Wedding Recap: The Food

Underlying the color schemes, look and feel, and other wedding nonsense, Phil and I had a very clear goal to make sure people were well fed and nourished. Since we had split venues and the day was going to be long for everyone, we tried to have food and drink at every corner.
All photos are by Rock the Image unless otherwise stated.

During the morning ceremony, I requested pink lemonade from the golf course. Our colors were peach and coral so I hoped the pink lemonade would turn out lighter and match with the theme. Oh well, this looks really pretty anyway and at least people had a choice between water and lemonade.

I also ordered peach colored cake pops through a friend of a friend. I had 3 different flavors: red velvet, chocolate, and vanilla. We had a ton of these leftover. Not pictured is the box of miniature breakfast pastries. These were gone by the end of post-ceremony mingling.

Cocktail hour had a hosted bar and cheese and antipasto plates. The hotel really loaded these platters up. This makes the deal hunter in me happy but not so happy for the wasted food. :(

Here's the cheese platter with various cheeses. I didn't get to eat a single bite from these platters but the guests were surprisingly happy with these options. Apparently the cheeses were to die for and my coworkers couldn't stop raving about them. They look pretty darn tasty and if I were there, those raspberries and blueberries would be mine!

Picture by KB. Our starter was a salad of garden greens with a champagne vinaigrette.

Picture by me, from our tasting. Our chicken option was my favorite Italian style chicken dish of all time: chicken piccata. Read up on how much I love chicken piccata here. It was instantly my first choice for the chicken option at our wedding. At the Marriott, the piccata sauce is made with a cream sauce instead of lemon dill butter sauce. The substitute was still very good.

Picture by me from our tasting. Our vegetarian option was a vegetable wellington, a puff pastry with ratatouille style veggies inside. It looks very unappetizing and trust me, when this plate came out I was thinking, uh oh we are going to have to come back for a second tasting of a different veggie option. BUT, this is pretty darn fantastic, at least during the tasting when I had it. I almost switched my own entree option from steak to vegetarian after this tasting. I also heard a few compliments from vegetarian guests after the wedding too. Don't judge a book by its cover or a meal by its appearance. This is like a fluffy vegetarian pot pie.

The beef option was a filet mignon with wild rice pilaf. Excuse my blurry picture. We had a bunch of compliments on this steak after the wedding. Even I was amazed at how good the chef at the Marriott made a banquet order of filet mignon perfectly. I expected them all overcooked but he did a great job. AND filet is my favorite cut so yay for me!!!

For dessert, we had our wedding cake from Burlingame Cakery. Here are the pictures from our tasting. Cakery gave us really great service and allowed us a 2nd tasting for free because we loved the yellow cake with mango filling, and loved the hazelnut cake but not with strawberry filling. Our second time, we tried all 4 hazelnut cakes with different fillings. And the winning filling is....

MOCHA! Our wedding cake above has alternating layers of yellow cake with mango filling and hazelnut cake with mocha filling. Both were super good during the tasting and sadly I didn't get to eat the mango cake during the wedding. I was supposed to have the florist drop off flowers to the bakery but I had already maxed out my flower budget and thought I could just stop by the wholesale flower market the night before and pick up some flowers. This was not the smartest idea. 1) I don't have a florist business license and thus going to a wholesaler gave me no more of a discount than had I gone to a grocery store. 2) I couldn't make it to the flower market early so I had to pick from what was left and that's how you get 2 wilted flowers on your cake. I do commend the bakery for doing this design using the 2 bunches of wilted flowers I gave and a spool of ribbon. You can't really tell that I had a flower crisis the night before.

We did not save the top layer of our wedding cake to eat on our 1 year anniversary because we don't enjoy eating old cake. But we did discover that the hotel had kept our top layer in the refrigerator and we picked it up 9 days later. It tasted like hairspray. Literally, hairspray. So, if you're planning to save your cake, freeze it, don't refrigerate it.

