My Wedding Anniversary

It was six years ago that we got married. How time flies....
Could not believe it that today is our 6th years anniversary. Hubby and I have been through a lot together. Through all the good and bad times, I can tell you that marriage is not a game. It's a lot of hard work. You really have to put a lot of efforts into it if you want a long lasting relationship. And I am glad we did. Although I am not quite sure why my hubby put up with me all these years? :-)


My sister-in-law and brother-in-law gave us this gift for our anniversary . My other siblings gave us money and clothes. We told them not to buy anything for us, but they gave us a gift anyway. It was really nice of them.


Today I got a call from a dear friend of mine. She wished us a very very happy wedding anniversary. Maybe this is what we needed. Wedding anniversary is not about getting an expensive gift, a romantic vacation, or having a big party. It's all about having each others, having friends and having families to celebrate with. Each wedding anniversary is a milestone that's celebrated with your loved ones. This was the best gift that no money can buy. It's the gift of love.

Surprise Birthday Party for Amy Sis

Yesterday was my sister-in-law's 40th birthday. We planned a surprised birthday party for her. She thought we just have a get-together for a Thai Steamboat dinner. She has no idea that we were throwing her a surprise birthday party. It was a blast!



Check out the beautiful cake


Thai Sea food hot pot


Lẩu Thái - Thai Seafood Hot pot


Fried Fish balls and Pork Fish balls


Poultry inner and quail eggs - Tim heo, Tim gà, Sách Bò và Trứng Chim Cút


Tomatoes, Pineappes, Baby Corns, Scallions, Okra, and Enoki Mushrooms


Mussels, Periwinkles meat, Shrimps, Shrimps balls, ect.

Different kinds of mushroom - King Oyster Mushroom, Enorki Mushroom, and Portabella mushroom.
Vermicelli noodles - Bún Tàu

The whole table

WaterCrest veggies, and Napa Cabbage - Sà lách Son

Seafood

Ready to eat - Want to sit down and join us?

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Today is Thanksgiving day. It's a time to reflect on what we have and what we have been giving in our lives. I am grateful for simple things in life. I am thankful for my family, my health, and my friends. With their support, I am a better person. A big thank you for my wonderful hubby for being there with me through all the good and bad times. I thank you from the depth of my heart.

Please join us this holiday season with this wonderful festive meal.

Grilled Quails - Chim cu't


Cold Cut Platter

Shrimps and Veggies Kabobs

ba'nh duc'


Stir-fried Shrimp with colorful veggies Thai's flavor

Pate chauds
Another Platter of ba'nh duc'

egg rolls
ba'nh i't tran
ba'nh cuon
Lo Mein
Deep fried shrimps
Mushroom stir-fried with green veggies

Shrimps papaya salad

Singapore Noodles
The whole table









Enjoy!

Early Thanksgiving Dinner

Couldn't believe it, but next week is Thanksgiving. My sister-in-law has previous engagement on the actual Thanksgiving Day. Therefore, she invited us over her house yesterday to have an early Thanksgiving celebration.

This was her perfect Turkey. Every year she made the best Turkey ever.




We had mash potatoes, gravy, ham with pine apple slices, macaroni and corn, and roasted beef cut into thin slices.


Shrimps and vegetable kabobs. They were awesome.


We called this "he` so^" . Egg rolls cut into small cubes.


Ham and melon.


Baked ham with pineapple slices. I heard they were yummy. I was so full and did not have a chance to try them.


Roasted-Beef


Macaroni and corn - Kids loved them.

I made this. Ba'nh it' tra^`n - Naked Savory rice dumplings.

Closer look? :-)
This was the whole table.


Singapore shrimp noodles. Delish!


My steamed banana dessert with coconut milk and peanut and sesame seeds.


This was the whole table at different angle . :-)


Enjoy!

Tofu Pudding (Tofu Fa)

Bean curd gelatin or Tofu pudding - or "tofu fa" in Cantonese is a great treat for many folks. If you go to a Chinese restaurant for dim-sum, they will have this. Back in Vietnam, I used to order this every morning for breakfast. It's nice to have a bowl of hot tofu pudding in the morning. A lot of folks think it's hard to make this Tofu pudding. In reality, it's so simple.

You need a box of SoyBean Curb mix. In this box, it comes with 2 packages. A big package and a small package.



Check out a bowl of tofu-fa with pandan flavor. I added a touch of coconut milk and brown sugar with ginger syrup. Chinese folks eat this without coconut milk. Vietnamese folks adds coconut milk to their tofu-fa. It's your choice. You can eat with or without it. I like mine with coconut milk .

Mix a big package of tofu-mix with 5 cups of water and stir-well . Bring it to a boil and turn off the stove. Add a few drops of pandan flavor in (optional). Then add the small package in and stir well. Cover with plastic wrap or allumnium foil and let it sit for 30-45 minutes. See the result below.

Brown Sugar Syrup - You need a package of brown sugar; 1-1&1/2 cup of water and ginger. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 30 minutes.


And voila, Tofu-fa is ready. This bowl is without coconut milk.


To make the coconut milk, you need a can of coconut milk (14oz). Pour the coconut milk in the small sauce pan. Add a 1 cup of water and stir-well. Bring it to a boil and Add 2 TBS of corn starch, and a little salt and sugar. The consistency of the coconut milk depends on how much water you put in. If you like it less dense, add more water. If you like it watery, add more water.

Weekend Cooking

Breakfast - bagels with orange flavor Jam


Pandan flavor Tofu-fa and brown sugar with ginger


Pate Chaud
Closer look of pate chaud


Beef stir-fried with asparagus


Yummy dish

Steamed banana with coconut milk - dessert


sweet papaya

Yummy
Enjoy!

Duck Bamboo Vermicelli Noodle Soup - Bún Măng Vịt

As Thanksgiving is approaching closer, the weather is getting a little chilly. It's the best time to have soup. I made chicken and beef soup before, but not duck soup. Looking back, my MOM always made duck salad. She has this really good dipping sauce with the salad. It's consist of garlic lemony fish sauce with a touch of sugar, ginger, mint, and pineapple. It was awesome. I just love it every time she makes it. Not until recently, I discovered this duck soup recipe. One of the forumer posted her duck soup pictures. I had it before, but I just never CARE to make it.


Duck salad with mixed herbs and fried shallots.


Bún Măng Vịt - Duck Bamboo Vermicelli Noodle Soup. This bowl of soup is perfect for any cold weather or even when you are a little bit under the weather. After you had this soup, everything will be better.

Last week, I want to have duck bamboo vermicelli noodle soup on the weekend. I asked my hubby to go and buy a duck and all the ingredients to make this soup. He bought all the ingredients for this dish, and even cleaned the duck. He found ton of FAT in the duck. He decided to do a liposuction on the duck before making the broth. :-) My hubby is a health conscious individual. :-)

Check out he pot of broth. As you can see the duck has no skin or FAT thanks to my hubby.

The key to making excellent soup is to make excellent broth, and that is largely dependent on using dried bamboo shoots and infusing it with the aroma of duck.

Check out the wonderful pot of broth.

I decided to purchase four duck legs quarter to use for the duck salad.

Duck salad consist of thin slices of cabbage mixed with mixed herbs. Pour a touch of garlic lemony fish sauce over the platter. Delish!

I added dried shallots and peanuts as well. The duck meat and be dipped with the fish sauce with pineapple. It was so yummy!


Here is the reward for my hubby with all his hard work.


Enjoy!