Wednesday, November 25, 2009

* Epicurean Wednesday *

Today, I am going to share with you a beautiful Thanksgiving Friends Gathering at my home. (Kind of like a day off from all-thing-wedding-issue today, however, there are some decor ideas that can inspire you for your intimate rehearsal dinner or after-wedding brunch!)

Last Saturday, I am so thankful and glad to have given the honor to host the Thanksgiving Dinner at my apartment for my dear friends in NYC. The dinner was planned since two weeks ago. I wanted something special and different than just putting every dish on the table for all my friends. My first thought was to have a really long "table" made up of empty cartons, cover with a bold red cloth, adorn with fresh flowers, and dinnerware. I thought ... wow ... that would be nice and homy! However, I was not able to execute the plan I had, due to limited space in my apartment. (Sigh...sorry my dear friends, I promised we will have a proper long table Thanksgiving dinner next year!)

One of my friends, Kien Lup, he has unlimited creativity and stories to share with; be it fashion, hairstyle, foods, decorations, and many more which I am still learning from this great friend of mine! He persuaded me to go from family-style sit-down to buffet-style dinner ^.*

Now, move on to the food we are going to prepare for the day and also the decor for the party! Since we have our friends, Sofie & Pei Jia, to prepare the turkey, we thought of doing something lighter and something sweet. We decided on mashed sweet potatoes, green salad, guacamole on crackers appetizer, and a homemade apple pie. We love the freshness of vegetables and fruits offered by farmers market, therefore, we decided to make a trip to Union Square Farmers Market on Saturday afternoon.

We got:
Apples (thought of making the pie...but in the end, we decided to buy one from farmers market instead.)
Pears (for decoration as well as eating purposes)
Mid-size Pumpkin for decoration purpose (to create Thanksgiving/Fall festive mood)
Sweet Potatoes
4 Packs of Green Salad Mix
Bell Peppers (red, orange, and yellow)
Grape Tomatoes
Avocados
Olives
Lemons
Ham


As soon as we done with the shopping, we went home and get ready to set up the table and prepare the food. Can't wait to put everything together!

So I got a big red cloth and Kien Lup brought a red/black ombre cloth and some candles. Unlike flowers, we go greener by having fresh fruits all around. (no more waste food, everything is edible ^.*) Also, we made full use of the apples we bought for making the apple pie. We incorporated the apples into our buffet table centerpiece decor. I love the color combo so much!

Here we go...the result of combining our fresh fruits centerpiece with candles around. Isn't lovely?



When dinner time is approaching, more food are coming in (hmm...yummy!).
Our menu: American, Asian & Mexican
Here is the list...
1. 20-pound Big Turkey (A huge bird!)
2. Stuffing
3. Cranberry sauce
4. Mushroom gravy
5. Carrots
6. Green salad
7. Mashed sweet potatoes
8. Guacamole on crackers
9. Bon Chon Chicken from Terence
10. Fried mihun from Tina
11. Roasted pork from Ian
12. Korean Kimbap
13. Spicy pork with squid
14. Pandan chiffon cake from Ying Thing
15. Apple pie bought from farmers market
16. Magnolia cup cakes brought by Tina

(Items 1-5 prepared by Sofie and Pei Jia)
(Items 6-8 prepared by Kien Lup and Me)
(Items 12 & 13 prepared by Tim and Paris)


Hands down to all delicious food from my friends! Thank you!



My greatest thanks to my friends for taking your time and efforts to prepare or buy us the delicious meal! I love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

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