Credits:

Pink Lemonade by Half Moon Bay Golf Links

Cake pops by Charla 

Breakfast patries by Burlingame Cakery

Cocktail hour food and entrees by Chef Vince at the San Mateo Marriott

Cake from Burlingame Cakery

NY 2011- Momofuku Ssam Bar

So who hasn't heard of the Momofuku brand in New York? Chef David Chang's extremely popular Momofuku Ssam Bar, Milk Bar, and Noodle Bars are well known in the city and out of state. Before coming to New York, most people told me not to waste my time here and that it was overrated. A few people did mention to come here for the buns but nothing else. Let's see if I agree with their reviews.

Dr. Fuku - A really light tasting but strong drink.

($6) BRT buns- crispy pork belly, heirloom tomato, smoked mayo. The BRT bun was pretty good. It's not really outstanding and I don't know if I would come back for it but at the time, it was good.

($10) Steamed buns - pork belly, hoisin, cucumbers, scallions. These were excellent. They're a bit smaller than the BRT bun but Peking duck style buns are so delicious. The pork belly was soft and fatty as it should be and the cucumbers added a nice crunch. Well balanced flavors and texture, I like!

($18) Chanterelles: pickled quail egg, bone marrow, green juniper. This was disappointing. I was excited about all the ingredients but had no idea portion size would be about 2 bites. The contents pictured above fit into a dipping sauce plate but was presented in a pho noodle sized bowl. Although the quail eggs were (pickled?) perfection and the chanterelles were very interesting, I ask, "Where is the bone marrow and where is the rest of the food?"

($17) Pickled P.E.I mussels. Yes, pickled seafood. How interesting. We ordered this because it was new and exotic. It's not too bad but kind of plain. I was expecting a lot more because of the rarity of this find. It's also a bit oily, even after mixing the contents around the jar. It's eaten on slices of bruschetta and is jarred with kohlrabi, wild spinach (which was yummy), and shishito peppers.

($26) Roasted lamb loin and belly with bulgur, snap peas, and egg yolk. We more or less hated this lamb dish. The lamb belly had the consistency of delicious pork belly but the gameyness expected of lamb. The lamb loin, pictured like a steak, is particularly gamey and foul tasting. It's like the closer you get to the crotch area of the animal, the more it starts tasting how you would expect it to smell.

Happy to have tried it. Not happy to have paid the bill. Thinking of what to eat for our second dinner. In summary, everything I was told about Momofuku was right. If you come here, only have the buns and don't bother waiting in line if there is one. It's kinda good but not that good, and way over priced for itty bitty portions. Very much a tourist trap. Darn that David Chang, he tricked me!

Momofuku on Yelp

NY 2011 - Peter Luger Steakhouse

Peter Luger Steakhouse first appeared on my radar after Sherry posted her awesome pictures on her blog. Having been around for 120 years, Peter Luger's is quite the New York establishment: open everyday, reservations only, and the service is something else. Everyone who works here looks like they've been here for 10 or more years. Seasoned veterans who were attentive and not pushy. We were so glad to have had a chance to try Peter Luger, even though its quite a train ride away to Brooklyn and my big purse almost got us jammed in the subway turnstile.

Luger's famous house made steak sauce. You can buy this by the bottle too. It didn't look too special to me at the time, but now I really regret not buying it.

($14.95) Sliced steak tomatoes and onions. Some days I have dreams about eating a forkful of tomatoes and onions with Luger's sauce. These are very overpriced tomatoes and onions but they were necessary to balance the all-meat meal and they ended up being the best tomatoes and onions I've eaten.

($3.95) Thick strip of sizzling bacon. I never knew bacon could be this thick and taste this good. It tastes more or less like ham but saltier and less fatty than regular grilled thin bacon.

Our waiter gave great attentive service, complete with entertaining antics. He's also a master at serving with two spoons. Look at Pham staring at him with her dreamy eyes. Someones in love...

($133.35) Steak for 3. We ordered medium rare but the plate was still hot enough to keep cooking if we wanted a more well done piece. This was undeniably THE best steak I've eaten. It beats Alexander's because it was simple. Sometimes there's not much to be done with a good piece of meat than to just cook it. That is exactly what Peter Luger's did and their delicious sauce helped alot. Also, $133 can get you a steak large enough to serve 4 or maybe even 5 and I don't think Alexander's frou frou steaks can do that. No hate to Alexander's, they were still very delicious, CUT in Vegas was also delicious, but Peter Luger has them all beat.

