We did have to battle against some quick moving little ones, which resulted in a whole slew of unfocused, majorly blurry pictures, but I think we also got a few good ones.

My one year old nephew Hyden is truly a foodie.  Every morning like clockwork, he crawls to his high chair and can’t wait to eat.  Then he kicks his legs in excitement anytime my sister gives him apple sauce.  He was a good sport and open to my annoying camera in his face.  Ironically, he ate oatmeal and PEAR puree for breakfast while he wore his Baby Pear long sleeve onesie in size 12-18m, and then enjoyed a healthy snack of “Organic Morning O’s.”

Expectant parents Christina and Jason showed me their pink, brown, and white nursery, while holding their Baby Pear long sleeve onesie in size 3-6m, in anticipation for Bella’s arrival.  Christina is due very soon, so I kept telling her to have her baby while I was still here.  I also told her if she has the baby while I’m on the plane back to California, then our friendship is over.

I also tried out a few hand and product/ logo shots, because I thought these pictures expressed a lot of emotion and anticipation from the excited parents-to-be.  I thought the photo on the right was very sweet.

Then I went over to my friends Yong Mi & Joo ho’s place.  Five and a half month Vincent and his big brother, Kenneth, are both 75% Korean and 25% Chilean. It’s so cool to see them growing up to be tri-lingual! It was hard to capture Vincent before he moved around, but it wasn’t difficult to get a huge smile out of him at all.  His onesie is a little big on him, but that’s because his mom ordered a Baby Carrot short sleeve onesie in size 12-18m so he could wear it in the Summer when he’s a little older.

THE END!  I know, I know… I couldn’t resist. Vincent had the cutest little behind.

If you want to stay connected to what we’re doing with Small Bites, become a fan on our ilovesmallbites facebook fan page.

And visit our website at ilovesmallbites.com to watch a video of Our Story.

peace out for now,
julie

I arrived on Wednesday and have been very occupied with my family and especially my nephew. The first and last time he saw me in person was when he was 3 months old, and now he’s turning one! In Korean tradition, when a baby turns 1, you have this big celebratory shin dig called a “dohl.” So I’m here for that. But I’m also going to be making the most of my 2 1/2 week trip by meeting up with as many people under the sun as I can.

Joe will be joining me here next week. But before I left him behind, I made sure that my non-cooking husband would be well fed.  I made huge batches of three different dinners entrees in one night and froze everything in individual portions for him.  Yeah, sometimes I even surprise myself.

My flight from California was a little long, and the only time I fell asleep was during the drink service, so they skipped me!  But my flight from Houston was great because as you can tell in the top picture, I had the whole row to myself, so I made sure I sprawled out and scattered my stuff everywhere.  But what really cracked me up was that the row next to me was completely empty too!  And this time, I made sure I was wide awake for drink service.

The only annoying thing about traveling alone is lugging around all your stuff everywhere you go, including the bathroom stall at the airport.  I refuse to pay $25 to check my bag.  I felt like a one-girl circus production going through security with my wheeling suitcase, winter coat, laptop bag, knee-high boots, 2lbs of Coffee Bean coffee, and little bag of Small Bites stuff to personally deliver to my pregnant friend.

But needless to say, I arrived safely and it was nice getting a chance to hang out with my sister and nephew at the Nordstrom Cafe and eat this real deal Nicoise salad with Salmon.  I love it when simple things, like salads, at restaurants blow me away.  The chef side of me always wants to go home and recreate it.  I turn completely silent while I’m chewing, and start to break down flavors and ingredients in my head.  That’s why I made my Savory Salami Chopped salad after I tasted the Nancy’s Chopped Salad at Pizzeria Mozza.

It was also nice to wake up this morning at my parents’ house, teach them how to use their new Keurig coffee machine, and make them breakfast.

I’ll be bouncing around and staying everywhere from my parent’s house, to my sister’s, to my friend’s, and even New York City.  I’m actually excited to go back to New York and re-live my twenties!  I love the hustle, excitement, food, fashion, and fast service at every Starbucks!   I don’t know how much time I’ll get to actually blog, since I have stuff to do with family and friends, a business meeting, and a slide show to make for my nephew’s party.  So since this was my first free moment alone, I decided to make good use out of it and keep you in the loop.

Mmmm….can’t wait to sink my teeth into a Philly cheesesteak and drink a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee!  Oh how I’ve missed you!

peace out for now,
julie

I’ve been a bit MIA because of our new business.  I’m still trying to work out the balance of running a business and being a blogger at the same time.  I’m not gonna lie, some days I just can’t motivate myself to be creative, entertaining, or charming.  And not to get all depressing on you or anything, but I’ve been having a few health issues too.  But everything is on its way to getting resolved now, so it’s time to saddle up the horse again.

