post thanksgiving 2013

hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving!
even though it is healthier to have daily thanksgiving reflections, thanksgiving weekend helps you to really appreciate everything good that is around you! in my case, i had a lot that i am especially grateful for, as each and every member in my family had a very significant year this 2013

this thanksgiving was hosted at my house where all but one dish & store-bought desserts were prepared by us
one thing that was different was that i ended up cooking most of the dishes this year because i am now in culinary school (yeah...even though i am only 3-weeks in)! 

i never use cranberry sauce but because it is thanksgiving, i wanted to try making cranberry sauce
even though we weren't going to have a turkey

cranberry orange sauce
this was sooo easy to make yet turned out awesome because it had the right amount of sweetness with tanginess

cranberry orange sauce
more than with meat, i've been enjoying this sauce over my desserts

shrimp ceviche
this is a dish my mom loves & keeps requesting me to make! 

my sister loves stuffing...but we never made our own stuffing from scratch until this year,
when i decided that i am going to make the best stuffing, even though i don't really know how
stuffing tastes like!after looking through many recipes, i decided to go make double bread stuffing
(with homemade corn bread with real corn & french bread) with brown butter, bacon & sage
with some alterations and it turned out really good! which made the long prep-time all worth it~

double bread stuffing with brown butter, bacon & sage

kale with garlic
we love veggies & kale is definitely one of those that we love eating when we eat meat for that slightly bitter taste

roased garlic mashed potatoes
 we roasted garlic in the oven along with the stuffing which we added into the cream for flavor & aroma
before mashing into the potatoes and yumyum! this turned out to be one of my favorite sides of the night! 

green bean casserole with crispy onions

simple recipe that will taste delicious at all times? it must be repeated every time...

cream corn when done!
we make this every year, but i wanted to make this ever since we thoroughly covered "roux" in class

creamed spinach
this...i made using an online recipe and even though i made some alterations after,
ended up being my least favorite dish i created that night

i like to add evoo/cinnamon/honey to my pineapples, especially if they are not as ripe as you had wished them to be

pineapples, besides being delicious, helps aid digestion!
so we like to include this whenever we have a lot of meat

we used to do turkey but honestly, no one really loves that giant bird in our family
so we opt for chicken (mainly drunk sticks) instead! 

prime rib rubbed with oil/garlic/salt/pepper

we had two chunks of pirme rib on thanksgiving 1) medium rare & 2) medium well
this particular one was done by me & it was PERFECTLY MEDIUM RARE, which i was flattered to hear
all of family members complimenting saying it was the best prime rib we had in our family of yet!
 (and we have it twice a year, every year together!) i wish i had taken a picture of the pinkness inside! 

circling from top left corner counterclockwise
jalapenos & pickles (because we are korean)
cranberry-orange sauce
ham
shrimp ceviche (with some colorful multigrain chips)
double bread stuffing with brown butter, bacon & sage
kale with garlic
creamed spinach
grilled pineapples
garlic mashed potatoes
creamed corn
green bean casserole with crispy onions
smoked salmon cream pasta
roasted chicken
prime rib
peach pie from marie callenders
pumpkin pie from marie callenders

few days late, but hope you enjoyed what was cooking in happilyfull's kitchen as well as few tips from me!

i am now happilyfull ♥ 

see you on my next adventure!