...official blog of Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company...
About Cafe Evoke Catering
Café Evoke Catering is Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company.
Complete menus and information kits are available for download at CafeEvoke.com. Please feel free to email us through our website or call 405-606-2200 if you have any questions about incorporating a full service specialty coffee bar for your next special event or for your office.
Thank you for choosing a Fair Trade coffee catering company. We look forward to a long friendship.
Today is News Years Eve with parties jumping up all over the place. Cafe Evoke Catering is serving some coffee today at a wedding and then we are off to find something fun to do this evening. This may be the first New Years that we did not host a party but we thought it might be nice to check out something different.
In an attempt to do something community involved this go around, we decided that hitting up Downtown Oklahoma City's Opening Night might be a good bet - I mean, we are going to go watch the OKC Thunder play some basketball so it will be close and easy. I was reading over at About.com about the opening night stuff. Here is a bit of what Adam Knapp has to say about it:
The Arts Council of Oklahoma City has produced Opening Night in downtown Oklahoma City since 1987. With musical acts throughout the night, a fantastic fireworks display and a family-friendly atmosphere with a scavenger hunt, Opening Night is the top way to ring in the new year for Oklahoma City residents.The Arts Council of Oklahoma has been fostering artistic performance and presentation for years. They produce such city events as the Festival of the Arts, WinterTales, Out of the Box and Sunday Twilight Concerts. The official sponsor of the Arts Council is MidFirst Bank, and annual sponsors include Sonic, Ozarka, The Oklahoman, Devon Energy Corporation and Chesapeake Energy Corporation.
I have heard of a few other cool things that are going on tonight as well. The NewsOK blog has a nice story about the Flaming Lips and the OKC Thunder and what the two are doing to help bring in 2009 in Oklahoma City. Here is a nice list of activities complied by NewsOK:
- The Third Annual New Year’s Eve Gala: 9 p.m. Wednesday-1 a.m. Thursday at the Skirvin Hotel. The upscale event raises funds for the Arts Council of Oklahoma City. Information and tickets: 270-4848 or Arts Council OKC.
- The Flaming Lips New Year’s Eve Freakout 2008/2009: 9 p.m. Wednesday, Cox Convention Center. Tickets and information: 235-8288 or TicketMaster.
- Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors: 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Ford Center. Buy Thunder tickets for $26 and get a free Opening Night wristband with the team’s special New Year’s promotion. Information: 208-4667 or Thunder Basketball.
- Downtown in December: Chesapeake Snow Tubing at the Brick from noon to 8 p.m. through Jan. 3 and 2 to 6 p.m. Jan. 4; Devon Ice Rink at the Civic Center from noon to 11 p.m. Wednesday and noon to 10 p.m. through Jan. 4; OG&E Garden Lights illuminated through Thursday. Information: 236-3640 or Downtown in December.
- Toby Keith’s New Year’s Eve Party: The Brandon Clark Band plays at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill. Information: 231-0254 or I Love This Bar and Grill.
- Wormy Dog’s New Year’s Eve Bash: No Justice plays at 11 p.m. Wednesday at the Wormy Dog Saloon. Information: 601-6276 or Wormy Dog.
- Wormy Dog’s Fourth Annual Hangover Ball: Featuring Cody Canada, Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, Stoney LaRue, Stephanie Briggs, Brandon Jenkins, Mike McClure, Jason Boland and Adam Hood at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Wormy Dog Saloon. Information: 601-6276 or Wormy Dog.
As you can see, Downtown OKC is the place to for your New Years celebration. Do something different and get out on the town for some fun music, food and community. There is still plenty of holiday lights to catch and just a stroll through downtown or one of its districts is well worth the time while you wait to bring it all to a close for 2008 and open a great new year - 2009.
Be sure to check out the links above and find something that suits your fancy. I also heard that our friends at Iguana Mexican Grill are going to be offering free rides to the Flaming Lips show and also the Thunder game if you dine there. Hey, if you haven't been there, you are missing out one of OKC's finest places for food, drinks and conversation - seriously.
We look forward to seeing everyone downtown! Oh, and for an even more in depth look at tonight's happenings, head over to Wimgo Events.
For the past year, Cafe Evoke Catering has had the privilege of providing the best in specialty coffee for brides, grooms and their guests. We love the idea of sharing what we love in coffee during special events like weddings.