This recipe was invented after I felt like eating a California Roll, you know the Japanese maki or rice rolls that are filled with crab, avocado, and cucumber.  But the problem was, I didn’t have crab or cucumber.  However, I did have turkey bacon, perilla (sesame) leaves, and alfalfa sprouts!  By the way, if you put turkey bacon, avocado and sprouts together in a sandwich, it’s the bomb diggity- which is probably why I had those ingredients in the first place.

In an earlier entry, I gave you the recipe for traditional beef kimbap, or Korean rice rolls, where the flavor comes mostly from sesame oil and individually seasoned ingredients.  At the end of the entry, I promised to one day post a “Julie version” of kimbap, which requires simpler ingredients and less prep time.  So today is the day I deliver.

Unlike traditional kimbap, my version requires less things to be cooked and prepped.  The ingredients are pretty humble and usually easy to find, especially in California where we live.  The only thing that might trip you up are the perilla leaves.  Perilla, or sesame leaves, are found in Korean grocery stores in the produce section.  They have a similar quality and taste as mint, but not as sharp.  You can eat them raw, cooked, or marinated in soy sauce.

When you add them raw to a dish, they add a fragrance and intense freshness that I truly adore.  But if you can’t find them, you can substitute with a mixture of fresh mint and arugula.  Just stack the leaves on top of each other, roll them up, and run your knife across them to create thin julienned strips.

The avocados are simply peeled, pitted, and sliced.  Don’t you just love avocados?  I’ll gravitate towards anything on a menu if it says there are avocados on it.

Then the main flavor component comes from sizzling, slightly crisp, yet still flexible turkey bacon. I have fond memories of turkey bacon. In college, my friend and I would always eat the same breakfast sandwich off of our favorite food truck…egg whites, turkey bacon and cheese on a roll. Yum!

Then, peel and julienne a large carrot and saute the strips in olive oil and a little salt.  Lastly, assemble your rice, by adding olive oil, sesame oil, sesame seeds and salt to cooled freshly cooked rice.  Season your rice last, after all the other ingredients are prepped.  To see the photo tutorials for the carrots and rice, refer to the photos from my beef kimbap recipe entry.

Then there’s nothing left to do but grab yourself a bamboo mat and some dried laver seaweed or nori.  Place the shiny side down, and throw on an even layer of seasoned rice.  Only go up about two-thirds of the way of the nori.  Then when you start placing your ingredients on top, make sure you leave 1″ of rice at the bottom, and 2″ of rice at the top.

One strip of turkey bacon will be fine, but if you want to be greedy, you can add two.  Sprouts and avocado go next, in neat rows.

And you finish off with two more neat rows of the julienned sauteed carrots, and fresh perilla leaves.  The key is to not over-stuff this baby, or it will explode and become a hot mess.

See here?  See what I’m doing?  That’s why you need to leave that border of rice on the top and bottom.  You grab your bamboo mat and try to touch the rice to the rice so it will stick.  That’s your first roll. Squeeze tightly all across.

Then you pull the mat up a little away from you, allowing the kimbap to roll with it, and squeeze again.  Eventually, roll the whole bad boy up into the mat, pick it up and squeeze again.  For the photo tutorial, again, please refer to my beef kimbap recipe entry.

When all your kimbap are rolled, you grab a brush or a gloved hand and lightly caress them with a bit of sesame oil.  Don’t go to town.  Sesame oil is strong stuff.  This will give your kimbap a nice sheen and added taste.

It sometimes helps to lightly touch the blade of your knife with some sesame oil too, and then you slice away.  Make sure your knife is sharp, and be brave when you slice.  If you’re intimidated, your kimbap will know, and it will die on you.  So be bold and go for it!  Traditional kimbap is cut on the skinny side, but if you’re scared, forget that, and just cut big ol’ chunks.

Then enjoy as is, or go nuts like me and decorate with extra toppings, just for fun!

This California kimbap is fresh and crunchy from all the vegetables, creamy from the avocado, and decadent from the turkey bacon.  And you can go a little topping-happy like me and load up the bacon and sprouts.  This would be a good thing to do especially if you wanted to serve kimbap as appetizers at your next party.  It’s so colorful and fun!

You can even take it a step further and pair some of the California Kimbap with the traditional beef kimbap pieces. It’s nice to have variety.  And as always, kimbap should be eaten on the same day it’s made.  However, if you do have leftovers, put them in the fridge and the next day, dip them in egg and fry them.  Go here for the how-to.  So next time you want kimbap in a hurry, be creative and rummage through your fridge.  Then you can come up with some deliciously crazy concoctions of your own.

peace out for now,
julie

Do you like comfort foods as much as you enjoy light, fresh, and healthy dishes? If so, I’ll be nice and tell you one of my secrets on how you can enjoy both at the same time. Anytime you have a craving for a nice creamy or cheesy pasta dish, cut the cream way down by adding in chicken stock! Who knew, huh? Since I graduated from a French culinary school, I’m a big believer in using real butter, cream, and wine. But it doesn’t mean that you should use an excessive amount, especially if you’re trying to watch your girlish figure! Sometimes all you need is just a touch.

