Food Maker, Chef, and Traveling Diner
When I think back on all of the many caterings throughout my time as a chef, this particular one is probably the most significant catering that I have ever done. In fact, I get emotional just thinking about how much my Bachan has impacted my …
I have 6 years of Thanksgiving blogs on Unrivaledkitch, which to me, shows my commitment to being there for my family and I am truly grateful that I have been able to take on this tradition for the ones I love and to share these …
Life seems to be steaming right along. August was a blur of celebration, grief, love, tears and just being. Life is so precious that even in the day-to-day happenings we can get carried away with the difficulties or choose to see the joy that is around us and within us.
One of the most joyful days this year was little Amaya’s 2nd birthday party. She is in love with Daniel Tiger, from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood on PBS, and with temperatures well over 100 degrees in the valley, we decided to take the party back indoors to one of her favorite places, We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym. Last year we celebrated there too, but with children, they always find something new and exciting to explore.
We had a kid-friendly menu that I prepared for our family and friends. Each dish had a Neighborhood friend theme and my sister put together crafty little accents to make this 2-year-old’s birthday quite a memorable one. Here is the menu!
I can’t believe it’s already the end of September, but life has its own way of quickly moving along. I am so glad we were able to celebrate this little Leo’s love, compassion, courage and curiosity. Happy birthday, Amaya, Auntie loves you!
Snacks
Daniel Tiger’s Tigey Tails Cheese Curls
Katerina Kitty Kats mini swimmy colorful fish
Prince Wednesdays Popcorn
O the Owls whooo berries
Ms Elainas Sweet, Sweet potatoes
Dishes
Trolly’s Tasty Turkey Sliders
Turkey Burger on Kings’ Hawaiian bread with BBQ sauce and Lettuce
Neighborhood Crispy Crunchy Chicken Tenders
honey-mustard and ketchup
Grrrrific Bacon Burger slider
Ground Beef, Bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese and red onion with Thousand island dressing
Sides
Baby Margaret’s Macaroni Salad
Ugga-mugga Potato Salad
You Gotta Try New Foods Because They Might Taste Good!
I’ve had a few weeks to reflect and enjoy the memories and events that took place during our Beautiful Bountiful Body Retreat from Judgement at Lido Palms in Desert Hot Springs. This week has been such a busy week of staying in the moment, …
A first birthday in my family is nothing to be trifled with. For Amaya’s big day, we had to do something that would keep everyone relatively cool, since August in the San Fernando Valley can get up to 100 degrees or higher. My family has …
My sister and brother-in-law are having another baby girl! News to some, but not to others and low and behold she’ll be joining us maybe this month. My sister’s due date is August 27th and secretly, I think my sister is going to try and hold out til September 1st, because we already have so many August birthdays. I don’t really think that I, my mom and my dad would mind sharing our birthday month with baby sister…well, not too much! But whenever she gets here, she’ll be greeted with the most love and anticipation. Last weekend we had a small last-minute gathering in Huntington Beach, about 50 miles away from where we live, but cooler (which is a must for a pregnant woman) and also where my grandma lives. Seeing as the valley can get temperatures over 100 degrees, I don’t think my sister wanted to risk having the sprinkle out here.
I’m so grateful to my mom, dad and grandma for helping me put this little event together to share our love and celebrate our soon to be newest member of the family. I’m a second born daughter, so I know what it’s like to be a baby sister and I’m so excited for her to come out and drive us all crazy! I cooked for the event and we had a Pan-Asian inspired Hawaiian-themed little Luau for baby sister. Thanks to everyone who made this day special, stress-free and all about my little niece number two. Maleeya is going to be such an amazing big sister I can’t wait to see how they get along. If it’s anything like me and my sister, they’ll love each other and sometimes want to kill each other at the same time–the way all sisterly relationships should be. I love my sister so much and I’m so glad that my nieces will be able to have the kind of relationship, friendship, and love that we have for each other.
Menu
Coconut Cilantro Green Curry with Button Mushroom, Bean Sprouts and Potatoes
Braised Pineapple Soy Sauce Chicken Legs
Spam Musubi
Chicken Katsu with Japanese Curry
Beef Teriyaki with Ginger and Garlic
Pickled Cucumbers
Tangerine, Mirin and Dijon Skewered Vegetables
Assorted Fruit and Macaroni Potato Salad
Veggie Fried Rice with Snap Peas
Chinese Chicken Salad with Crispy Wontons, Red Peppers, Scallions and Mandarin Oranges
Cheers
-Unrivaledkitch
My grandma is a very special woman. She’s such a loving, kind, strong and wonderful person and we were very happy to host her 80th birthday celebration for all of her friends and family. Granny has always been the talk of the town and …
I wrote this a while ago and realized it hadn’t been posted, their such beautiful memories I didn’t want them to stay on my computer. Enjoy! I haven’t blogged in quite a while, but I’ve been writing a lot in notebooks and mental scratch paper …
My niece just recently turned two on Monday, April 8th. I can’t believe she’s already two! It really goes by fast and I know that’s a very cliché thing to say, but it does. It feels like just yesterday that my sister told me she was having a baby and now Maleeya is just so adventurous, ambitious and remarkable. She truly is an amazing little girl and I feel so fortunate to be able to see her every day and watch her little spirit grow.
Happy Birthday, Monkey! Auntie loves you very much.
So for Maleeya’s birthday we had everyone over to Encino Park for some food, of course, and lots of other fun things for the kids and plenty of catching up for the adults. Some of my sister’s friends brought their little children and we were able to get a little kids yoga session to happen while the adults watched. I’m so grateful to the little ones who decided to participate, even with everyone watching. It’s amazing how fearless young children are. So we had yoga, party favors, a huge Minnie Mouse piñata, cake and lots of food.
The menu this year was more manageable with my current work load and shortage of time, but still delicious and fun. I’m so glad I got to cook for over 50 of our closest family and friends. I’m so grateful for all the support everyone has shown me through my yoga and my cooking. I’m truly living a dream I could only have actualized with all of your help. Thank you!
Menu
Homemade Balsamic Cumin Barbeque Sauce Chicken
Rainbow Pasta Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette, Italian Herbs, Black Olives, Broccoli, Tomatoes and Roasted Peppers
Cobb Salad with Hard boiled Egg, Crispy Bacon, Roasted Garlic Turkey, Tomatoes, Avocado and Blue Cheese over Baby Mixed Greens and Balsamic Vinaigrette
Roasted Vegetable Platter
Fruit Platters
My mom prepared our grandma’s special macaroni salad and potato salad, as well as Bachan’s triple-layered Jell-O, which are all family traditions at any event. My boyfriend made delicious pork sliders with jalapeno coleslaw—needless to say, everyone loved them.
We had such a great time celebrating my beautiful niece, Maleeya! I can’t wait for next year. 🙂
These gorgeous photos are courtesy of the wonderful and talented Lyz Cooper, Brandon’s mom is an amazing photographer! Thanks Lyz for capturing such special memories for out family.
cheers
-Unrivaledkitch
My niece, Maleeya, just recently turned one on Easter, which was April 8th, so we decided that it would be a good idea to celebrate Easter with our family, including a small birthday celebration for her and then, the following Sunday, have her huge birthday …
