By now you’ve probably heard about the Music City Food + Wine festival (MCFW) on September 20th and 21st. I for one, can't wait to go - it's two days of food from not only my favorite restaurants in Nashville but also from chefs whose cooking I wouldn't otherwise get to sample. Winning.

MCFW pulls together chefs, restaurateurs and food industry folk both nationally and locally over two days for a fun, interactive festival. Sit in on demos by big names like Masaharu Morimoto (Sushi A to Z),  Andrew Zimmern (Globally Hot Chicken), and Amanda Freitag (Egg-Spertise); or if cooking demos aren’t your thing and you prefer getting an insider’s look how chefs think and what inspires them, the panels are great for that. Last year, I sat in on the panel on southern cuisine and as someone not from this country, it was wonderful insight into the food I’ve grown to love in this part of America. This year, I’m looking forward to the Kitchen Disasters panel on Saturday with Michael Symon, Ashley Christensen, Andrew Zimmern and Levon Wallace.

Back to the food (clearly, it's what's important to me): The Grand Taste goes from 11am – 4pm on Saturday and Sunday, and the participating restaurants serve up an quite impressive amount of food through the day which is good because you'll need something to soak up all that wine and booze you also get. 

If it was anything like last year, you won’t go home hungry, and you’ll be going back for seconds, maybe even thirds. Some highlights from last year were the Hot Chicken from Hattie B’s (they’ll be there again this year), some poached mutsu apples from Tavern (pictured), and okonomiyaki from Otaku South (also back this year). Something new for this year is the Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint & Friends section. I didn't get to eat what they cooked last year so it sounds like I'll have plenty of opportunity this time!

Who doesn't love tiny wooden spoons?

Okonomiyaki from Otaku South

On Saturday night, the visiting chefs will showcase their skills at Harvest Night. I didn’t get to go last year so I’m really curious to see what it’s like. And it wouldn’t be a food and wine festival without music – they haven’t announced it yet but there will be live music during Harvest Night so follow MCFW on Twitter for the announcement!

Another fun aspect of this festival is that the chefs are fairly accessible – they’re walking around, mingling, chatting and hanging out (celebrity chefs: they’re just like us!) which is really cool to see. Not going to lie, I’m already geeking out that I get to see Chef Morimoto in the flesh. Most of all, I’m just really excited about the food.

Click here to get your tickets and for more details on the festival. You can also follow Music City Food + Wine on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. 

See you there!

You've seen it, we've all done it - when a person updates their status and then likes their post before everybody else does and it's like

But without the sass and cool of Liz Lemon.

I get it, it can be tricky when it comes to managing a page on which you share responsibility with other people. We all want to be supportive and we all want to up those Like numbers as best we can but we also want to look professional. So here's how you can avoid this little faux pas.

1) If you're on your mobile device, even if you're using the Facebook app and not the Pages app, you're going to end up liking your page's post as the page so just don't like anything. Against all instinct, just don't. Wait till you get on your computer or something.

2) If you're using Facebook on your desktop, Facebook has made it easier to comment and like and all that as either yourself or the page you manage. At the bottom right corner of the status window, as soon as you hover your cursor over the arrow it'll show you:

Now, not all browsers might do that (I use Firefox and it does) but you should be able to tell by looking at the profile pic/icon by the arrow.

Click on that arrow and it'll pull up your options of whether you want to like it as you, another page you manage or to stick to acting as that page. Don't forget to switch back so the next time you want to reply to a comment you're not replying as yourself (unless you want people to know you run that page).

We don't clap for ourselves after saying something, nor do we laugh at our own jokes even if other people don't so this is kind of the same thing!

/PSA

I friggin love breakfast food. Coffee, eggs (the runnier the better), pastries (the buttery-er the better), jam, more eggs, grits, sausage gravy, BISCUITS. So was I excited when Biscuit Love Brunch opened for business? Hell yes. Am I still excited and do I still want to go there every morning? Yes. I don't though, because self-control.

It's everything you loved about Karl & Sarah Worley's Biscuit Love Truck - the friendly atmosphere, the great food/menu (now with more items!) and the overall fun experience but without, y'know, the whole truck thing. Like not having a place to sit, eating out of a to-go container, being outside... although I will say that Biscuit Love was one of the few trucks I didn't mind going to because it was always worth it.

Biscuit Love Brunch is a fast casual restaurant so you order when you walk in, find a place to sit and they'll bring your food to you. So you'll still have to queue up but it's a matter of minutes between ordering and then settling in and getting comfortable in their beautiful restaurant to chow down.

Speaking of chowing down... (hover over image for caption)

It's a kid-friendly restaurant with kid-friendly menu items. It's also great for vegetarians (donuts are vegetarian right?) and they have good options for most if not all dietary restrictions. You can park in the garages in the ICON and the other condos around the Gulch (most offer free parking for an hour) or in the lot across the street or by a meter if you can find a space.

They're open every day from 7 am - 3 pm, and if you're in a hurry they do have a grab-and-go case in the front so you can pop in, pick something up and be on your merry way.

If you're going over the weekend, get there before 10:30, it won't be AS packed. However if you do get there and there's a line, know that the fast casual format can make things seem like they're going to take longer but it's really not that bad. Again, it's worth the wait.

And don't be a D and send someone to get a table first while you or someone else in your party orders, least of all when there's a long line; just order as a group.

Menu favorites:

Lindstrom - shaved Brussels sprouts, 2 poached eggs.

A biscuit on the side - this one's made with a different style dough/technique from the ones normally used in their sandwiches. I like to order the Lindstrom with this on the side.