We have also had a great partnership with OkBride.com and the Oklahoma Bridal Show. The group puts on a great afternoon where brides and grooms can come and plan their entire day - from catering to photography and from rentals to venues. Sunday it is happening again. Here is the flier that contains all the information you need to give to the person you know planning their wedding or to plan your own!
Come see Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company - to talk more about our upscale coffee bars and what we have to offer for your next event. We will be serving samples off our popular American Coffee Bar menu, pouring latte art and talking coffee! Not planning your own wedding? No problem! Come hang out and "talk shop" with us and our crew.
We will - as always - offer a great show only special during the Oklahoma Bridal Show on Sunday. This special is always pretty sweet and something that you will not want to miss.
Enjoy your weekend and we will see you on Sunday at the Cox Convention Center - Downtown OKC!
Cafe Evoke Catering | Now at Journey Church in Norman, OK!
For the past few months, Cafe Evoke Catering has been hanging out at Journey Church in Norman, Oklahoma during the 5:30 service time serving up some great specialty coffee. We have had a blast doing it and have been working on a new set up that can handle serving their entire Sunday group - about 5,000 people. Well, we after almost 2 months of work between us (and a new partner group that we will talk about later!) and Journey Church, we are now ready!
We are excited to be a part of that community and hope to get to know many of the people that are attending there. If you are in Norman (and a church goer), we will be serving coffee every Sunday from 8:00am to 1:00pm and from 5:00pm - 7:00pm.
We were at Journey Church last night for their first Christmas service and it went great. They had photo booths from our friends at The Oklahoma Photo Booth Company, a "living nativity" - with real animals and great food and pastries. Did I mention they had a lamb there last night that was born 2 days ago? Pretty cool!
So, if you are looking for a place to go with your family for Christmas this afternoon, come see us for free coffee and a great service.
2 Days before Christmas - a time that many people celebrate with friends and family. Even if you are not someone that celebrates Christmas but need a gift for some other celebration, there is a great place that you can go to make a difference. Oxfam American.
Every year, this group pushes gifts of a different kind - the unwrapped kind. They rolled out the program Oxfam America Unwrapped in an effort to help support their causes in the 120 countries they are present. Here is how it works (from their website):
In technical terms (what the lawyers tell us we need to explain): Oxfam America works in 120 countries around the world. This catalog contains gift items that symbolically represent our work. The items selected represent project goals from grants disbursed by our seven offices around the world. The purchase of each gift item is a contribution toward Oxfam America's many programs, not a donation to a specific project or goal. Your donation will be used where it is needed the most--to help people living in poverty throughout the world.
Or, in down-to-earth terms (what you really need to know):
1. You purchase an item. 2. The card goes to your friend. 3. The gift goes to those who need it most.
We love this idea! I guess you can probably take notice over my last few posts why. You get the joy of giving to a friend or loved one while making an impact on the global community. Isn't that what gifts are all about?
Think about this - you give a gift (let's use a holiday sweater as an example). You buy it, wrap it, you give it, the open it, they smile, they put it back in the box and on the floor of their closet to never be seen again.
Let's look at the good of giving something from - say - Oxfam American Unwrapped.
You pick out a gift, you purchase it, a card gets sent to your friend/loved one and a donation is made in your friend/loved ones name. The donation is then used to help make a difference in someones life - literally. These gifts are not just toys for children in other countries. They are lift changing - and in many cases life saving - gifts for people in over over 100 countries.
1. Books 2. Blankets 3. Emergency Toilet 4. Desks 5. Water Jugs 6. Water Filters 7. Goats 8. Cows 9. 50 Trees 10. HIV Testing/Education 11. and many many more!
The cool thing is that many of these gifts are under 100 dollars! That is the furthest your $100.00 will go for some time, I assure you!
So, while you are making the final decisions for your gift given this Holiday season, think about a gift that will keep giving.
For more information and how this program works, please visit the FAQ Page on Oxfam's website.
Since Cafe Evoke Catering moved to Oklahoma City from Bozeman Montana, we have been working tirelessly to raise the bar on specialty coffee catering - both on quality, design and service in order really fill out our tag line "Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company". In that effort, we have finally released new menu designs and we are excited to begin using them!
