thanksgiving with the bees

if you are a loyal reader of my blog (bless my friends), you probably read saw my post about the turkey that we make. oh man, this year was full of surprises but in the end it did not disappoint! the turkey was juicy and so flavorful...no need to drench in gravy like you have to with some. my dad was constantly flipping the turkey in the oven to make sure it was getting evenly cooked but i don't think he cooked it long enough...or hot enough...and didn't use a meat thermometer (cause we don't own one and he's hardcore like that) so you've probably figured out what happened. we're all sitting around the table, he starts cutting into it and it's still PINK in some places hahahaha. after butchering it to pieces very quickly, he shoved it back into the oven and then after maybe 20-30 more mins more turkey was ready so we busied ourselves with the sides for the time being.





this year i made a cranberry apple sausage stuffing which was a first. i was a little nervous about it but it was damn good and may have to make an appearance every year. even my mom was impressed so that says a lot! i got the recipe here (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Awesome-Sausage-Apple-and-Cranberry-Stuffing/Detail.aspx). i followed it pretty much to the t but then added more stock to the stuffing that did not make it into the turkey so it wouldn't be too dry. the apple is a very nice touch--thanks for the tip steph :)





then i rocked some mashed potatoes and jazzed things up this year by roasting garlic beforehand. i had to cheat a little because we didn't have actual heads of garlic so i threw a bunch of cloves in a pyrex dish, added olive oil and threw it in the oven for about 50 mins covered with foil while the turkey was going. it worked out quite nicely! the only mistake i made was letting papa bee make the potatoes because i was busy with the gravy. i specifically gave instructions to NOT make the potatoes into mush (but adding too much milk) and low and behold...we had MUSH. booooooo. at least it still tasted good!





then came the gravy! i had never made it before from scratch so i was pretty excited. i got inspiration from the pioneer woman's recipe and i stared at her pictures several times before i got the courage to attempt. i don't know why i was so scared because it was so easy and so good! we took the turkey drippings and strained it because the marinade included green onions, etc. and then i took some of the green onions and put it into a pan and heated it up with some flour to attempt a roux of some sort. shortly after i added in low sodium chicken broth and then after a bit i added in the drippings. i had to add a little more flour and then a little corn starch to help thicken things up but it worked fabulously! we barely had enough for leftovers the next morning :(

drippings! (gravy pic is above with the mashed pots)


then i attempted to throw together an apple pie...haha. let's just say good thing my family is a savory and not a sweet family. we just aren't into pumpkin pie. none of us. i think we always had it cause it was the thing to have...but none of us enjoy it. so we weren't going to make any dessert (don't act all shocked) but then my mom said she wanted an apple pie so i decided to macgyver something up. i would say it was a solid effort...but improvements could def be made. i think it started to go downhill when i told my dad to go buy crust (yes, i was feeling lazy) and he brought back a graham cracker one...haha. then i started slicing up the apples thinly...and realized i forgot to peel them...more vitamins, right? the recipe i was following (paula deen's crunch apple pie) called for apple sauce which my father ALSO forgot to pick up so i decided to throw in two greek yogurts instead. the greek yogurt worked, but i think it was just a little too thick so maybe a mixture of yogurt plus some apple sauce next time would be good...and perhaps a real pie crust. the vanilla ice cream definitely helped. not my finest cooking moment haha.



we didn't make a green bean casserole this year because i was going to make a corn casserole then i got kind of lazy and was worried we had too much food. we also don't do cranberry sauce. my mom made a salad and decided that spring rolls were a necessity so she busted out some quickly. we had to have an asian touch to thanksgiving after all! :)

tomato beef!!!

tomato beef is one of the dishes that my mom makes that is one of my favs from childhood. it probably looks and sounds weird but just wait till you taste it! i suppose there isn't a lot to it--you can pretty much see all the ingredients: tomatoes, eggs, garlic, beef and green onions. i don't know what it is about it but it is just so damn good. it's like crack...but not.

