Pagan Meal?

For every special occasion in the Chen family, there's always a meal involved at home. When we say meal, we mean a feast. Chef daddy Chen cooks up a storm and usually the amount of food exceeds twice as the amount of people.

Case in point - Winter Solstice celebration....Like my boss said, it was a pagan holiday but my mom insisted that we have dinner at my parents' house. There's a saying that this holiday is more important than Chinese New Year. Really? What exactly are we celebrating? We complied because we were promised a full menu of deliciousness and our stomachs overcame our minds. Besides, it was a combined celebration for my dad's birthday.

The moment we walked in the house and it smelled like fried stuff. The first plate we saw was an appetizer that my dad never made before - fried pumpkin. They looked like french fries and they tasted like sweet potatoe fries. It was GOOD. Jer wouldn't stop eating them but we needed to save our stomachs for the main courses.




Shortly after the appetizer, dinner was ready. Like I said, it was a feast….Here is a picture of our dining table with description starting from top left corner:
- Pan-fried Green Beans with Garlic
- Pumpkin Gritz
- Steamed Brocolli with Abalone slices and fish stomach (my dad caught the abalone)
- Stuffing for Lettuce Wrap (chicken, carrot, fried fun si, and a whole other bunch of goodies)
- Soy sauce chicken from a Chinese deli
- Fried Man Tao (white bread) with Condensed Milk Dip
- Soy Sauce Shrimp
- Orange Chicken with orange rinds
- Abalone soup



And to wash it all down, beer and soda. =)


Now how can you say no to this awesome meal? I love Chef Daddy Chen…he's the best.