The Big Island, Hawaii:Food and Sunsets- Part I

I consider myself quite the lucky duck and last month doesn’t fall short of that. In less than 2 weeks, I went to Hawaii – 2 islands, the Big Island and Oahu. For my first visit, I went for a friend’s wedding in which I was a bridesmaid. I’m not gonna lie, it was kinda hectic and crazy but food and booze was plentiful. I saw a lot of the island and highlights were Costco, lava rocks, Snorkeling, and 4 days of amazing sunsets. The food in Hawaii is quite interesting very influenced by the Japanese. My favorite meal was simple---Katsu Bento Box and even Spam Sushi. Also, we were spoiled by authentic Luau food and a dinner catered by the Hilton Waikoloa. The Pork Belly was extremely memorable.





I want to give a shout to Sarah & Harry and the Ou’s for putting one hell-of- a-party/ies and thank them for entrusting me with cooking for their guests one evening. I whipped up my version of a Hawaiian/German BBQ!









Hawiian MUST: food out of styrofoam boxes - Kalbi, etc.


Loco Moco



Famed bento box meals - this is Katsu

Our German BBQ in Hawaii

Dress Rehearsal and Luau



Looking gorgeous Sarah!

Dishes from Wedding

Where in the US have I been????

Sorry, I have been on hiatus of late. Blogging just doesn’t seem to take precedence these days! Okay, where did I last leave off? Oh yes, a stint with Chef Ludo at Ludobites. Sad to say I only interned a handful of times due to work travels. Nevertheless, I learned a great deal from Chef Ludo and met great people along the way! I'm incredibly grateful to work in the kitchen with him!




I met Chef Dan who showed me the ropes at the hot appetizer station, you can follow his ventures in life and at Ludobites 5.0 @chefdrm on twitter. Holly was another intern and has an awesome blog. She later helped me my very own catering gig which was super fun.






As for my work travels, I managed to incoporate a few breaks in between. May landed me in Stafford, Virginia for a wedding. My old college roommate, Jason and his bride, Shannon had a beautiful wedding. Give it up for moonshine and nothing but green pastures.




Old Plantation in Stafford, VA

Jason, (L), who got married and enjoying moonshine

Next, I headed to Santa Cruz and San Francisco where the weather was gorgeous.

Then back home where I got to soak up a Dodgers game!

My dear friend, Esther whom I studied in Spain with visited early June. Her and husband are from Holland and did a mini tour of the US. Los Angeles was a stop and of course, I had them over for dinner. It was awesome catching up and meeting Tim. It made rooting for the Netherlands in the World Cup so much fun!

Tim and Esther visiting from Holland

June took me to New York for a cooking class, for work and fun. I cooked for friends and enjoyed a hot week in the city. One request was to eat at Momofuku for the famous Bo Ssam feast. I was not let down.

Momofuku's Pork Belly Steamed Buns

The Pork Butt

Accoutrements of the Bo Ssam Feast

One snug package--- the Bo ssam

Wall Street

Empire State Building

More pictures and stories to come...

Palm Springs

A typical bachelorette party consists of strippers, leopard prints, girls gone wild, and penis ice cubes... gottta love em. I’ve actually only been to two, both which I hosted, and neither had any of the above mentioned! This one fell into the same category and was so much fun, especially since my 2 cohorts of the century were joining along, Gerlyn and Carly, both from the VT days. Sarah Dodge was the guest of honor and I planned out a menu specifically for her vegetarian needs.















Leaving LA at the peak hour for heavy traffic, we made it to Palm Springs in just under 4 hours (it normally takes 2), just for Gerlyn since she lives in NY and doesn’t get to experience much of it! The menu I designed was Mid-century since Sarah and her fiancées’ wedding theme is Mid- century modern.
>br< >br<

I should also mention I’m super flattered that Sarah asked me to consult on her wedding menu. I came up with some suggestions after a bit of research. Back then, Betty Crocker, TV dinners and canned soup were just hitting the scene. What does this all mean…comfort food and convenience! Very similar to what we are seeing now in restaurants but in smaller portions. I read recipes for multiple kinds of casseroles, tidbits wrapped in blankets, grilled meats/kabobs (the backyard BBQs starts!), and the Baked Alaska which I have never understood. See this link for more ‘decade’ type foods.







Back to Palm Springs, the house was AMAZING with great entertaining amenities; it had 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, fully decorated in the typical modern design that Palm Springs is best known for, with marble slab kitchen counter tops, an Eco dining table, an awesome bar area, and a pool that puts the Standard Hotel's pool to shame. I had a field day with the stove in the Kitchen but had to cut down my 1950s theme to a modern California theme with Tofu and Beef burgers.

Highlights of the weekend were karaoking, lounging by the pool, cheese & snacks galore, Reyna eating red meat, James Dean, Sarah in her fluffy heels, truffle French fries, a bad ass naked Pam Grier painting, late night cooking, and, of course making new friends! Thanks ladies and see you at Dodge’s Wedding!

Surgeon caps, Speeches, La Dolce Vita, T vs. Taxi, and Boston Baked Beans

H, D, MOH, BMan, BM1, BM2, please remember these acronyms respectively, they stand for Hien, Dylan, Maid of Honor, Best Man, Bridesmaid 1, Bridesmaid 2, in this little story. I am BM1, while H’s older sister, Cook is MOH and younger sister, Olivia BM2. This story starts off with H and D, both doctors who met in Richmond and were married this past weekend in Cambridge, Massachussetts.

