have a girl crush. and my kids have heard wayyyy too much about her.

rachel hollis, of the book, girl wash your face fame (omg, omg, the book: a must read) has been inspiring me for the last nine months since i found her on audible.com. it was fate. you know those moments, when you are in a place and just need to hear that one particular message delivered in just that one perfect way? well that was what did it. everything i have been working towards for the last four years of my life summed up by someone else's story, everything i've been fighting for and not quite knowing how to achieve coming through my ear buds. i was sold.

i've been playing around with this in my head for the last nine months. trying to figure out how to follow my DREAM while playing myself down like it's no big deal. i want to be successful and grow, i want to knock it the hell out of the park, but maybe i should just keep a lampshade on my lamp, set myself in the corner and keep my big DREAM quiet and hidden in the lowlight. stay small. but i can't. that's just not me. i'm kind of loud and aggressive and hyper when it comes to my DREAM and i just can't wait around and keep hoping it's going to come to fruition by playing it small. nope. i can't. i've allowed others to shush me my whole life.

"why would you want to open a restaurant? you have kids. don't you want to be a good mother and raise them yourself."

(implying, what? that bad mothers who work aren't good mothers at all?)

i realize today (for the past nine months to be exact), that i've allowed those people to shush me because i don't like friction. i'm a pleaser. i don't love making waves. sure, i have a DREAM, and like many others, i've been passively DREAMING it rather than going out and getting it. why? because every time i moved towards it, took that step into my DREAM, it caused friction. for my husband. for my kids. sometimes for my friends and extended family. less time at home. tired at the end of the day. not present as much as i would like to be. that motion causes friction. but that's the price to pay for the DREAM.

spent the last three years trying to make catchy. good. i set about to create a business that had wings, was self supporting, that drew people in. it was my only DREAM for too many years to count. i had to learn how to pump out great food consistently for 10-12 hours a day. then i had to learn how to hire the best people. not just amazing chefs, amazing PEOPLE. hard working and talented, sure, but more importantly ones with heart and a never-ending supply of grit and determination to be better at what they do every day. then came balancing a budget. holy LORD did i fail at that more months than not in the beginning: first way to destroy a business? give it all away in donations because i didn't want anyone not to like me. uhhhh. i will never forget when my dad sent me a quote in college that said "the recipe for failure is trying to make everyone happy." truer words.

but over those three years i have figured it out with more help and brainpower from every person i surrounded myself with: managers. chefs. friends. siblings. podcasters. self help books. because i can't stop at catchy.just being good. that was okay for the beginning. but it's time. time to be extraordinary. it's time i make catchy. GREAT.

so february 1st marked the day i decided it was time to:

GROW catchy. BIG IN 2019.

to do that i'm gonna have to get big. cause friction. be bold when there is a piece of me that likes to play it safe and maybe just a bit small. so here it is, to pursue my DREAM, i realized i have to ask it. ASK FOR THE BUSINESS. every day, right here. RIGHT NOW. so i'm calling on you all - my 1500 followers: spread the word to your friends, at your office, to your kid's schools. we do teacher appreciation lunches. we do pasta parties. we do weddings. we do corporate. WE DO EVERYTHING.

and for EVERY one of you that helps me grow, who refers me to a friend who uses us, you will receive a referral fee in the form of a gift card from catchy. to use however you choose. i'm asking you to partner with me on this DREAM. i want to expand catchy. i want to buy this building we occupy. i want increase this space and drive catchy. so big that we expand into other towns and possibly even a state or two. i'm chasing down my DREAM today and every day until 2019 is over and i can see that we grew 10% and are geared up to grow 15% in 2020.

and i'm going to keep doing it over and over whether it makes me annoyed and uncomfortable or not. who's with me?? all in favor: order lunch online t

my apologies for going all dark on you...

wow. i know. it's been a while.

my apologies for going all dark on you on the blog line. i needed a little radio silence. after that month of catering and holiday drama i almost hid under the covers for a few weeks.

but i'm back, it's 2019 people we have got some FOOD for you over here. it's january and it would seem you folks are looking for some healthy choices. as usual, catchy. has you covered but just in case you have been on a starvation diet too called being "separated-and- not-being-able-to-keep-weight-on" we ALSO have a little something called fettucini alfredo with big, luscious chunks of white meat chicken that just blew my mind when i just snuck a little nibble when i was snapping this picture over here to my right. dontcha love how added a cup of steamed broccoli to it so it looks like we care about your eating some part of the rainbow. i know. we're givers.

but if you do happen to be wondering how we could reinvent our salads ONE MORE TIME and put together some ridiculously new and delicious choices for you: wonder no longer. we've got the chimichurri chicken salad with hunks of avocado & roasted pumpkin seeds with a lemony delish dressing. and we've got the spinach salad with gorgonzola, crispy bacon, apples & walnuts in a warm bacon vinaigrette (not sure that's really diet but man, it sure is good). and lastly we are rocking a crispy this chicken salad with napa cabbage, cashews, scallions, snow peas & carrots...YUMMM.

and btw, it's cold as nards out there, order online at www.thecatchycaterer.com and request delivery. no sense in being a hero and braving this stuff. #toodamncold

holy cripes it's cold out there.

