My friend Monique has her annual Sushi & Sake Bombing birthday bash every April.  It’s a huge event and every year it gets bigger and bigger.  Not being one to miss out on a great party, I make the trip down to San Diego every year and stay with friends.

This weekend also happens to coincide with TWoG: The Weekend of Gluttony.  That means we eat WHATEVER tickles our fancy;  and in that spirit, we’ve begun the tradition of: “Ice-Cream-Social-Before-Monique’s-Birthday-Party”!!!

Here’s what you need:

From Ice Cream Social

Whipped cream, hot fudge, and bananas…all essentials

Your favorite flavors of ice cream, brownies, and excited giggles of anticipation

Crushed oreos and multi-colored sprinkles…monochromic sprinkles are a no-no!

Naked ice cream! Dress those bad boys up!

Damn, that is some sexy ice cream

Enjoy that ice cream like you’re six again and your parents have left you to your own devices.

Surprisingly, there’s no need to eat anything else until sake bombing starts haha.  Who’d have thought that ice cream would be a great pre-drinking meal.

What’s Dragon C0N you say?? This is Dragon C0N:

It’s F’in crazy!

If you want to see it in better quality, go to this link and click on the little “Watch in High Quality” button below the video timer.

Continued from “Planet Crepes Grand Opening”…

“We’re 30 minutes away! Traffic was crazy in LA!”

I seriously HATE L.A. I hate it. It stinks, the traffic is horrendous, it’s smoggy and dirty, the people are rude and stuck up, everything thinks they’re in show business. BLECH!

Don’t ever go there.

Anyway…

11:38pm: They make it!

Mayhem(Romeo is his real name) is one tall ass dude.

I told Fury(Jamie) that she looks way hotter in person than she does in her NBC pictures lol She looks way too manly in those shots they took!

Mayhem and Fury enjoying a crepe.

Me ruining a picture of Mayhem and Fury enjoying a crepe. =)

She will STILL kick my ass! Put those guns away, this is a family establishment!

So after eating and all that, we took more pictures. Fans got to hang out and take pictures with the two. It was really a good time. I have to say, the two of them were some of the most DOWN to earth people I’ve ever met. They were really cool, even when it got past midnight they were more than happy to take photographs and sign autographs for people.

He totally needs a new autograph haha

Goofin’ off.

Seein’ some of Fury’s new photos she’s had done.

I got the chance to talk to Fury and I asked her two questions:
1) How frickin’ cool is Hulk Hogan!? – she said he’s WAY cool. he’s always looking out for them, making sure they don’t get hurt, giving them advice on technique and everything.

2) Is Crush single? Not that I am or anything….just that I have a crush on Crush lol. She said EVERYONE loves Crush, every fan wants to meet her or has some sort of love-bug on her. But she also said she’s super cool, and one of the most caring girls on the team. She’s also undefeated in mixed martial arts….that’s pretty hot. ::melts::

All in all…it was worth waiting for them to show. They were really cool….especially since we didn’t leave Planet Crepes until after 1:30am, and they had to DRIVE back to L.A. in the morning to make it back to the NBC set. Way frickin’ cool. Thanks Mayhem and Fury!!!

Two weeks ago was the official grand opening of Planet Crepes in Alameda. It was definitely good times. But unlike some typical grand openings, this one had a bit of Hollywood drama built in.

The day of the Grand Opening.

Last year my uncle had the great idea of bringing crepes to Alameda. But this crepe shop would be a bit different than all the other ones in the area. This one would feature dessert crepes with ice cream! So he teamed up with two of his buddies and opened up Planet Crepes, where they serve all their specialties with New York Ice Cream up-and-comer Gianni Ice Cream. They’re also getting into the PinkBerry craze by offering their own version: Planet Cream.

Crack for babies.

They also offer all the usual crepe faire such as nutella, strawberries, bananas, lemon and sugar, cinnamon and sugar, savory crepes, etc. It’d be expected for me to promote my own family’s food, but honestly, it’s all really good. I recommend the Milky Way with Cocoa Pebbles instead of caramel, or the Chipotle Chicken savory crepe. Those are my favorites.