THIS is how you eat meat, tomatoes, and onions. Every bite must have sauce.

After dinner chocolate coins.

The best last meal in New York. In hind sight, 3 girls should have ordered the steak for 2 or even steak for 1. It was so huge. Well I guess it's better to have too much of the best steak ever than to have not enough.

Peter Luger on Yelp

Wedding Recap - Hair and Make up

  Before I start, I have to state that I love my wedding hair and makeup artist and would recommend her to any and everyone. I basically sent Van an email full of inspiration pictures. I told her I wasn't sure if I wanted my hair down or up. I was really leaning towards leaving it down because I felt having it up made me feel like a boy. I was all over the place with my inspiration pictures and I brought a bazillion accessories with the price tag still on in case they didn't work out. During our 3 hour trial, Van did 3 different looks on me. She even cleaned up my eyebrows.

 Look 1: Hair down with light makeup. I told her my wedding colors were peach and coral so she gave me a pinkish shadow. We tried this with both the barrettes and a head band and I really loved how it looked. I felt a little retro and classic.

 Look 2: Messy side bun with headband. We also tried barrettes. Many brides use this style and I think Van did a great job but I wasn't feeling this particular look on myself. The head band ties could be tucked in so that wasn't a problem but the symmetry lover in me wasn't digging being follically off balance. Note that she also gave me a darker lip color. I was definitely liking both colors.

 Look 3: A pulled back bun. Going into the trial, I was convinced that the one thing I wouldn't wear was this look. I thought it could turn out boyish or matronly on me. And then she showed me how I looked and my mind was changed for good. It was surprisingly a top pick. I felt elegant and formal. She also darkened my shadow so my eyes could pop. This look also ruled out the headband because I felt it was better without. So I came in wanting my hair down, with a headband, and using this jewelry combo. I walked away wanting my hair up, with barrettes, and eventually got different jewelry.

(All photos above are courtesy of Van Pham)

(Julie Parks Does Hair)
After thinking and browsing online, I sent Van this picture of what I really wanted a few weeks before the wedding and this is what she came up with:

 

  (All 4 professional images are by Rock the Image)

She did a great job, especially considering my hair was pretty short for this look. Van is very creative and efficient. She breezed through our trial and not once did she have to refer back to the inspiration images I sent. She just has a good memory I guess. She's also very flexible to any changes and tweaks I asked for. The best example is that my final look was basically something entirely different from our trial. It's almost as if I never did the trial. But she whipped up this fantastic up do on the morning of. Some people were convinced I had extensions in but no, that is all my own hair. It felt surprisingly light and only the bottom portion with the hair pins felt heavy at the end of the night, but by that time I was reaching the 24 hour mark of being awake so fatigue was a factor.
 Vanity Pham Bridal Makeup
Vanity Pham on Yelp

*UPDATE*
Van wrote some sweet things about me and our wedding day experience. Read her blog here. The internet is getting spammed with my wedding but I love all my vendors, I would be more than delighted to do as much publicity for them as possible.
http://vanitypham.com/ngocs-wedding-highlights/272

Brining Chicken

Thanks to Olay, I recently discovered there's such a thing as brine for chicken. What? Aren't brines just for pickles? I googled around and found many brine recipes. In summary, you make a salt water mixture and add whatever spices and seasoning you want, and marinate the chicken in it for no more than 24 hours. Above is one of the 3 brines I made. This one had limes, rosemary, peppercorns, and McCormick's Montreal Chicken seasoning.

I also made others with Mesquite BBQ seasoning and garlic powder. Also one with just Montreal Chicken seasoning. Feel free to experiment. After 24 hours, I put the chicken in the oven and broiled at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Here's the Montreal Chicken seasoning with peppercorns.

We had it for dinner with orzo pasta cooked in chicken stock and roasted grape tomatoes. I also had some broccoli threatening to go bad so I nuked them in the microwave and we dipped them in soy sauce. This turned out to be a very nutritious meal.

