Herbed Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce

I came across this recipe from Annie's Eats and it got me missing Thanksgiving. With Christmas Day fast approaching, I'm starting to feel a little bummed that the holidays would soon be over. So I decided to make this today to somehow take me back to a month ago, Thanksgiving. Because after today, I'll be starting my Christmas preparations.

This dish gave me all the flavors of Thanksgiving, without the hassle and stress of preparing a full Thanksgiving meal. This will definitely be my go-to meal when I crave a Thanksgiving meal.

1 Tbsp. butter

1/3 cup onions, finely chopped

1/3 cup celery, finely chopped

1 lb. ground turkey

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 large egg

2 tsp. minced thyme

2 tsp. fresh parsley

1/2 tsp. minced rosemary

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

cranberry sauce

1) Preheat oven to 425 deg F and lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

2) Melt butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery and cook just until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

3) In a large mixing bowl, mix together celery/onion mixture with the remaining ingredients (except cranberry sauce) until well combined. Form the mixture into evenly sized balls, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place meatballs, evenly spaced, on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes until thoroughly cooked. Serve warm with Cranberry Sauce and mashed potatoes.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Its the last weekend before Christmas and its been raining for the past 3 days. We had planned a trip to Disneyland and the rain has, for lack of a better word, dampened our plans. So we stayed local and have kept busy by attending one of my nephew's birthday party and did our last-minute Christmas shopping. I'm pooped, its rainy and cold, and I wanted to have something to warm me up inside.

Last week, our office had a holiday luncheon at BJ's Brewery. I had a half-sandwich and a bowl of Broccoli Cheddar soup. Yummy. I have large bags of broccoli and shredded cheese that I bought from Costco that I could use, so I searched for a good recipe for Broccoli Cheddar soup and found this recipe from CD Kitchen. I've never tried anything from Panera Bread, but this is a copycat recipe of their Broccoli Cheese soup. This was a yummy comfort food that I'll definitely be making again. Its a great way to have your vegetables for the day.

1 Tbsp. butter

1/2 of a medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 all purpose flour

2 cups half-and-half (I used 1 cup milk and 1 cup cream)

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 lb. fresh broccoli

1 cup julienned carrots

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1) Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a stockpot. Saute chopped onions for about 2 minutes. Set aside.

2) In the same pot, add melted butter. Whisk in flour to make a roux and cook for about 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Slowly add half-and-half. Add chicken broth. Simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes, whisking constantly.

3) Add onions, broccoli and carrots. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.

4) Place mixture in a food processor or blender and puree (or you can use an immersion blender). Return mixture to the pot to heat. Add cheese and continue to cook on low heat until cheese has melted. Add nutmeg. Remove from heat and serve topped with more shredded cheese or croutons.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Its a chilly and rainy Saturday morning and we decided to stay in. And whenever we stay in, I like to make a nice breakfast for us.

I still had some pumpkin puree in the freezer that I wanted to use up. And then one day, I came across this recipe from Annie's Eats that I had been saving up and I thought today was a good day to try it out. What a great recipe this was. It very tasty and my daughter loved it. We served this with whipped topping, or pancake syrup, or cinnamon sugar. My daughter liked dipping her pancakes in the whipped topping the best. This is another great way to sneak in something healthy in my daughter's food.

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

dash of ground ginger

dash of ground cloves

1 cup milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil or melted butter

1) In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and all the spices. Stir to combine.

2) In a small bowl, combine milk, pumpkin puree, egg and oil/butter. Add mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until well incorporated (note: the batter will be a little lumpy).

3) Heat a greased skillet or pan. Pour batter on skillet and cook on both sides until golden brown. Serve warm with maple/pancake syrup, whipped topping, or cinnamon sugar.

Bobby Flay's Macaroni & Cheese Carbonara

I first saw this dish on the show Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network. It was a throw down to Macaroni and Cheese, and this was Bobby Flay's twist on the old classic. I love Pasta Carbonara. I have my own version of Carbonara that I make often when I want to cook a quick pasta. But since my daughter loves Mac & Cheese and I love Carbonara, this was a "must-make" recipe for me.

The original recipe called for all kinds of expensive cheeses such as Fontina and Asiago. Not readily accessible to me right now. I do, however, have a huge bag of mixed shredded cheese I bought from Costco that I always have on hand. The recipe also called for pancetta, but I used regular bacon instead and it came out awesome. Its a great way to spruce up regular macaroni and cheese.

butter to grease baking dish

1 Tbsp. olive oil

4-5 slices of bacon, diced

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 Tbsp. all purpose flour

5 cups warm milk

4 large egg yolks, slightly whisked

1 tsp. dry thyme leaves

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

6 cups of shredded cheese (plus more for topping)

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (plus more for topping)

salt and pepper

1 lb. small pasta shells (such as elbow macaroni), cooked just to al dente

1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley

1) Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Butter bottom and sides of a 10 x 10 baking dish. Set aside.

2) Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until golden brown on all sides. Remove from oil and place on a plate lined with paper towel to drain oil.

3) Add garlic to oil and cook just before it turns golden brown. Whisk in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in warm milk and raise heat to high, whisking constantly until it thickens, about 5 minutes.

4) Temper eggs by adding about 1/4 cup of the milk mixture with the eggs and whisk. Whisk egg mixture into remaining milk mixture. Continue whisking for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in thyme leaves, cayenne and cheeses until melted. Season with salt and pepper. If the mixture is too thick, add more warm milk, 1/4 cup at a time.

