Cooking in a small space

I have never really had an apartment of my own. So, it was important to prepare a meal for my family. My Mom was was in town and I invited my aunt Hoan and uncle Toan who are like my second parents and my cousins, Diep, Erik, Ben, Jack. I knew this would be a hard task, as my aunt and uncle are traditional Vietnamese eaters. Since Vietnamese food is highly influenced by the French, I thought it would be fitting to prepare a meal similar to both cuisines. Hence, I featured ingredients similar to Vietnam and France. For the Amuse Bouche; Poached Shrimp with Avacado Salsa, First Course; Celery root soup with Roasted Pumpkin seeds, Second Course; Braised Chicken (cooked in the new Le Creuset pot from Mom) in bay leaves, white wine, mushrooms with Red Mustard Greens over Forbidden Rice and Quinoa, and lastly Dessert; Poached Pears in Grappa with ice cream.

I felt my aunt, uncle, and mom were pleased as they gave me a thumbs up after the meal. My apartment maybe small (700 square ft) but I only needed a space big enough for 5X3 ft table to share such a meaningful dinner.

The Love of Cooking

One of my goals after graduating culinary school was to establish myself as a solid cook and Chef. This comes with studying, cooking, and mistakes which are never ending! I am slowly starting my own buisness cooking intimate dinner parties for the willing whom are adventuresome and passionate!

While LA is not known for the best restaurants in the nation, they do have the best produce. Seeking these ingredients from local farmer's markets has been an amazing discovery. I try to highlight this along with fresh yet simple dishes in my cooking. As my business continues to grow, I find myself very fortunate... cooking dinner parties, in beautiful homes and meeting extremely interesting people in Southern Cal.

HOT AS H*LL = Qualcomm Stadium

Beautiful weather!? ... Can you feel the heat? ..... Maria and Sarah (Right)

Working and developing frozen Mexican foods has its perks! Turns out our Marketing team partnered up with the NFL. This means fantastic advertisements and free tickets to NFL games! Being that LA has no NFL Team, rooting for either the Raiders or Chargers is the next best thing. After a little wheeling and dealing, I managed to get my hands on 4 San Diego Chargers tickets. I decided to take Carly, Sarah, and Maria.

We chose to meet Old Town, SD, where we would take the tram to Qualcomm Stadium. Upon arrival to the Stadium, was mass exodus leading to pure chaos. Apparently, there is no main entrance but 5, with long lines of fans wrapped around the perimeter. As for the Chargers fans, not sure if they were going for 2 different teams since half sported baby blue jerseys, others, navy blue. I was told the baby blue was the “throwback” from the 70’s. On the other hand, Browns fans were clearly marked with ‘poop’ brown and in my opinion ‘puke’ orange colors, not the orange like the Hokies! When we finally got there, our seats were perfect, 20 rows back from the field, 15 yard line, with one exception, towards the sun. Most people would have enjoyed getting a sun tan, but no, not this sort of sun! Maybe if there was a slight bit of ventilation in Qualcomm stadium, it would be pleasant. But as soon as we were seated, I started hyperventilating, no, not due to the beer but of overheating. Using the free team poster as a shield and stripping down to a white tank top…yes, think derogatory! I lasted until the end of the 3rd quarter. Even searching for any possible cloud to divert the heat for a minute was exhausting. Damn California, not a cloud in the sky! Give it up to Carly who attempted to kill 2 birds with one stone beating the heat and showing team spirit! She purchased 25 dollar Chargers KIDDIE t-shirts, one white and one blue (for me) …NAVY I might add!

Highlights: The charger ‘mascots’, tour of Little Italy, Alaskan fusion dinner, Vanee’s stories of UAE , the drive with Carly, hanging w/the SD bia-tches, and interrogation on my liking of dogs!

Isakaya- Japanese Tapas

There is a new trend n LA called Izakaya (Japanese pub food) which has supposedly been around Japan forever. It’s the concept of Japanese happy hour where beer, sho-zu (Korean version of Sake), and 'tapas' are served. I read about this and was interested in going. The restaurant I found lies in Little Tokyo, downtown LA which in itself is an adventure. Sushi in LA is amazing, only because when I moved here I hated raw fish, now crave it. I am the not expert but definitely can distinguish the difference between day old and fresh stuff. The scene at the place is clean and there were tons of ‘locals’ (Japanese folk). I’ll take my Mom when she visits as she is the one to please for sushi. I enjoyed the shiso wrapped minced sardines and also the Toro….just like butter. How about the Yellowtail collar? To my fellow chefs, I believe when they filet the fish, instead of chopping off the head and some, they carefully cut around the neck and save the meat around those bones….hence ‘collar’. The tofu stew was interesting but not a highlight. I’d go back for straight up fresh fish, Spanish Mackerel, Yellowtail, and of course Toro, comparing right up to Morimoto in Philadelphia!

It's a Doggy Dog World

Rescue Race


Who is this celeb with Hayley?

For most of you who know me, I have always been a cat person, a.k.a., Tiffy, RIP 2005. Since I moved here, I have discovered the underworld of dog loving ‘crazies’ of whom my cousin, Tina is apart of. She not only runs her own luxury pet products company (http://www.jaxandbones.com/) but is apart of a great organization called the Rescue Train (http://www.therescuetrain.org/), run by her friend, Lisa. These people are truly passionate, caring, individuals that do this solely for the animals. They literally pick animals off of the streets and try to find homes for them. I was recently apart of the Rescue Train charity event/5K race at the Rose Bowl and it was fun time. Tammy’s Jammies debuted LIVE as I was the DJ for the Pet Fashion show put on by Jax and Bones!
Merlyn the cat!
On another note, I have been slowly but surely trying to get to know dogs and I must say they are pretty smart animals. For instance, when Jerry, Tina’s dog was pulling clothes out of my bag and tossing it all over the floor, I figure he was trying to ‘get to know me’ or when Jax, her other dog, was shadowing every move and crowding me as I was preparing a 3-course meal, I figure he just wanted to taste my cuisine to find out what the hype was about. Sorry, constantly saying “good boy” or “no begging” to dogs gets tiring. Cats still rule and they understand you better when you ignore them and don’t need walks and instead of loud barks, they give cute, quiet little meows for attention. However, I am still giving dogs a chance….to be continued… :)