Flowers and Candy

This month has been craaaaaazy busy.  I'm not complaining though, oh no no no don't get me wrong.  What I am is extremely thankful that we're booked with catering gigs up to our ears.  The only downside is that it's been cutting out on my blogging and social life.  I have loads of new material to post I just haven't been able to squeeze it in.  More than overseeing the kitchen, flower arranging and event styling has been eating up a lot my time.  You see, we've been trying out a lot of new looks and changing up the feel of our events.

I'm loving every minute of it though! :)  I've been making everything from orchid arrangements to fake candy centerpieces for a Katy Perry-themed debut (I'm excited about that one!).  These are the sorts of things that are keeping me up at night these days. 

I'll churn out a new post soon, but right now I've got to go back to rolling my clay.  My arms get a mean workout and I get to fine tune my pastry skills as well so it's not so bad. :)

Have a great week everyone!

Flower Power

Yep I'm still here.  I've been slammed with work, pulling 19-hour all-nighters every two days.  Not that I'm complaining, oh no no don't get me wrong.  I love every stressful minute of it!

Hmmm ok that sounded a tad sarcastic, but it wasn't meant to be.  Honest. :-)  There's really nothing else in the world I'd rather be doing (in terms of work that is).   

I've taken my nosiness up a notch.  I've slowly sort of added flower-arranging to my list of responsibilities too (on top of overseeing the kitchen and logistics).  It has nothing to do with me being a total control freak really.  Well maybe a little (harhar), but that is completely beside the point.  Flower-arranging has become something I look forward to.   Flowers make me happy.  Plus the aesthetic aspect of it challenges me every time.  No two events are exactly alike so I play around with the kinds of flowers I use and the colors, WHILE sticking to the budget of course.  I used to get carried away when I first started; splurging on roses, carnations and all sorts of seasonal exotic flowers as accents.  LOL.  Yuri and I used to argue over it.  So I've toned it down since then without compromising the look and feel I'm going for.  We are running a business after all.  I've found a happy middle.

So for about an hour, while I'm with my vases, wires, and flower foams, all the stress and craziness of event-planning sort of takes a back seat.  I'm all zen when I'm working with flowers.  It really does relax me.  In fact, I'm about to start making some now.

My favorite look.  Simple and elegant.

 So yeah I'm that much closer to becoming Martha Stewart.  Awesome!

Erm just to be clear,  I'm talking about Martha Stewart sans the insider trading charge and the bad clothes.  I'm just saying!  She really is such a huge inspiration though. :-)


On a totally unrelated topic:  My heart goes out to all the families who lost their loved ones and their homes to the earthquake and the tsunami.  My prayers go out to you guys.  We can only hope that things don't get much worse than they already are. :-( 

The Dog Days are O-o-ver

... that's the song that's stuck in my head right now (by Florence + The Machine).  Yep my stressful days are week is over!   

We catered 7 different events in 3 days.  Wow.  Just reading out what I typed is making me tired all over again. By some miracle we survived!  Earlier today though, my tank was running dangerously low.  I was practically operating on fumes.  The kids' happy squeals and warm praises of our clients were the only things that were helping me talk and function like a semi-normal human being. 

I've got a thousand things I want to say, but unfortunately my befuddled brain is just not up to the task.  Forgive me.  I'll come up with a witty post tomorrow I promise.

Good night world! :-)   

On Pretty Pictures & My Laptop's Early Death

So my 3-year old Toshiba laptop suddenly keeled over and died the other day.  Oddly enough I'm not as depressed as I should be.  I guess I'm just extremely relieved that I manged to back up all of my files two days ago.  Thank God for that!  If I hadn't.... no no no I don't want to think about it. *shudders*  Luckily my jack-of-all-trades hubby is an IT guy as well.  He's still in the middle of reviving my laptop as we speak.  I didn't understand half of what he said about the whole mess (since IT talk almost always puts me to sleep).  All I know is that bringing it back to life is an extremely complicated process  Thanks to Yuri I have hope still.

Because of this tragic event, I was looking through my work files in my external hard drive earlier today to make sure that I DID manage to save everything there.  I didn't want to rejoice prematurely so paranoid me had to check again.  While going through and sorting everything, I came across some of my favorite pictures-- snapshots of dishes I'd done for our catering business.  I thought I'd share them here with you guys just in case, God forbid, something weird happens to my external hard drive anytime soon.  You never know.  I have terrible luck sometimes. *sigh* 

Chicken Adobo with Green Tomato-Basil Salsa

Apple Wonton Crisps with a Caramel Coulis

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Fresh Strawberries

Smoked  Salmon Blini with Herbed Cream Cheese

 

White Chocolate Mousse Tarts

Creme Brulee in action!

