Still Celebrating Holidays

There is aways a reason to celebrate!
And for us, it's after Christmas, and before the New Year.
We love to get together, to cook, then, to wine and dine.

Cheers!

Beth's salad: spring mix with tomatoes, pine nuts and hearts of palm.

Lynne's very yummy Swiss chard tart.

Lynne's shrimp, chickpeas, and spinach, with ginger & cumin.

My blueberry cream cheese pie

Christmas Eve

Cozy Christmas Eve filled with the joy of cooking and togetherness.

The star of our Christmas Eve dinner: Standing Rib Roast.

Mise en Place

Spring Mix salad with pears, pomegranate, and blue cheese.

Porcini, button mushroom, bacon, and red wine sauce.

Scalloped potatoes with goat cheese and Herbs de Provence.

Started off with salad

Ended the meal with Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

We had a great time and a wonderful meal.


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Holiday Treats

Christmas Shopping in Chicago

We stayed at Hyatt Regency Chicago again. Great location - just steps from Michigan Avenue, also has easy access to any transportation to get around Chicago. It's perfect for a shopping trip.

Holiday decoration along the Magnificent Mile

It was a pretty nice day to walk around - cold but not windy or freezing at all :)

We do love Chicago!

The boys' favorite spots - Apple Store and Niketown

Blue Man Group is fantastic! We had a great time.


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Hope to see you again soon, Windy City!

Thai Princess

Located in Okemos, Thai Princess is a new eatery in Lansing area. The restaurant offers on their menu a wide variety of Thai dishes, in an elegant but cozy atmosphere and decor. I happened to eat there 3 times in one week, after they had been opened for almost a month. So far, I love everything I tried. Certain dishes even remind me of my mom's cooking, or my favorites in Thailand.

I am so happy to see more options for Thai food lovers to go enjoy great food and nice dining experience. Service was warm and friendly. Big portion of food, at a pretty reasonable price. Here's some of the dishes I had:

Of course, Pad Thai - I have to say it's very close to what you would get in Thailand, and delicious!

Papaya Salad - my favorite dish of all time. They do such a great job that I will probably order it every visit :)

Thai Princess:
1754 Central Park Dr
Okemos, MI 48864
(517) 381-1558

Thanksgiving

I hope you a had a good one as well!
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Silver Bells in the City 2010

Crowd packed downtown Lansing to start off Holiday season at the 26th annual Silver Bell in the City last night. An Electric Light Parade followed by the lighting of Michigan’s official Christmas tree and a fireworks show over the State Capitol -- great traditional event.


We enjoyed watching everything from a reserved patio at Troppo restaurant. The appetizers for the party included coconut chicken, egg roll, portabella mushroom tempura, meatball, spinach dip & chips, and lots of cookies. Great food, and attentive services.

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:)

Weekend Eats

My Sunday night cooking of stir-fried ziti with pork, eggs, onions, and tomatoes. The seasoning sauce is a mixture of oyster sauce, light soy sauce, chili sauce, and ketchup. A delicious one-dish meal I've had since I was a child.

Mise en Place before the cooking started.

Shandong-style dumpling making for Saturday night dinner. My good friend's brother just arrived from China, with his family. Instead of being exhausted and jet lagged, his wife made us homemade dumplings, from scratch!

It was a great learning experience, and we had so much fun!