Pan Grilled Lemongrass Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

The lil bro cooked dinner tonight.


Baked chicken drumsticks

I was bored so I made something simple, pan-grilled shrimp for lettuce & herb wraps.


Marinade peeled and deveined shrimp with: minced lemongrass, minced shallots, minced garlic, dash of soy sauce, teriyaki marinade, sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper, and hot pepper flakes.


I skewered the shrimp...just because... =)


Add butter to a grilled pan heated at Medium.


Pan-grill the shrimp


Serve with soft green lettuce and choice of herbs (mint, vietnamese coriander, and fish mint)

See Ya Later Brother

The time has come. Time for big brother Cuong to pack up, move out, and move on, hopefully to bigger and better things. It's comfortable living at home, but unless we venture out, we'll never learn how to survive on our own.

The days before the leave:




Sunday Mornings + Mom's Pho = L.O.V.E.

Sucks that he won't be here to cook on his days off so I didn't need to. Monday's dinner:



He made Thit Heo Tom Rim


I made Canh Chua.


Met up for lunch at Golden Harvest on Tuesday. Must eat: Salt and Spicy Squid. It's the best.

Farewell dinner on Tuesday.



Kieu made Tofu in a tomato sauce | Dau Sot Ca


Lisa and Phuong's Grilled Pork | Thit Heo Nuong


Made Spicy Mayo Baked Mussels again. Thanks to MissxxMai, my niece, who introduced it to me during my visit to Florida. Tweaked a little bit.


Mom's Clear Dumplings | Banh Bot Loc. We all helped out pinching and stuffing the deliciousness. Phuong cooked it.


Dinner is served.


Lisa came down from State to join us. Love her! After dinner, she made a pitcher of yummy Avocado Milkshake | Sinh To Bo.


Lisa and Khanh bought Cheesecake to share. =)


Yea...most likely gained 5-10 lbs within the 3 days...Yikes! Take care Bro!

LOL Random 4

Last Saturday, the family and I was invited to a wonderful dinner prepared by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.



Dining on the floor Vietnamese Style is the way to go!


Beef wrapped in grape/pepper(?)leaves | Bo Nuong La Nho/La Lot


Lemongrass Chicken Stirfry | Ga Xao Xa


Braised Catfish in a Caramel Sauce | Ca Kho To (this dish is showing up a lot in the last few posts huh?)


Wouldn't be complete without a Vegetable Platter | Rau Song

Sour Fish Soup | Canh Chua Ca also on the menu - not pictured.

On Sunday, the munchkins were over. They got a little bored after watching T.V., youtubing disney videos, and hearing my short answers to their questions. To give us something to do, I gathered up some paper, crayons, and colored pencils so we could draw. They decided we should make a book.



The first few pages of our book. The kid's imagination gave me a pretty good laugh. Kel's M&M flower and triangular shaped leafs. Lyn's blue gray sun and flowers made of star and heart shaped petals. Kids are so creative and imaginative - I love it! Can't wait to add more pages and see what else they've got to throw down paper. Being a kid again is nice.

Yesterday, little bro turned a whopping 18 years old! Happy Birthday young one!


Birthday Dinner: Hot Pot with the family and cousins


Hot Pot with Butter | Chien Bo


Hot Pot with Soup | Nhung Nuoc


MiGnon Cake from Produce Palace. One of our family's favorite.


Watching:

Amazing race: Not so great season so far - but rooting for my cowboys!
Undercover Boss: Great show. Very touching.
Stars Falling From the Sky: The "it" Kdrama right now. The first 5 episode had me in tears. Not draggy. Great cast. Good storyline. And super cute! Started it a week ago, now I'm all caught up for the last two episodes to air next week.

Fish Spring Rolls | Goi Cuon Ca

Feels good to come home and someone has already cooked dinner! Came home the other day, opened the door to the house, smelled something delicious cooking and breathed a sigh of relief. I was tired and not in much of a mood to cook, but ended up making a dish anyway. Big brother was firing up a pot of Ca Kho To. I'm guessing after my attempt, he'd show me he could do better.


If only you could take a whiff of this stuff =)
Last night we made spring rolls:


Prepare mix of lettuce and herbs, I used green leaf lettuce, mint, and cilantro


Small vermicelli noodles


Meat from boiled mackerels, take the time to carefully remove small bones


Roll up lettuce, herbs, noodles, and fish in a rice paper


Serve with a dipping sauce (garlic, fish sauce, chopped chilies, lime juice, and a little water)

Fermented Fish Dish | Mam Dua Ca

This past summer when big sister Lien and Andy got engaged, Andy's mom brought up from Texas some fresh fish that could be used for fermenting. I'm not sure what the name of this fish is, only that it's shiny silver in color, thin, and long. The fish was cut into about 1/2 inch pieces, salted, and jared for fermenting.

A couple months later, mom used it to make a fermented fish dish called Mam Dua or Mam Ca.



Dried pieces of green papaya from Vietnam soaked in water to re-hydrate and drained.


Rinsed and drained pickled eggplant from the jar. Cut into halves.


Chili Radishes from the package; Washed, drained, and cut into small pieces.


Seasonings and spices go in.

The potent stuff!


Time to take it outside to add the fermented fish. The smell can be overwhelming inside the house.


Mix well with gloves!


Pack in jars.


Give the vegetables a couple weeks to absorb the seasonings and it's good to eat.


Compliments well with boiled pork belly and a plate of raw vegetables (green leaf lettuce, mint, cilantro, and fish mint). Served with rice.

I like to bunch everything up in a lettuce wrap and eat it that way. But if I'm hungry or just craving - I'm satisfied with a bowl of rice and the mam.

A picture video of Lien & Andy's beautiful engagement. Jul 4.09 weekend



*Stop the playlist music*

LOL Random 1

I feel so tired these days. Gotta work Saturdays this month at the job and some Sundays at the shop. I catch myself resting my eyes at my desk a few times now, yawning like crazy throughout the day, and taking in more coffee. Feels strange cause I'm not usually like this. And where do the days go? There's barely anytime after work to do anything before it's time to go to bed, wake up, and start the routine all over again.

We don't have kids over often so it's nice when the 'lil cousins come over. Ethan says the silliest things and gives us all a good laugh. They came over Friday to hang out and stayed for Taco night. Easy to prepare, fun for the kids to make, and the folks love 'em too!



Phuong bought some fresh sweet strawberries that day too. Her and Brandi decided to make Chocolate covered Strawberries.



Mmm =)

On Saturday, Phuong threw together a Lasagna. Adapted from a Paula Deen recipe. Is it me or does this girl really like Paula Deen's recipes? hehe


Layers of sauce

Layers of Oven Ready Pasta and Cottage/Parmesan Cheese Mixture

Layers of Mozzarella

Ready for the oven

Yum.

Anh's Boston Cream Cupcakes.

Yum-O! I want another. hehHappy Birthday Kimi!

Books: I read about 3 more pages of The Eclipse (Yay?) hehe Reading at this rate will get me no where. I'm thinking I should stop and just wait for the movie.

Movies: Book of Eli. I give it a 3/5.

Music: I cannot find new stuff that's a good listen so I'm listening to old songs. Some oldies but goodies:

- Thuy Hang: Tinh Xot Xa (Feel So Sorry)

- Shin Hyesung: Take Me To Your Heart

- Van Quang Long: Boi Tin Loi The
- Vonda Shepard: Baby Don't Break My Heart Slow
- Jimmy JC Nguyen: Tinh Xua Nghia Cu 2

Good Night.