Holiday Pop Up Dinner: Eat, Drink, & Be Merry

The month of December was bustling for us! We moved into our new house, catered a private party for the Masons of Greenwood, and our biggest project; we threw a holiday pop up dinner. Initially we wanted to throw something small, with maybe 20 people, and definitely no more than 30. But once we started to tell our family and friends about the event, tickets sold out quickly.  In the end we sat 50 people, and turned away 20 inquiries. We were so busy the day of the event that we were unable to take proper photos of the food, but I took some photos on my phone to capture the overall ambiance, the venue, and feel of the event. The pop up was very inspiring and reaffirmed us that cooking for people, and making a living out of it is something we want to do for the rest of our lives. We are so thankful for our family and friends for all their help and support. Thankful to all our friends, and friends of friends who purchased tickets. Thankful to family and friends who helped set up and clean up. Thankful for all the love and kind words. Special thanks to our crew the night of the event Melanie who helped with decor, Annie Kathryn who took on the role as as the maitre' d, Claire who helped with the bar, and Gina who diligently put our appetizers together. It was the perfect way to end 2014, and a nice kick off to 2015. We are so excited to do more events and projects like this one. Stay tuned!

Michal was in charge of all the food and I did the production and creative side of the event from the graphic design, marketing, sourcing materials. Thanks to my friend Melanie for helping me tie the details together day of the event.

For $50 you get all the above. It was a steal in my opinion. We wanted to make sure no one left hungry, and upon arrival there was food ready! 

Here is the mackerel that Michal smoked and made delicious spread out of. 

A prep photo. Rabbit ragu sauce from scratch! And dumplings.

A quote that resonates with us. Instead of name placement cards we had quotes. 

The smoked mackerel bites during cocktail hour. 

Us. It was surprisingly stress free. There were a few kinks during the event, but nothing we couldn't handle. 

The hard copy of the tickets. 

 I wanted the colors of the event to match the flier, and was very adamant about the colors being burnt orange, baby blue, and gold. 

A couple weeks before the event I sourced materials from thrift stores, and dug up pieces from my own inventory. 

The event took place at Mallet Inc.

The duck. Really wish I got more photos from the event!

What's On the Menu: Brazilian Feast

A couple years ago Michal took a job at a Brazilian restaurant as a gaucho and bartender. After working there for a couple of months and becoming friends with the kitchen staff, he learned a thing or two about Brazilian cuisine. He took his knowledge from there and experimented at home. If were entertaining people we usually went the Brazilian route. It takes a lot of preparation, but the results are fresh, healthy, and a crowd pleaser. There's usually an array of items to choose from so meat eaters and vegetarians alike have the power to choose. Back in September my older sister Abigail wanted to do a birthday dinner different so we catered it and prepared a huge Brazilian feast for 20 or so people. For starters we made cod and shrimp ceviche, avocado salad, plantains. We grilled veggies such as squash, red onions, corn, red peppers, and more. Made filet mignon skewers, grilled chicken wings. And of course we had croquettes with manchego cheese and french ham as well as feijoada and rice. 

This right here is the star of the menu. Chimuchurri sauce. 

Croquettes. Made from potatoes, french ham, and manchego cheese. 

The plate with all the goods

Family Day at Deception Pass

I have a lot of updating to do on this blog. Our Instagram (@GolasKitchen) is the most up to date form of social media we have. We post as real time as possible. However this blog will go into detail more about the experience and so on. So while this is a late post, I thought it would be worth sharing. Over the summer we took a bunch of day trips and weekend camping trips around Washington. 

One trip we took was to Deception Pass near Anacortes/ Oak Harbor. We went with my sister, brother in law, and their kids. It's only an hour and half north of Seattle, but looks like many worlds away. You can enjoy the beautiful scenery, from the glimmering water, the lush green trees, and unreal blue skies. There isn't much to do there, unless you go camping or have a day picnic, but a nice spot to visit is the Shrimp Shack. It's definitely worth the visit and I would suggest ordering a pound of their local shrimp and oyster burger. See more photos below.