anyway, i didn't think i could finish that whole thing but then i got pretty close...don't judge! i seriously think i've gained some lbs coming home for a week. oh well, what are you going to do. on our way to target i made my mom tell me how to make it so that i could attempt to make it when i'm back in seattle.

i also told her that i wouldn't share the recipe (because there are a few other key ingredients) because this is one of their top sellers at the restaurant...sorry!

nearly normals

on tuesday, i went to nearly normal's for dinner with john since we were still both in the same place at the same time! nearly normals is 'gonzo' cuisine which is apparently using organic ingredients and creating inventive recipes.

i like going there because the food is solid...being gonzo or not is not a deal breaker for me.

they also have specials everyday which is nice. tuesday happened to be 1/2 off 'nearly nasty burritos' so i got one! the nearly nasty burrito contains beans (both pinto and black if you want it that way) with peppers, LOTS of cheese with enchilada sauce on top and a big dollop of sour cream. i'd never had one before and it was quite good for $4.50. i don't think it would be worth it's normal price. the one thing that is missing is rice. i mean, beans are great and all, but you can only eat so many before you're done with the meal.

if you ever go there, you should try their falafels...mmmmm soo good.

american dream

whenever i come back to corvallis, i HAVE to make a trip to my favorite pizza joint ever...american dream!! what makes american dream special is their thicker cornmealish crust! it's a thicker pizza, but not deep dish. they are very generous with their toppings too. i always get my pizza with a side of ranch. oh, and obama likes it too! he pit stopped here when he was campaigning back in '08.



get in there, bama!

my friend john willingly went with me and decided that we needed to order a LARGE to split between the two of us. haaa...usually i get one slice when i'm there and a salad if i'm really hungry. we got half tejano (bbq pizza essentially) and then half mary's peak (a hill in corvallis) which had pesto, herbed chicken, roasted red pepp's, olives and feta!

i still think the tejano was better than the mary's peak but that's cause i have a soft spot for bbq pizza. in the end we finished MAYBE 1/3 of the pizza because john ate until he looked like he wanted to die. and then i guess he proceeded to eat the leftovers for breakfast, lunch and his snack the next day. that just sounds awful.

mama bee's cooking part 1

this week i've been working from oregon because of thanksgiving. i am so relieved i left on saturday to come home, too, because an 'arctic storm' has hit seattle which we can interpret as the city shutting down since we don't know how to deal with snow/ice. the most amusing part of it, is all the dumbasses (pardon the francais) trying to drive up queen anne hill on the ice. this little neighborhood blog has some content and videos you can check out (http://www.queenanneview.com/).

here's a video i stole from their site for you to check out:


anyway so the best part about coming home is that i get to get fat off my mother's cooking! wahoo! oh the benefits to being the daughter of restaurant owners/amazing cooks.

sunday night i had my mom's new red tofu curry that they are serving these days. the curry was delicious and packing a lot of heat! i was feeling unhealthy so i figured all the vegetables and tofu were a smart choice.

then my mom made some soy sauce chicken wings so i stole some for myself and they were sooo good as well. i need to learn these recipes so i can make these things on my own.

then for lunch on monday, i had my mom's taiwanese style stewed pork with mustard relish (for lack of better word). i had to eat this because i helped them take orders on sunday and soooo many people ordered that dish. (it's another newbie i have yet to try.) well, i see why they love it. the pork is so tender and the sauce is great and it goes great with the mustard relish!

turkey!!

every year my parents make an AMAZING turkey for thanksgiving. people always ask if we do asian food or we keep it traditional. well, with my gradual input throughout the years, it's morphed into a traditional thanksgiving but we make asian turkey and it is to die for!!

what is this amazing turkey you ask? well mama bee and papa bee started marinating the turkey on SUNDAY. i took all these pics to show the marinade/process but then had to reformat my phone so those pics are gone :( but i'll take some on thanksgiving and post in a few days.

to make the marinade, my mom threw in her food processor a LOT of green onions (like 5 or 6 bunches), a chopped onion, and a handful of garlic cloves. let it go for a bit until it turns saucy. then in her marinade, she adds in oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and miso paste.

so the turkey is in the fridge and gets flipped over every few hours to ensure every part of the bird gets the yummy marinade. then the day of, my parents brush honey on the turkey while it's in the oven so even the skin is super tasty! i dont' care if it's not good for you :)

i am drooling just typing about it!! pics to come on thurs :)

tango

Wednesday evening I had a publisher dinner at tango. Tango is located on the corner of pike and boren on capital hill. I’ve always wondered about it because I used to live a few blocks away but never went. I heard some decent reviews about their paella so I was excited to try it out.

let me just preface by saying i am never going back there again.