We love these new menus because they really fit in with our branding and other printed material we have been using now for more than 3 years. All design work was done, as always, by our good friend Kevin of Ocular Ink in Nashville, TN. If you need help with your branding or just a quick design job, he is your man, I assure you!
Be looking for the new menu cards and signs coming to events in January!
The holidays are fully upon us now and I know that everyone is getting in the spirit of the season - whether by tradition or process! Cafe Evoke Catering has had the great opportunity to be a part of many holiday parties already this season and it is great to be with people as they celebrate with their family and friends. From karaoke to OU Football - parties this year have taken many different shapes.
We also see alot of gift exchanges. You know the kind - ones that have a spending limit and are designed to be a fun time to give to each other.
So, what items are on your list? I got a message from Tex at Global Exchange informing me of all the great Fair Trade gifts they have available this year. Even for those that are buying on a budget this year, there is a gift for you to give. Think of it this way - you are going to help a family in a producing country while warming your holiday by giving a gift to a friend or loved one. Nice.
So, what are some of the things I am excited for this Christmas? I already talked about the stockings Jenni and I got but here are two others I saw online that look like cool gifts:
1. Eco-Globe String Lights - The Fair Trade Eco-Globe String Lights are made of Hyacinth, a 100% renewable resource. The earth-toned globes are made by rehabilitation patients in a project started by a nurse at Chiang Mai University Hospital in Thailand. The proceeds from the sale of the product go directly back into the program. This product not only benefits the patients who create them, but they are made of a completely renewable resource, a double win!
2. Tea Infuser Mug Set - No need for a strainer, this mug has everything you need to prepare and enjoy loose tea. Made in Vietnam by producers working with Craft Link, a non-profit organization that began in 1995 working with ethnic minorities- black Thai, Nung, and Ta Oi- in the remote Central Highlands of Vietnam. Working closely with the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi, Craft Link helps preserve the traditional tribal skills of weaving and embroidery. Please wash before using; dishwasher, oven and microwave safe.
Even if you do not want to get online to buy Fair Trade this holiday season, make sure you at least give your local vendors a shot before heading to the large chains.
Happy Holidays from all of us at Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company.
Wow, the days are ticking off faster than I can type. I know there has not been much action here at A Thought Over Coffee but I assure you that things have been moving and shaking like mad with Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company. I will be posting all sorts of stuff in the coming days - from talks on the Fair Trade v Direct Trade front to Cafe Evoke Catering news and more. But today, there are a few things I thought I would talk about that have to do with the holiday season.
Jenni and I bought our first house here in Oklahoma City last December. This is our first holiday season here and we thought it would be nice to begin collecting holiday decor. We have literally been in a different house for the past 4 holiday seasons and we are excited about having a place of our own to enjoy it in.
One of my big things this season is this:
Spend Simply, Eat Simply, Waste Simply
The crazy times of the holidays in our country amazes me - the amount of money we spend, the amount of food we prepare and consume and the amount of waste that we create. Really, it is amazing. The even more interesting part of it is that most of that stuff is forgotten by the time next year rolls around.
Jenni and I have been talking about it and wanted to be sure that the products we are purchases for our home make some sort of impact somewhere and for someone. We have been looking at the products we purchase to be sure that there is not excess packaging and that it is something that we can use to make some sort of difference. The thing I'm most excited about for this Holiday season? Our Stockings.
Jenni has been looking for stockings to put over the fireplace for awhile. We just never could find anything that we liked. That search is over. We found the prefect stockings at Sundance Catalog.
Festive fun for everyone in the family, our keepsake stockings are sure to become family heirlooms. A women's collective in Bosnia creates these wonderful woolens, handknit in stripes, checks, dots and patterns reminiscent of ski sweaters. Wool with a touch of acrylic. Sizes will vary, as each is individually handmade. Sizes will vary as each is individually handmade.
We love the idea of purchasing something that will create lasting memories for us and create a paycheck for women in Bosnia. Perfect for the holiday season.
There are plenty of places to purchase gifts for others that will make an impact. I will talk more about that in the coming days.
Until then, please enjoy this holiday season - a time to be with friends, family and your community.
Happy Holidays from all of us at Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company.
PS: On a side note, we are offering a great holiday special now through the end of December - please visit our website - www.CafeEvoke.com - and use the contact form for more information!
