day(s) of feasting

Thanksgiving morning began with individual monkey breads – monkey bread that my mother-in-law made in muffin tins so we each had our own piece of gooey, warm, sticky monkey bread to pull apart and devour. It was the beginning of a magnificent day of feasting.

Thanksgiving dinner included a ridiculously succulent turkey; stuffing; a butternut squash, brussel sprout, chestnut, and bacon medley; and an amazing cranberry sauce that my sister-in-law made that has a surprise of figs, walnuts, and (my favorite), nearly a full bottle of port. We finished things off with an apple crumb pie, pumpkin pie, and ginger ice cream.

But the mouthwatering food my mother-in-law made didn’t end with Thanksgiving. We arrived Wednesday night to the warmest welcome of some of my favorite Filipino dishes: pancit, a noodle dish with shrimp and chicken, and ohmygoodnessmytotalfavorite, lumpia, which is the Filipino take on spring rolls, but, if you ask me, so much better. I could eat lumpia all day long.

And I don’t know about how it works in your family, but when I was growing up, all we ate for days after Thanksgiving was either straight up leftovers or reincarnations of leftovers (like my mom’s awesome cheesy turkey and broccoli casserole). But my superhuman mother-in-law was back in the kitchen the very next day (despite being sick and barely able to speak!), making us crab cakes; delicious spicy cucumber relish; and paella with shrimp, chicken, and sausage loaded with yummy veggies. And it doesn’t end there. She had made a ton of Filipino dishes before we had even arrived (including a new favorite, chicken longganisa) which she sent us home with in addition to Thanksgiving leftovers. We have enough food to last us till Christmas and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!