inspire me.. please..

its been a long long time since i've been online. frankly been really busy with the corporate world of food in the world of home retail. i've been super busy developing my skills of teaching people about the tools used to create amazing food at home for the everyday person. a completely different path in the food world then i would have imagined for myself. i thought at my age i'd be cooking for very cool people all the time as a private chef..and food blogger.. but somehow found myself on the path of teaching the women of today how to sous vide so to empress their friends, or showing them how to use the dutch oven to wow their husbands who think they cant cook.

i've been teaching in the oddest way, sharing my food knowledge with people who dont read food blogs, who have no clue what they are ordering has the hardest preparation. i've been telling everyday people that they too can make ice cream better then misters ben and jerry. i tell the history of saffron to women with 4 carat diamond rings. i teach 19 year old boys how they use pigs to find the elusive truffle fugus. i mime the way you should truss a chicken for ina's engagement chicken. i tell stories of amazing kitchens with the best cookware. i share secrets of how to keep your pans looking like new. i have become a different warrior for food, i no longer tell people where i've been eating, but how they can become masters of their kitchen.

its very different the role in food i've taken. i sometimes feel like i've cheated the real food person role. but i guess if i'm inspiring people to becoming chefs at home and create, share love with their friends and family then i'm still sharing the love of food with everyone. its a different way of looking at the job i have, some people think i'm just selling things, but i'm selling the idea that at home an everyday person can be a gourmet cook @ home.

so the picture i've included in this post is a pic of my lunch the other day. walked down to wholefoods market, hit up the salad bar (veggies), seafood station (cooked clean shelled shrimp), then perishable foods (fresh udon noodles). went back to the work, heat up the nonstick skillet made a quick lunch and sat in the back eating something like that during my 1 hour lunch break. not your everyday ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. its how i show you that, when i say its that easy... it really is.. took me 10 max and burned the calories walking to get the ingredients. i seriously think it can be everyone's lunch too, just listen to what i have to tell you..

eat extrodinary everyday

Sitting on a lot of sugar moments...

its been a long time since i've been posting on this blog. i'm sorry to my few random viewers and my 9 followers.

i have been working on getting more work on my resume as a culinary person. i recently made cakepops for my work. and i was able to actually meet a very successful blogger. you may have heard of bakerella.com she's awesome. a sweet person who loves sweet.

i made these pumpkin cake pops and the turned out pretty well. i made them out of sprinkle's pumpkin cupcake mix. i added a bit of muirhead's pumpkin butter to the frosting and then proceeded to coat them in orange candy coating. then using the orange sanding sugar i made some of them sparkle. it was a good day at work when bakerella said they were cute. i like to think so.

pumpkin is awesome. i also made a pumpkin cheesecake. a no bake one using the muirhead's pumpkin pecan butter to mix with the cream cheese, sour cream and condensed milk. super easy and delicious. fall baking is in! do some pumpkin stuff. i'm excited because soon at houston's they will have their harvest cheesecake... i love it.

eat extraordinary everyday.

busy starting it up

its been a crazy 2010 for me. lots of things keeping me from blogging. its kinda sad that i havent really eaten out like i used to. i started a new activity in my life so cooking and food has taken a back seat. but its coming back. i've been teaching private cooking lessons and its been a blast. i'll share some pictures. making bbq sauce from scratch is one of my favorite things to do and of course anything on the grill is good times.

book project is still in the works.. until then i'll be yelping and trying to blog here more for you. keep eating!

eat extraordinary everyday

Happy 2010...

my apologies for the lack of blog posts but trust me when i saw i was busy. if you didnt know i work a lot... someone has to pay for this food habit i have.. so i work in retail at an amazing culinary store.. (think the best of the best) thats where i work. dont want to give away my locations to random strangers. but anyhow during Christmas time i was there everyday so sorry for not posting anything for you 8 readers! i love you though.

in December: made prime rib for dinner for the family. kids love good food when its done right no matter how picky the kids are about the food they eat.

jan: went to vegas ate at craftsteak and i'm going to try to write a letter to chef tom to let him know his restaurant is serving bland food.

back to cooking in Manhattan beach for my favorite family and very excited to do so. made french onion soup, roasted veggie pasta with pancetta and red velvet cupcakes for dessert. going to do something new and fun every time i'm there.. lets hope i find my camera...

otherwise the book project is on and i'm still writing for that... its soo much harder to write it down then i thought but i can do it.. especially when the end result will be for everyone to really enjoy sake. check out master sake sommelier yuji mastumono's blog. http://www.learnaboutsake.com/

My November

Dear my 8 readers.

thank you for being patient with me and still trying to read my blog. i have been extremely busy with different projects thus i have not posted much in the last several weeks. last weekend i was in Malibu catering a wedding party. it was beautiful, and yes i actually cook, i talk a lot about food but on occasion for the right people i'll make some yummy yummy food.

