The Ritz Carlton Tea Time

One of my girlfriends is getting married. What better way to throw an intimate bridal shower then having tea time at the Ritz! Yeah, I talk like I"m a pro, but last weekend was our first experience ever with it.

I was expecting a bunch of old, rich people, drinking tea, and wearing hats. It was nothing close to that.

It was all women, and it seemed like they were either celebrating Bridal Showers or Baby Showers too. The options came in 3 price ranges. I can't remember what, but you can find the menu on their website.

The tea itself was good. The little cucumber and lunch sandwiches were excellent. In fact, we wish they served us more of those, than the sweets they hounded us with.

Dessert with tea was good, but I've had much better desserts at other places. There was nothing really exotic about the dessert. Just your usual fruit tart, eclairs, and chocolate cake. Overall, it's a nice atmosphere if you want to spend the afternoon munching and drinking tea with your friends. However, I highly recomment it for a special occassion, and not just because you want to spend $50 on tea and sandwiches one afternoon. hehehe.

Crabcakes from Costco

Ok, so I cheated on this recipe a little at one of our dinner parties. It consists of Jumbo Lump Crabcakes from Costco, French Beans, and Corn. Not really being my own creation, but it still looks good right! And healthy tooooo.

Goi Cuon - Vietnamese Summer Roll with Peanut Sauce

This is a pretty mainstream Vietnamese appetizer. Not sure what the correct name for this would be, but many people call it "Vietnamese Summer Roll", so we'll go with that.

I think of it as a more healthy appetizer to it's more greasy sister, the eggroll (Cha Gio).

Ingredients Needed:

Package of Rice Paper (Banh Trang)

Shrimp, Boiled and Peeled

Pork Loin, boiled

Lettuce

Vietnamese Herbs (Any type)

Vermicelli Noodles

1) Boil shrimp for 10 minutes, or until slightly pink

2) Boil pork for about 30 minutes and then slice in thin pieces

3) Boil Vermicelli noodles for about 15 minutes, then drain in cold water until not soggy

4) Dip rice paper in water and make sure it's not too soggy

5) Place all the lettuce, vermicelli, shrimp, and pork and roll like you would normally an eggroll

I've seen this sauce made with other ingredients such as tamarind and mung beans. This is my mom's recipe I inherited, and it's the quickest and most authentic tasting, so I just stick with it. Just make sure it's not watery or it will kill the entire dish.

This is good for 6 portions/guests:

1 bottle Hoison Sauce
4 Tablespoons Peanut Butter
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Tapioca Starch (Bot Nang)

2/3 cup water

1) Heat up a sauce pan to medium heat and pour in Hoison Sauce and Peanut Butter
2) Stir vigorously until it melts and does not clump together, if you're using chunky peanut butter make sure to process in a blender, until smooth
3) Pour in the water, sugar, and taste, add more if you like it sweeter
4) Pour in Tapioca Starch and stir until mixure is slightly thick

*Serve at room temperature or slightly warm
** The sauce should be slightly thick, and not watery

Margaritas, Mojitos & More

So you like to entertain? Like mixed drinks? But you’re not skilled like me? Well, I highly recommend this book. I just ordered it a few months ago, because I’m one of those people that like to drink Mai Tais, but I’m not too confident about my mixing capabilities. Well, this book came to my rescue!

I spotted it at my local World Market store, and after skimming through it I ordered it online. Because you know everybody knows that books are always cheaper online right? I love the full page color photos of the drinks, easy-to-follow recipes, and creative drinks like Kiwi Mojito! And they even have non-alcoholic drinks like Lemongrass Lemonade. Mmmmmmm, you know you wanna try.

Bo Luc Lac - Shaking Beef

A Vietnamese beef dish, typically served over rice. The "shaking" part name for this is literally translated into English. I've never really understood where the "shaking" part originated from, but it's good still!

Filet Mignon tastes BEST with this dish, but if you don't have the budget for it I find beef shank works well too.