Bonuts - Fried biscuit dough, blueberry compote, lemon mascarpone. If the picture I posted doesn't get you salivating, you're a monster, why are you even still reading this??

Here's a bit of a menu hack. Nasty Princess - It's the East Nasty, but with hot chicken. IMO, for a non-hot chicken restaurant, Karl Worley is one of the few people who knows how to do it well.

See their full menu on their new, snazzy website. You can also follow them on Twitter, Instagram and go like their page on Facebook. But the best thing you can do is to just GO.

Biscuit Love Brunch  |  316 11th Ave S in The Gulch  |  biscuitlovebrunch.com

As of today, I follow 426 Instagram accounts. A lot of those are friends, some of those friends don't post anymore or hardly post at all so it's always fun to see on the rare occasion they do. I should probably go through that list and stop following the ones who aren't active but for the most part, the people I do follow are interesting, and I try not to follow "just because."

This list is of my favorite visually stunning accounts that I think you'll love. These are accounts where you can scroll... scroll... scroll and not be bored. These are also accounts that inspire me so I hope you enjoy!

@by_untitledprojects

Untitled Projects is my sister's company she started a couple of years ago. If I had to have only one source of inspiration, it's her - a person of impeccable taste and a keen eye for great design and packaging and form, her Instagram account makes me so proud to be related to her. Now if she'd just rub off on me a little, I'd be set.

@LibbieSummers

Do you like baking? Do you like pretty things? Do you get inspired by an edgy sense of humor, clever captions and awesome taste? Libbie's your girl. The woman has the best wardrobe and shoes, she's SUPER cool, and... am I gushing? I'm gushing aren't I? I'm a big fan. HUGE fan.

@OakandBindi

Lydia is an illustrator in Singapore. Lately, I've developed a love for hand-lettering and hand-drawn illustration and Oak & Bindi's pop art, comic book style is right up my alley. It's also inspiring to see how someone has taken her passion and by sticking to it, she's now commissioned for murals and artwork. Plus she's also got great style.

@Oul

I'm a sucker for animal accounts. @Oul (I guess his name's Louis) lives in Nashville by beautiful Radnor Lake, and he manages to capture pictures of animals in the funniest positions. Throw in his captions and you've got laugh-out-loud moments.

@JoyHarris1

Talk about eye candy! Joy is a pastry chef in Sweden who makes the prettiest pastries and then takes even prettier pictures of them. She doesn't post a lot so I always look forward to seeing what she's baked.

If you have any suggestions on who to follow or any favorites of your own that inspire you, please leave the link in comments so I can check them out too!

Subtitled: All the Stumptown Coffee shops in the PNW with a few others thrown in because they are also good.

Last October I was fortunate enough to tag along with my sister and her husband Leon (owner of a premier coffee company Papa Palheta and coffee shops Loysel's Toy and Chye Seng Huat Hardware) and his business partner to Seattle and Portland.

They were there on business, my sister was there to learn and (by proxy) so was I. Plus it was bonding time for the two of us since I hardly get to see my family. More on the food we ate and the trip in general later. For now, here are all the coffee places we went to. Click to view the gallery.

Didn't manage to get pictures but our first day in Seattle, we stopped by Milstead & Co in the Fremont area in Seattle. Cute little place, walking distance to a ton of restaurants too. While in Portland we also dropped into Heart to look around and Clive Coffee to look at all sorts of coffee contraptions and toys. And of course, we went to the original Starbucks to look around.

I think I left my heart in the Pacific North West so I guess I'll have to go back again soon!

The weather in Nashville's been less than ideal over the past few weeks and it's reminded me how much I love and rely on Twitter. If not for Twitter, I wouldn't be as informed about traffic conditions, closures, and I wouldn't have learned that ice dams are a thing.

I've been an active Twitter user for eight years now, and I haven't gotten sick of it. Twitter is a lot more reliable than Facebook, especially now that Facebook will shove a post to the top of your timeline that's days (even weeks or months) old just because there was activity on it (like a new comment). People unknowingly share and re-share articles that are sometimes a few years old that they mistake for news, and I feel that that Facebook just isn't an environment for timely or factual information.

The people you follow on Twitter are the people you choose to follow and you're not forced to accept someone's friend request just because you know they'll be butthurt if you don't. Not saying it doesn't happen on Twitter but it's a lot easier to avoid the crazy there than on Facebook.

Now, if you're not as concerned with getting real-time news and you prefer fluff or US Magazine level news; if you enjoy peeking into the lives of people you haven't seen or talked to since you were 15 and if you just LOVE seeing other people's ultrasounds then Facebook is great for all that.

Hell, I won't deny that I enjoy scrolling through Facebook, sometimes it's nice to give my brain a break. Maybe it's schadenfreude. But I do my utmost not to divulge much about myself aside from the occasional soapbox - much easier to do when you don't have character limitations. But I've stopped posting pictures of myself and of my family and friends on there because I enjoy some level of privacy, and I am sure my friends/family do too.

Anyway, back to why Twitter's reliable. Here's a good example: If you've lived in Nashville for more than six years, you were around for when Twitter proved itself really useful - during the flood of 2010 when none of the news outlets reported anything because it was the weekend and they were, at the time, slow to catch on to social media. Every update I got came from the other Nashvillians I followed, and whether we intended to or not, Twitter became a source of support. If I'm not wrong, that's basically when news outlets finally became active on social media.