*This is the wedding cake, it was amazing!!!! it was from i think angel maid, in Culver city and it was super great. the whole thing was gone! yes i ate a piece and I'm going to go back for my bday cake.

sadly my focus is usually on the food and i did not get a good chance to take loads of pictures. but i have a few to share with you all, sorry for the quality of the photos as my helper took some pictures with her blackberry.

so the bride and groom happen to have great taste in food.. well duh, i was there! just kidding. i was given a recipe for an amazing ginger molasses cookie that we made to give out to the guest! they were a hit!

so here is the menu since some people like that kind of information.

classic shrimp cocktail

smoked salmon on pumpernickel stars with dill butter

roasted veggie dip with homemade pita chips

dinner

autumn salad with roasted corn topped with pine nuts

coconut veggie curry with basmati rice

roasted beef tenderloin with mushroom port sauce

roasted brussels sprouts touched with balsamic

roasted cauliflower

sauteed carrots and asparagus

potato gratin

so that was what i've been doing, i'm going to the japanese food festival this weekend and some more culinary adventures soon. keep eating well as its eating season!!!!!!

eat extraordinary everyday!

thrown noodles....

noodles.. if you dont know i love noodles. and from my trip in vietnam the one noodle dish that i took with me the most was the thrown noodles in Vung Tao, Vietnam. its a basic egg noodle but the catch is that the man throws the noodles about two stories. how cool is that?? ? talk about having a nice little thing to bring the people to your spot. some people twitter and some just cook with stunts.

this place also had the cutest little beef balls. but i must admit that in vietnam the chili is so much spicier and better than in the states. but the USA makes really good dipping sauces...

top shot of the damage that my family did at this noodle spot.

Bo Bia... better than your average spring rolls...

Many people eat spring rolls on a regular basis. You find them in CPK, PF Chang's and just about all the whole foods markets, thats how popular they are these days. I even make them for catering parties and when I am hired on as a private chef. People love them.. but what i prefer more is Bo Bia. its a different concoction that has more flavor and texture if you ask me. during the first few days when i arrived in Vietnam, i was in the local village of Long Son which is a bit out of Ho Chi Minh City. I had started to crave for Bo Bia since it somehow slipped into my head while sitting outside watching people pass me by on their motorcycles (hondas as the locals call it) ... I turned to my cousin and said i wanted to eat bo bia and she gave me this look of "what are you talking about" my mother then decides to tell me that its something that is known only to the chinese/vietnamese mix of people. thus it was only in the city would i find this delicious roll.

(my adorable niece demonstrating how to enjoy bo bia properly)

So now that i've been staying up in the city with my relatives i was able to eat any food my stomach desired. And so it was mentioned early in the morning that i was craving bo bia for the longest time and lucky me my family loves me... they found the bo bia street vending lady!!!!!

I know i keep going on and not even telling you what this amazing food is.. well its the cousin of the spring roll (boiled shrimp, boiled pork belly, rice noodles, lettuce, pickled carrots and daikon, mint and sometimes a bit of chinese chives and all wrapped up tightly in rice paper) Bo Bia on the other hand is made with different ingredients that give it a more unique flavor.

Bo Bia - Lap Cheong (chinese cured sausage), tiny dried shrimp, a stir fried mixture of julienned jicama, carrots, egg omelet that is thinly sliced (this vendor didnt have it), thai basil and lettuce all wrapped up in rice paper. dipped in a sauce that is similar to the sauce for the traditional spring rolls consisting of hoisin sauce, chili sauce and some crushed toasted peanuts for crunch.

the bo bia lady came by right outside our home to make these super fresh. the jicama mixture was piping hot, the lap cheong was sliced thinly and as you can see from the pictures the assembly was quick. we ordered about 25 or so rolls eat averaging about 2000 VND which is about maybe 10 cents USD. this snack was very delightful as it was light, crunchy and filled with flavor. I ate about 5 rolls myself with some extra chili in my dipping sauce. sweet and spicy is a such a nice dipping sauce when you have something that crunchy and salty coming into it. I enjoy this snack so much, sadly in the US its very hard to find Bo Bia as fresh as this (*unless you make it yourself of course-my family might do it once a year since most people are not so good with the rolling process and handling of rice paper) anyhow if you do find bo bia in the states you get them usually at Van's bakery or asian bakery/bread places that might sell pre-packed food. happy hunting for it in the states or get yourself an invite to a family party that has this yummy snack.

eat extraordinary everyday!