1 lb beef filet mignon or beef shank

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ onion

Sesame Oil

Vegetable oil, butter, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper

1) Dice beef into cube-sized pieces
2) Mix with minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, pinch of sugar, pepper, and sprinkling of sesame oil
3) Marinate 4 hours or overnight
4) Heat oil and 1 spoonful of butter over a wok
5) Add garlic and onions and stir until onion is slightly translucent
6) Add in beef (You can do the entire batch or half at a time)
7) Turn or shake to cook all the sides, add onion to cook
8) Throw in your choice of veggies (I added some sliced tomatoes in mine)
9) Can be served with tomatoes or cucumbers on the side as well
*Serve over rice

Drink Obsession of the Month

A mojito. Yes, that's my current drink obsession of the month. A relaxing night is when there's a mojito waiting after dinner.

Seafood Pan-Fried Noodle - Mi Xao Gion

One of my FAVORITE dishes in the entire world.

This is typically a Chinese dish, but since we have varations of it in Vietnam, I'm calling it a Vietnamese dish. There are many variations of it, but since seafood is my favorite I'm only posting the Seafood part.

1 bag fresh chow mein1 small can chicken broth
1 dozen Shrimp1 package cuttlefish 2 medium tomatoes, sliced1/2 yellow onion
4 springs of Bok Choy (Chinese Cabbage)
1 small package of Oyster Mushrooms (Or any other type you prefer)
1 red or green bell pepper (Red is usually better for coloring the dish)
1 large carrot
Handful of fresh minced parsley
3 Tablespoons oyster sauce

1 Tablespoons corn starch mixed with water

3 cloves garlicSoy sauce, salt, pepper, sugar

1) In a large pan, fry the Chow Mein Noodles until brown
2) You might want to do this in portions to allow the noodles to fit flatter on your plating
3) Place on paper towels to drain oil

4) To prep slice all the vegetables into bite-sized pieces
5) Stir-fry with oil, minced garlic and sliced onions
6) Stir in shrimp, cuttlefish, and any other seafood you’d like to the dish
7) Add in carrots and bell peppers first, since they take longer to cook
8) Add in oyster sauce and a dash of salt and sugar
9) Pour in 1 can of chicken broth and ½ cup of water
10) Add the rest of the vegetables and mix
11) Add your corn starch mixture in be sure that you added some water to the corn starch before doing so. Sauce should be slightly thick
12) Taste and add more salt or soy sauce as necessary

Garnish with green onions or parsley

The sauce should be thick like this:

Parmesan Chedder Bowls

This creation was from my friend PeachyMangoDelight. Created during one of our dinner parties.

It's baked Parmesan cheese, that's been shaped into a bowl.

Prettttyyyy right? I think it's a perfect compliment to any salad dish, and tastes delicious too.

Cucuzza Squash Soup - Canh Bau

This is a Vietnamese squash soup that is normally a compliment to an entrée during dinner. The Chinese have it too, but since I’m Viet I’m going to say that it’s Vietnamese squash. You can add ground pork or minced shrimp to the dish. Pictured is my plain version of it. Cucuzza Sqash can be found in most Asian grocery stores.

Also known as "Italian Squash"

1 Cucuzza Squash
1 cup Chicken Broth
1 dozen shrimp heads
Fish Sauce, Salt Pepper to taste

1) Boil 3 quarts of water
2) Mince shrimp by hand or in a food processor with pinches of salt and pepper to marinate
3) Cut squash into long strands
4) Once water has come to a boil spoon bite-sized pieces of the shrimp into the water, until small clumps form
5) Add 1 cup of chicken broth and stir for more dense flavoring
6) Add squash and simmer on high for about 15 minutes, until you feel the squash softening

* Top with hot peppers or green spring onions and serve over rice entrée

Swans' Fruit Arrangements with Fondue

I found inspiration for this from:

http://www.ediblearrangements.com/

One of my favorite desserts to make. I wouldn't say that it's quick and easy, more like very time consuming, but the results are worth it in the end, don't you agree?

These are two different arrangements I made to dip with fondue, or to simply eat alone. I often like to do this when I'm entertaining a large group of people, and it's often a hit at the majority of my parties.

Can you tell the difference between them?