Anyway, back to the story…

So word on the street was that two American Gladiators were going to make an appearance for Planet Crepes’ Grand Opening. I LOVE AMERICAN GLADIATORS! I used to watch that show all the time as a kid, and the new one kicks ass. The rumor was my uncle’s partner knows Mayhem and Fury from the new series, and invited them up. Everyone was excited to meet them.  How often is it that you get a couple of quasi-celebrities to show up to a little ass crepe shop opening??  Random, I know!

So people came…waiting for hours for these guys to show up!

Even my grandma(in black and white) keeps an eye out for these Gladiators.

They’re scheduled to get there around 8-9pm. Some fans have been waiting already since 6:30-7:00pm.

LOL the kids start to crash from their sugar rush.

9:00pm….still no sign. What is going on???

10:00pm…some people are giving up hope. Some are saying Planet Crepes is full of it.  “uh uh…fuck you planet crepes..teasin’ me!”

My uncle has a drink at Dragon Rouge, while he nervously waits for them to show up.  If they ever show up…

11:00pm…a phone call…”Hello?? Where are you guys??”

I know what a $10,000,000 wedding looks like.

You never will.

Unlike most of the catering events I’ve worked the past year, the first words I hear when I check in is “No Photography Allowed”. The first thought in my mind was: “….did they know about all the photos on my blog???” Shit, this wasn’t good. But figuring as how it was a very high end event, the No Photography rule must be a tone-setter. They made sure from the get go that any photo taking will result in a camera smashed on the ground and dollar bills thrown at your feet and spit on – Sonny Corleone style.

Once I was over the news, I got a quick run through of how crazy this thing was gonna be. I also realized that describing the awesomeness of this wedding would be as hard as describing how awesome the Sistine Chapel is to a blind person.

So let me sum up this awesomeness with one word: Bananas.

If you’ve ever heard of Preston Bailey(check out his portfolio), then you know that his events are amazing. Personally, I’ve never heard of him, but from what I could see around the room, he really knew what was going on. After checking out his work online, it’s no wonder all the celebrities use him. He did no less with this wedding. The wedding venue alone took 5 weeks to build, everything from the furniture, fixtures and structure designed specifically for this event. Five weeks for a party that lasted 7 hours, and probably all torn down by the time I publish this post.

There was a definitely spring time theme with the cocktail reception room decked out with thousands of yellow flowers. There was a 20′x20′ chandelier of orchids, it was AMAZING. There had to be thousands of them hanging over the white island bar with ice blocks to serve crab shooters and saketinis.

They had Sushi Ran slice fresh sushi nigiri and sashimi for guests. The entire waitstaff were dressed in the old school fashion of formal service: white dinner jackets, bowties, and white gloves. Service was nothing short of perfection, followed by a “It was my pleasure sir/ma’am”. If one paid extra attention, they’d notice that there were no female servers on the floor. This wasn’t a coincidence, but who knows what the reason was behind it. All we know is that when you’re paying this much for a wedding, you can pretty much ask for anything you want.

The food…I don’t even know where to start. During the cocktail service we had lobster eclairs, foie gras, coconut prawns, all the sushi you can shove down your throat…oh man the list goes on. Dinner service was insane with five courses, and veggie alternatives, and vegan alternatives. I really don’t understand how these people ate this much food. There were seared scallops with buerre blanc, an intermezzo of hollowed out limes with a lime gelee, rack of lamb, an “apple” chevre platter, wedding cake(made by Sylvia Weinstock, which looked SO cool with little monkeys on it, and I heard something about needing a ladder during cake service).

No wedding would be complete without dancing, drinking and partying. And with a separate room, they created a little night club lounge. For the late night mix we served hand made guacamole and mini kobe burgers. All kinds of little snacks and desserts.

