This is definitely a post in the making, lol. It's from Thanksgiving 2009. My husband and I decided to host last year considering most of my family wasn't in the state and his family was having another diner on a separate day. I wish we had taken more pictures in the process, but we were swamped with all the home cooking we were doing. I stayed up the day before prepping until two in the morning. Not fun I tell ya, but definitely worth it in the end. Everything was made from scratch. Everything! 

Top Left: Squash/leek medley, awesome white gravy, turkey rolled in our sausage cranberry stuffing, and rosemary rolls.
Middle Left: Mac n' cheese, broccoli cheese casserole, rice casserole, and sausage cranberry stuffing.
Bottom Left: Rosemary/garlic mashed potatoes, cornbread, yams, and green bean casserole. The last three items were made by my mother-in-law.

Not pictured was the dessert I made, which was carrot cake, apple pie, caramel nut apples and...hmm, I can't remember what else I baked until the wee hours of the morning.

that looks awesome. I am really happy that you liked the recipe. We learned the hard way, if you leave them cooking for too long they over cook and fall apart. Fresh wontons are always better, homemade even more. I will have to try the ground turkey.

We came up with this recipe out of experience. Its basically 1-1/2 tbs of sugar, 2tbs of hoisin sauce, 2tbs of soy sauce. I would suggest tasting your sauce before hand, and adjust when necessary. This lo mein is to our liking, which tastes like your typical lo mein. Be adventurous, we recently added some pepper flakes, and it was fantastic. I would also suggest buying a cast iron wok, and a good one, especially if you cook Asian cuisine regularly. It makes a huge difference,  as it maintains high heat very well, which is key to Asian cuisine. Lodge Logic is a fantastic brand, and very affordable.  I am sure my wife and will post how to make it, it is one of our favorites.

It's been a while since we have updated. I guess married life. Now we have some new pictures and a wonton soup recipe.



Lo Mein. We bought a cast iron wok from Lodge Logic, it cooks Asian cuisine very well.



The All-American meal, a baked potato and New York strip steak. America, bleep yeah!!!!



We call this next one a Juicy Lucy, we got the name and idea from food network, some bar makes it. It’s a cheeseburger with cheese in the middle.

Now…The Wonton Soup Recipe…

Ingredients for soup and wonton

For Soup
6 cups of chicken broth (homemade or store bought)
Wonton wrapper (homemade or store bought)
(Optional Ingredients) As much or little as you want.
Broccoli
Shredded Carrots
Snap Peas
Green Onion (Sliced white and greens separated)
Bean Sprouts

For filling:

Napa Cabbage (finely chopped)
3 Green Onions (finely chopped)
6 oz Ground Pork
1 tsp. Sesame Oil
1 tsp. Soy Sauce
½ tsp. Salt

In a bowl mix cabbage and salt and let stand 10 minutes. Wrap cabbage in a double layer of napkins and squeeze out excess liquid. Mix pork, cabbage, onion, oil, and soy sauce.









Next, I would suggest placing at least 24 wonton wrappers out on napkins. You could do them one by one, but it takes a lot of time. We have found this method more efficient. Have a small bowl of water on the side; it’s to seal the wontons. Place half a teaspoon or so into each wrapper. Then place water on the edge and press to seal, you can use a fork to crease the ends. We use a pinching method, it is almost like a pleat. 



We made a lot.



Close up.



Sealed wontons.

Once you finish your wontons, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Once boiling, add your vegetables, if you use them, and cook until stock begins to boil again. Then, add your wontons and cook for two minutes, they cook very quickly. Immediately remove from heat. Then add bean sprouts and green part of green onion.



Vegetables we used.



Soup!!!!

Extra recipe!!! If you are feeling like it, save some of your wontons, and heat a small amount of oil in a nonstick pan on med-high. Add your wontons and cook on one side until golden brown, then add ¼ cup of water and cover and cook for two minutes.



Surprise!!!! Fried Dumplings!!!!!




Finished products.

Most roasted chickens recipes require a lower setting, and for you to turn and baste the chicken as it cooks. This technique is fast and high. That is how you get the extra crispy skin, and why it is also important to let the chicken warm to room temperature. You DO NOT lower the temperature, under any circumstances.   