Speaking of, I recommend following @NashSevereWX if you live in Nashville or nearby because they are the best source of updates during bad weather. Now excuse me, I'm going to check my Twitter feed to see if I should be panicking and stocking up on milk and bread or not.

I shared this article on Facebook yesterday. "Childless by choice: Shallow and self-absorbed or just awesome? 

It wasn't the first article of its sort I've shared in the past two years or so - there've been plenty along the same grain of "we're childless, we choose to be (or maybe we didn't) but the bottom line is, just leave us the fuck alone about it." 

But is everyone looking at me and my fellow DINKS with such disdain or pity or even judgement? No, not at all. For every pushy person out there, I am thankful for at least five more people in my life - ones who have kids, mind you - who understand and are supportive. 

I speak for myself and my circle - my friends (emphasis on friends) have been plenty supportive. Without diving into personal things, I have this to say: it all boils down to choice and for some reason, there are a lot of people who can't fathom others making different choices than they did, and I have thus chosen not to surround myself with those jerks (who I'm sure mean well, in their own odd way).  

I'm not writing this to defend not having kids - the articles floating around out there are doing a good job doing that for me. I'm writing this because not everybody is a judgmental dick or someone who lords the whole "oh my god it's so rewarding to have kids you guys have to have kids what do you mean you don't want kids you'd have such cute kids" sermon over you and I'd like to salute those people and thank them for being mature enough to know that when someone responds with the following

• No, not yet.
• Nope!
• We don't.
• We're planning to, but not right now.
• Hell no.
• Eh, no.
• We just got married yesterday.

is to move on.

BUT! I am writing this to give credit to and show appreciation for the people I know who have kids who don't push their decisions on me and the many, many other people like me and The Husband; the ones who respect our life choices and who aren't themselves being selfish by insisting that it's in any way wrong that we don't follow the same path they've gone down. You know who you are, and I love you and thank you. 

UPDATE: SOLD OUT

On Thursday June 4th, skip cooking dinner at home and head to East Nashville to feast on samples from more than 30 restaurants! For just $45 you could dine on food from Holland House, Marche, Two Ten Jack, The Pharmacy, delicious ice cream from Jeni's AND Nashville's own Pied Piper Creamery and MANY more local favorites. Your ticket purchase goes to help the Fannie Battle Day Home for Children - everybody wins! 

Click here to purchase your tickets! For more information and a full list of participating restaurants visit their website at YumEast.com 

“Don’t use your hands, like that the food become ba si.” 

I’m probably spelling that wrong, but I never asked her what it actually meant or how it was spelled, I just took her word for it: that if I touched food with my hands it’d go bad a lot quicker. I must have been barely a teenager when she first said it to me, and even now when I get lazy and start picking at leftovers with my bare fingers, I hear her voice loud and clear. It was one of many things I remember and learned from my grandmother. 

Mama, as we called her, raised me with the help of my grandfather who passed away when I was 17. My parents were both very young and both worked so most of my childhood memories and a lot of what I learned was from them. 

Mama cooked, that was her role. She took care of the home and made us breakfast, lunch and dinner. Egg day on Mondays, no meat on Fridays. She loved KFC and Burger King, those were always treats for us and for her. 

Every night, she’d make a whole meal for the six of us and it would always be a full-on family meal of some sort of meat, seafood, veggies and soup. On Sundays, my aunt's family came over and it was always a feast. It was impressive, and she did it mostly on her own almost every night for years and years. 

She would also remember if one of us liked a certain dish. She took a lot of joy in just watching us eat and would notice if one of us ate more of one thing, and took pride in knowing that and making that dish for us again and again just to see us enjoy it. 

Although, when she knew that we didn’t like a particular dish of hers, she’d be sure to point out the next time she made it, that one of us “Didn’t know how to eat it.” She wasn’t mad or offended, it was just a fact and something she kept track of. 

But oh, when you did know how to eat something and you loved it she would, without fail, tell you with a smile, “Here, I know this is your favorite." And I had a lot of favorites - her tofu soup, made with the softest grade of tofu with minced pork, green onions in a clean, clear broth. Her sambal prawns, her pepper pork, peanut soup, baby kai lan with oysters sauce, French beans with oyster sauce… and she would REMEMBER. That was her thing, and that was how she showed us she loved us. 

Thanks to her I know how to clean a pig’s stomach. Thanks to her I developed an appreciation for cooking and baking and the joy and comfort I find in being in the kitchen. Most of all, thanks to her I always had something good to eat; my family always ate well and we were completely spoiled. It was all because of her.

She was meticulous with prep. I still remember how she would take the time to pull the tails off a giant basket of mung bean sprouts while watching cooking shows (Wok With Yan was her favorite). There were times she’d let me help her with the sprouts which, at the time, I hated to do but I’ve now come to appreciate it because getting rid of the tails really makes the dish so much more pleasant to look at and eat. She was also a really good, consistent cook and she had a database of recipes in her head that she just knew by heart that I wish I wrote down, and that I wish I paid more attention to when she was cooking. 

Most of all, I wish I told her how much I appreciated her and how much of an influence she was on me, whether she intended for that to happen or not. 

I love you, Mama. You took really good care of me, of all of us. I just hope you knew that before you left us. At least you're not hurting anymore.

