Lesson Learned. Drink Green Tea Martinis!

Well. Sweet husband and I went out Friday evening with the Kristy~Ryan and Tom~Vicki duos. We went to Soho, a wonderful sushi restaurant and home of Ian's world~famous Green Tea Martini. As you can probably imagine, we had several cocktails at the bar before dinner.

So we sit down to dinner and Ian brings 4 sake bombs. For the uninitiated, a sake bomb is a tall beer in a glass placed on a tray. On top of the beer glass are two chopsticks. A double shot glass full of sake is then balanced on the chopsticks. Sound complicated? Wait. It gets even better.

Sake bombs are mostly a guy thing. You pound on the table twice with your fists chanting "Sake, Sake" and then the third time you pound on the tray chanting "Bomb." Sake~Sake~Bomb! In theory, the sake glass drops straight down into the beer and you down it in one long swallow.

In theory.

The three manly~men at the table all had sake bombs. Lightweight (both in ability to hold alcohol as well as on the scale) Kristy decided she had to have one with the guys. Ian delivered said sake bombs ~ along with a large Chinese beer for the first person to down the bomb ~ and everyone went through the ritual.

One small problem.

When you pound "Sake~Sake~Bomb!" on a dining table versus the bar, the table tends to move. And move it did. Sake bombs, water glasses and all formerly glass~encased liquid went everywhere!

Lesson learned. Drink Green Tea Martinis!

Green Tea Martini Recipe
4 parts Citron vodka ~ either Stoli or Grey Goose
1 part Zen Green Tea Liqueur
1 lime wedge
1 splash pineapple juice

Fill shaker full of crushed ice. Add all ingredients, squeeze in lime juice. Mix well. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with lime wedge.

Enjoy ~ I certainly did!

I Just LOVE to Cook!

Ah geez ~ the day can only get better.

Hi, this is Debbie.

Hi! I think I want to be a Personal Chef and I was hoping you'd let me work with you for a couple of weeks to see if this is what I want to do!

Huh?

I'm confused. Are you a new Personal Chef in the Cincinnati area?

Nope! I work full time but I want to change my job and I just LOVE to cook and I thought that being a Personal Chef would be fun!

I feel a massive headache coming on.

Have you joined any Personal Chef association or do you have any training?

Nope! I just LOVE to cook and I thought that being a Personal Chef would be fun!

If she ends one more sentence with an exclamation point I'm going to SCREAM!

Were you referred to me by another Personal Chef in Cincinnati or somewhere else? Or have you signed up for the Personal Chef course at Cincinnati State?

Nope! I just LOVE to cook....

Yeah, yeah I get it. You want me to let a complete stranger follow me around for two weeks, learn everything from me, allow you into my client's homes ~ by the way, did I mention that I don't know you from Eve ~ and, then you decide if you want to be a Personal Chef or not?

Sure I can use the help. I leave my home around 6:30 every morning and some of my equipment bins weigh 30 pounds or so. You can meet me tomorrow morning at 6:30 sharp in front of my house. We'll go to bigg's first to get groceries, then we'll go to Luigi's for our meat and chicken. After that, we'll stop at Findlay Market for seafood and make a quick stop at Dean's Mediterranean Market and then we'll get to my client's home around 9:15 or so. You can unload the Yummy~mobile, unpack all of the equipment and mis en place the recipes. Once we're done, you can hand wash all of my equipment, repack said equipment, sanitize the kitchen, sweep the kitchen floor, take out the trash ~ did I mention it's supposed to rain tomorrow ~ repack the Yummy~mobile and then we'll head back to my place. We should get back around 3:00 or so. How's that sound?

But I have to work all day tomorrow! Can we do it on Saturday? I'm off on Saturday!

Pounding in blood vessels around my brain, black migraine spots in my eyes.

No. But I'll tell you what. After you join a Personal Chef association or register for Personal Chef training at Cincinnati State, call me and we'll find a time so that you can see if this works for you.

Click.

Ah geez. The day can only get better.

Appy Party at Chez Yummy~issimo!

As a Certified Personal Chef and owner of Yummy~issimo! I don't have a lot of free weekend time so when I found myself taking the week off between Christmas and New Years, I decided to have a small party at Chez Spangler. Those of you who know me know that I don't do decorations. But this year, the decorating demon came over me.

Demonly decorate I did. The fireplace, the chandelier, the antique peer mirror, poinsettias and bows everywhere. It looked great before the holidays. Now I'm waiting for the crazy cleaning clown to show up.

Robyn & Vic
Originally uploaded by yummyissimo

So, party at Chez Spangler. It was just a small one with Tom and Vic, Robyn and Brad (and their super friends Nanc and Rob) and Judy and Alan. Kristy and Ryan were supposed to be there, but he got really sick. The party was in part a thank you for the amazing meal that Ryan cooked for us last month. Now, I'll have to have another party ~ maybe he wanted to approve the menu in advance? The only thing that would have made the party better is if the Kristy~Ryan and Beth~Kenny duos had been in attendance. But Robyn and Vic had a great time together!

Appy Table
Originally uploaded by yummyissimo

The appy menu:

Double truffle beef tenderloin
Crab and shrimp double stuffed eggs
Caviar and dill dip
Spicy sun~dried tomato dip
Antipasto with Parmesan~artichoke dressing
Homemade pate with Calvados and currants
Mini Greek pizzas with lamb and pesto
Cheese, cheese, cheese

Sweet husband ~ who doesn't cook and still needs instruction before approaching the oven ~ suggested the beef was too rare. I didn't know there was such a thing! I think he was in the minority as the 3~pound tenderloin was gone in a flash.

Oh crap! I'll have to ask Bacchus which libation is appropriate for taking all of the decorating demon crap down.