Leena Eats, Gourmet Communication ... Food, Travel, Gastronomy

My delicious (and yes, puke-free) Thanksgiving table 2009.

It is official. The husband, Nugget T. Cat and I are safely and happily living in the sunny state of California! But it was not without obstacles, that is for DAMN sure. Details on those later, but the biggest headache was our moving company, Bekins, who decided they wanted to show up two weeks late, AFTER Thanksgiving, thus raping us up the butt financially. We fought hard and managed to get our stuff the day before Thanksgiving (but not before we raided every Salvation Army from here to the ocean for plates because we thought it would NOT get here by then), but for reals? I have NEVER dealt with a more unprofessional company in my life. Do not use them. Oh yeah, and some drunk person puked on my Thanksgiving table. Hey, it ain’t a party till someone pukes. And at least they didn’t ruin the freaking delicious food. Welcome to my Fancy Pants Ghetto McGuyver Thanksgiving! So a few things. I must tell you that I had a cooking helper for my first Thanksgiving alone, Amanda from two of my favorite food blogs, What We’re Eating and Food Porn Daily. I must also admit (by threat of death from Amanda) that she was NOT the person who puked on my table. But on to the food.

Amanda started off by cooking Dungenous crab (which was not season, she would like to point out, but still fairly tasty). I have never cooked a crab before, so this was really exciting! And she made him dance!

Amanda took apart the crab in my back yard because apparently? Crab insides are messy. And indoor cats like to attack them.

Da crab bits.

Did you know that brussel sprouts grew on branches? I sure as hell didn’t! I was also pleasantly surprised it could be used as a weapon.

First course: the snackies. Specifically, my homemade pickles, aged cheddar with apples, and deviled eggs.

Going clockwise, these are my pickled beets, garlic dill pickled cucumbers, five spice pickled cherries and garlic dill spicy pickled green beans.

2 year aged cheddar, granny smith apples, and 5 year aged cheddar.

My deviled eggs with bacon and chives.

Second course: the soup

My curried sweet potato and apple soup with curry-fried shallots.

Pumpkin cornmeal bread from La Farine, which went with…

…my homemade cranberry jalapeno butter and apple cranberry chutney.

Third course: some drunky puked. Everyone rushed around to clean it up. I did not take photos. Fourth course: The mains!

My Korean Whole Roasted Snapper!

Korean roasted snapper close-up.

Amanda’s delicious pan-seared scallops with tomato jam, fried capers and an asparagus-jicama salad.

Amanda’s roasted asparagus with a crab-pumpkin-chipotle sauce.

Probably my favorite dish of the night: Amanda’s shrimp and bacon chowder stuffing with sour dough bread!

Amanda’s fluffy mashed potatoes with chives!

Intermezzo

My cranberry ginger sorbet.

Desserts!

My cranberry upside down cake.

Linda’s super rich chocolate vegan cheesecake.

Pumpkin Flan!

I am most thankful for my friends.

A huge thanks goes out to my friend Linda, who graciously offered up many kitchen appliances when my movers failed to show up, to Amanda, who helped me bust out this amazing meal, and to Kristen, who was the best and most energetic sous chef ever! For my first Thanksgiving away from all my family, these people really helped to make it feel like home.

Amanda, our sous chef Kristen (a.k.a. Mookie), and myself: the chefs de jour!

I’m also pretty thankful for this guy–the best husband on the face of the planet.

And it wouldn’t be a proper Leena Dinner party if there wasn’t a good cuddle and nap at the end. This is how the real people party!

I am thankful to have good friends to spoon with.

I hope all of your Thanksgivings were as eventful as mine! ~LTG!