Hubby’s Birthday/ Thanksgiving Feast

I am so thankful that it was a HUGE success for hubby’s birthday/Thanksgiving Feast! I mean, other than having people eating while standing up, and lighting be non-existent, everything was “A-OKAY”! Now for the run down of the menu:

1.  Guy Fieri's Birthday Pork Roast- was AMAZING!!  I saw this recipe last Sunday on the food network, and it was like a God send, being that I had no idea what the hell I wanted to make as an entrée! Easy, delicious, and different! Just what I wanted for my Thanksgiving Feast!

2. Sides: roasted asparagus, Julia Child’s Sautéed Mushrooms, Grands Biscuits ( come on, for $1.00 a can, You know I was going there!)

3. Linguine in White Clam Sauce – This was a HUGE HIT!! A 30 mins delicious meal. I opted to not use clams, I used 2 bouillon cubes and used 3 cans of baby clam in their juice, and everything else from the recipe! YUMMYYYYYYYY! Will make this again!!

4. Turkey Meatloaf – For anyone *ahem~ hubby* who wanted turkey for turkey day! Here you go! I used my go to recipe for this one, and it was nice and moist inside~ I made this the night before, so it was easy to just heat it up in the microwave for 5 mins, and BAM! you’ve got yourself a delicious turkey meatloaf!!

5. Now, my wonderful, darling Mother In Law brought over some goodies herself!! A variety of Dim Sum ( what is Dim Sum?? ), Chow Fun ( what is chow fun?? ), Chow Mein ( what is chow mein?? ),  Fresh Hainese Chicken * Fresh, like it was still running away like 8 hours ago fresh** Uh huh, that’s how we roll, people!! ( what is hainese chicken ), Duck, and my hubby’s all time favorite  Oxtail Soup, that she brought over in her own POT!!

 

Here is the pork that I butterflied

 

I used Costco’s Pesto Sauce. 1. because it’s delicious 2. I was not going to make my own, being in a time crunch, people!!

3. My sous chef ( sister ) tied up the baby, and we put in in the roasting pan

Covered in heavy duty foil for 2 hours, this baby was nice looking!

I uncovered the pork, and added in a mix of sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions, carrots and parsnips. The original recipe called for brussel sprouts, but I couldn’t get any in the stores near me! ) I added 1 can of chicken broth, and cooked it in the oven for another hour. ( the original recipe called for the veggies to be cooked with the pork for the whole 3 hours, but I read some reviews that said the veggies turned to mush at the end, and I didn’t want no MUSH veggies!

 

Here is the beauty! All rested, and cut up ~ Oh man, was it good!!

 

Here is the spread, on the coffee table! We had more food that wouldn’t fit on the table. So they were chilling in the ledges…lol…

 

Roasted Asparagus. 10 mins in the oven, with olive oil and kosher salt/ pepper! Easy, breezy delicious!

 

Julia Child’s Sautéed Mushroom in butter and olive oil! YUMMMMMM

 

Linguini in White Clam sauce!

 

Turkey meatloaf, with turkey bacon on top!!

chow mein

 

Hainese Chicken

 

Dim Sum

 

Chow Fun

 

Grands Biscuits on my pie dish! UH HUH~

  And my cake that I made using Duncan Hines/ Comstock-wilderness products!

Even getting all this down, I am beat!!~ I hope you all had a wonderful time with your loved ones!! xoxo  

Baking Away~ Foodbuzz Tastemakers

Holy Smokes! Someone must of heard my prayers, when I was going crazy with the “Hubby’s Birthday/Thanksgiving Day” Feast preparations! Being part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s program, I received coupons for Duncan Hines and Comstock-Wilderness Fruit Fillings! The best part is that I’ve got 8 additional coupons for my readers!! YAYYYYYY~ Isn’t that groovy!  ( sorry, I only got 1 Comstock-wilderness coupon, and for hubby’s special birthday cake, I needed that baby!! ) I’ll be giving away these coupons, so check on the bottom of this post to see how to get entered in this giveaway!

Now to the good stuff!…

I chose to make this fabulous cake using Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake mix! For the filling and topping, I chose to use the Blueberry Flavor! I made a delicious whipped cream cheese frosting, using fat free cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar! YUMMA LUMMA~~

Using 1 box and 2 9” round pans, I got a 2 layer cake! Yes, this is exciting people!! My first time to ever make a 2 layer cake!~~ I usually opt for the easy spread cake.

On the first layer, I put half of the filling and spread it evenly!

My sister, who was my sous chef that day, put the second layer of cake on top, and added the whipped frosting on the sides of the cake. Then, the blueberry sauce right on top, gave it the beautiful look to this cake!!She also came up with the great idea of adding some crushed walnut/brown sugar mixture on the sides and top of the cake, and OMGosh, it was just delicious!!

Here was the cake, put into the fridge to do it’s thing, and chill out in there!

Sometimes, you just do not have the time to do everything! Especially being in a small apt, with a small kitchen, and cooking for a crowd on a big and special day… You need the help! I am so glad that I got these coupons from Duncan Hines/ Comstock- Wilderness, just in time! It was easy, and delicious! Just a great way to end a wonderful evening!!

Guidelines for the Duncan Hine’s Coupons:

1. Follow me on twitter/Facebook, and goggle follower, or subscribe by email. Then leave me a comment saying that you did! Only 1 comment per entry! For example:

Comment #1 : I am following you on twitter and have subscribed via email!

2. This is only for residents in the United States of America, because these coupons can only be used here.

3. 2 ( two) followers of this blog will be chosen by November 30, 2011 by random.org and will receive 4 coupons that are good for Free Duncan Hines Products! Woo Hoo~! I will announce the winner on November 30, 2011 by a post!  

Good Luck!!

I can do it, I can do it…

This week has been chaos already. My brain will not let me sleep in the night, and being that it’s working 98282094 bazillion miles per second ( I don’t know, just made that one up!  ) it sorta reminds me of my wedding week!! AHHhhh~ But just like my wedding, it will all turn out perfectly fine!

If you don’t know why I’m all crazied up, it’s because my hubby’s birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year. Not only that, but my father in law, who is a chef, usually cooks up a fancy scmancy meal, and I make some food along with it, but… This year, my father in law was called to duty, being that the restaurant he works for has reservations all week, so I have been placed with the feast this year! Don’t get me wrong, I lovvvvvvvvvvvveeeee to cook, and for a crowd, even better! Especially since I’ve dubbed myself the “italian grandmother”, my #1 rule is to never let a person leave my home hungry! But that’s the thing… I’m scared that the 10 or so people will leave hungry, that I didn’t do a good job, where I have so many sides, but no main dish left, and, and…. Yeah.. that is what has been going through my head these past few days…

I can do it, I can do it! …

With all that going on, workout and me are Like_________________This… I have not been feeling “in the mood” to workout, and when I do try to workout, I lose focus and just stop after 10 mins!~ ahhhh~

Maybe next week, will be better!

Oh yeah, did I mention: I am not doing a turkey this year! I made one last year, and it came out perfect, but this year, I wanted to do something different!

Anyone else going the non-traditional route for Thanksgiving dinner?

Let me go and start getting in some study time, so I can do another check list for Hubby/Thanksgiving Day!!