Fall is Here! Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Well. Maybe tomorrow. But I’m excited. Time for comfort foods. And pumpkin EVERYTHING. Surprisingly, I have not had a pumpkin spice latte yet. I am boycotting them this year because Starbucks rolled it out too early. To get the pumpkin spice fix, I made pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

Can I tell you a secret though? I didn’t use a cupcake recipe. It was for whoopie pies. Whoopie pies look too much like macarons, and I am still on hiatus, so I instead of scooping them into cookies, I just stuck it in a cupcake pan and called it a day.

Spice up your life.

Pumpkin, brown sugar and butter.

I added some cinnamon to this recipe.

Posted on September 22, 2014 by miemo 0

Dining away Duchenne

Last week I attended a fundraiser for The Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne. The event had restaurants from the local area and raffles and silent auctions to raise money and awareness for the disease. I was there representing Chef Seng and Thip Khao.

There was so much good food there. It was a really nice event, AND I got to meet Chef David Guas. WHAT. I love my life. He’s very friendly, and a lot shorter in person than I imagined.

Highlight of the night? Bacon cotton candy. My life is awesome.

Posted on September 15, 2014 by miemo 0

What’s For Dinner: “Fancy” Jar Spaghetti

I’m excited that it’s September. Temperatures should start cooling, and yes, it’s time for comfort food. Next up for this round of “What’s for Dinner” is what I like to call Fancy spaghetti. Why is it fancy? Because it’s a dressed up version of your jar spaghetti sauce. No time to get fresh tomatoes and make your own sauce from scratch. But with all these additions it will give you that fresh taste you need to please your family.

I brown hot Italian sausage as my base. Lots of flavor in there!

Then I add the extras. Green bell peppers.

Sauteed onions and mushrooms.

I then add my favorite jar of spaghetti sauce. Ragu in traditional.Let them simmer together. If your family likes meatballs you can throw those in too. Sometimes, if I don’t feel like meatballs, I’ll brown ground beef, and throw in slices of Italian sausage instead.

How about that for a quick way to fancy up a jar of spaghetti sauce?

Fancy Jar Spaghetti

Ingredients
2TB Olive Oil
1/2 a sweet onion, diced
1 Small package of white mushrooms, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb Italian Sausage (I use hot, you can pick what you like)
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
45 oz jar of Ragu Traditional (or your favorite jar sauce)
1 pkg of spaghetti noodles, cooked per instructions on box

Directions:
In a large saute pan, toss olive oil, garlic and mushrooms until tender and onions until clear. Set aside. In a large sauce pot, brown Italian sausage. Add in the green bell peppers, onions and mushrooms. Stir until well mixed. Season if you’d like. Top with spaghetti sauce. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. Serve over noodles with garlic bread.

Posted on September 10, 2014 by miemo 0

After Vacation

Rose Island, what has become our private island

This vacation did its job. I was gone for a perfect amount of time. Away from the computer or my ipad (seriously, I didn’t turn it on ONCE, not even on the plane). Yeah I was on instagram, and answering personal emails on my phone, but no work, no blog, nothing that I “had” to do. It was great.

We had no real plans, no strain or pressure to be anywhere. It was relaxing. I brought three books. I finished two, and started another one on the plane. I really wanted to just read, which is why I intentionally didn’t bring headphones either. This vacation has made me realize, that the perfect amount of vacation for me is 5 days, 4 nights. Anymore than that will be overkill for me. I would start to worry about all the work piling up, and how to deal with it all.

The two hour trip to the Bahamas makes it well worth the 5 days off of working. But if travel time is longer, then of course I’d adjust the days off. Now that I am back I realize, I have got a lot of little things to do, to get my life back to regular function mode. Mostly…cooking, cleaning and the dreaded. LAUNDRY.

But I am happy to be back. Still a little crispy, because I forgot to bring a hat, but I am hoping it will mellow out a bit. This tan will need to last me until next summer. I didn’t really want to do a recap, because I literally did nothing, or the same thing as the last time I went, but I just wanted to stick my happy pictures in there.

My husband seemed to have a great time for his birthday and that is what matters to me!

And now…back to reality.

Posted on September 8, 2014 by miemo 0

Chef Shadow

Not too long ago, I was given the opportunity to work with Chef Seng on a private event. It was a meal for 20 people. It was an engagement party, and the bride used to teach English in Laos, and LOVES Chef Seng and her restaurant.

It was a really great learning experience for me. Watching how a chef runs her kitchen with a staff, versus me cooking alone. I definitely learned a lot, and enjoyed myself, but it does reaffirm my idea of me NOT wanting to own my own restaurant. I would like to do private chef cooking, or catering, but there is a lot that goes into owning a restaurant that I don’t see myself doing anytime soon.

You put a lot of yourself on the line, and on a time restraint. We are lucky that the Chef loves it so much, because she blesses our bellies with her culinary creations. I’ll stick to catering parties, making dinners, and cooking for my cookbook and blog!

Posted on September 3, 2014 by miemo 0

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