I arrived 2 days before the wedding to H & D’s sweat shop (home) with the last remnants of putting together Martha Stewart-esque table tents, wedding programs, name cards, ribbons, all handmade by H, H’s mom, and MOH. Luckily, my only job was to prepare a few dishes for dinner. We were joined by BMan and guest who arrived from Connecticut. To make a long story short, all the hard work paid off, as we polished off numerous bottles of wine, played Pictionary and modeled surgeon caps all night. H & D definitely let go of all stresses!

Next day, H, MOH, and BM1 went to La Dolce Vita, this would only be day 1 of 2 days in the lovely salon located in Boston, off of Newberry Street. Right across the street was a bountiful and gorgeous farmer’s market. We spent 4 hours there enough for lunch and the arrival of BM2! After the mani’s and pedi’s, off to the Charles hotel for a quick change before the rehearsal dinner at B&G Oysters, H & D’s favorite restaurant. Picture this: an outdoor patio, crisp New England air, Johnny Coltrane in the background, and close friends and family. The food highlights were the hors d’ouerves, fried Gougeres, Arancini, Clam rolls, Watermelon skewers, Salmon tartare and fried Oysters! Let's not fail to mention the fabulous 3 course meal that followed along with endless glasses of Pinot from Williamette County, Oregon. H&D are sure loved, 2 hours of speeches including one from yours truly! After, onward to drinks at Grafton Grill and bed, but not before a little hazing from MOH, BM1, BM2, and H’s two BFs (Best friends), SET and Meg, oops forgot that acronym. We had to keep H up with few more fond memories.

The wedding morning started off hectic, confusion....should we take the 'T' or Taxi to the La Dolce Vita? The rain helped the decision since hair was getting done. The highlight of the morning was being poked and prodded by the local Bostonian with accent, ‘does that hurrrrrt, you hair just won’t hold.” I came out of the ordeal with over 500 million bobby pins and 1 maybe 2 inserted in my skull. I had to breathe and count to 10 a few times so I wouldn’t collapse and ruin H’s wedding day. Am convinced this is why my head looks so big in all the pictures. Anyways, yes, La Dolce Vita, good times, we ate Starbucks sandwiches the previous day and Burger King today, kudos to H for fitting into your wedding dress! 4 hours at ‘the good life’ salon and we finally left, frenzying to get dressed, resulting in H looking STUNNING. And the rain cleared up, just in time for H&D’s walk to be wed. The ceremony was beyond words, amazing. Atter a few pictures of the wedding party in the Arboretum, finally to the Limo for Veuve Cliquot. The reception was complete chaos with my cousins heading up, 'Dance Party USA.' Overall, the entire day was elegant and classy, from H&D, to the Arboretum, the Charles hotel, the limo, of course the wedding parties’ dress, and finally, the surf and turf of Filet Mignon and Seafood Kabobs for dinner.

Sunday brunch was bustling with the announcement of H&D’s honeymoon to the South coast of England (D left this a surprise). Sadly, everyone parted ways as H&D sped off to the airport for the next chapter of their lives.

I am honored to have been apart of the weekend and to be telling this story of H&D and how they got married. As for the Boston Baked Beans, placed in our gift bags, along with Menthos, just fitting enough, after a memorable weekend in Massachusetts.

Fundraisers, Baby Showers, Bachelorette Parties

Starting out as Personal Chef, I told myself I’d never ‘cater’ a.k.a. do birthday parties, showers, pretty much functions that I had to present ‘buffet’ style. But I learned that in life, you just have to make exceptions to the rule. My first compromise consisted of cooking at a Hollywood Fundraiser with David Lieberman. You know Dave Lieberman of the Food Network?! Well, lucky for me, he just quit his show and moved over from NY. Thanks to knowing someone who knows someone, we were introduced and he happened to need a few good chefs to cook with him. Of course, I could not say no and next thing I knew there I was plating out food for David Lieberman. We cooked many dishes but one of the cool ones was using Baby Gem Lettuce fresh from the Santa Monica Farmer’s market which was each individually served. Another neat one was, Dave’s ‘Sunday Sauce’ which was just a tomato sauce with ‘leftovers’ as he called it, of pulled beef brisket, pork sausages, and meatballs. It was awesome to work with Dave and interesting to see how a Celebrity Chef does things. http://www.davecooks.net/



Next, baby shower…usually I find them quite boring, filled with women ooo-ing and awww-ing over baby clothes, endless gift opening, and so many shades of pink and blue that make you think Easter has arrived. I love doing things for good people and a friend of mine was hosting the party for her friend who also happens to be married to the lead singer of the Indie Rock band, Gomez. could not say no either, especially when she told me the theme was Cinco de Mayo and men would be invited and plenty of alcohol served! She asked me to a create a menu devoted to Mexican, easy enough for me! Vegetable and Spinach Taquitos, Potato and English Pea Flautas, Roasted Chille Rellenos with Squash, Baja Shrimp Skewers, Chicken and Cheese Chimichurri Subs, Aztec Quinoa Salad, and a Spinach Jicama Salad were served. I had a fab time cooking, meeting a few musicians, more people in the ‘industry’, and enjoying a Margarita.

http://www.gomeztheband.com/

Lastly, organizing a Bachelorette party from cross country is a tough task, especially when I wanted to cook for it. After all, I had no idea where to order food from and costs would have be crazy, especially in New York City. I was so gracious to Gerlyn who offered up her rooptop deck for the main event. I am glad I cooked, more than anything, it was a way to express my happiness for my cousin, Hien. More on this party to come…..in the meantime, please read my cousin, Michelle's take on the party! http://www.themaltesebacon.com/