5) In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, cheese sauce, cooked bacon, and parsley. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Top with a mixture of cheeses. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until mixture is heated through and the top is a light golden brown.

Early Christmas gift - a new kitchen tool

.....well, it isn't really a new kitchen tool, but its going to definitely be used in the kitchen when I photograph all my yummy dishes with it.

Hubby and I finally succumbed to the masses and bought a D-SLR camera as a Christmas present for each other this year. I've been dying to get one since forever (well, at least since my daughter was born and I started this blog 2 years ago). I look at so many blogs everyday that have photographs using a SLR camera and am always amazed at how alive they look. They definitely make a food photo look even more delicious.

This will definitely help me showcase my food even better. Because, honestly, I always struggle with the lighting in my house. I always try to find creative ways to give the dish better lighting. Especially since most of my cooking is done after work when I cook dinner and there is no longer any natural light from the sun. This will also be useful when taking our family portraits or shooting photographs of my daughter. We normally have my sister (who has a Nikon D90) be our family photographer. She has all the bells and whistles with her camera: Fisheye lens, heavy duty flash, etc. But its not always convenient for her to take time out of her busy schedule to photograph us.

This camera is a very basic SLR camera. Its not a D90 by any means. But its a good camera for beginners and amateurs such as myself. Hubby and I are still testing it out and trying to figure out what kinds of tricks it can do. One things for sure, though - we're definitely very excited to have this new addition to our tech gadgets and are looking forward to viewing the outcome.

White Chocolate Cranberry Orange Cookies

The holiday season is in full swing at our house. The Christmas tree is up, presents are under our tree, lights and lawn decorations are on our house. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

To keep with the holiday spirit, I decided to make these cookies from the Betty Crocker website. The recipe called for fresh or frozen cranberries, but I decided to use dried cranberries instead and it came out really well. These were so delicious and very festive. The tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the white chocolate chips blend together so well. I think I may have found a new favorite cookie.

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

grated zest of 1 orange

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup cranberries (fresh, frozen, or dried)

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2) In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3) In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, brown sugar, and orange zest on medium speed until well blended. (The mixture will have a consistency of wet sand). Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

4) Add flour mixture into egg mixture and stir by hand until almost combined. Add cranberries and white chocolate chips and stir just until blended.

5) Drop spoonfuls of dough, 1 inch apart, on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes until light golden and set around the edges but still soft in he middle. Cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Pasta Bravo

I was looking online for new recipes and came across this one from The Piggly Wiggly that looked simple and delicious. We don't have a Bravo restaurant here in the West Coast, but they apparently have a dish there called the Pasta Bravo. This recipe only required 6 ingredients and 2 steps. However, if you make the chicken it calls for from scratch, it'll take more than 6 ingredients. I just pounded some chicken flat, seasoned with salt and pepper, then drenched it in flour and fried them. Or you can use ready-made chicken nuggets like she did in her recipe.

I had saved this recipe for a while now, because I haven't found the time to pick up some Alfredo Sauce from the Olive Garden. We had lunch there last week and I finally got to pick some up. The recipe emphasizes to use either homemade Alfredo sauce or buy some from Olive Garden. So that's just what I did. Then I picked up some Tomato & Basil Marinara and a jar of Roasted Red Pepper from Trader Joe's. Finally, I made this dish and it was as easy as 1-2-3. Make this and you'll definitely impress.

8 oz penne pasta (cooked according to package directions)
cooked chicken
1 Tbsp. butter
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 pint (2 cups) Alfredo Sauce
1 pint (2 cups) Marinara Sauce
7 ounces roasted red peppers

1) Melt butter in a saucepan and saute mushrooms until cooked. Set aside.

2) In a blender, combine Alfredo sauce, marinara sauce and red peppers. Blend until smooth. Pour in another saucepan and bring to a low boil. Remove from heat.

3) Assemble by placing pasta on the plate, topped with chicken, then mushrooms. Pour sauce on top and add shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish.

Thanksgiving Feast 2010

For the preparation of last year's Thanksgiving feast, I only had one day to prepare. I decided that that was too stressful to prepare a whole Thanksgiving meal by myself. So this year, I decided to take 2 days off from work to prepare. And I'm glad I did. It gave me plenty of time to clean the house, take out all the good china and serving platters, prepare the food so that all I had to do on the day of Thanksgiving was assemble everything together. I made myself an itinerary so that I can make sure I get everything done and not miss anything. I was much more organized this year and I think I executed it very well.

Just like every year, we had our Thanksgiving lunch at my brother-in-law's place. Everyone usually brings a dish or a dessert. Hubby requested that I bring my Creamy Taco Mac, which the kids really liked. I also brought a Buttermilk Pie that I wanted everyone to try out and received positive feedback on. Once finished with the celebrations with the in-laws, we headed back home to prepare Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family.

As usual, I made my now infamous Deep Fried Turkey and had the usual sides of Mashed Potatoes, my brother's favorite Scalloped Potatoes, Creamed Corn, and of course, Dressing on the side. This year, however, I decided to make the dressing with Sourdough bread rather than the cornbread that the recipe called for because not everyone liked the sweetness of the cornbread in the dressing. But the sourdough taste, I felt, overpowered the dressing. So next year, I'll use plain french bread. For dessert, I served another Buttermilk Pie and French Silk pie. My mom also brought her famous potato salad and ordered some Spam Musubi to top off the meal.

It was another successful Thanksgiving celebration, with lots to be thankful for again this year. I think my plan of action worked out well this year. I think I may have started a tradition of taking off 2 days from work. It made my preparations so much easier.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!