I titled this both stuffing and dressing because it really just depends on how you eat it. It's stuffing if you put it inside a turkey/chicken but it's called dressing when it's cooked/served outside of one. I made it as dressing and referenced a few different recipes to get an idea of what went into stuffing/dressing. It was good enough that my first batch (which I made early so that I could have oven space for the turkey) was picked at and mostly eaten before dinner was even close to being ready; I had to make a second batch. I found that using a saucepan/pot was better than the baking method. Thanks to Duc for awesome pictures!

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 10-12)

• olive oil
• garlic salt, to taste
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• poultry seasoning, to taste
• garlic powder, to taste
• 1 loaf of sliced white bread, preferably French
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 1 can chicken broth, 14 oz
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tbsps butter
• 8 ribs of celery (or 1 whole stalk), chopped

Step 2: Prepping the bread
You need to slice and toast your bread. Drizzle on olive oil and garlic salt before toasting. I recommend toasting a lot on a baking sheet in the oven (325°F for about 5-7 minutes) instead of trying to do two at a time in a toaster. The reason why I have pictures of regular white bread instead of the French I suggested is because my second batch of dressing was made with regular. The French bread dressing was eaten...fairly quickly. Anyhow, toast your bread and then break it into crouton-sized chunks. Stir beaten eggs into the bread to lightly coat them. I also added the salt pork from my turkey to give a bit of saltiness but it definitely wasn't necessary.


Step 3: Preparing the vegetables
Chop your celery and onion. I used a LOT of celery because I like vegetables. Start cooking these in a large saucepan or Dutch oven with your butter until lightly browned or slightly translucent.


Step 4: Finishing
Add the bread to your saucepan. Slowly pour in your chicken broth until the desired moistness is achieved. You might not use the entire can. You don't want the dressing to be too mushy or too dry. Then, add your poultry seasoning, salt, garlic powder, and pepper to taste. This should be last because you need to know how salty the chicken broth will make everything before you start mixing in spices. Enjoy!

I pretty much have to credit almost all this work to my cooking genius friend Jimmy because my parents had decided four days prior that I would be making Thanksgiving dinner. This, of course, gave me no time to prepare since I had work the whole week but luckily a message on Facebook to Jimmy provided me with all the information I needed. Though it's after Thanksgiving and practically useless to post this up for you now, I figured it'd be a good reference for the future or any turkey dinners you want to make. Thanks to Duc for providing all the pictures and being my sous chef!

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: depends on portions...)

• 1 turkey, 15-20 lbs (with injected solution)
• 1 package poultry seasoning, fresh (rosemary, thyme, sage)
• 1 package salt pork (in strips), 6 oz.
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 lemons, halved
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 9 garlic cloves (4 minced, 5 whole)

Step 2: Prepping the turkey
Hopefully you have defrosted your turkey. If not, you're going to need to. Come back to this recipe after that's done. Clean out the cavity of your turkey. You can put gloves on if you'd like but you don't have to for this next step. Loosen the skin of the turkey by starting at the tapered end of the breast and ripping the connective tissue between the skin and the flesh. It may seem awkward because you'll be sticking your hands all up under the skin but trust me, you'll want to do this.

Step 3: Making the herb & garlic butter
Mince about one third of your fresh herbs and 4 cloves of the garlic. Mix these into your butter by hand until it is evenly combined. Then rub this butter mixture all over the turkey's flesh underneath the skin. You'll probably also want to massage your turkey to make sure the butter is well spread.


Step 4: Stuffing the turkey
People sometimes like to make stuffing to put inside the turkey but there are also many horror stories about doing so because of bacteria or how much longer it takes for the turkey to cook. To avoid doing so but to still give the turkey a great taste, you can fill the cavity with halved lemons, the remaining whole garlic cloves, and one half of the remaining herbs (1/3rd of the original amount). Wash your salt pork.


Step 5: Arranging the turkey
Pre-heat your oven to 325°F. Fill the tray of a roasting pan with two cups of water and add the remaining herbs. Mix the baking powder and salt in a dish, and then use that mixture all over the skin of your turkey. This will give it a nice brown when roasting. Next, use cotton twine to tie the turkey's legs together. You don't have to do a full truss here. Place the turkey breast down onto the roasting pan rack and arrange the wings underneath the breast. Lay your washed salt pork along the back of the turkey so that its fat/juices can keep your turkey moist; no basting necessary! Stick the pan in the oven.


Step 6: Roasting the turkey
You're going to need a meat thermometer. For a turkey of such size, it will take you about 3.5 hours of cook time (if you need a timetable, check out http://allrecipes.com/howto/turkey-cooking-time-guide/). When the breast is at 130°F, remove the salt pork and flip the turkey over. Change the oven temperature to 425°F. You should have about 45 minutes left on the clock now. The final temperature at which the breast should be is between 160°F-165°F and the legs/thighs should be 170°F-175°F.

Step 7: Finishing
One of the important things to do when roasting a turkey is not to serve right away when you take it out of the oven! When the ideal temperatures have been reached on your turkey, take it out of the oven and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes before serving. Don't worry - it'll still be hot. You just want to let the juices of the turkey be spread throughout all the meat. Enjoy!

So my family decided just this past Sunday (yes, four days ago) that we actually would be doing something for Thanksgiving dinner. Oh and by we, they meant that I'd be cooking the entire feast. I don't mind though - I love days that are just filled with food. Unfortunately, I have never roasted a bird before much less a turkey. With some tips and pointers (okay, more than just some...a lot) from my awesome friend who is a superb cook, I will tackle that turkey with the enthusiasm of a kid being let out for recess after a pop quiz. Wish me luck! I hope that you'll be having a great time stuffing your face today as well. My plan is to do roasted turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, garlicky green beans, bruschetta (Mom's request), and probably cheesy grits. What's going to be on your plate?

