Yelp’s Jet Set Fete

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In the 3 years that I have started this blog, I’ve been invited to many, many great food events. From huge events filled with local restaurants, to private charity events, to soft openings of new restaurants this little blog has tasted a lot. And I am so thankful for the opportunities to eat, meet and engage with awesome food enthused people!

Last night I attended Yelp’s Jet Set Fete, which was an event to benefit the DC Central Kitchen, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing hunger with recycled food, training unemployed adults for culinary careers, serving healthy school meals, and rebuilding urban food systems through social enterprise.

The theme of the event was retro-chic vintage, exotic travel. It had cultural demonstrations from China, Japan and Indonesia to name a few. That combined with a plethora of food and drinks from local vendors, I forget that I am there for a good cause and just there for a good time!

Aside from the food, music, and flowing drinks, there was something for everyone. If you wanted a more mellow night, the other side included, painting, manicures, massages, and tarot card readings.

I definitely recommend any yelp events that YelpDC hosts. Its a guaranteed good time!

Posted on October 15, 2014 by miemo 0

Mama Miemo’s Guacamole

For those of you who have savored my guacamole, here’s my secret. THERE IS NO SECRET 🙂 All basic ingredients made with love. That’s why you think its good. When you cook with heart, you can taste it.

Ingredients:

4 Avocados
1 small tomato diced
1/2 a squeezed Lime (or to taste)
1/4 cup Cilantro chopped
1/4 Onion, diced
1 Jalapeno minced
Kosher Salt, to taste
Cayenne, if it’s not hot enough

Peel and chop the avocados, mix all the ingredients and season to taste. Enjoy!

Posted on October 10, 2014 by miemo 0

Crab Bisque

Another soup to keep you warm? Crab bisque. This is a pretty quick easy way to do it. Again there are no measurements. Because I am using condensed Campbells soup, the more milk the better or it will be way too salty!!!

Stir in the lump crabmeat and heat on medium until steaming, do not let it boil.

Add curry powder and black pepper to taste. Easy right? You gotta keep tasting and alternating milk and curry until you get it the way you like. If it tastes bad, that is your fault not mine! Once you get it steaming and the taste you like, enjoy! I like it with a little bit of toasted, buttered, garlicky bread.

Crab Bisque

Ingredients:
1 can (10.5oz) of Condensed tomato soup
1 can (10.5oz) of Cream of mushroom
Lump cooked crabmeat
Whole milk
Salt
Pepper
Curry Powder

Directions:
In a pot whisk together the tomato soup and cream of mushroom. Add one can of milk to start. Whisk until well mixed. Add crabmeat, make sure not to add to much. You want it to be a good amount of crab per bite, not too much, not too little. Stir till well mixed, turn on the heat to medium. Bring it to steaming, NEVER LET IT BOIL. Stir frequently so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Once hot, taste it. And add black pepper, salt, and curry to taste. If its still too salty, add milk to make it creamy.

Posted on October 8, 2014 by miemo 0

La Caprice DC

I have found it. A croissant and pain au chocolat worth getting when I miss Paris. And it is at La Caprice DC. Right next door to the future home of Thip Khao. SUPER EXCITED. I was there the other day when I had to do some work at the new restaurant. Oh MY GOSH. I am so happy. And sad at the same time, because it’s not really convenient for me to go all the way to Columbia Heights when a wave of nostalgia for Paris hits. Someone wanna bring me some? Or can someone guide me to one in the Northern VA area? THANKS.

La Caprice DC
3460 14th St NW
Washington, DC 20010

Posted on October 6, 2014 by miemo 0

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

End of Summer Vacation

Its our last big trip of the year. Fall and winter is time to focus, and stay home and be cozy. I can’t believe I was here 6 months ago, and now we are going back. I love it. Bahamas has become our special place.

This time we opted for NO rental car (its too confusing to drive there, we almost died last time) and we are staying on Paradise Island. This is because we ended up driving there everyday last time so this time we might as well just stay there. I’m excited to go back to the island and gets some R&R.

Then when I get back, I will buckle down and start a cooking schedule. Let’s do work son!

Are you guys having any end of summer last trips?

Posted on August 27, 2014 by miemo 0

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