Carrot Cake Squares

As you can see, appetizers and desserts are my favorite things to make.  Plus they look really pretty in pictures. :-) 

Alright that's enough distraction for me today.  Time to get back to work.

Lani M. and Old Penang

About this gig I was talking about in my earlier post, turns out I can finally say who the celebrity was. It was no other than Asia's Nightingale Lani Misalucha(!!!!). We fed the production crew and her entire cast. Yay joy!  They loved the food and the service.  Whew.  Now I can finally breathe and move on.

I've always admired her for her incredible vocal range and her comedic flair.  Her Celine Dion and Tina Turner impersonations were dead-on last night. I got such a kick out of her skits.  I was able to watch almost the whole concert. Such a treat! Oh and The Newport Performing Arts Theater was simply gorgeous! The awesome lighting and high-tech screens added so much class and depth to her song numbers. Unfortunately I've no pictures to show as proof.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures back stage and inside the theater.  They tell me it's for security reasons. *sigh*  At least I'm absolutely certain that I didn't dream up this whole thing because my eye bags tell me otherwise. They haven't completely disappeared yet.

Oh but I do have this!

I know I'm raving like a ninny here but it takes very little to make me happy. Going to UP Diliman for fish balls is sometimes the highlight of my day. So imagine how I've been feeling since after the concert. I'm (to say the least) bouncing-off-the-walls-crazy-happy!  I have to thank a friend for this amazing opportunity.  You know who you are. :)

Lani Misalucha performed with the Resorts World European Dance Troupe. Most of whom looked like they walked out of a Chippendale show (to Yuri's dismay). Har har.  Yuri had nothing to worry about though.  Their ruffly neon costumes and fishnet shirts were too icky to garner THAT sort of reaction from me.  I'm not sure if that was what Lani M. had in mind for her back-up dancers. Hmmm.

The show was delayed and started at 9PM so Yuri and I had time to grab a quick bite. You know me, my idea of a good dinner is 500 bucks or less. I get such thrill from finding a good deals; meaning, affordable and really tasty meals.  Since we were at the upscale Newport Mall, dining with Metro Manila's high-rollers, my 500 peso requirement quickly whittled down our choices to about 4 restaurants;  Mcdonald's, Stackers, Kopi Roti, and Old Penang. I didn't even look at Mcdonald's since we'd been living on Mcdonald drive-throughs for a few days now.  I've been to Stackers too so that was out of the question.  Kopi Roti just had nothing special to offer (that I know of) aside from their coffee bun.  Old Penang it was.  The fact that I'm a nut for Malaysian cuisine kinda swayed me in their favor anyways.

The tipping point was this dish right here.

Char Keoy Teow Php 220.00

Char Koay Teow or stir-fried rice noodles.  It's been a while since I tasted a decent version of this.  It definitely isn't the best plate of char koay teow in the Philippines (recommendations anyone?) but it did manage to satisfy my craving for it.  To their credit, they used good-sized fresh prawns and the bean sprouts were quite crisp.  They also added their own twist to the dish by adding chorizo (chinese sausage) to the mix.  I wish the noodles were a bit more charred though.  

Fried Rice Special Php 245.00

The Char Keoy Teow was on the spicy side so it was a good thing we ordered their Fried Rice Special to go with our noodles (not that anything is ever too spicy for Yuri).

Their fried rice was a winner!   I am a rice monster.  Ask anyone close to me.  I can decimate at least 4 cups of rice per meal on a good day.  I know what I'm talking about.  Their fried rice was simple yet well-executed.  Not too oily and just the right amount of seasoning.  Also, I'm pretty sure they went light on the MSG because I didn't get a headache after the meal.

The main ingredients were prawns (which we substituted to chicken because of Yuri's allergies), barbecue pork, and chorizo.  They finished it off with a nice helping of fried shallots on top. Yum!  Fried shallots are ridiculously tasty.  They add so much flavor and texture to fried rice.  In fact, I cook my sinangag (Filipino-style fried rice) with fried garlic and shallots.  I picked up this obsession of mine with fried shallots from my uber long visits to Indonesia when I was a kid.  Fried shallots bring back all those good childhood memories. :)

Old Penang still tried to keep the " hawker" feel in the resto with the staff uniforms, tables, and stools.  I'm sure that was a bit challenging what with the luxurious feel of the Newport Mall.

