Food Meme

To round out the month of November, I thought I would do a meme on food.   I mean, the holiday season is upon us and what we normally do at this time of year?  Eat!  How fitting..

Here goes:

1. Can you cook? If yes, do you like to cook?
IYes.  Yes!
2. When do you eat with your whole family?
Mike and Patrick and I eat dinner together every night.  Whenever I visit my folks in Miami, we eat together.  I grew up eating dinner with my family.
3. What do you eat for breakfast?
A variety of things:  waffles, toast, sausage.  Depends on the day.  Depends on my mood.

4. When, where and how do you eat on weekdays?
I try to eat well all the time, but sometimes, I'm not so good.  I typically eat lots of chicken, veggies, fruit.  Granola bars full of fiber.  That kind of stuff.
5. How often do you eat out (in a restaurant)?
Often enough!
6. How often do you order delivery/take-out?
Lately, once or twice a month.

7. Regarding no. 5 and 6: Say there weren’t financial reasons would you do this more often?
I don't think so.  We eat out often enough, and I really like to cook.  I love to experiement with new recipes, so if money wasn't an issue, I think I would be shopping at high end supermarkets and get some really expensive stuff to cook.
8. Are there any “standard dishes” you serve regularly?
Chicken cooked with garlic and usually reduced with white cooking wine. 

9. Have you ever cooked for more than 6 persons?
Yes, I hosted Thanksgiving dinner a few days ago.

10. Do you cook every day?
Mostly.  Sometimes we have leftovers.
11. Have you ever tried recipes from blogs?
Yes. 
12. Who cooks more frequently at your home?
I do.  Mike and Patrick eat.

13. And who cooks better?
I think I do.  Although Mike has some "specialities" that he whips up sometimes. 
14. Do you cook totally different compared to your mother/parents?
Yes and no.  My style is very much like my mom's, but over the years, I have started to add a lot of my own twists of things. 
15. If yes, do you nevertheless eat at your parents?
Definitely.  I love my mom's cooking.  And my dad's too, for that matter.
16. Are you a vegetarian or could you imagine being one?
Nah, I enjoy chicken and beef entirely too much.
17. What would you like to cook which you haven’t dared to make yet?
Cornish hens.
18. Do you prefer cooking or baking?
I enjoy both.  Cooking is very artistic, I think.  You can invent a lot of cool recipes with different ingredients.  Baking is more precise - lots of measuring. 
19. What is your greatest misery in the kitchen?
Not enough counter space and my sink is too small.
20. What do you dislike?
Liver.  Clams.  And I have a love-hate relationship with mushrooms.  Right now, there's no love.

I'm not tagging anyone, so if you want to do this, let me know in the comment section!

Some Turkey Photos - even though we have none of the table :(

I finally got some photos from my new SIL!

Patrick wonders what kind of trouble he can get into before dinner is served.

Aha! Caught you eating my Cheerios, Uncle Tommy!

We had special visitors: The Incredible Hulk and The Amazing Spiderman.

Yeah, Happy Thanksgiving, see?  Or, and after dinner treat.

Three generations:  Tia, Grandma, Patrick, and Uncle.

The newest member of the family gets inducted.

I Did It!

A few years ago, Mike and I hosted our first Thanksgiving.  There were about 20 of us or so, and we set up tables in our living room, collected chairs from all over the house, and made little packets of silverware wrapped in napkins since we didn't have enough real stuff to go around.

Luckily for us, my parents came to visit and were a huge help in the preparation of everything, from the food to the entire cleaning up process.

This year, however, was different.  To start, Patrick is in our lives now.  And anyone with a 13 month old knows how difficult it is to get anything accomplished with an almost walking toddler.  Another thing: my parents didn't fly up to spend the holidays with us (they have just spent a few weeks with us, plus it's very cold and both my father and mother have been spending a lot of time visiting their various doctors for check ups and diagnosis and suck - not to worry, they are fine.  They just seem to have a lot going on.).  And so, most of the holiday preparations fell upon me.  Mike was a great help, but since he works full-time and doesn't always know his way around the kitchen, I took charge of the planning, shopping, and executing of the day (hey - it's the event planner in me, okay?).

