Judging by this fuzzy, dark, and unflattering freeze frame, you might think this is a video about me thoroughly enjoying some pizza. And you’re right! My friends and I went to Pizzeria Mozza, Mario Batali’s new restaurant in Newport Beach, located in Orange County, CA. We wanted to check it out and see if it really was all the rage. Of course I had to bust out my trusty video camera, which naturally made my friends vow that they would never invite me out to dinner again. But they always say that… and what do you know, after a few minutes, they turned all loosey goosey, and fully participated in my “review.” [...]

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I told you that I made these marshmallow monster cupcakes for the October/November issue of Kokoliving Magazine. In my article, I wrote about childhood memories of my dad being a funny dancing Asian man, while handing out king-sized chocolate bars to the neighborhood kids. So definitely give that a read! But today, I would like to share the step by step photos as well as the story behind my nearly disastrous day making these little crazy cakes!

It all started when I tried to look up a cool recipe online for decorating Halloween treats, and I came across one where it promised to be easy. But that ended up being one big fat lie! Okay, I’m no pastry chef, but I did go to culinary school and decorated cakes at a bakery. So you’d think I’d be able to handle a little marshmallow and frosting from a can. Not with this recipe! See? That’s why I have a love-hate relationship with recipes online. You don’t know which ones to trust. Yeah ironic huh? [...]

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Kathy, the Editor-in-Chief for Kokoliving.com’s online magazine, asked me if I wanted to contribute a recipe for either October or November. Although creating a Thanksgiving side dish would’ve been easier and right up my alley, I wanted to challenge myself and make a creative and fun recipe for Halloween.

However, let me tell ya, the experience of making these cupcakes is a WHOLE other story, which I’ll save for on upcoming entry when I post the recipe and step by step instructions. But don’t be frightened, they’re actually pretty easy to execute. But that’s only after I came up with these cute marshmallow monsters after a couple trial dessert disasters and flops. Thankfully, my friend Ashley was over that day to help me decorate, keep calm, and carry on. But back to the magazine… [...]

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I promised you a video log of me taking my warm corn salad to a potluck party, and I don’t like to disappoint. There was no particular “theme” to this potluck, so I figured I’d bring something cheap, in season, and neutral enough to go with lasagna since our hosts, Min and Janice, said that’s what they would provide.

I somehow roped Joe and everyone else to be on camera. I’m starting to gain a reputation around town: “Don’t invite Julie to anything. She’ll video tape it and put it on youtube.” Yes, that’s true, but I do pick and choose! This video was a good one to be in though since there were multiple people involved so it was easy to hide in the crowd, which I’m sure everyone appreciated. [...]

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I’m always on a mission to find or create dishes that can be taken to go, such as my orzo salad with roasted tomatoes, or potluck pesto pasta. Whenever I get invited to a potluck party, I try to make something that can get along well with all the other dishes on the table, especially if there is no specific “theme” in mind. On top of that, I like to cook in season, so when I went to my last potluck, corn was in abundance. I think I got 6 ears of corn for around 2 bucks.

When something is this available and cheap, you can almost always bet that it will also be at the height of its tastiness. This was true with the corn I bought, therefore, I really didn’t have to add anything to it. But then that wouldn’t be much of a recipe now would it? [...]

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I reached out to Hyosun Ro after doing a featured friday with my friend Janice aka “blog snooper” who mentioned that she loved a Korean food blog called eatingandliving. Little did I know back then that this would escalate into a true bloggy friendship, resulting in Hyosun saying that she felt like she has known me for a long time and that I “was her niece.” What a compliment! I told her I’d happily be her adoptive niece any day.

Hyosun works for the US. Government full time, and then blogs about authentic Korean cooking on her free time. She basically does what Korean moms typically don’t do… she writes down her recipes with measurements! And if that isn’t impressive enough, the thing I truly like the most about her is how honestly humble she is. She’s always so grateful for any attention or press she gets, but the truth is, she has already received some crazy recognition. [...]

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