Brining is great for busy folks like me. I make the brine after dinner and soak my chicken in it overnight. By the time I come home from school the next day, the chicken only needs 20 mins in the oven and its done and tasty. Brining gives the chicken more flavor and keeps it from overdrying. The skin also gets really crispy. Crispier if you remove it from the brine, pat dry, and let it sit for an hour (but who has the time for this step?). I've made this 3 times so far and we loved it. We're a little chickened out for now but I'm sure this will come back onto our dinner menu.

After Hours at the Tech Museum - San Jose

The Tech Museum in San Jose has been a staple of grade school field trips since forever. First, you go to the Children's Discovery Museum in elementary school. Then if your school has the budget, you get a trip to the Tech Museum in middle school. Then if you're lucky like me, your high school senior prom will be held at the Tech Museum also. Basically, the Tech is a cool place, made even cooler by the addition of After Hours at the Tech. In a definite nod to the California Academy of Sciences Nightlife event in San Francisco, After Hours offers all the youthful sciencey fun of the museum but with alcohol and games for adults.

Admission is $12 per person, or $10 per person for a group of 10+. Then you pay $1 per ticket which can be used to buy food and drinks. Our group of 10 ran a muck in the museum.

I love the colorful, fluorescent decorations. I'm not with that man but he wanted to pose for my picture. And apparently he "beat anorexia" says the shirt.

Krypto-tini. Super strong drinks in plastic martini glasses. The bartender dispenses them from a cooler and then adds more alcohol on top. Many people got drunk this day.

Phil bought me this overpriced $5 pulled pork sandwich because I hadn't had dinner yet. It was very plain and exactly what I expected at the event. At least I ate something for dinner and even had a little acid reflux for dessert. Yummy!

The robot spelled my name. Ngoc Something-something-N-Something.

 The robot also drew this nifty image based off a photo we took on the computer system. Awesome!

The best part of the night was playing in the bounce house obstacle course. We wore velcro suits and the walls had velcro on them. The concept is to stick to the walls and climb your way up. Oh if only the velcro wasn't old and worn down. They didn't work at all and I ended up taking a billion tries to hop over the walls. It was tons of fun and a great workout. If the lines for this were shorter, I would've gone again.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

I haven't been to the Tech in ages so it was very nostalgic to come back. Alot of the old exhibits I grew up with are still there. There were giant board games like Connect 4 and Jenga. There was a long line for the Kinnect dancing game and a tug-o-war game. I had  a good time because I was with a group of friends. 

BUT, in an unbiased review, I would have to say that the event is overpriced for what it is. The Tech is not on the same level as the Academy of Sciences and shouldn't be charging the same admission. Food and drink was quite costly and not very tasty. Attendance was rather low and few people followed the Superhero Pajama theme. I hope that the Tech either offers more or charges less. 

The next event is November 2 - Cosmos Under the Cosmos. It sounds alot cooler and hopefully offers more. I definitely recommend checking it out if you're in San Jose. It's worth a visit at least once.

Tech Museum After Hours

Sauteed Yam Leaves

Colder weather is settling in and I'm finding that leafy vegetables at the market are getting pricier. I did my weekly grocery run on a Friday after work and was disappointed to find higher prices for wilted leaves. Unsatisfied with the gai lan and choy options, I gave these yam leaves a try. They are super cheap, under $1 a pound. This whole bundle was probably 89c or 99c. I've never eaten these before so I Googled a recipe.

The recipe called for boiling or blanching the leaves. I blanched for about 2 minutes then drained the leaves.

Then I made a colorful mixture of chopped spring onions, shallots, garlic, and pepper flakes. In they went to a heated and oiled wok. Then the yam leaves were stirred in until everything was evenly distributed. Lastly I turned off the heat and added a bit of soy sauce.

Here it is! Yam leaves are actually very tasty. It's like spinach but less gritty. Dao miaou but less tender. It does get a little slimey though. I think the blanching was supposed to decrease the slimeyness but it didn't so next time I'll skip that step. Still very good.

We paired this with Korean BBQ short ribs. I'll definitely have yam leaves again. It's so cheap and tasty and easy to make. Great dinner!