So this delicious mushroom pasta is the perfect recipe for you to try to test my theory. I adore orecchiette pasta, because the little cute “ear-shaped” pieces are like little cups that hold all your glorious sauce. If you don’t like the taste of mushrooms, you can skip this recipe, because the flavor base comes mostly from cooking mushrooms and cooking them right. Intrigued?

I happen to love mushrooms, so this pasta is right up my alley. Slice them and add them to a large pan. If you crowd your pan of mushrooms, they won’t brown.

If they don’t brown, they don’t taste like mushrooms. Mushrooms, when cooked properly, taste meaty and earthy. So don’t try to be sneaky and skip this step. You’ll be sorry.

So work in batches and remove them to a plate until later.  Try not to snack on all the mushroom slices while you’re cooking.

The mushrooms are important, but so are the onions.

If you take the time to caramelize them, you’ll be in business. Sweet browned onions, sauteed garlic, browned mushrooms and cream?  Can I get an “Amen?”

Since the onions take about 10 minutes to develop their flavor, start on your pasta.  Multi-task!  Get that salted water on a boil and drop your precious orrecchiette into the hot tub.  Cook until they’re al dente.

And here comes the secret ingredient…

Add that chicken broth to the pan, followed shortly by the…

…cream.  Ooh…look at that cream waterfall just splashing into the sauce.  It’s only ¼ cup, but that’s all you need!

After a couple minutes, the luxurious sauce will thicken.  Then you can invite the mushrooms back to the party.

Drain your al dente pasta and add it directly to your sauce.  Mix, tumble, taste, and season with salt and pepper.

And that’s all she wrote.

So as you can see, it’s mushroom pasta with a touch of cream, not a creamy pasta with some mushroom chunks.  It’s a hearty savory pasta with a deep earthy taste. But in this case, hearty doesn’t mean heavy, thanks to the chicken stock. And you can take the tip I left on my facebook fan page about lightening up any pasta dish by taking the measurement for the amount of pasta and cutting it in half. Then substitute the missing pasta with other fresh veggies such as asparagus or zucchini.

You’ll get the same great taste and still feel satisfied that you’re eating pasta, but you’ll cut down your carb intake! But if you don’t care about all that, then ignore that tip. Just grab a fork, scoop, and munch away… in moderation of course!

peace out for now,
julie

Small Bites is a line we specifically designed to help kids develop an interest in food and even cooking, starting from an early age. We are beginning with baby onesies as a nod and tribute to all of our friends who are currently expecting, or have just become new parents. We thought it would be a fun way to first introduce healthy foods to young kids, through these cute and quirky characters. And of course the onesies would make perfect gifts for parents who are foodies!

But the real reason we are revealing this to you TODAY is because it also happens to be my 30th birthday! That’s right!  I thought it would be fun and symbolic to celebrate a new chapter in our lives, and the “birth” of our business, on a day that is an important landmark to me. Woah…deep.

I know that when I first hinted at the fact that we’ve been busy and side tracked lately, due to working on a project, many of you were wondering what on earth it could be. Maybe some of you thought it was a cookbook – yes, still a dream of mine. But I doubt you expected us to produce baby onesies!  However, it’s not as random as you might think. I do have a degree and background in fashion design, and I always wanted to design a children’s line.

When I scrapped that plan to follow my passion and pursue culinary school, my parents were really upset. My mom secretly prayed that one day I wouldn’t “waste” my talents and somehow find a way to combine both of my interests together. Honestly, I fought many battles with her regarding this topic, saying that this would be impossible, and she should just let that dream go. She insisted that anything was possible and just kept on praying! So as much as I hate to admit it, several years later, she ended up being right!

With Joe’s graphic design skills combined with my original illustrations, we are finally doing it! We’re starting out with two different characters in limited quantity. We hope to slowly release different characters in the future as well.  All of them are hand screen printed on American Apparel Brand Onesies with soft non-toxic water-based inks.

So if you have your own little one, a baby shower coming up, or are looking for a unique birthday gift for a loved one, check out our Etsy Shop!  Also come visit our new website at ilovesmallbites.com and click on “Our Story” to watch a VIDEO we made.

And lastly, show some love by pushing “like” on our new Small Bites facebook fan page! Since this is essentially a separate business, if you want to stay updated and in the know with Small Bites, become a fan today.  Hey, did I mention it’s my birthday? Thanks a bunch.  We appreciate your enthusiasm, and support!  Remember to spread the word.  You’re the best!

peace out for now,
julie