SO much to post about my last trip to Singapore but I thought I'd start with this recap of my dinner at Wild Rocket. The Husband and I celebrated our ninth anniversary while in Singapore and I wanted to do something special. I've wanted to dine at Wild Rocket for a while now, more so since I started following owner and chef Low Willin online and learning more about him through mutual friends. I knew I was in for a treat but I had no idea how much I would love this meal. It was one of the best dinners I've had and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Willin's cuisine is mostly plays on Singaporean and Asian cuisine. I started typing what I thought were the standout dishes but turns out, I loved them all. Though I did want to mention this:

One of the courses we had was what Willin has dubbed as "Singapore Noodles." You've probably heard me bitch make comments about how Chinese restaurants in America have a "Singapore noodles" dish on their menu that doesn't actually exist and it was a relief to know that Willin shares the same gripe. So he's come up with what he feels should actually be Singapore noodles and I think someone needs to make it official because his dish was delicious. It's inspired by a popular local dish called Hokkien Mee, and it was so good I could have eaten another giant bowl of it. Actually, there was a guy sitting at the bar nearby and I'm pretty sure he requested an extra bowl of the noodles before his dessert courses came.

Anyway, here's what we had for dinner that night:

Hokkaido scallops, shoyu kombu, chai poh, truffle oil
Cai poh = dried asian radish.

Thai inspired duck salad with red curry ice cream
Who knew curry could taste so good in ice cream form??

Har cheong gai
Instead of chicken wings like this dish traditionally is, it was pig ears in the shrimp paste batter.

Char kuay teow with no kuay teow
He used thin slivers of cuttlefish as the noodles!

Willin's Singapore noodles
That King prawn. *Drool*

Clay pot rice
Foie gras of the barramundi!! Just as rich as regular foie gras only a little fishy. Duck liver lap cheong (chinese sausage). 

Wagyu short rib with buah kuluak mash
Buah kuluak is a tree nut that, honestly, up to that night I refused to eat because it just seemed weird. It's not and it's pretty damned good.

The first dessert course was a sugarcane sorbet with a piece of sugarcane that had been soaked in rum. Final dessert course was a play on burbur hitam, a dessert of sweet, glutinous black rice that's usually served warm but this came as an ice cream with some sea coconut, jackfruit and coconut mousse on the side. Pictures below, click to view, hover to see captions, tap the white dot if you're using your phone.

Tasting menus are always a treat because the impression I get is that the chef is just having fun in the kitchen and it's so fascinating to see what they come up with. I really enjoyed listening to Willin talk about each dish  and what inspired him. A chef's love for what he/she does is infectious and somehow it makes the meal that much more enjoyable. Overall, what we loved most about that evening was the experience as a whole from the wonderful food to the service to the ambience. We were treated SO well! And the food, oh the food... every smell, every bite!! My mouth is watering just thinking about it and I can't wait to go back.

I've also been enjoying following Willin on Instagram. By my observations, he's someone who is constantly learning and keeping his mind open to exploring cuisines of all sorts and I think that open-mindedness is what makes him such a great (and extremely humble) chef. It'll be interesting to see what he's inspired by next and to see what he has on the menu by the next time I go home!

You can find out more about Wild Rocket by clicking here. If you're in Singapore, or if you're planning a trip there, I highly recommend making a reservation - I think you'll love it. Big thanks to Willin for the wonderful dinner and for our little treat at the end, that was so nice of you! 

What I miss most about living in Singapore is the ease at which you can find snack foods if you're hungry. No having to go into a restaurant or cafe to sit down (though sometimes that's still an easy option thanks to food courts and hawker centers) but it's mostly the on-the-go type foods I miss. Packet food, if you will, where it's just in plastic bags (even drinks!) and it's easy to buy and eat while you walk and do things. 

It was comforting to see that a fruit shop in a mall I used to hang out in was still there. They have cut up fresh fruit like guava, rambutan, jackfruit (pictured), watermelon, and also the boring stuff like apples/oranges/pears, that you can buy for $3 or something ridiculously cheap. 

Then there's fishballs on a stick. Or giant pieces of fish cake. So greasy, so good. 

I'm still homesick, can you tell? I doubt that will ever go away. Click on the pictures for more details! 

Don't know where to start, really. We all get affected by celebrity deaths, some more than others depending on how much they touch our lives. Just found out that Jackie Collins lost a battle with breast cancer and passed away today and this one's hitting a little hard.

In 2011, a friend asked if I would be interested in interviewing Jackie Collins, not at all expecting such an emphatic yes from me (thank you so much, Abs). Mind you, I'd never actually interviewed someone for a blogging gig before, let alone someone I adored and of whom I was a fan so I was nervous AF when I met her and rambled on like a lunatic for a while till I managed to calm down. 

It was the best day and I was so so so chuffed I got to meet her, chat with her and tell her how much I loved her. She was so warm, welcoming, friendly, and even more beautiful and radiant in person. I had no idea that, at that time, she had already been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer and according to this People article, she'd kept that a complete secret. Class, all around.

I had downloaded her latest Santangelo book when it came out a couple of months ago and hadn't had the time to sit and read it, so tonight's as good a time as any. Hell, I may have to revisit the entire series. But, here's the interview I did with her for HerNashville.com back in 2011 that was titled 5 Things with Jackie Collins or something like that. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did doing it. 

Before Candace Bushnell, before Sophie Kinsella, there was Jackie Collins. Correction, there IS Jackie Collins who, at the age of 73 is still writing books about strong, powerful women. Her latest, Goddess of Vengeance is the new installment in her popular Lucky Santangelo series which you can purchase here.

When I was 13, I remember sneaking a read of all my mother's Jackie Collins books when she wasn't home, being very careful to leave her bookmark exactly where it was so she wouldn't know! I became a huge fan of [the character] Lucky Santangelo, watching the miniseries when it was broadcast on the telly and falling in love with all the characters.

