Author: lisadallen

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, my husband and I had a quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home, just the two of us. This was the first year where I felt totally prepared. We selected all the recipes in advance and went to the grocery store early in the week. I didn’t forget anything so I didn’t have to go back and fight crowds!

While I do have some family recipes that we’ve used in the past, I decided to try some new ones to potentially add to the tradition. Here’s what we had, which is pretty typical of an American Thanksgiving:

 

Jalapeno, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid

Jalapeno, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid

Jalapeño, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid – we had this for breakfast, to give us energy to cook all morning! It was so good and can easily be made with different ingredients. One of these days, I’m going to make it with calzone fillings.

Naked Grape, Pinot Grigio – this too helped provide energy for cooking!

Classic Herbed Bread Dressing – the fresh sage and thyme really make this recipe wonderful! I have a family dressing recipe that I sometimes use, but I like to alternate years with this one.

Green Bean Casserole – this was my first time making this recipe. I really like the use of fresh green beans. And even though I am a cheese head, it really does not need the cheddar on top. Next time, I’ll just add a few more French fried onions to the top for extra crispiness. Either way, it was very good!

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes – I just made this one up along the way. Red and russet potatoes, roasted garlic, butter, dollop of sour cream, milk, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Came out pretty good!

Turkey – I made the mistake of buying a run of the mill bird. My husband wasn’t pleased. But I had made up my mind that when I was done doing the food shopping, I was truly done. I bought turkey bags and twine though so that made up for us not brining the turkey first. I also used a random mix of spices from the cupboard which worked out great. Now time to make turkey chili!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce – I made this last year and will never again buy canned cranberry sauce! 1 cup sugar, pinch of salt, 3/4 cup orange juice – bring to boil in small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium, add 12 oz of cranberries and watch them pop over the next 5-15 minutes. Viola!

Sweet Potato Pie – my brother-in-law always made these each year but this time my husband decided to learn how to make them so that he can master a recipe for years to come. It turned out delicious!

I am thankful for my husband, family, and health, and thank God for it all. I wish you and yours Happy Thanksgiving!

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Nepalese November

Food from Nepal

Nepalese November

The first time we had Nepalese food, we were in Boulder, Colorado, one of my favorite places to visit. We were staying in Denver and drove up to Boulder to dine at a little two story restaurant called Nepal Cuisine. We were in a state of euphoria when we left. The food and service was something to remember.

When November rolled around for our monthly dinner night, it was our turn to cook. Nepalese food proved to be one of the most difficult dinners for us to carry out so we did just that – ordered carry out! Recipes online were hard to find so we broke the rules for November and ordered Nepalese food from a restaurant in La Mesa, CA. To find the place, I did what I always do and searched Yelp. That’s where I found a lovely little restaurant called Himalayan Cuisine, and my fellow Yelpers gave the restaurant 4.5 stars.

We ordered food that can be found on their menu and also added a few items of our own.

LIBATIONS

APPETIZERS

Alu Bhanta – Eggplant & potatoes cooked in Himalayan style curry sauce.

Vegetables Momo – Steamed dumplings filled with minced cabbage, spinach, mushroom, cashew nuts, paneer, onion, cilantro, green onion & spices, served with special Himalayan sauce.

Samosas – Crispy pastries stuffed with jalapeños, cheese, and potatoes. (I actually bought and made these from an Indian supermarket in San Diego called Ker Fresh.)

ENTRÉES

Chicken Makhani – Premium chicken cooked in the tandoor and then cooked in a butter sauce.

Mixed Tandoori – Tandoor chicken, Boti Kabab (lamb), shrimp tandoor and chicken tikka. Served with sautéed onions, carrots, bell pepper and cabbage.

DESSERT

Gulab Jamun – Juicy sweet milk balls. (I didn’t care for these and was glad I decided to serve the mango sorbet and fresh mint!)

Mango Sorbet topped with fresh mint. (I added this and was glad I did, it was a wonderful ending!)

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Spanish September

Spanish Food

Spanish September

September marked a lovely cooking experience! It was our month to make dinner and we chose Spain as the country from which we made recipes. These are the recipes we used, and of them, the Patatas Bravas and Berenjena con Vinagreta (eggplant topped with tomato vinaigrette) were our favorites.

LIBATIONS
Sangria

APPETIZERS
Patatas Bravas
Berenjena con Vinagreta

SALAD
Ensalada de Melon Chorizo y Alcachofa

ENTRÉE
Simple Seafood Paella

SIDES
Yellow Tomato Gazpacho

DESSERT
Bizcochos Borrachos

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Monthly Dinners

Beginning in January 2010, my husband and I began a monthly dinner night with another couple we’ve known for years. The rules for 2010 are:

  1. Each month had to have theme beginning with the first letter of the month corresponding to a country, e.g. Jamaican January.
  2. The couple who is hosting must do all the cooking from scratch.

It is almost December 2010 and I wish I had started this blog earlier because I would have liked to keep track of all the recipes we made! I may just go back and add them, as I think most of them are in my husbands bookmarks folder. Here’s what we did for 2010:

  • Jamaican January
  • French February
  • Moroccan March
  • Armenian April
  • Mexican May
  • Japanese June
  • Jordanian July
  • Argentinian August
  • Spanish September
  • Italian October (Oman is the only country beginning with “O” and all of us decided it was time to break a rule.)
  • Nepalese November (We broke another rule here and ordered take out. It was amazing!)
  • December – because the holidays are so busy, we took this month off.