Food Central

A productive day - in every sense, every aspect!

It is rare that I have a whole day off from Indochine.  I felt the 'urge' to create something since yesterday (which was Sunday, which I spent all day at the Denver Mart talking to various product producers).  I got to meet some very inspiring entrepreneurs - one being Theresa from Kitchen TLC in Montanna.  Theresa and I have become good friends - not because we love each other's products - but because we can talk business and feel that the other person understands.  As I got to meet all these amazing people; I got the will, the urge to do something for Meals In A Minute's product lineup. 

So, I got up this morning and while Jeff is at the other end of the kitchen's counter; I brought out - what seemed like hundreds of dried herbs, spices....and started to create.  I mixed something together in hope of getting to an Asian-inspired dip but sadly, I did not like any of them.  So, dips to the side....I moved on to make some dried rubs.  Now, rubs and dips should not be that difficult given the kind of sauces we have been producing.  Boy, I am used to deal with wonderfully fresh ingredients that having to work with dry ingredients throw me on a curve.  I cannot seem to get it together.  Until I thought of a way to 'fool' myself.  I imagine the 'wet' rubs I want to make and just do them using dry ingredients.  I have used about 6 chicken thighs so far to test all these rubs.  I am hoping I will have a winner today - after 10 hours of mixing, eating and numerous mixes and plenty of sneezes.  Between 'creating'; I worked on the marketing email to be sent out to Indochine customers tomorrow; updating the Product Strategy list, blogging (ha! I was able to do two posts today...), and quoting for a big catering on Wednesday morning (225+ people).  I feel good to be able to do that much...but I feel a bit guilty of leaving my team at Indochine by themselves today.  I am certain they don't mind and probably wish that I should take off more often.  I just need to delegate and feel good about it. 

But the best thing for me and Jeff today was to be able to drive the girls to school, pick them up and at home when they get home.  I don't remember when the last time we were able to do that.  This is something I need to do more often before the girls all move out to college. 

Now I am waiting for the chicken to be done grilling.  I cannot wait to taste it....

Tasted them...the aroma is nice but need more seasoning.  They are a no-go for now.  I will adjust the recipe and add more salt before I think they are ready for prime-time.  Until Thursday, these rubs will have to wait...I might do wet rubs instead...

Be true to myself...

Has it been three months since my last post?  Boy, I am trying...very hard...and are failing iserably!

I was talking to a friend about all these commitment I am making to myself to get good at this year (blogging for one); and she said something I that so appreciated: "yume, you need to be true to yourself...I know you want to post all the cooking, the recipes each and everyday like all the bloggers you admire...but do they have a restaurant to run, a thriving sauce company that will become a party-plan company, do they have to create 20 new products for the market place in two months, do they have two kids and a full schedule cooking classes and a constant gigs on local TV?  You just need to admit you cannot do it all and drop the stuffs you would like to do but have no time for.  No one will accuse you of not having enough passion for food just because you cannot keep up with the blog.  I don't read them anyway so there...you don't have to do it!."

She is right...I have been stressed about not getting to blog but my head and my body are on the verge of exploding into pieces at the end of each day.  To be truthful, they are on the verge of exploding every minute of the day for the past few months. 

I have been doing so much - doing so many different things.  I spent a couple of days helping my sister Thy and her husband Thi opened Pho 101.  Then off the help our nephew with his new menu at his Viet Pho.  All of these activities made me realized that if someone told me 5 years ago - that I would be such culinary expert; I would laugh.  Now, it is not that hard to open a restaurant, to train a completely new staff in a couple of days.   It does get a bit tiring but when you enjoy it as much as I do, you notice your bones, your joints cracking when you try to sit down:-). 

Let's get back to my previous point...I will not make myself feel guilty when I don't blog often or not at all.  I need to feel that I do accomplish something by working on developing asian-themed rubs, mixes and so on.  The focus should be on Indochine and on the sauce company.  Then, maybe a couple or years from now; I can blog to my hearts contend....but then, I might not have anything to say then....

Let's get started on a four years-old project!

At the end of 2005, I wanted to have a huge presence on the internet - to document my journey from a nerdy-techno-gal to a food expert.  Heck, I have been following a few food bloggers at that time and said to myself: how hard can that be?  I know how to cook a little and if those bloggers can do it, I can too!  I even have a more compelling 'human interest' story to tell.  I even went as far as purchasing equipments to do podcasting --- it was new then but it is such an old technology now.  Well, as I found out and as everyone knows, food blogging is a serious business.  Actually, any blogging takes dedication, focus and lots of time.  It is a job in itself!  At that time, I was busy with learning how to work in a professional kitchen (although, to this day, I don't think our kitchen that way but if one can produce thousands of meals a month from it, then it is a professional kitchen!).  I was also having way too many things I wanted to do so my 'wondering' mind and intention are perfect example of biting more than one can chew.  So, to motivate myself, I got this Typepad account, upgraded it and paid more than $100 a year to 'make' me blog.  That worked for a few days every few months.  I started a few blogs (not just one, a FEW!) but I never maintained them and had really no interest to doing them.  I continued to follow the progress of all the food bloggers and then some new ones.  Most of them are now well-known on the internet - even got to be judges at Iron Chef on Food Network!   Their dedication resulted in becoming experts in the field that I, Yume, should be an expert in (although, I never even phantom that possibility!).  Their Internet's fames remind me of one simple fact: they start something, stick with it and are successful now.  And yet, I have not done anything from 2006 to 2009 in term of blogging consistently.  Until now.

2010 marks my 5th year in food business.  When I first started with the food business from technology field; I promised myself that in 5 years, I will become something significant in the food field (significant in my mind...not everyone's else).  I was not sure what I meant then.  All I knew then is that my move to food was such a shock to my family that they thought I lost my mind!  and that I needed a goal to work toward so that I can have something to show for...so that my family will not think that I have worked so much with computer in the past 15 years that I have no logic left.  Maybe I did....(nah!).  Anyway, I set myself the goal to reach something 'food-significant' in 5 years to mirror my accomplishment in the technology field.  It took me 5 years in technology field (when I was way younger) to call myself a technology professional, to feel comfortable in it, to feel that I 'am so on my way to make it'.  That is where the 5 years artificial deadline came about.  So, I am at the 5th year and I better get moving!

So, my goals for this year are:

• blog as often and as much as I can --- about food, food and kids, food and love, food and politic (maybe not this one).  Let's see: with working about 30 hours at the restaurant, 15 hours for the sauce company, 40 hours to be a Mom and a wife, I think squeezing in 5 hours to cook, photograph and blog is completely do-able, don't you think so?
• get to know you --- who have purchased some of my sauces and wonder if I am ever going to give you any more recipes than the initial 8 to cook with.
• be useful to you in your journey to Asian cooking (I hope you were not expecting recipes on foie gras or fancy stuffs like those).
• Keep you posted with the sauces (the new ones I am bottling) and how they are doing in the market place.

Come along, push me, test me, challenge me, support me.  I am looking forward to lots of blogging with you in 2001!

Wishing you a great 2010 from me and my family!