Our verdict:

We finished three-fourths of the Char Keoy Teow and completely wiped out the fried rice.  I'm giving Old Penang 3.5 stars (out of 5).  I'd give them another shot since I've only tried two dishes.  I'd like to try their Hainanese Chicken Rice and their Laksa the next time I'm there.  Hopefully I'll be at the Newport Mall a lot. :)

Work Mode

I know it's been a few days since I last posted anything. I swear I'm not being lazy. It's just that our business is back in full-swing. I have to admit that Yuri and I did get get a tad carried away with our out-of-town trips this month. Hey, we can only milk the-newly-wedded-couple-on-a-vacation excuse for so long. I could probably get away with that line for a year tops so we figured we'd squeeze everything in right after the December rush.

So yeah we're back in the real world, what with the pile of bills cropping up, which effectively cleared the rosy pink haze. Anyhoos, so we got this exciting gig for today and tomorrow which included breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. This event came as a pleasant surprise to us even if it was all terribly short-notice. As last-minute as everything was already, they suddenly decided to make a few changes on the menu and the head count at 2AM this morning. Yes you read right, 2AM THIS MORNING! Three friggin' hours before their supposed breakfast delivery. So I've been at my wits end since then trying to catch up to our delivery deadlines while revising our recipe quantifications. I even had to send my dear husband to make an emergency market run for the additional ingredients we needed due to the changes. So yeah fun times. Just another day at work. Our kitchen felt like a restaurant today . Non-stop action.

I'm so glad that despite the setbacks, Yuri still got great feedback from our client this afternoon. I'm so relieved! If the client's happy then I'm.. ecstatic! It's not over yet though. I'm crossing my fingers (and toes if that helps) that everything goes over smoothly tomorrow. If all goes according to plan, I'm hoping I can disclose who our first celebrity client is. :) For fear of jinxing it I shall keep my mouth shut for now. In the meantime, I have my costing sheets and recipes to keep me company. Oh and we're about to pre-prep one of our desserts in an hour. Cookies and Cream Cheesecake. Mmmmm.

Wish me luck!

Catering 24/7

I'm exhausted.  My eyes are barely open now as I write.  What a long looong day.  That's December for you.  I'm feeling under the weather already and it's just the first week of the month.   Sorry.  I'm sounding whiny.  Didn't mean to.  I really am happy that we're busy.  Really.

It was a good day.  I'm psyched that we got to serve one of my favorite menu sets today : Bruschetta Margherita, Insalata Mista with Robusto Dressing, Corn Consomme, Tuna Farfalle Aglio Olio, Chicken Cordon Bleu with Duo Mushroom Sauce, Almondigas stuffed with Quail Eggs, White Cobbler Fillets in Tarragon Beurre Blanc, Vanilla Panna Cotta, and Lemongrass Cooler.  This set right here shows off what we are all about and true enough we got three new clients today because of our food and service.  I'd be jumping with joy right now but my legs won't cooperate.  So anyways, I'm ecstatic!  That's the best compliment ever. :)

We love putting a twist on everything.  Fusion is what we do.  My mom and I can't help it.  We were once asked to serve straight-up traditional Filipino fare and we ended up doing something different to it still.  Just because.  It's like we were born to cook that way. 

Yuri and I are still working right now.  We're still waiting for our staff to report back from the event.

Good thing I have Chef Gordon Ramsey to keep me awake.  Nothing beats watching him go ballistic and screaming profanities left and right.  Hell's Kitchen Season 8 is a riot.  It should do the trick.

Becoming Martha Stewart

...minus the jail time and with waaaaay better outfits.  lol.  But yeah, I'd like to follow in the footsteps of the Great Martha Stewart.

Anyways, moving on, it was sooooo hard to get up today.  My body was protesting real bad.  Yuri and I are just completely drained and physically exhausted from yesterday's event.  We took the day off today.  Well, sort of.  We still have the usual queries to take care of, meetings to book, and proposals to send out.

Here's what a typical day for us is like when we do have an event.

Yuri woke me up at 4:15am.  I managed to wake up by 4:30am and then we had breakfast.

We got all our things and clothes read, meaning our laptops, paperwork, our meet-the-client outfits, and my my kitchen uniform.  We left by 5:15am.

By 5:45am we arrived at our supplier's shop picking up the flowers I needed for that day's centerpieces.

