Here is How I do thanksiving Dinner
The Menu
Slow Cooked Brisket - A brisket that has been marinated and slow cooked for 12 hours
Turkey and Beef Lumpia - Think of it as a Filipino egg roll or taquito. You can roll it with meat or vegetables and then it is pan fried
Rice - It is an essential dinner staple
Chickpea Salad - A simple salad with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, chickpeas and a lemon dressing
Potato Salad - A layered potato salad topped with “bacon bits”
Spicy Edamame Salad - A salad with edamame, snap peas, chick peas and cherry tomatoes topped with a sweet and spicy dressing
Sweet Potato Casserole - Sweet potatoes combined with chopped pecans
Cranberry Sauce - Good old homemade cranberry sauce
Bebinka - A Filipino glutinous rice flour desert with brown sugar glaze.
Ambrosia (Don’t have a picture) - A chilled fruit salad with whipped cream and cream cheese
Brazilian Lemonade - A simple blended lemonade drink.
Lumpia can have a variety of stuffing. My favorite is Banana Lumpia made with bananas and cinnamon sugar.
Cooking Process
The preparation for this meal was very tedious, it was mostly me and my mom preparing the main dishes while my auntie and uncle filled in the gaps. Most of the cooking happens the day before thanksgiving. A tradition our family does every year is to pull an all night food prep spree. I didn’t get to sleep until 5 am that morning and had to get back to cooking by 12 pm. All in all the process was fun and I made lasting memories with my family this year.
The Inspiration
Most of the inspiration comes from my family’s colliding cultures. My mom side is Filipino and my Dad side is Mexican with Texan influence. As you can see in the menu the Filipino side of dishes was the Bebinka and Lumpia while the Mexican Influence was the Brisket (Not fully Mexican but still influenced by my dad). This year was also special because its the first time in a while my dad has been home from the hospital, so we made sure to cook all his favorite food to celebrate the occasion. Most of the food he likes is cooked by mom, but he pushed me to make a cranberry sauce that I learned in class. All the other dishes were dishes inspired by past Thanksgiving holiday dinners.
Would you be suprised that the marinade is Coke and Onions?!
Final Thoughts
The more I celebrate Thanksgiving with my family I cherish it the more the years go by. I get excited because I get to contribute in the area I thrive most and that is showing my love through cooking. I am glad I got see my dad smile, he has had it rough and looked forward to the meal. I’m happy to say that it was a success and everything went well without a hitch