Thanksgiving Week

Packed on some pounds this week. Chi Lien and her fiance, Andy, came to town and all we did was EAT!

Tuesday: Beef and swordfish hot pot. Mom made Cua Rang Hanh Xa (Crabs sauteed with onions and lemongrass)


Wednesday: Boil pork belly w/fermented fish (mam dua/mam chua), plate of mixed lettuce and herbs, steamed fish w/ garlic ginger soy sauce, kimchi and kimchi radish, left over crab and braised pork and shrimp.


Thanksgiving Thursday: Chi Phuong made the Turkey (a Paula Dean recipe), Anh Cuong made pumpkin pie, I made shrimp & smoked sausage jambalaya (Zatarain's Mix), Chi Lien made the oyster sauce asparagus saute, and everyone pitched in with the roast garlic mash potatoes, sweet corn, and bread baskets (rolls, biscuits, and croissants).


Beautiful!


Smelled so good out of oven




Mmm


Something simple and light


Being silly with the nieces, Kelly and Katelyn


Chi Lien, Chi Phuong, Lele, and Lisa


Serious.


Chi Phuong and nephew, Brendon ^_^


Wonderful dinner with family and friends. Not pictured: Phuong, Kimmie, David and Randy. Also missing my Florida and South Carolina families.

Ended the night with poker, karaoke (for us non-poker players), second round at the leftovers, and a few games of tien len.

Black Friday: Happy Birthday Lil Brother! Unfortunately, I had to work on Black Friday. Thought I'd come in a little early to leave a little early. Most of us just sat around talking about Thanksgiving. I left during lunch time to meet up with the siblings for Pho. On my way back to work one of my coworkers called to tell me that unless we needed to finish something - it was okay to go home. I drove back, finished up some reports and left for the day. Did a little shopping with the sister - but found nothing. That night, Chi Lien made Bun Bo Hue and we celebrated Khanh's 22nd Birthday.


Que Huong Restaurant: According to my brothers and some friends, this small restaurant that has no more than maybe 10 tables, is the best in town.


Vietnam's traditional conic hats as hanging lamp shades. Nice.


Goi Cuon w/ Nuoc Leo (Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce)


Lisa, Khanh, and Andy had Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich)


Me, Phuong and Khanh had Pho Dac Biet (Beef Noodle Soup) I've been craving Pho for the longest. I don't usually order Pho but I had to have it. It was good, but Mom still makes the best.


Lisa order Banh Cuon Thit Nuong Cha Lua (Rice-flour Crepes with Grill Pork and Vietnamese Pork Loaf/Ham)

Not Pictured - Lien ordered Hu Tieu (Clear Noodle Soup)

Dinner later that night...


Chi Lien cooked Bun Bo Hue


Khanh's Cake: Mocha Flavored Chinese Fruit Cake from QQ Bakery. Light and delicious.

Past birthday cakes from QQ. These are the regular flavor, but decorated differently. It's my favorite cake. Light, not overly sweet, fresh, and just good!


My Birthday


Lien's Birthday


Cuong's Birthday

Time to get back on the yogurt and granola!

Happy Feasting!

Family, friends, and FOOD! Best combination ever.

Wishing everyone a delicious Thanksgiving!

Mussels on the Menu

For as long as I can remember, dinner is prepared almost every night at our house. Only on days where the folks are invited to a relative's home, Mom made a pot of Pho to last the entire day, or we dine out do we not cook. Dining out as a family is pretty rare though and usually happens only on birthdays, celebrating employment or college acceptances, bidding a family member a farewell before they head off to some distant place, or any other excuse we can come up with.

Mom used to do all the cooking, but when work required her to come home too late, older sisters Lien and Phuong (12 or 13 yrs. old at the time) had to step up. I joined in a couple years afterwards. The brothers can cook as well, but mostly - its just us sisters. We almost always eat together during dinner, but that doesn't happen to much now-a-days since everyone's schedule is so different. When we do sit down together, like tonight, it's very enjoyable.

Tonight's Dinner was delicious.

Ca Hap (Steamed Fish): Spicy Ginger, Garlic, and Scallion Soy Sauce over Microwave-steamed fish.



Dad's touch: Adding a little bit of water to my sauce to lighten the sodium in the soy sauce. Exactly what it needed and learned something new!

Mussels w/ Scallion Oil: Pre-cooked mussels buttered and broiled slightly, topped with Vietnamese scallion oil infused with Sambal chilli paste and soy sauce.





Mom came home right in time to show me how to make this. I was going to bake the Mussels in a spicy mayo sauce, something I learned from my eldest niece MaiLinda during my recent visit to Florida. This turned out much tastier and juicy.

Kim Chi: Mom made this last week, goes well with all the protein on the table.



I love a bowl of rice and cold Kimchi. Good Stuff.

Food Venture: Shilla's Korean and Japanese Cuisine

I always drive past this restaurant on my way to work so I thought I'd try it out. Went here with Hanh not too long ago. We ordered shumai, broil mussels (also with a spicy mayo sauce) and bibimbap. The dumplings were okay and the mussels were not as warm as I expected, the side dishes and miso soup were good, but I really liked the Bibimbap. We ate all of it, especially the crispy rice at the bottom of the sizzling stone pot. Yum.





My second attempt at the bakes mussels a couple weeks ago: Diced mussels, Kewpie Korean Mayo, Sriracha, diced sweet onion, splash of fish sauce, dash of salt n pepper.



A little heavy handed on the salt, but overall it was pretty good. The left over mixture works well between two toasts, I'm sure it would make for a good dip too.

Ground Pork Stuffed Bitter Melon Soup | Canh Muop Dang Nhoi Thit

Bitter Melon: Yay? Nay? I love this stuff. Most preferred sliced thin in a shrimp broth. I was not a fan of bitter melon when I was younger. I usually just scooped out the meaty goodness and left the veggie back. Ever since I started cooking and eating more of it, I've grown to like it more.

How I make Canh Muop Dang Nhoi Thit:

Soak a couple bundles of bean thread noodles in hot water

Cut and remove seeds from bitter melons. I like to use a butter knife for this, quick and clean.

Dice shallots, dice garlic, cut scallions separating whites from greens.

Cut drained bean thread noodles into 1 inch pieces. Mix by hand: noodles, ground pork, shallots, garlic, fish sauce, salt, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes.

Infuse oil with scallion whites and more hot pepper flakes.

Add water and bring to boil.

While waiting for water to boil, stuff bitter melons with meat mixture. Roll extra mixture into meatballs (we love extra meat).

Add stuffed bitter melons into the pot of boil soup base, after 5 minutes add the extra meatballs. Let cook and serve with white rice.

Substitute with your choice of ground meat. Below is ground beef, preferred by my younger brothers.

Teardrops Everywhere, not really.

Farewell to the beloved Xanga. =(...
I'm finally leaving it to start fresh here on blogger.

Can't get this song out my head and I can't get enough of this guy's cover.