We got to our office by 6:00am and Yuri started working on his contracts and what not.  I gathered all my materials (foam, vases, shears, wire, etc.) for my flower arrangements and started working on them. 

I finish my table centerpieces at around 7:45am.  Yuri's done making our buffet diagram and equipment checklist for the waiters.

At 8:00am our assistant arrived to double check on the equipment list.

At 8:15am our waiters arrived and they started loading equipment into the van.  Yuri supervised them and briefed them on the flow and specifications for that day's function.

At 8:30am I changed into my kitchen outfit and took my place in the kitchen.  By that time everyone in the kitchen was in full-swing and done with all the prep work.  I took on the salad and the pasta dish.  It was a relatively small event so we only had 2 cooks that day, 1 kitchen assistant/dishwasher, my mom , and myself that day.  My mom's really the Executive Chef in the kitchen.  She's in charge of all things related to the kitchen including managing it.  I'm usually the Sous Chef since I oversee operations and do a little bit of everything.  We switch roles during food tasting events since my forte is in cooking a la minute and plating.  :)

By 8:45am the waiters have left already to go to the venue.  They usually leave much earlier than this but then yesterday's setup was really simple.

We finish cooking by 10:30am.  It always feels like a race when you get to the final hour of cooking.  Our adrenaline kicks in and hardly anyone talks in the kitchen except to shout out instructions.  I don't think people realize how much of a workout cooking for catering is.  You handle and prep huge amounts of ingredients and cook using bigger stock pots, woks, and pans.  Lifting all these heavy things is part of the job.  I should be all buff by now, but I eat like crazy after all the kitchen work is done so everything cancels out. Harhar.  We were supposed to finish at 10:00am but we ran a little late because of minor speed bumps.

Yuri got dressed and was ready to take the food to the venue by 10:45am.  He got to the venue by 11:00am.  Thank God the place was relatively near.  He checks the setup and checks in with the client.

He usually stays just until the event starts to make sure that there are no problems and that everything goes smoothly.

Anyways, after having checked the venue he came back to the office and kept in touch with our head waiter from there.

While Yuri was gone I met with our carpenter to discuss this new buffet table centerpiece I wanted him to make.  He is amazingly talented!  I'm really bad with measurements and with the functionality of my ideas.  All I care about is the aesthetic and impact of the design so it's wonderful that he understands me every time and that he's able to execute my vision and make it work in terms of practicality and stability. 

Yesterday was supposed to an easy event but things went awry and I wish I could discuss the details but the gist of it all was that the event was moved to dinner.  It was a major headache to say the least but as always we had to suck it up and make it work. 

We had to go back to the venue in the evening to re-check everything and talk with the client again.  After that we ran a few errands since I needed to buy some things to complete my buffet centerpiece concept for tomorrow.  After that, we coordinated with our waiters and assistant from home until the close of the event.
Surprisingly things ended really well.  The client was happy with our food and service.  Yay!  That's all I can really ask for.

So there you go.  Oh did I mention that I work with my husband?  Now I have.  Haha.  It's amazing that we don't drive each other insane.  It took a lot of fine-tuning and a whole lot of blown-up arguments to get to where we are now.


Our day started at 4am and ended at 12am.  Tomorrow we do it all over again.  Whew.

The crazy thing is that we enjoy every second of it.  Don't let our eye bags, ashen faces, and glazed eyes tell you any differently.

Starting at the Bottom of the Food Chain

There are about a dozen ways to enter the food industry.  For me, it was a toss up between opening up a restaurant and starting a catering business.  I chose the latter.  Why you ask?  I'll save that story for another entry.  So here I am, a foodie at heart and a caterer by profession.

2010 has been a good year for me.  I technically started my catering business (together with my 2 partners) January of this year, got married last September (yay!), and launched our desserts line just last month.  A lot of milestones were achieved this year so I thought it would be only fitting to start a blog as well to document this new chapter of my life as a 25-year-old-newly-married-foodie-caterer (Huh???).  You get the point.

Here I write about my love affair with food and my day-to-day struggles with running my own business.  This industry is tough and fiercely competitive.  It can get mentally, emotionally, financially, and [insert all adjectives ending with -ly] draining at times.  This business of making a name for myself is tough.  So while I toil and wait for my lucky break, I need a happy place to write about what inspires me, e.g. Restos, Food Finds, TV Shows, Trips, Travels, etc.  So yeah... this is gonna be my happy place.  [Note to Self:  Entries should be HAPPY]  Well let's just say I'll try to keep it as happy as I can.

So there.  Happy reading!


~Mich :)