So... on the menu:

Appetizers: Bacon wrapped tenderloin, bacon wrapped scallops, chicken quesadilla trumpets, raw veggies with dip, cheese, pepperoni, crackers, etc.  The usual appetizer starter stuff.

Turkey - duh.  I marinated it with mustard, mojo, and onions.  Yes, a mixture of the three things.  Then I stuff the inside with apples, celery, onion, and carrots.  The result:  a nice, juicy, moist bird

Ham - one of those spiral numbers that only needs to be heated for a few hours.  I put a spin on the glaze and used Coke instead of water.  The result: a delicious, sweet ham with a thick gooey glaze over it.

Mashed potatoes - easy enough.

Roasted sweet potatoes - I left them in the oven for about three hours, which I heated the ham, cooked appetizers, stuffing, etc.  The result: tender sweet potatoes.

Shrimp and andouille sausage served over Texas Toast:  I stole this one from a dinner at my Aunt's house (she says she stole it from Reader's Digest).  Cooked shrimp and sausage with little bits of onion.  I added hot sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic.  The result: best served piping hot - I burned some of the Texas Toast in my frenzy to get everything served.  I'll have to tweak this one for next time.

Sauteed green bean with bits of bacon and shallot - Yummy!

Boiled carrots and parsnips - Delightfully sweet!

Sausage stuffing - Made by my MIL - she told me she is going to teach me how to make it.  The result: delicious!

Gravy and cranberry sauce - Made by my MIL and Ocean Spray.  Both tasty!

Assorted bread

Then, for dessert:

Canolis - Shells and filling bought and then stuffed at home.  I sprinkled them with powdered sugar for a pretty presentation.

White cupcakes with vanilla frosting and coconut - I presented them on a cupcake display thingee and toped them with a bride and groom since my BIL recently go married (Congrats, Tom and Rhonda!)

Apple and pear galette - Recipe taken from last months's Real Simple.  Basically: a flat pie that can be baked ahead two or three days and then wrapped tightly and can be served at room temperature.  Yummy, wholesome, and representative of Autumn.  Very tasty.

Cookies - chocolate chip and peanut butter.  Enough said.

To drink:

Beer, soda, water, sangria made by me: email me for my secret!

Many thanks to my BIL and his new wife for staying late (and MIL too!) to help with dishes and clean up.  They were excellent - the best dishwashers I've met!

In a very strange fashion, I didn't get a single shot of the day.  Not of the family, not of Patrick, not of the table.  I was busy from 7 in the morning until 8 last night.  I know others took pictures, so as soon I get them, I will try to post them online.

I do, thought, that Patrick had a great day.  He ate turkey and ham (for the first time!) and mashed and sweet potatoes.  He had carrots and stuffing.  He ate a third of a cupcake.  He smiled, he charmed, and fed Cheerios to his family members.  He played with his cousins. 

And even though I have no pictures taken with my camera, I have Patrick.  And, for that, I am truly grateful.

I hope everyone's holiday was as blessed and fun as mine was!

Thankful

So very thankful for everything I have.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

There's always lots of thinking in this head of mine...

It's been a long week - and it's only Wednesday! - and I've had lots on my mind.  Not only Thanksgiving, which I am pleased to do and actually love planning, but other things.

I've been thinking about shutting down this site.  I sometimes feel as if I have to censor what I write or that I have to be very careful about how I phrase things.  It's kind of become less of a journal for me and more of a public outing of my life, which is perfectly fine, except that sometimes I feel as if I can't write about *all* the parts of my life, in fear that someone will read it, make comments to other people, and then I receive an influx of phone calls, or worse, angry phone calls.  I'm not sure what to do - I love blogging on this site.  I have loved it since I started nearly three years ago.  I know I have readers out there that don't comment, that I don't know personally, that have gotten to know me better through this site. 

So, now I am going to ask them - those silent readers - what should I do?  Lurkers, this is the time to comment.  Please.