More Than Just Cooking

(Hi y’all!  Apologies for being MIA.  I was working on an exciting project this past week and got swamped!  I’ll be giving you details later.)

Made you wait long enough, huh?  Ok, I hate cliffhangers as much as you so I should have posted part 2 sooner.  Since part 1 was all text I’m going to make it up to you by making part 2 photo centric.  Fair enough?  Let’s get to it!

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During one visit to see the parents back home in the ‘burbs of DC, I had dinner at the food court inside Lotte Plaza in Aspen Hill, MD.  (Technically Silver Spring but this area is more commonly known as Aspen Hill.)  Lotte Plaza is part of a chain of Korean grocery stores in the US.  The great thing about Lotte is that they have food courts inside the store.  (Hello, genius!  I love how you can eat and shop in one location.)  These food courts are a great place to go if you want something tasty, filling, quite casual and reasonably priced.

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People ask me, “Why would you live in Queens and not the city (Manhattan)?”  I always say, “Culture, culture, culture!”  Okay, it’s more like, “Food, food, food!”  I enjoy having easy access to a wide variety of international cuisines and flavors.  You can have whatever your stomach heart desires in Queens!  Tuclingo Deli is a great example of why I love Queens so much.

Delicious Mexican Deli! Vamos a Tuclingo Deli!

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I remember as a kid that raw salted duck eggs were relatively easy to get; one would simply go to the Chinese market and purchase them.  Now, the only way to have raw salted duck eggs is to make them yourself.  Uncooked salted duck eggs are no longer available for sale at the Chinese market because the FDA banned the import of raw salted duck eggs a few years ago.  All you will find are BOILED salted duck eggs and not raw/uncooked ones.  <Le big sigh of frustration!> If your recipe calls for one, you have to plan ahead and do it yourself because there’s no market ready alternative available.

This is the reason why I have a baker’s dozen worth of duck eggs brining in my kitchen right now.  Have a peek:

Nifty, neat duck eggs brining in style!

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Currently, I am doing some freelance consulting for my friend on a food concept.  I am managing the branding, marketing/promotions and PR effort along with doing the culinary consulting and recipe testing.  It’s a really exciting opportunity and I’m happy to contribute to the growth birth of his business.   I take great pride in my work and effort so even though he is my friend, I will refer to him in my blog as my client from here on out.

Please excuse the lack of details and insights as to exactly what I am working on with my client’s concept.  Out of respect for his business and my desire to have him succeed, I will be giving you only a general overview but no details for proprietary reasons.  I can tell you this much: it’s a mobile dining concept for Midtown Manhattan.  Closer to launch, I’ll be able to fill you in.

Tonight was my client’s focus group and menu tasting event.  I worked the line alongside the owner (and chef) to prepare the core menu items.  I then lead the focus group discussion using the customer survey that I created as a guide.  This event was the culmination of 3 days of hard work – one day for sourcing and shopping, one day of prepping and one day of production, plating, service and focus group discussion.  Over 14 hours of labor, the love of food and a big dose of can-do spirit went into this event for tonight.

I’m finally able to sit down and take in the fact that it was an awesome event and filled with a promise of great things to come for my client’s concept.  The event was filled with people eager to give of their time and energy towards an exciting project.  A hearty thank you to those who participated!  More details to come…this chick-do has to get her shut-eye!

‘Nite!