Thanksgiving 2008 Photographs

Our Thanksgiving party was a semi-potluck (my mom initially invited people saying we would have a pizza party, but seriously, can you see my mother ordering pizza and serving it to her guests?! PULEASE). Here’s our entire set-up:

The two chickens my mom roasted:

Originally, my mom was going to prepare a big turkey but since David and I already had turkey and no one else really likes the meat, my mom decided to do chicken instead. She created a rub that included rosemary that she dried from her garden (I use the dried rosemary on ribs occasionally).

Shrimp and asparagus:

The dish ingredients are simple, but the presentation is really colorful – the shrimp is coated with eggs, vodka, a little corn starch, and some spices. My mom cooks the shrimp, sets it aside, and then in the same pot, sautee’s the asparagus. David arranged the asparagus so they all pointed in one direction and I arranged the shrimp in the middle.

Mung bean “noodles” with sesame paste and cucumbers (served cold):

I absolutely LOVE this dish and mung beans have a lot less carbohydrates than pasta, but have a similar texture. The sesame paste was mixed with a little soy sauce and dripped on top of the noodles, which are made from a powder and set overnight. Here’s a photograph of me preparing the dish:

Lion’s head meatballs:

The meatballs are made with a pork base and I used to absolutely detest these when I was a kid. There were too many different vegetables in the meatballs and I just didn’t like the taste of pork (look how different I am now!) The meatballs are served on top of bean thread noodles and cabbage to soak up the extra juices.

For dessert, I made the double chocolate cheesecake (pictures coming soon) with raspberries but I really wanted to point out THIS dessert:

Um, HELLO VIENNETTA?! I used to eat these when I was a kid! I didn’t know that they were still making them! It’s actually just vanilla ice cream with layers of crispy chocolate. When I was a kid, when I walked down the frozen desserts aisle in the grocery store, I thought Viennetta was such a sophisticated dessert.

Overall, my favorite dishes were the mung bean noodles, the lion’s head meatballs, and the stuffed eggplant (which is also pictured in the lion’s head photograph). How was your Thanksgiving? Any interesting dishes?