holy cripes it's cold out there. minus 4 degrees this morning when i went to turn my car on in the driveway. MINUS FOUR. this is not minnesota, people. i am just not equipped for this sh*t.

i'm a thin skinned jersey girl. i like sunshine and plus thirty degree temps (actually i like plus sixty degree temps) and am not, i repeat, NOT good in the cold. every time january rolls around i begin to wonder what i was thinking building our dream house up north (well, now that i'm separated i wonder just what in the hell i was thinking building a dream house at all, but that's a story for another time)? how did it not occur to me that florida might have been a better fit for my weak-weathered constitution??

as i closed my door this morning, praying the car would heat up quickly, i glimpsed sight of a hardened jogger, headlamp bobbing as he bounced down the road. dude what are you thinking? it is was minus 4 now, what the hell was it when you left your house a half hour ago? minus 8? i can barely manage the chill of my gym when i walk in and have to talk my jacket off and start padding along on the treadmill and this spartan warrior was cutting an 8-minute mile pace in the dark. i am weak people. WEAK.

so i'm going to throw some food out there for you this week that will warm the cockles of your heart (yes, i just typed cockles. i blame the cold). we have got our savory MEATLOAF with CREAMY MASHED POTATOES for dinner along with our usual veal & ricotta meatballs over linguine, baked shrimp scampi & lasagna bolognese to stick to your ribs. or if you are still trending towards the healthy (which by the record breaking first three weeks of january it would seem you are - whoo!) we've a KALE CAESAR with GRILLED CHICKEN! yes, me: kale caesar, i'm going for it, healthy greens in hopes or cancelling out the number of diet cokes i've been throwing back. in addition, we've got our crispy CRAB CAKE SALAD (yes sir, that'll make you think summertime, boom!) or our WINTER WEDGE (think creamy blue cheese crumbles draping over a crisp wedge of iceberg with one of our delicious homemade vinaigrettes - because ALL of our vinaigrettes are homemade...yup. ask your other favor haunts if they blend their dressings by hand every morning...they do not).

we will conquer this cold together. oh, and we deliver. so you don't even have to go out in the cold for our tasty food. word.

these are what we call NIRVANA.

we are just seven days away from SUPERBOWL LIII. this could be my absolute favorite eating holiday of the year, i live for bar food.

get. it. on.

see these? did i make the image big enough? these are what we call NIRVANA.

buffalo chicken fingers. freshly cut white meat chicken (antibiotic free of course). freshly breaded with crispy, crunchy panko breadcrumbs (as in like every. single. day. no, they're not frozen. ever). then we wait to sauce them at the VERY. LAST. MINUTE. do you know why? because i like crispy, panko crusted buffalo chicken finger PERFECTION and that only happens when we don't jump the shark. patience. you only sauce after you've heated and the game has begun. yes. this is a science. and i've made it mine.

so that is our first shout out this week about our SUPER BOWL delectables. oh, there will be more. a little meatball parm spring rolls here, then we'll throw a little love at the roasted corn guac. whatever the super bowl food, catchy. does it better than anyone else.

now i am back to my bed to convalesce. between puking kids home hugging my avocado and some sinus surgery hell two days ago, this week has not been my finest. by the time this super bowl rolls around i should be ready to knock back about four quarts of guacamole and enough buffalo chicken goodness to add two sizes to my pants. i'm fired up!

that super bowl was a LOT.

aghhhhh, that super bowl was a LOT.

a LOT of chili. a LOT of roasted corn guacamole & chips. and a LOT of those double chocolate brownies i vowed i would not touch because there is some chip missing in my brain that doesn't' tell me i have hit satiety and i just KEEP. EATING. THEM. UNTIL. well, until i want to hurl.

but that's cool, because it's a lot, but it's just one day a year. one day a year of consuming 6284 calories isn't going to kill me. one day a year where i get to eat whatever the hell i want because of a football game where a 41 year old can best all his younger competitors & win his sixth national championship, where tattooed rock stars can shed their ugly shirts and gyrate on stage, and where my kids get to hang with their cousins until which only leads to the crankiest morning on record today (hence the delay in my blog). but what's a little fudgey happiness? just a blip on the radar.

and now we are back to reality. and catchy. has got options for you. we've got incredible salads like "the ridiculous" where we scoop quinoa and roasted brussels sprouts, spiced pecans and roasted butternut squash onto a heap of arugula and maybe even toss a grilled piece of salmon on top to really make it sing. or we have our sticky beef & broccoli over jasmine rice & steamed broccoli for a more satisfying dinner experience that is still light and delicious. or you can just say f*ck it, and dive into a mound of the sauciest, savoriest pulled pork you have EVER. PUT. IN. YOUR. MOUTH. on a mound of triple cheesy macaroni & cheese & a side of steamed broccoli (because i love to pretend that will undo the effects of the creamy noodley, pork extravaganza).

so GET ON IT. order up. send your favorite neighbor who just had a baby a dinner. or just call in for yourself. fill up your own cup with all of this tasty goodness. catchy. has got you covered.