preview

a mini preview of Jamie and Alex's wedding.

pictures from one of the photographers: jon kim

Girls Night Out

Once at work, someone asked my friend and I, " what does your friendship revolve around?" and we both answered with "FOOD".

I been blessed with friends who enjoy food as much as I do. Who is willing to try out new hot spots and who are patient with my picture takings (of food).  Anyways, a couple of my lady friends and I decided that we would go on a mini adventure around LA.  

With a friend already out in LA, because of work, we decided that the rest of us would take the metro.  it was like a scene out of a movie: last friend arrived at my house at 3:30pm.  we quickly drove over to my parents store to leave the car and walk on over to the metro station (other side of railroad tracks).  realizing the quickest way around was to walk/slide/run down the hill, we all held tightly onto the rails and down to the street we went. ran to the station, purchased out tickets and in we went into the train.(6:49 exactly on the dot)

we then found a Mr. Churro and felt the need to try a churro.

i mean if a place is called MR. CHURRO, it better be good right? umm wrong.  it was just alright.  from what i think, the churro is fried hollow and then they cut it in half and fill the churro with the cream (not sure if its true...just my assumption). the churro was warm and the cream cold.

i'm definitely still a fan of the churros from Taco Station, Riverside CA.

anyways, went over to Little Tokyo to do some exploring.

Came across Mitsuri Cafe where we bought one of these (no idea what they're called).  its like a mochi with red beans inside.  my friends liked the texture (they like the mochi rice cake texture), me on the other hand not so much.  it was just alright.  

we then each ate a mini japanese dumpling

apologies of the blurriness. 

got picked up from our friend and headed towards the Grove/farmers market.

here some ate oysters.  we then all had a plate of Brazillian BBQ. yumm!!

while pondering on which cafe to go to, we dropped by MILK.

I've been meaning to come here for a while now.  I'm glad to say that i've finally been.  

Didnt try what was originally on my list (blue velvet cake) but I'm definitely glad that I tried something else.

We shared these amazing ice cream sandwiches.  If you're a fan of macarons and a fan of ice cream, we then this is a MUST try.  two awesome creations merging to be one. (i wish i was eating one right now).

Anyways, the chewy texture of the macaron shell marries perfectly with the creamy cold ice cream.

i guess i will soon have to try this out for myself.

maybe mini ice cream sandwiches.

a bit too much eating for one evening, but super fun and relaxing.

happy saturday everyone!

james and susan's wedding part 2

I received more pictures from the bride today.

Thought that I would share with you.

The pictures came out beautifully and I'm thankful that I'm able to share them with you.

i leave you now with my favorite picture.

happy wednesday everyone!

its a day closer to the weekend!!

photographer: Sarah Chen

part one

paulines bridal shower

i was invited to attend a beautiful bridal shower this past weekend.

completely DIY and completely gorgeous.

all crafted by her beautiful brides.

heres a couple pictures from the bridal shower.

(note to self: take pictures of human beings  -__-).

mushroom central. totally one of the most creative things i've ever seen.

i wish i could have thought of that. anyways, take a hard boiled egg and cap it off with a half cut tomato.

it'd be a good idea to make deviled eggs and cap them off (that'd be good. yummm).

now onto the dessert table.

had a whimsical and woodsy feel.

owl cake pops. super cute.

i. love. owls.

*hoot*

continuing with the woody theme, check out them acorns.

i'll end here with the picture of the dessert table.

congrats to the beautiful bride to be.

cant wait to see you on your wedding day ^^

meringue cookies recipe

happy monday! i baked a batch of meringue cookies this past weekend. one batch 4 different flavors.

they're super simple to make and they come out to be beautiful little creations.

they're perfect when you're in a rush and you dont have time to sit in front of the oven babying your creation to make sure that they dont over bake.

so here we go:

2 egg whites (room temp)

1/2 tspn cream of tartar

1/3 cup + 1/6 cup granulated sugar

1 tspn vanilla extract

pinch of salt

anything you want to add (food coloring, coconut, hazelnut, walnut, chocolate, green tea powder, etc).

preheat oven to 350F.

beat egg whites until foam forms and add cream of tartar.

once soft peak forms, slowly start adding the sugar.

half way through add vanilla and salt.

continue beating until medium stiff to stiff peaks.

divide meringues to little bowls and add additional ingredients if wanted.

gently mix ingredients into meringue.

either pipe with a star tip or spoon mixture onto baking tray (with parchment).

place tray on middle rack of oven.

close oven door and turn the oven off.

allow the meringue cookies to cool with the oven.

they should be hard and ready to eat in around 2 hours.

personal favorite: hazelnut, walnut, chocolate mixture meringue cookies.

enjoy!!

mothers day

happy mothers day to my wonderful mother.

to: my mother

thank you for all that you've done and being a part of my life.

for believing in me and supporting me.

love you for all that you do.

thank you^^

for mothers day, we stayed in and had pizza, tacos, and apple pie al a mode.

my mom asked me to not spend too much time in the kitchen this round.

thought of some ideas and this is what i came up with:

tomato, basil, mozzarella pizza 

-3 tomatoes

-soft mozzarella cheese

-fresh basil

-salt, pepper, oliver oil

-puff pastry dough.

pork pizza

-cooked marinated pork (or any meat)

-diced 1/2 onion

-cilantro

-tomato sauce (use a jar or make your own.)

-parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese

mushroom pizza

-sliced mushrooms

-parmesan and mozzarella cheese

-tomato sauce

directions:

-preheat over to 400F

-roll our puff pastry dough

-put pizza topping on top of dough

-bake for 35-40mins

-enjoy!

apple pie

-2 granny smith apples

-1/8 cup brown sugar

-dash of cinnamon

-pinch of salt

-puff pastry dough

-1 egg 

-peel and cut apples into small cubes

-mix sugar, cinnamon, salt with apple

-roll out puff pastry dough as thin as possible

-cut dough to 10 even pieces 

-place apple mixture evenly in the center of 5 doughs

-brush egg around the edge of the dough

-match the 5 remaining doughs on top of the dough with apples

-close up with a fork

-brush the top of pies with egg wash

-place in oven (400F) and bake for 15-20 mins.

-cut pie in half and serve with ice cream.

enjoy!!

james and susan (real wedding)

From the first email, I knew that I would love working with this bride.  Susan came to the table with a lot of excitement and ideas.  A pink themed 12 ft table was in order.  I started drawing pictures in my head and didnt know how we could possibly come up with a tablescape that would fill all 12ft.  Susan provided all the beautiful props for the table (which totally matched her personality).  The bride was absolutely gorgeous and from all the pictures, its clear that she had a blast!!

thank you to the bride and groom for allowing me to take part of your wedding.

So let me share a handful of my favorite pictures taken by her photographer: Sarah K Chen

Venue: Turnip Rose

Photographer: Sarah K Chen

Wedding Coordinator: Christine Pak of  Se-lah-ve

Dessert Bar: Audreys Edible Creations