Ms. Collins was in town recently to promote Goddess of Vengeance and to say I was crazy excited to meet her is a serious understatement.

About doing more miniseries' on her books:

I hope so, I'm kind of in negotiations at the moment and it's called "Development hell."  You get to a certain stage with a studio and they're all set but then something happens and it falls through, so it's so frustrating I mean I have so many meetings about doing a series with Lucky so hopefully it'll come off soon. 

On Reality Shows like 16 & Pregnant/ Teen Mom

16 and Pregnant is the most ridiculous show on tv because it's encouraging girls to get pregnant so they can be on tv and that is absolutely crazy and they're on the cover of people magazine and they're in stories in the Enquirer and you're like, get a life! You don't want to tell girls that you're going to make money being pregnant! It's like telling them you're going to have a career if you're going to have a sex tape. 

Any Plans for Books On Reality Stars?

I've been thinking about it because I think it'll be really interesting to get into their psyches and why they do it and why people want to be on television when they're just normal people. And what happens to defunct reality stars - what's going to happen to the three housewives of New York that have just been kicked off? So I think it'd be an interesting book to write. 

Any Guilty Pleasures?

Milk chocolate and TiVo! Just give me 24 hours with nothing but milk chocolate and TiVo so I can watch all my favorite programs and I'm a happy camper.

Words of Wisdom For Us Girls

Girls CAN do anything. Remember in life that the pleasure you give is the pleasure you get back - tell your boyfriend that! 

I just think women need to be more confident, more positive and more sure of themselves and not sit around waiting for some guy to come long and say "I'm going to marry you" and you go "oh that's wonderful" and then 10 years later he's slaving over a hot secretary so you have to just have that confidence in yourself to step forward. 

Thank you so much Jackie, it was fantastic to meet you! Thank you also to LaForce Stevens for giving us a chance to interview Ms. Collins. 

We'll miss you, Jackie. R.I.P.

Need ideas for things to do this weekend? Here's a list and I recommend hitting as many of them as you can!

Friday 10/9 - Fireside Chat at Green Door Gourmet (LINK)

If you haven't been out to the farm at Green Door Gourmet, this is a great chance for you to do so  while meeting two people who are huge influences on southern food. "The rice man" Dr. David Shields and Nathalie Dupree (the Southern Grand Dame herself) are the guests at this intimate gathering and this is your chance to talk all-things southern food with them in a gorgeous setting.

Seating is very limited, there's just a few tickets left and you can purchase them HERE.

Friday 10/9 - Sunday 10/11 - Oktoberfest

Kicking off Friday night with a party at Christie Cookies, this year's Oktoberfest looks to be an even bigger party than it's been in years past with a zipline that takes you all the way through the festival and a beer slide which, honestly, sounds kind of gross. 

Know what's not gross? A PUPPY EFFING PARADE!!!! And, and, and, and? A DASCHUND DASH. That's right - a bunch of wiener dogs racing to the finish. It's already cute overload when I imagine it in my head, I can't wait to see it in person. 

The festival is free to attend and you will find more information and a schedule here.

Saturday 10/10 - Y'allsome at Whites Mercantile

Are you into shopping for Christmas or holiday gifts early? Or just shopping in general? Then this is a good day to stop by Whites Mercantile in 12th South to check out Y'allsome's pop-up shop. Plus, the Hattie B's airstream will be there so you won't go hungry! 

Click on the image to enlarge. Follow Y'allsome to stay updated! 

Sunday 10/11 - Dhaba Chophouse: VEA Supper Club at Fifty First Kitchen & Bar

Do you like good wine? Do you like good steak? Do you like a great atmosphere in which to consume said good steak and wine? 

Then this dinner is perfect for you. 

I mean, COME ON.

This is THE VEA Supper Club of the year. Vivek and the Galzins (who own 51st Kitchen & Bar) have been planning this for what feels like a decade (really it's been more like, 2 years or something). Am I excited? 

Unrelated: That line from Never Been Kissed is on a loop in my head. You know the one: "Nothing but water and exlax till prom." 

Buy your tickets HERE before this dinner is sold out and it will sell out.

Fried rice was one of the first things they taught us how to cook in Home Economics back in secondary school. It was part of the "one-dish meal" section of the curriculum along with fried bee hoon (rice vermicelli). Fried rice is, essentially, a meal made of leftovers. Vegetables and meats are cut up and combined with the rice from yesterday. Growing up, my grandmother always had some medley of frozen vegetables (the kind with peas, carrots, corn) in the freezer for occasions like this and since living on my own, I've done the same because you never know when those frozen vegetables will come in handy.

Anyway, this is a super easy recipe, and bear in mind I eyeball things when I cook fried rice. As long as you're making enough for everybody you're feeding, you're good. I also like using leftover holiday ham because it's got so much flavor to it already that you won't need to add much salt to your fried rice.

A couple of things to note:

Don't use soy sauce. The trick to good fried rice like you'd get at a real Chinese restaurant is to not use soy sauce. I do use it in the recipe but I beat it into the eggs, I don't use any on the rice itself. Salt (sometimes we chat and use a teensy bit of MSG) and white pepper is enough because you don't want your fried rice soggy/mushy or brown. When you're done cooking it, it should have taken on some of the egg's yellow but it's mostly a golden but still white hew.

It's best to use leftover rice that's been in the fridge. Freshly cooked rice could work, just use a little less water than you normally would to make it but it'll more than likely stick together and get mushy.

