Murder Mystery Dinner

Have you heard? The Olive Branch is hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner and tickets are selling out fast. Our Friday dinner is completely sold out, but don’t worry, we’ve added another show! Saturday June 1, join us for a night of fun, food and mystery mayhem! This is just a sneak preview of what’s to come!

The Brazos Theatre Group will be performing “Murder: Stage Right” in a thrilling show to find out who killed Hamlet. Before the performance, enjoy a four-course meal prepared by the one and only, Leah Stewart! Choose from beef tenderloin or seafood stuffed salmon for your main course. Our mouths are watering just looking at the menu!

Tickets are $5o per person — gratuity for our servers is not included. The dinner will also be BYOB. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the performance begins at 7. Reservations are required, please call the Brazos Theatre Group at 254-313-8920 to get your tickets today! We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Celebrating Mom

Mother’s Day is just a few short days away now, do you have fun plans? To celebrate, Leah and her mom are spending Saturday enjoying a relaxing day at Pura Vida Day Spa. But, here at the Olive Branch we know how busy life can get. Sunday, Leah’s mom will be here to help Leah in the cafe as we serve you and your moms! We hope you all can take a break from your busy schedules and show your mom how great she is too.

 Here are some of our tips and ideas on how to make the most of your day and treat your mom:

1. Start with Brunch. If you don’t have any cooking skills, then leave it to us! We serve brunch from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday and we’ll be serving our special coconut cream stuffed French Toast! But if you’d like to give it a try yourself, Leah’s sinful twist on French Toast recipe is easy and melts in your mouth. You can even try this recipe for Eggs Benedict Biscuits! She’s sure to love gathering around the table enjoying a delicious meal with the people she loves.

 2. Now, moms always say, “Don’t get me anything, I don’t need a gift, just time with you!” And of course, that is always what they want, but my favorite part of Mother’s Day is seeing the look on my mom’s face when she opens the gift we all surprised her with. The key to this is getting her something she’ll use. If you’re mom likes to cook, spend the day cooking with her! At the Olive Branch, we have Leah’s recipe books and cupcake sets so you can make your very own special treats at home! 

3. Most importantly: spend time with her. Forget the gifts and fancy meals. Mom’s mean it when they say all they want is a day spent with you. Give her a hug and let her know how special she really is!

Last but not least, if the thought of all this DIY sends you into a panic, the Olive Branch is always here for you! We’ll be serving our brunch menu all weekend and our cupcake case is always full of yummy treats. But whatever you decide to do, make sure it’s celebrating mom because she deserves it!

Some of my favorite people!

So I tried to do a fun thing last week for my friends. I threw a “favorites” dinner! I asked each of them their favorite dish for different parts of a meal. Appetizer, Drink, salad, main course and dessert. They …

Fun Ways to Make May Even Better

The sun is out, the Texas wild flowers are in bloom, and it’s time to start enjoying backyard barbecues and dinner parties with friends again. Leah loves to host dinners at her house and make new recipes that her friends can try. This month we’re looking for recipes to make with some of the traditional foods we love. This time of the year, many fruits and vegetables are coming into season and they compliment any meal. We’ve been doing our research and have found some of the best foods to enjoy in May. Here’s a list of some of our favorites:

• Artichokes
• Asparagus 
• Spring Onions
• Radishes
• Green Garlic
• Peas
• Watercress

We can’t wait to see what recipes Leah comes up with incorporating some of these delicious, seasonal treats. Stay tuned to the blog for them so you can make them yourselves and impress your friends! But, in the meantime, here’s an article from BuzzFeed that features these foods, more and recipes for them! Click here to see the article. 

Another way we’re spicing up May is through our Photo-A-Day. Each day this month we’ve picked a topic for a picture. All you have to do is post a photo of that topic to our Facebook page, Tweet at us, or post it on Instagram. So far we’ve loved seeing your photos of downtown Waco, food you love, and buildings around town. Today is art in Waco, so show us your interpretation! If you aren’t already following us, you can see our pictures on Instagram at Olivebrancwaco. Here’s our interpretation of today’s photo:

This is our wall mural and a display cake we have in our entrance! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #tobphotoaday. We can’t wait to see what you come up with! 

 

World Hunger Relief, Inc.

In Central-Texas we’re lucky to have fresh produce from the World Hunger Farm. This Christian organization works hard to teach people how to develop sustainable farming techniques, educates those with economic methods to conserve and share their produce, and participates in local and international hunger relief efforts. The farm acts as a classroom to those learning, but it thrives on sales to keep the farm functioning. We like to purchase products from World Hunger Farm to support a fellow local business, plus, it’s always fresh! One of their programs has greatly benefited the community in recent years. The Community Supported Agriculture Food Club allows people to pay a monthly rate for fresh produce in the Spring and Fall. The program allows families to take ownership, but also gives them flexibility if they cannot make the full payment up front. Fresh vegetables and herbs are collected daily by the members, and not only is the program helping them, but it allows them to donate 10% of their produce to the Caritas Food Bank. To learn more visit their website at http://worldhungerrelief.org/

It’s such a wonderful organization filled with people sharing God’s love and delicious food! We’re excited to buy produce from them and incorporate it into our recipes! Stay tuned for recipes made fresh with food from World Hunger Farm!