The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Mmmm Michele's employee Bob Menafra offers up a batch of Halloween cookies. Owner Michele Morrison says she specializes in "food people recognize," including triple-fudge brownies and Rice Krispies treats. Rice Krispies aren't the only treats at Michele's By PAM MARINO When Michele Morrison was 3, she toddled into her parents' bedroom with breakfast in bed--the two delightedly "gagged it down," Morrison said. That was just the start of a long and successful career in cooking. Morrison's skills have come so far that she has been a guest chef on television cooking shows and taught classes for Williams and Sonoma. Morrison is the Michele of Mmmmm Michele's Catering, now in its 14th year in Cupertino. In the beginning Morrison did lots of private parties, but later she found herself catering for corporate clients. One client was a little company just starting out. Morrison and her husband, Jeff, cooked and delivered meals for all the employees for six straight weeks as the company rushed to get its first product out. That "little" company turned out to be Symantec. Morrison still caters for Symantec today. Other clients include Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics, Intel, Netscape and Texas Instruments. "If I could dream up software instead of brownies, I'd be a little richer," Morrison joked. Her dreams, she said, are always recipes. Morrison still does most of the cooking, using her own recipes. Everything is made from scratch, she said, down to the real butter and chocolate used in her triple-fudge brownies. The food she specializes in is "food people recognize," she said. "We don't do really unusual stuff." Morrison said she did the gourmet recipes at a cheese shop in Los Gatos that she operated until the 1989 earthquake shut it down. The gourmet food at the shop was "very '80s," she said. From her commercial kitchen in the All American shopping center at the corner of Bollinger Road and Blaney Avenue (there is no walk-in business), she creates lots of favorites like oven-fried chicken and sirloin tips. At one company's Halloween party Morrison is serving homemade Rice Krispies treats. "Everyone's jazzed that they are getting Rice Krispies treats for Halloween," she laughed. Morrison will design specialized menus for any event. "If you can think of it, we've probably done it," she said. Morrison said her low-fat and vegetarian meals are so good "you have to ask, because you won't be able to tell." And her services are not just limited to food. She will arrange delivery, servers and even party favors, she said. The guests at one recent wedding sported neon-colored sunglasses with the names of the bride and groom printed on the sides, thanks to Morrison. "I'll do whatever they want," she said. With the holidays coming up, Morrison is prepared to do more local parties, dinners and other events. Next week she opens up her kitchen, as she does every year, to a group of cloistered Carmelite nuns who come in on Nov. 1 to bake more than 700 fruitcakes for a fundraiser. It's the only time they leave their convent during the year. Morrison said the nuns "tell the worst nun jokes" as they work in the kitchen in their habits and Birkenstock sandals. "They are hysterical," Morrison said. Mmmmm Michele's Catering can be contacted at 446-4203, or visit the Web site at mmmmmmicheles.com. [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 28, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.