What I use

• Leftover ham cut into 1" cubes about a cup and a half.
• Leftover rice about 3 cups cooked.
• Half a small onion cut into 1/2" dices.
• 2 cups of the frozen vegetable medley or a mixture of green peas, corn and carrots or whatever crunchy veggie you want to use, really.
• Garlic (use as much as you want but at least one clove).
• Four eggs (I separated two of them and used just the whites).
• Three tablespoons of peanut oil or any oil that won't burn in high heat.
• Kosher salt to taste.
• White pepper to taste.
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce for the eggs.

Steps

1. Whip up the soy sauce and eggs like you're mixing it for an omelet, set aside. I also like to cook the eggs separately in another pan so get that pan out and set it on the stove with about a tablespoon or so of oil.
2. Fry up the ham first to crisp them a little and render out the oil. Remove from pan into a bowl, set aside.
3. Add oil to the pan that has the ham oil and let it heat up a bit. Medium - high heat.
4. Add garlic, stir around till nice and fragrant then add onion, veggies. Toss and cook for about a minute.
5. Add rice.
6. Heat up the oil in the other pan for the eggs the entire time paying attention to your rice and never letting it sit for too long.
7. Add salt/pepper to rice and always remember to taste.
8. Add the ham back into the rice. Stir, stir, stir.
9. Fry up the eggs. Don't forget to keep stirring the rice.
10. When the eggs start to cook but are still sort of wet, add it to the rice. Fry and mix everything up evenly. Imagine you're trying to coat every single granule of rice with the flavors of the veggies, ham and eggs - let all your ingredients mingle and get cozy.
11. Taste, add salt/pepper (and any other spices like chili powder if you want it spicy) and once everything looks like it's been evenly cooked remove from heat and serve up.
12. Garnish with cilantro/coriander, green onions or some crispy onions or shallots.

ENJOY!

Veering off from my usual food/what's happening in Nashville posts and letting you in on some more personal yet superficial stuff today.

As a teenager and through most of my adult life, I had a horrible habit of picking at my zits. It's a nervous tic, I pick at anything I can claw at when I'm nervous or excited and thanks to that awful habit and terribly oily Asian skin, I've got marks on my face from it.

Now that 37 is almost coming to a close and I head deep into "upper 30's" territory, I've started really investing in my skin, most of all the skin on my face. I've been more conscious of what I slather on it, I spend a little bit more on makeup brands that aren't full of awful chemicals, and I've started seeing an awesome dermatologist.

Last week I went in for my first of two Fractora treatments. It's not a chemical peel but it's another resurfacing treatment that's been proven to have better, long-term results and doesn't require more than three or four treatments if your skin's really bad. Since my scarring is minimal I'll only need two which is a relief because holy shit it hurt like a MF. And I have a high threshold for pain too.

Anyway, I know this is a huge difference from what I normally post but I couldn't find many articles or recaps out there for my own reference so hopefully my experience will help other people who are considering doing this.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, I am not speaking on behalf of my dermatologist or Fractora or medical professionals. Everything I have on this blog is from MY perspective and my own personal experience. So the results of my treatment will be different from yours or your friend's.

Here we go!

Day 1

After checking in at the dermatologist and getting the "before" pictures taken, I had numbing cream glopped all over my face and waited for about an hour for it to set in. By the time I washed it off, I couldn't feel my lips.

One of the technicians rubbed pure alcohol all over my face (it's REALLY hard to inhale, btw and I kept coughing) then I had some cool air blown at me. That cool air is constantly blowing through the procedure to keep your skin cool.

Go time

First off, I've clearly forgotten how to do my yoga breathing - where you deeply inhale and exhale through your nose into your belly instead of your chest. For my next session I am going to focus entirely on that instead of the intense pain on my face. Anyway..

So Fractora is a treatment where a grid of tiny pins prick a few millimeters below your skin's surface and introduces heat into those layers. I'm dumbing it down like crazy for you, if you want a more detailed explanation go here.

"Prick" puts it mildly. It felt like my face was getting stapled and the areas that hurt the most were (in order of "I started to cry" to "oh that wasn't so bad):

• Upper lip
• Nose bridge
• The crease between your cheeks and nose
• Jaw/jaw bone area
• the further into the center of your face
• Forehead
• Eyelids (realy the outer corner under your eyebrow)
• Fleshy part of the nose
• Cheeks (but I have chubby cheeks which are, finally, coming in handy)

My doctor did two passes over all those areas focusing on the problem areas more. The second time was just torture and I was shaking so badly because I guess I was super tense and trying my best not to start sobbing. The numbing cream didn't completely numb my face, but I don't even want to think about how bad it'd feel without it!

By the way I want to thank the nurses/technicians for being SO encouraging and so sweet. Everyone was in the room, I guess to observe but it was nice having all that support in there. Next time I'm asking for the stress ball and blanket sooner than later.

During the procedure I could also smell what I guess is burning skin. Because of the heat that's passing through the needles but thanks to that cold air it didn't feel hot till after the air was turned off and we were done.

The whole thing didn't take more than maybe 20 minutes? 30 tops. I was SUPER red and but not quite puffy yet and I looked like I'd sat in a tanning bed for much too long. Other than that, nothing hurt, my face just felt hot. 

Back home

I was not allowed to leave the house for 48 hours. With literal holes in my face, and this being a season of hacking and coughing and colds, I would be prone to infections. That aside, I looked frightful and there was no way I wanted anybody to see me so it was not a problem to stay home.

My face actually felt fine, I did have to take Tylenol just so the pain didn't bother me much but I didn't need the ice pack they gave me. The cold I'd been fighting off did decide to just kick my butt though so trying to blow my nose without rubbing at the skin was .. interesting.

