chef julie yoon - life is delicious

On our facebook fan page, I mentioned (with some frustration) that I have been diligently working on re-branding ideas for this website for the last couple weeks. I know our site is called chefjulieyoon.com so if you’re a first-time reader, you probably expect to see nothing but recipes on here, but in actuality, cooking is only one part of me. I mean it’s a huge, passionate, border-line obsessive part of me… like it’s the reason I paid a butt-load of money (which I’m STILL paying off) to go to culinary school, but…wait there’s more!

What you may not know is that I’m really into DIY, drawing, and decorating. But that shouldn’t shock you too much. I mean, before I went down the cooking path, I was a fashion designer. And we currently have a baby/kid’s line that’s based around illustrated food. So I guess the artistic side and the need to create stuff all stems from the same brain.

It started with some inexpensive generic wooden stools I purchased at Target. [...]

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This post is all about helping you save some time. Don’t you just love cooking something once and using it in twice? Like making a roast chicken for dinner and then using the leftover meat to make chicken quesadillas the next day. If you can, why not? Spending a little less time worrying about meal-planning is always a good thing, and it’s kind of like eating leftovers without feeling like you are.

Well today is all about sausage and kale two ways:

on a pizza…

and in a pasta [...]

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Bleh. This week, I was testing a couple recipes and they turned into flops. Whenever this happens, I can literally hear a sad Charlie Brown trumpet in my head playing, “wah~wah…” You just feel discouraged, like you wasted your time, ingredients, and energy. It leaves me feeling so unaccomplished. It totally affects my mood. I was for reals Debbie Downer and Negative Nancy.

The only thing that got me through my bad week was avocado toast in the morning.

If you’re not already eating avocados for breakfast, you’re missing out sista. Avocados are buttery, so eating them this way makes you feel like you’re biting into buttered toast, or a bagel with cream cheese, except a more heart-healthy and pretty version. Here’s my non-recipe. [...]

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I’ve never harvested my own seafood and eaten it right on the beach before… well, until we went away on a short trip with our friends, Jane and Sam. They got married, and moved to Seattle. But ever since they got there, they became really out doors-y and “granola.” Oh… you know…the type that shops at REI, hikes on vacations, and goes camping on the weekends… aka healthy and active.

So thanks to them, we ate organic yogurts, walked on trails, hung out in a cabin, ran around on a farm, and gathered our lunch straight from the ocean… all in one weekend. After Joe and I returned to California, we wanted to sleep for days. And of course, I had to capture our shenanigans in a video. [...]

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Coppola winery is a great place to spend time with your family, kick back with a glass of wine, grab some lunch outdoors, and enjoy the scenic views. If you don’t believe me, you can just ask Dianna Agron, aka “Quinn Fabray” from Glee. Yeah, after I got up from my seat from lunch, she sat in my place. Yup that’s right… Dianna Agron’s butt touched my butt… sort of… um…whatever.

And how do I know this? Because my brother-in-law spotted her first and asked me to go check to make sure it was her. So of course I nonchalantly strolled back out to our table area, sipping on some wine, whilst secretly staring at her through my glass.

When I came back and informed everyone that I thought it was her too, my husband and sister raced out there like a couple of teenage girls to check for themselves. But no one could tell for sure. You know how celebrities always look slightly different in real life.

So my husband decided to become a stalker and read her twitter. Lucky for us, she actually tweeted that she was in the area enjoying time with her family. Yup, we’re creepy like that. You know how we do. [...]

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Baby potatoes are so cute. I just want to squish them. And so I do. The only downside about making potatoes this way is that you have to use both a pot and a pan for one side dish. You know me, I normally try to avoid that nonsense whenever possible, because around here, I’m both the cook and the dish washer. But for this recipe, it’s necessary, so if I can suck it up, you can too. Your efforts will be worth it.

Who doesn’t like fried potatoes? Seriously, there’s a reason french fries are so addicting. It’s all about the texture, am I right? The outsides are hot and crispy, and the insides are soft and heavenly. There you go. These squished potatoes are sorta like french fries. Okay, not really at all because let’s be real people, there are no substitutions for golden crispy french fries. But they’re still worth making. So here we go. [...]

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