Thanksgiving 2011

Dining date: 11/24/11

I’m not sure how long we’ve been doing it, but Thanksgiving has traditionally been spent with a lunch on my mom’s side and a dinner on my dad’s side. That way, no one has to pick-and-choose/rotate where Thanksgiving is spent. With two large meals, I’ve learned pacing becomes key.

Lunch is in Alameda at my aunt & uncle’s. The food has a base in traditional Thanksgiving fare, but essentially everyone cooks what they want to eat. Technically it’s a potluck, though the majority is prepared by the host family. This leads to a pretty wide variety of dishes with a definite Asian slant. Because I fly in the morning of, I don’t actually contribute any food (my family brings a cake).

Dinner, at my grandmother’s in San Francisco, also has a traditional turkey but that’s not really the focus. My grandmother tends to cook what the family likes to eat, and that’s a lot of meat. Red meat.

Lunch is served buffet style.

Country fried potatoes bacon, cheese

Green beans sliced almonds

Turkey

Pork ribs

Sweet potatoes and yams marshmallows

Vermicelli barbecued pork, mushrooms, egg

Farfalle pasta

Salad

Chow mein

Chinese sticky rice

Chicken pot pie

Fried wonton chili sauce

Egg rolls

Sauteed shrimp

Coconut and pandan waffle

Shrimp toast

An assortment of desserts are usually served up around the 2:00 hour.

Homemade pumpkin pie

Homemade pumpkin cheesecake

Homemade cranberry pumpkin bread

Ice cream cake rocky road, pecan, red velvet

Chocolate mousse cake

We cross the Bay Bridge into San Francisco for dinner. Lots of meat on the menu.

New York strip roast

Turkey

Lobster tails

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

Stuffing

Chinese sticky rice

Mixed Vegetables

Dream cake

Homemade apple pie

Just like that, another Thanksgiving is over. As usual, it was a ton of food but I was able to fit in everything I wanted to eat!