Things did get a little crusty, especially around my chin and the surface of my skin felt a little rough in places but not terribly so. I stared noticing a couple of teeny whiteheads pop up but I didn't think much of it and they seemed to go away by the end of the day.

That night, I had to prop myself up on pillows and keep my head elevated as I slept so reduce swelling but when I woke up the next day, I was a little less red and not as puffy.

Still with me? Great.

Day 2

Woke up, washed my face with a mild facewash like I was instructed. Put on the first of 4 BioCream applications for the day, started on work.

My face started to itch but I figured it was part of the treatment so I just ignored it and went about my day. Things were also looking a lot redder today and I could see the grid of pin marks scabbing over on my forehead and round my face.

By the evening the scabs were starting to completely show up and they looked like teeny, very orderly blackheads. There was still a lot of redness and some itching around my cheekbones and brow and a few more whiteheads had popped up but again, didn't think anything of it.

Day 3

So according to everything I've managed to look up and according to the instructions, the redness should have mostly subsided by now. Except, each time I applied the BioCream to my face, my skin would get really angry looking and more of these little whiteheads (some were getting bigger now) started popping up.

Made a call in to the emergency number and my dermatologist recommended I go get some Cerave face wash - it's super mild, apparently, and gentle enough to use on a newborn therefore gentle enough to use on my currently extremely sensitive skin.

The face wash seemed to help, and things would calm down after a couple of hours (and a Benadryl) but as soon as I applied the cream again, there they were more bumps. Was told to wait a day and see if it subsides.

Day 4

I just got back from a very quick dash into Walgreens to pick up Cerave moisturizer. When I woke up this morning, things had calmed down considerably though my skin had gotten dry overnight and though it wasn't read, it was flakey. After washing my face I applied the BioCream and wouldn't you know it - RED RED RED again. Made another call to the emergency number and was told to skip the BioCream for now and get some milder moisturizer.

I quickly covered my face up with some powder foundation (boy did that make things itch) and tried my best to just play it off like "hey yeah my face does look like that, what of it?" and picked up what I needed. Came home, took a shower, washed my face off again and applied the new stuff.

The itching was a little less intense, there was still some redness (I'm now beginning to think that maybe that's just how it's going to be for now each time I apply moisturizer) but it isn't as angry looking. The moisturizer isn't as intense or rich as BioCream but it'll do for now. I just want to be able to leave the house to go do my job tomorrow!!! I'm supposed to be able to put on makeup after 72 hours (so technically, I can today) but I don't know if it'll be enough to cover up the scabbing and not scare people I see.

Aside from all this, I swear I am already noticing a difference. My scars seem to be shrinking bit by bit though all the materials I've read about Fractora indicate that results will develop over time and could take up to four weeks to REALLY show. So maybe it's psychological, maybe it's actually happening but I am so excited to see how this improves the texture of my skin.

I go back for another treatment in the new year. In the meantime I'm going to keep practicing calming breaths so I'm not as tense that go-round.

The new year is just a few hours away and I'm equal parts excited and nervous for what it holds. 2015 was a good year for me and I know it's within my control (for the most part) to make 2016 just as good, if not better. 

2015 Highlights: This year I...

Let go of a few things and took on some new things.

Learned to acknowledge my abilities and limits (though this is always a work-in-progress!).

Became a godmother to my sister's first born.

Stopped declaring how "busy" I was every time someone asked me how I was and boy has that made a difference!

Lost my grandmother, the woman who raised me and who instilled in me a love for cooking.

Went to Dubai for the first time.

Got featured on Design*Sponge

Learned calligraphy.

Saw Stan Lee in the lobby of a hotel.

Started with LEAN Personal Training and am enjoying the shape my body's taken and how strong I've been feeling.

Learned to say "No."

I'm not usually one to make resolutions, I just try to improve on things I'm working on with more conviction. This year I hope to be better at:

Saying "no" to bad deals and "yes" to great opportunities.

Time management.

Calligraphy.

Taking time for myself.

Stepping away from my computer and putting my phone away.

Travel more.

So happy new year, everybody! May 2016 bring you joy, fun and what you hope to achieve.

Revelator Coffee in Nashville has become a favorite spot from which to work and meet with friends lately. The ambiance is lovely and light (just like their coffee), the people who work there are super nice and the attached garage with free 1 1/2 hr parking makes things really easy.

One of the managers in Nashville recommended I check out their location in Birmingham where Revelator started and since I had a whole day to myself while here for the Southern Foodways Alliance's Food Media South, I took the opportunity to explore.

I was not disappointed. I want whoever designs their stores to design my kitchen and my home, TBH.

I also want that dining table.

I was also lucky enough to get a look inside their roastery and learn a little more about the company. So huge thanks to Kathleen at the Nashville store and Meredith in Birmingham for being so accommodating and for the samples!

Find out more about Revelator and where you can find them by visiting their website or better yet if there's one in your city (They're in Birmingham, Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta) stop in!

Revelator Coffee Birmingham
1826 3rd Avenue North, Unit 101
Birmingham, AL 35203
7:00AM - 5:00PM
Street parking

Ok so maybe that's a stretch but as someone who wouldn't order a sandwich for a meal unless it's the only thing available, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Hattie B's hot chicken sandwich.

All-breast meat, fried in their Nashville Comeback sauce for the spice level of your choice (you know the drill, mild, medium, hot, damn hot, shut the cluck up) with a scoop of their slaw between two buns which I also enjoyed, this sandwich is now available for you to devour. I may not like sandwiches but I'm a sucker for good fried chicken and good bread, and this was a solid combo of both.