...to EAT IT!!!!! 

My wife and I did not plan to update so soon, but saw our menu for this week and thought, who does not love roasted chicken!!! Hope you guys enjoy, and learn something!

Menu: Roasted Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Herb Rolls

For Chicken:
1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds
1 lemon, round sliced
4 sprigs of rosemary
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature.

Pan Sauce:
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter



Preheat oven to 450. Rest chicken at room temperature for 1hr, it allows the chicken to cook thoroughly. Rinse chicken with cold water, inside and out, and pat dry, this gets rid of moisture and allows a super duper crispy crusty, say that 10x fast! Season cavity with salt and pepper and stuff with lemon, rosemary, and garlic. Rub skin with butter and season generously with salt and pepper. I would have like to truss the chicken but had no twine  



Place chicken in oven proof skillet and cook until its about 165 degrees, 50-55 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.



It should look like that, or better. The taste will be phenomenal, the meat extra moist, and skin very crispy!!!

To make the pan sauce begin by spooning and discarding the fat. Place your pan at medium high and deglaze with the wine, making sure to scrape up the yummy brown bits for crazy awesome flavor. Cook until reduced by half. You can run this liquid through a sieve for better presentation, but I like the gritty look, add butter until melted.

Herb Rolls(from craftster)

1 package active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp each dry flat leaf parsley, dill, and rosemary (did not have any fresh herbs)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 large egg
1 cup milk
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
About 1 tablespoon, course salt 
3 tablespoons melted butter to brush over dough

Let the yeast dissolve over a 1/4 cup of cool water for about five minutes. Stir in sugar, salt, herbs, butter, egg, milk and flour and knead dough for about 10-15 minutes. If its sticky then add some more flour and continue to knead.


Shape dough into twelve or more balls and place on a well buttered pan or cookie sheet. Do not do what I did and make 11 large balls...it will haunt you.


Let dough rest for about 30-60 minutes covered and in a warm place. Preheat oven to 350 and brush rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until golden, 25-30 minutes and...


Yummy! You can always substitute the herbs for something else like garlic or minced onion. I personally love garlic with rosemary. It's a unique flavor.

Mashed Potatoes

5 gold potatoes (leave skin on)
1 tsp salt
2 chopped scallions
1/4 cup parmesan or mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup milk

Bring water and potatoes to a boil, cook until tender. Drain water and transfer potatoes to a bowl. Add salt, scallions, cheese and milk and using a fork or potato masher mash potaoes until a smooth with a few lumps.


Tada!!!!

First time posting here. We're newlyweds that have been experimenting with different recipes and hope you guys like the pictures.


General Tso's chicken recipe that is lightly battered and fried with green bell peppers and snow peas.


Beef with scallion on top of steamed rice. We used traditional Korean beef cut for our recipe and sauted green bell peppers and onion. The drink is strawberry lemonade made from scratch.


Pork stir fry with pineapple over steamed rice with spicy broccoli. The pineapple gives the spicy pork an interesting flavor. We attempted to make fried egg rolls minus the fried part and instead baked them. The flavor was awesome because it wasn't drenched in oil and we kinda overstuffed them.


Awesome awesome recipe we made. It's a Vietnamese steak sandwich with the ingredients (carrots, cilantro, garlic, peppers and sauce) made for a lighter sandwich.


Sage pork chop with parsley parmesan rice. The pork chop came with a wine and lemon sauce. The soup is Mexican inspired with calabaza squash and chayote with fideo.


Asian style pork chop that was super tasty broiled in the oven, but even better grilled. The veggies are steamed and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. The pasta is penne that is flavored with spring herbs and butter. Garlic bread courtesy of HEB. We love that place! XD


Awesome fresh spinach lasagna with parmesan, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese with Italian snausage, lol. With a salad and yummy raspberry agua fresca (fresh water or a lighter version of juice).


Grilled sirloin with awesome cheddar and green onion mashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus.


Grilled thyme chicken with cheddar pureed cauliflower and a yummy Mexican inspired soup.

Sooo cool

May the icing be with you. lol.

Awesome