Whenever I work an event like this, I have a inclination to contemplate about my own place in society. There’s always a natural tendency to feel slightly rancorous about serving those with more than you. But I fight that and try to look at it a little more brightly; that I’m helping make someone’s special day better. I get to be a part of something really cool that someone else is paying for. I mean, there’s nothing stopping me from enjoying the fireworks display, or from stuffing my face full of left over sushi(thanks Sushi Ran guys!), or even sampling some of the lobster I was helping make. Geeze, it was all really good.
I think it will help me appreciate those things when I throw my own lavish wedding…maybe not a $10,000,000 wedding, but something just as bananas. Hopefully, I can get Kanye to perform or something simple like that! What would you do?

Oh…and that thing about pictures…I won’t post anything up here, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t get a shot or two

The holidays are always a busy season for catering companies. And we were definitely not short of parties during that time. It was real hectic!

I’m always amazed at the gap of living standards that average folks live with, and what rich folks live with. I mean, if you can afford a $30,000 Christmas party, you’re definitely rich. And it’s also motivation for me of what I want to add to my place when I get there.

See what our undercover cameras unveiled!

Looks like an ordinary McMansion right? Little do you realize that Batman’s bat-cave lays underneath!!

 

For some reason, I have a fascination with bathrooms lol. I wanna be relaxed when I poo, and this bathroom is anything but relaxing!

 

This is the bat-cave! Seriously…it had one of those circular ramps that go underneath the house, and opens up into an 8 car garage. All I could think of was riding a skateboard down the ramp as a kid.

 

This is the last picture I took right before I got the cease and desist order. =( It was just getting good!

 

Who wants to go for a dip in my pool???

 

Being considered the “help”, we’re forced to hide our hideous cars from these rich people’s houses. I can barely make out my Saturn from the top of the hill.

 

LOL can you see my car on the right side of the photo?? Yah…we had to hike up that hill so we could cook for those bastards!

 

One of our more popular appetizers – Ahi Tuna Cones with Wasabi Aioli.

stay tuned for more tomfoolery!!

Sooooo…..it’s taken me a month to put these up, but check out some of the stuff I made for the holidays!

(I promise no more delays lol)

So what can you make with cocoa powder and a measuring cup?? Why, Biscotti of course!!

 

Chocolate Biscotti with Hazelnuts!! YAYYY!

 

Basically, you beat the eggs and sugar together until you get a nice fluffy mixture. Then you mix everything else in, and you get this crazy sticky, solid dough. You pat that out into two flat logs. Don’t worry if it looks small…it’ll expand out when it cooks.

 

 

You bake those logs for 20-30 minutes or so until the cookie sets and is hard and dry. It should look yummy like this! Let it cool for about 15 minutes, and then cut it into slices and bake it AGAIN! Thus..twice baked – which translates into biscotti.

 

(

 

I got a little hungry after making the biscotti, so I decided to whip up some enchiladas, no biggie. =D

 

Then I made cookies! Crispy chocolate chip cookies!! lol…which weren’t really meant to be crispy, but were good anyway!

 

 

My cool Space Invader wrapping paper from whimsypress.com (ehhh…it looked better than it actually was lol. just being honest. but they have some cool stuff there)

 

Making the salad happen! That’s teamwork!

 

 

A salad I made that was inspired from work. It’s basically butter leaf lettuce, oranges, avocado, glazed walnuts and fennel, tossed with a honey dijon dressing. It was really good!!

 

The awesome Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee I made from before.

 

LOL this was the shock on their faces after I told them that every tablespoon of cream in their creme brulee had 5 grams of fat!! HAHAHA!!!

It was a fun Holiday cooking fest. And now that I have my trusty Gorillapod, I can start taking better pictures!!

Raise your hand if 2007 was just The-Best-Year-EVER!

…Anyone?

…….Anyone??

I think for most of the folks I know, 2007 wasn’t exactly all mangoes and jolly ranchers. (yes, I just created my own saying =D) I don’t think it’d be fair to 2007 to say it was the worst year ever. Rather, it was more of a year of sacrifice; a year to yield your indulgences of the present for the betterment of the future.

When I made the decision to move back home to study for the CPA exam, I didn’t realize just how much my cushy lifestyle in San Diego would change. I gave up a great paying job, house by the beach, bar hopping adventures, and other shenanigans with friends desperately trying not to grow up(or old). All that went away, and suddenly I stood thigh-high in a muddy puddle of studying and drudgery. Between the drought of cashflow and lack of interesting stimuli, it was rough at times. Oh yeah, and my dog died too =(

Oh, but it wasn’t just me subjected to 2007 – the Year of Temporary Surrender.