I should’ve known how the food was going to be judging by how not busy the restaurant was when we got there given how close to downtown it is!

We ordered a lot of tapas and while they tasted alright (some laughable), they were just overly priced. we started with these ‘cheap dates’ which were dates wrapped with bacon atop eggplant. They were $2.50 each and not good. the combo is usually good but not there. Then we had some green beans which tasted asian…I can’t put my finger on the sauce they used, but I know I’ve tasted it one of my mom’s dishes. We had a shrimp ceviche which was a huge letdown. It was tortilla chips topped with onions and avocado and some shrimp….right. we had some beef skewers which were alright, and then ordered a steak dish for us to share. That was probably the best dish because the meat was very tender.

Then came the $48 paella. We got a meat one (to my surprise because I’ve only ever known seafood paella) and then a seafood one to share. The meat paella was not good. it taste like they used a LOT of beef broth and then that was it. It was tough to distinguish the different types of meat that they used cause everything looked the same and tasted like broth. The seafood paella was ok. The seafood wasn't overcooked and the rice had a tomato taste. But by the time the paella came about, we were already so stuffed from the mediocre tapas.

I’m glad I got to try it because I’ve been curious about it, but I’d say save your money and go to tilth instead :)

potato croquettes--they were ok


the cheap date sorry, not a very good pic


'shrimp ceviche'


beef skewers--the meat itself was ok, the slaw was weird


the asian green beans


the tender meat dish


meat paella...


seafood paella

purple!

On Wednesday I went to purple for another publisher lunch (lucky me!) and I made sure not to order pasta salad again like I had mistakenly done before. For eight of us, we ordered TWO baked bries and a lobster mac and cheese to share. Baked bries are a must try at purple. it’s essentially brie baked with phyllo dough and then you eat it with their crackers which are like crack. It is so good. definitely a dish that can instantly make you happier just because it is that yummy. The lobster mac and cheese is also something you can never go wrong with but it was a little watery than usual on Wednesday.

For my main meal, I ordered a half goat cheese salad and a half Italian sandwich. The goat cheese salad was great with balsamic vinaigrette, roasted red peppers and spinach. I’ve never had the Italian sandwich there and it was surprisingly good. It had ham, salami, arugula, fresh mozzarella and then some red pepper chutney. I was so stuffed from all of our appetizers..and was really smart and wore a belt around my shirt to attempt to be fashionable. Not making that mistake again!!

citizen

this week i have been uber lazy and not in the mood to cook. the weather hasn't helped and i didn't grocery shop appropriately :)

tuesday night i used urbanspoon because my friend will and i were going to grab a bite and was indecisive (surprise surprise). i have the urbanspoon app but never use it so i decided to give the phone a little shake and it actually came up with a decent option! good work.

citizen is in queen anne not too far from where i live which is nice. i would consider it more of a cafe than restaurant. cool interior with exposed brick, seat yourself with a fairly diverse menu of food options to choose from. i read some reviews and citizen is known for their crepes so i ordered their citizen crepe and subbed in turkey for bacon. it was my feeble attempt to be healthy for the evening.

i'm sure the french would scoff at what they considered a 'crepe' but it tasted good! the crepe part was made fine, a little soggy but the filling was great! there were caramelized onions, asparagus, spinach, turkey and goat cheese. the crepe was pretty filling too so that's all i ate. i'd go back again. they had some tasty looking breakfast items and a lot of sandwiches that are all relatively cheap so i'll definitely be back!