A carved statue of a woman holding up a salmon on Rosario Beach

At any opportunity I like to pick flowers during my adventures

Gorgeous landscape of Deception Pass

Oyster Burger with shrimp and chips combo

Oyster Burger close up

Local shrimp

Glamping in Salmon Le Sac

A few weeks ago our friend took us to Salmon La Sac to camp overnight. It was a short trip, but just what we needed. Washington has the best summers, and when we are surrounded by friends and family in such beautiful scenery it reminds us on how lucky we are to live here. The buzz of the city, the infinite options on restaurants, the arts, the tight knit community, And in contrast there is nature, the serenity, and vast wilderness. You really can't lose here. Anyway, we stayed in a treehouse above the river, cooked a campfire dinner, and enjoyed the scenery. It's now August, so we have about 2 more months of this amazing weather. We have two more camping trips planned this month. Mt Saint Helens and Mt. Rainier we're coming for you. 

Our camping building blocks of Herschel, Long Champ, Poler, etc.

The treehouse we stayed in was a two level loft. This is the bottom area.

Michal in his element, that is an outdoor kitchen. 

Dinner is served.  Vegetables cooked in a dutch oven, lemon pepper halibut, and grilled corn. 

One of the best places I've ever slept. The sound of the river at night was soothing and a little scary.

Breakfast is served. Fresh caught smoked salmon, boiled egg, and tomato salad. 

What a dream. Picking wildflowers in a meadow has been on my bucket list forever. Check!

Salmon La Sac is one of those places in Washington that will probably in a few years become like Orcas Island. 

Birthday Beach Picnic Recap

Sunday July 6th, 2014. 

A couple weeks ago Michal and I had our very first joint birthday celebration. Every year I always make a big fuss over my birthday, while he's more laid back. We didn't want to do the typical bar and club crawl, instead we opted for a summer beach picnic. It was family and pet friendly, so everyone got to join in on the fun. I didn't get any good photos, let alone food photos, but just wanted to write a post about the party and how incredibly blessed we are. We had so much food from Filipino classics such as lumpia and pancit, and Czech open faced sandwiches called chlebicky. There was also Michal's famous potato salad, chicken wings, grilled meats, salmon spread, tasty desserts, and more. It couldn't have been a more perfect day of loved ones, fantastic weather, beautiful scenery, and of course food! We are so thankful for our friends and family and their ongoing love and support. It was them who encouraged us over and over again to "start your own business", and so we are going to just that. 

The flier I designed for our birthday beach picnic.

Photo taken by my friend Michelle Yang. Our beach picnic wrapping things up at sunset.

Richmond Beach in Shoreline, WA. The city we call home. 

Rooftop Summer Pignic

This past Sunday Michal and I met with a couple of good friends for a little rooftop lunch. Our friend got a terra-cotta pig grill from Cost Plus World Market and we thought it would be fun to test it out. Sure, there's a BBQ grill, but where's the fun in that? Not everyday do you grill on a mini pig. We went to Uwajimaya to get our ingredients. We opted for something simple. Chicken and Portuguese sausage kebabs, grilled squid, and shishito peppers. Overall a tasty, light, and perfect summer meal.

Chicken and Portuguese sausage with red onions. Marinate meats in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. The grill wasn't practical for cooking chicken, so we had to improvise with the grill and its cooking rotation so the meat cooked properly.

The mini pig grill is more ideal for fast grilling and perfect for veggies and seafood. Shishito peppers and squid are a perfect flavor combination. You can even stuff the squid with the pepper inside for one bite!

Marinate squid in lemon, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. 

A summer must have…a friend with a rooftop.

Welcome to Gola's Kitchen

Hi everyone! My name is Osiris and Gola's Kitchen is a spin off from my Instagram hashtag #getinthekitchengola. The hashtag features all the meals Michal has made me throughout our relationship. Those who know me and my partner Michal, know that we love to eat and cook. When we met it was food that brought us together and 3 years later it is food that has kept us together. We are still in the beginning stages of developing a business model for Gola's Kitchen, but for starters I thought it would be nice to create a platform where we can share our journey, stories, recipes, etc.

Camping in Mount Shasta

We are hoping an online presence (from this blog, Facebook, Instagram, to our other social media pages) can help us get a better idea of the route we're headed. We want to host a few test kitchens, cater some private dinner parties for research purposes, so stay tuned. Thank you to our friends and family who have encouraged us to take this food thing more seriously. We don't know exactly what we're doing yet, but we are excited nonetheless.

Sunset in Gold Bluffs Beach