bear

In the space of 48 hours, hyounpark and I went from "eh, we're still recovering from the last nine weeks of work travel, let's just relax on Thursday and eat leftovers" to a plan for our #AsianAmericanThanksgiving:

- Delmonico steaks with gireumjang
- Sesame cornbread - these first two are from Cynthia Chen McTernan's A Common Table; Southern-raised Chinese-American meets hapa-Korean-Hawaiian.
- Kale laing laing (I've been making something somewhat similar to this for years, just from Vikram Vij and using slightly different spices; Marvin Gapultos, LA-born Fil-Am, points out Tuscan kale's similarity to taro leaves in his tweak on the Filipino original). If I were in California, I'd be trying to get Dungeness crab to do it like how I had at Bad Saint earlier this year!
- Miso-glazed carrots (do I ever prepare a banquet without at least one Joanne Chang recipe? Food and Wine did a profile of Joanne Chang's Asian American Thanksgiving awhile back, and we've used many recipes from her over the years.)
- Cheesy mashed potatoes with scallions (staple foods for H, guidance on the cheese:potato ratio provided by the Leungs from The Woks of Life, another Asian-American family)
- Cranberry-Asian pear chutney (I've been making this most years since I found the recipe in Real Simple in 2001, I eat it like applesauce it's so good, thank you Kay Chun)
- Masala chai tarte tatin (This ... did not quite go as planned, see below. But Ming Tsai, Joanne Chang, Nik Sharma, and Irvin Lin all contributed to the mashup of a recipe I ended up making. Nik Sharma for the spice guidance)
- Malasadas for breakfast! (via Alana Kysar, via the Leonard's original recipe)

( It's not a feast without at least one disaster, ROFL )

Almost every recipe mentioned is written by an American by birthright with Asian heritage, some by multiple generations, like me. (The exceptions are Vikram Vij, an Indian immigrant to Canada, and Nik Sharma, an Indian immigrant to the US.) For providing me with easy access to all of these recipes from the Asian diaspora in America, I am grateful to everyone mentioned above.

The meat and produce are all from local farms, but I'm especially delighted to note that the carrots are from Assawaga Farm, a small farm in East Putnam, CT, specializing in Japanese vegetables, co-owned by a Japanese immigrant farmer and her partner, named to reflect the original Nipmuc name of the river flowing along the farm, colonially named Fivemile (and they provided me with a regular source of fresh shiso all summer! as well as introducing me to komatsuna and mizuna and the Egyptian molokhia). And the flowers that will be gracing our table are end-of-season chrysanthemums and chocolate cosmos from Fivefork Farms, a flower farm in Upton, MA, co-owned by five Chinese-American siblings.

The fact that there will be donuts and steak on our Thanksgiving table comes down to my husband's love for meat and frying things; what could be more American than that.

A blessed and fulfilling Thanksgiving to everyone partaking. I recognize this is not a time of celebration for all Americans, but may the name of the day and our observation of it lead to a better, more equitable world sooner rather than later.

Still alive! The South may be trying to kill me with cholesterol, but I'm still tickin'. ;) It's been a much-needed, relaxing, nearly responsibility-free vacation.

Tuesday: Arrived chez Park. Ate a wide assortment of Korean food. Napped frequently.

Wednesday: ( sliders, Crystalis, and multicultural appropriation in a Southern grocery store. Of which I highly approve and am vastly amused, being one of them crazy blended peoples and all ;) )

Thursday: Feast! Turkey, natch, with yummy gravy (at which Hyoun's mom kicks ass; must learn from the master) and cranberry-Asian pear chutney; apricot-chestnut stuffing, garlic mashers, candied sweet potatoes, cider-roasted veggies (carrots, parsnips, zucchini, shiitake mushrooms), buttered corn, pan de sal, sesame green beans, spinach salad with goat cheese and candied pecans and blueberry vinaigrette dressing; strawberry-rhubarb pie for dessert. And of course, more Crystalis. ;) And Bubble Bobble!

Friday: ( fannish references in an art museum, awesome pizza, deep-fried Oreos. )

Saturday: ( the Smoky Mountains, farmers' market natch, Biltmore Estate, wherein I have to cut myself off at a WINE TASTING, and seeing Emily and Ben! )

Today: it's off to the Smokies again for a wee bit of hiking, plus barbecue for Hyoun and steak for Jane. Plus finishing Crystalis when we get back for me!

but i have turkey boobies roasting in the oven!

(just blame technomancy)

and i have cornbread stuffing in the fridge (which will be yummy) and pumpkin rice pudding chilling in there as well (which will be even *more* yummy :) ), and after another wee break, i am going to go make my sesame green beans.

and then i will sit myself down at my window, the steam heater whistling at me on one side while the fan blows in cold air on the left from the open window in front of me. and i will eat a yummy thanksgiving dinner that i made ALL by myself.

and then maybe after dinner i'll get around to that laundry and cleaning that i was supposed to get done today ... hehehe.

( a thanksgiving dinner timeline )

thank you for letting me be where i am right now.
thank you for keeping my friends close to me, both physically and otherwise.
thank you for my generous and bemused but proud and supportive parents.
thank you for a life filled with music.

thank you for not making my life *totally* boring. ;)
thank you for bringing more good people into my life, especially the ones taking the form of eye candy ;)

thank you for our safety and courage.

thank you for the hope that keeps me going.

thank you for the reminders to pursue things passionately.

i have many things to be grateful for, but especially you. thank you.