All it takes is one look around my circle to see that everyone around me had given up something to better their futures. One friend moved away from the beach and pretty girls in San Diego to live in my RV parked outside in my backyard. I feel your pain. Two of my buddies each opened their own restaurants, both sacrificing their time and money for the success of their businesses, while testing the limits of their relationships. Another friend moved out of his house for most of the year to add another level to it, while one put everything on hold to become a firefighter. One friend said “fuck it”, and pursued his dancing career in LA. Even my girl made the call to fill up her already busy schedule to get a second masters degree.

I can’t wait for the new 2008 Ford Focus! WOOHOOOO!!!! lol

But even through the leaden steps of a slow and monotonous year, there were plenty of awesome highlights: I passed my CPA exam and landed a job at a CPA firm, I visited Costa Rica, Yosemite, and Atlanta, became a chef once again, and started my very own blog!

As far as everyone else goes: hopefully the job at Apple pays off, one friend’s restaurant is off to a great start and while the other friend may have hit a snag with his, he can look forward to being a proud daddy in the coming year. One friend is one step closer to his dream job, and another friend made it big in LA and is now dancing on tour for the Spice Girls. Three buddies even tied the knot(suckers) to their dream girls.

Ok…so maybe labeling 2007 the Year of Sacrifice isn’t so fitting. With things turning out the way they did at the end of the year, 2007 seems more like a Year of Having Balls – plodding through the bullshit to get done what needs to get done. 2007 – the Year of “Fuck It”, let’s make it happen. It’s never easy going through a change; there’s always risks involved and it takes guts(especially having the guts to propose lol). Sure, I gave up the cushy lifestyle, but I did what had to be done. Settling with my dead end job and living by the beach would have been the lazy, easy decision.

My Grandpa always said, “No Guts, No Glory”

A buddy of mine wanted to learn how to make a few things. So I told him, “Sure, you buy the groceries, and I’ll show you how to cook!”

Haha, not such a bad deal right? So Henry wanted to learn to make a couple of things: a couple dessert dishes and a main dish. What we came up with were a Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee, Pear Cobbler, and the Mushroom Risotto I made a few weeks ago. And thus we gave birth to the First Ever PoppaWinst.com Cooking Class! (FEPWCC for short)

Henry’s reaction when I told him we’d be documenting this event. LOL!

Real Eggs come from California…I don’t know what all you other folks are eating.

So as part of the learning process, the FEPWCC is perfect for those novices out there who don’t know a lot of cooking techniques. Here’s an example of Henry learning how to seperate egg whites from the yolks:

Icky!

 

Contrary to some peoples’ beliefs, Pears, Apples and CARROTS do NOT peel themselves!!!

 

Mmmm…Pears for the Pear cobbler.

Henry learned about how to properly chop and dice veggies, how to saute mushrooms, and other tidbits of info.

Eat it up ladies…a man on the stove. LOL I should’ve made him wear an apron.

All in all, the FEPWCC had its ups and downs. The end products didn’t turn out as well as pretty as I thought they would, thus the lack of finished product photos haha. However, everything tasted great….so once we work out the kinks in the recipes, we’ll do a retake! I think next time we’ll stick to more traditional recipes.

I must say the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee was FANTASTIC!!! I’ll post up the recipe for that next!

Also, keep posted for more openings for the Second Ever PoppaWinst.com Cooking Class!!!

=D

We catered a party a few weeks ago for the Crocker Ball Auction. Basically, a rich people auction fundraiser. It was a sweet party. It was held at the California Aerospace Museum and there were tons of really cool jet fighters there to drool over!

The design was awesome, the food was great, take a look!

 

 

Oh, that’s just an A-10 Warthog in the back, no biggie.

 

F-4 Phantom, second hand probably. =)

 

Before

 

After

 

Really cool table set ups!

 

MMMMmmmmm…..meatttt….

 

Do these look like baked Alaskas to you??