uninspired dinner

i was a little uninspired/too lazy to make something legit for dinner tonight so i took a look at what the good ol' pantry had. i contemplated the ramen (when do i not crave ramen?) but my logical self decided i needed something with a bit more substance. let's be honest, i really keep the ramen in there for nights that include many...libations ;)

so i finally settled on my last can of emergency tuna from costco. i like tuna because you can experiment with it. for instance tonight, i added in some low fat mayo, some spicy brown mustard, cumin (probably my favorite spice EVER), salt, pepper and some a lot of dashes frank's hot sauce.

it turned out pretty decent for me being very lazy! i had some thin buns, found some arugula and gouda so i turned it into a tuna melt without having to pull out a george forman or a pan. how? you ask? my good friend craig taught me a trick. all you need to do is first toast the bread, and then afterward you can put cheese on either slice and pop it in the microwave to melt. it keeps the bread from getting soft and gross :) try it out!

pre-thanksgiving with the friends

this is the second year in a row that my friends and i have done a pre-thanksgiving together. it is a tradition that i would like to keep continuing! we went over to dave and allison's fabulous new house around noon on sunday then leisurely cooked our dishes while watching football :)

will made the cranberry sauce from scratch after we gave him crap haha. he added a touch of orange which was nice. i am personally not huge into cranberry sauce but i was fan of his! maybe i'll slowly convert over time. acquired taste perhaps?



i was in charge of the green bean casserole so i decided to use the pioneer woman's recipe (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/green-bean-casserole/) because it looks delicious AND omits the cream of mushroom. i don't know who came up with that idea in the first place but it is odd! she also substitutes panko crumbs for the french onions which i don't mind cause it makes the dish slightly healthier. anywho, the recipe turned out really well but i think i could've added just a touch more of salt. we only made it through half the dish so i have a lot of leftovers to eat this week! haha.



troy did the mashed pots. solid dish!!



dave carved the turkey following a step by step page from a cookbook and he did a great job!! i was impressed. allison did the turkey in an oven bag (a tip from the pioneer woman as well) and it was great! the meat was tender and not dried out.



stuffing was sadly from a box but what can you do? it still tasted good!



allison made gravy from the turkey drippings and it was fantastic! the only thing is that it got gelled over after a while so i wonder if there are some tricks that prevent that from happening.



i am a little embarrassed to say that i have NEVER had pillsbury crescent rolls before but they are amazing!!! troy did an excellent job cooking them in the oven so that they are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. apparently the key is that you turn down the temperature towards the end of them baking.



the dinner was great and it was just so nice to spend time with friends! if you think about it, thanksgiving is a little silly because you spend so many hours cooking it...and at the end of the day, the meal only takes you about 20 mins to eat before you're absolutely stuffed!

i didn't get pics of cat's mini pumpkin cheesecakes or her pecan pie but they were both very delicious as well!! :)

i went to bed a happy girl!!

h-mart

so on saturday i decided to take my car to get inspected because i had a feeling that some work had to be done...and it did. a new set of front and back brakes along with rotors and $950 later...i can drive again without the fear of dying. :(

i dragged my friend will with me because he knows cars and i definitely DO NOT so after me whining and pouting about spending almost a grand on brakes, he treated me to some food while the jeep was being serviced so we headed to h-mart in alderwood since we were up north on aurora anyway.

h-mart is a korean supermarket that is equipped with a food court!!!! we headed over to one of the places...i believe it is called the BCG tofu house but i could totally be wrong. regardless, i introduced will to his first korean tofu soup meal ever.

if you've never had it, tofu soup consists of a bowl of spicy korean soup with tofu and meat of your choice, then a separate bowl of rice, and then TONS of side dishes. usually the bowls they bring out the food in are made of stone to keep everything warm for longer. the side dishes are a random smorgasbourg (sp?) of items ranging from fried fish to your usual kim chee. it definitely hits the spot on a rainy/gray/depressing day like i experienced yesterday.

thanks for treating will!





close up of the spicy tofu soup