For $9 this massive sandwich comes with fries so that's a seriously good deal so GO! Eat up!

Back in February I visited Birmingham and I realized I hadn't shared everything I loved about it. I knew the food scene was good, there are really solid coffee companies based there but one thing I didn't expect was the architecture and how tasteful a lot of the places I went to would be. Perhaps it's just where I chose to go, but everything was really chic, stylish and minimal without being pretentious and I loved it.

Woodlawn Cycle Cafe was one of these places a colleague recommended when I had some free time to roam. It's on 1st Avenue South in the Woodlawn area of town and if you drive too fast, you'll almost miss it, or in my case slam on the brakes and almost get rear ended by an angry looking woman driving a beat-up car she probably wouldn't have minded dinging up a bit.

They're a bicycling accessories store, coffee shop and restaurant in one and being the pain in the ass I can be I ordered an iced coffee which they prepare Japanese style (drip over ice). I got a few tips from the nice person preparing it for me and you can bet your butt I'll be attempting to make some at home!

Their menu had a good variety of snacks and food but I ordered the ramen (which hit the spot) and I know that when I'm ever back in Birmingham I'm making it a point to go back.

So I know it's been a few months since I went for my follow-up Fractora procedure and I'll do my best to recap as many details as I can.

The first round done on December 3rd and it took my skin about five days to not be as red and where I could almost cover it up with makeup. There wasn't a drastic difference yet, but what I learned is that your skin/collagen regenerates every four weeks, so until I've been through a few cycles, I won't see a huge difference just yet. However I will say my skin feel smoother in a lot of areas and there is, overall, a noticeable texture difference. As far as the few pock marks I have, those have yet to be less deep.

I went in for my second treatment a week ago on a Friday (this would be mid January). My dermatologist offered to do JUST the affected areas instead of the whole face and that was a huge relief because I'd been bracing myself all week for the pain that was about to hit and I even took three Tylenol Extra Strength before going in. Thing is, I paid a lot of money for this treatment so I was going to get as much out of it as possible so while I did have her go over my entire face and the problem areas, I opted out of treating the one area that made me feel like I wanted to be put out of my misery: the upper lip area.

Now, Dr. N wanted to go with a higher energy for this round so I said sure why not but that meant the pain was about the same as the first time if not worse and truth be told, it did feel worse in some areas around my cheeks where it even felt like the needles were punching in deeper so I flinched a couple of times. Maybe she didn't pull my skin back as taut as she did in other areas but it really did feel like the needles were hitting harder.

Other than that difference, it seemed to go by quicker and I was a LOT better at the yoga breathing this time around (deep, slow breaths in and out through the nose into the belly).

After treatment (Day 1)

I stuck to using just Cerave instead of the Neocutis cream I was given. The last time I used that cream my face itched and broke out with these clusters of white heads and Cerave moisturized enough and didn't make me itch. That's not to say I didn't I still break out - my forehead actually blistered more with this round (the higher energy level perhaps?) and it was so gross. BUT they seemed to go away the next day. The blisters were also really really delicate and would pop when I barely touched them or when I dabbed my face with a towel. One of them actually peeled and I now have a scab that I really really really hope doesn't stick around or, worse still leave another scar. UPDATE: it disappeared after a couple of months!

The blistering went away after day 2, but the breakouts continued. I tried Googling and apparently edemas are common so that made me less panicky and I got through the weekend without having to bother the dermatologist at the emergency number.

Day 3

Less red, still scabby and red and a few edema/whitehead spots here and there. Also my chin was peeling like crazy no matter how much moisturizer I applied.

Day 4

I decided not to leave the house because there was no way I could successfully cover up the peeling and scabs up with makeup. So it was one more day of moisturizing like mad but even The Husband remarked that my face looked a lot better. I did have a few zits here and there and thought if this was anything like last time that they'd disappear quickly.

Day 5

Nope. Zits still there, some actually bigger. They kind of itched too and popped when I absentmindedly scratched at them (which I don't recommend, just don't touch your face!) But I did leave the house with makeup on and it was near impossible to not be flaky - the air's been so damn dry lately. Luckily I have very kind friends who either remarked they couldn't tell or that I looked fine. Thanks, guys!

Day 6

Not red anymore but skin is still rough and dry in some places. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.

Day 7

Much better though the zits are still there. You can still see a shadow of scabs on my forehead and around my cheeks and problem areas where she did a few more passes with the higher frequency. Thankfully we're snowed in so I don't have to put on makeup or go anywhere so I can give my skin a break. I just hope these zits go away soon. I think I'll try switching back to my regular moisturizer instead of the Cerave, that may be part of the problem too.

It's now June, about 5 months later:

I didn't and don't regret going through Fractora. I don't recommend it for people with average to low pain tolerance because it does hurt and I'm not going to try and sugarcoat it. That numbing cream only numbs for so long but I will say that I'm now a lot more confident about leaving the house with no foundation on. I do still have redness and some pimples break out from time to time but that's going to be my normal and I have to deal with that and also not pick at my face.

The hyperpigmentation went away after a couple of months, I've been diligent with sunscreen and it does still look like my skin is getting better and better. My pock marks are less prominent but they're far from disappearing and maybe they never will.

From the comments I've been getting on the first post, I'm glad I was able to at least provide some solidarity for those of you who've gone through the treatment! I'd also love to hear from those of you who have done it and what your results (now that some time has passed) are and if you're satisfied!