I haven't posted a recipe in far too long but forgive me please! I just haven't been able to whip up anything awesome lately but I had an itch to dip into my bookmarked recipes recently; so, here it is. I had to adjust the original recipe after doing a test batch, and the second round came out very well. These are pretty much those biscuits you get at Red Lobster that make you feel guilty and fat. Yep - they are full of butter, garlic, and cheese. Were they worth the guilt? Yes. Try them out for yourself!

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 12 biscuits)

Dough

• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup whole milk, cold
• 1 cup (4 oz) sharp Cheddar cheese, finely shredded
• 1 1/4 tsps salt*
• 2 1/2 tbsps oil*
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
• 3 3/4 tsps baking powder*
• 4 tbsps unsalted butter, cold

Coating

• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp parsley flakes, dried
• 4 tbsps unsalted butter, melted

Ingredient note:

1. * - These ingredients are the equivalent of 2.5 cups of Bisquick. If you have that on hand, you can give it a try too.

Step 2: Mixing the dry ingredients
For the dough, use a large fork or a pastry cutter to combine your cold butter with the salt, oil, flour, and baking powder (or Bisquick). You want to make sure and use cold butter because it is essential in the baking process to creating your fluffy biscuits. When you combine the two, the butter can still be in pieces that are about the size of peas.

Step 3: Mixing in the wet ingredients
The first time I did this part of the process, I worked the dough too much and ended up with biscuits that weren't awesome. You want to add the cheese, garlic powder, and milk to your mix and then mix by hand. However, do not handle the dough too much because you will melt the butter and make everything tough. I made this mistake because I was worried when my dough seemed too dry. Don't worry - there will be some flour that is not completely incorporated.

Step 4: Baking the biscuits
Preheat your oven to 400°F. If you have an ice cream scoop, scoop out 12 balls of dough to place on a large baking sheet. If you don't, you can form balls with your hands but be careful of how long you hold them. The balls only need to be about an inch apart as they will not expand too much. Place your sheet inside the oven to bake.

Step 5: Finishing
The biscuits are to be in the oven for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. In the last two or three minutes of the bake time, you can make the coating. Melt the butter in a small bowl before adding your garlic powder and parsley. Using a pastry brush (or in my case, a spoon and careful handling), put the coating on the biscuits as soon as they come out of the oven. This will make them look even more appetizing and a nice golden brown color with bits of green! Enjoy!

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, 3600 Presidential Blvd, Austin, TX 78719
Pricing - $$ | Dining - To-Go | Cuisine - Barbeque
www.saltlickbbq.com

In some of my "research" before I headed off to Austin, I saw that people were claiming that The Salt Lick was one of the places a visitor must eat at if going to Austin. Because of the way activities were set up during my trip though, I didn't get a chance to go there. However, I noticed that there was an off-shoot in the airport so while waiting for my flight back, I decided to snag myself a platter.


I think a combination of the place being in an airport and my high expectations (not at all dissuaded by the giant banner claiming it to be one of the top 100 restaurants according to the Travel Channel) made my brisket and sausage platter fall flat in taste. I mean, the brisket was actually pretty good but the sausage was nearly bland and the sauce didn't pair well with the sausage. I liked the slaw because the black sesame seeds were a fine touch. The potato salad was pretty good too but close to being flavorless, and the beans were just flat out disappointing. I didn't even eat more than a taste of the beans. I know that airport food is always expensive but I didn't feel like the platter was worth the $12 I dropped on it. Maybe next time I visit, I'll try to see what the actual brick-and-mortar restaurant is like.

9500 S I 35, Austin, TX 78748
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Vietnamese
www.phothaison.com

(Apologies for the poor pictures - didn't have my camera with me) This was my last meal with my cousins on my TX trip. It was the also the first meal after the wedding so plenty of people were happy to eat some pho since they were hung over (odd how it's good hangover food huh?). Apparently it's a chain of restaurants in the Austin area, and this branch, according to my cousins, wasn't the best one. Oh well. It was the one where we all congregated. I decided to go with my typical dish.


So my hefty bowl of steak, tripe, tendon, and flank steak in pho came, and like the other pho I had seen at another restaurant when someone ordered it in Austin, the broth was very dark. I'm accustomed to translucent and yellow-ish broth. The second thing I noticed actually was that the broth was quite oily. There was certainly a lot of good cuts of meat (beef in Texas, of course!) but it couldn't take away from the fact that I felt like I was drinking slimy soup. I barely finished my bowl because of the quantity. I'll give them more stars for the amount of good meat and noodles but they didn't impress me with how much oil was in the broth nor how much MSG I tasted.

4323 S I H 35, Austin, TX 78744
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Vietnamese, Chinese
www.austinsaigonkitchen.com

(Forgive me for the poor photos - I only had my phone camera to use) Saigon Kitchen was one of the places I ate at while in Texas for my cousin's wedding. It is one of the many restaurants that his friend's family owns, so we were obliged to eat here after the rehearsal. It seems like a place that would be easy to miss because it is between a bunch of hotels off of I-35 (and short). The inside was unassuming and generally pretty bare. The menu was quite lengthy though so there were quite a lot to choose from. I started off with a Vietnamese iced coffee (pretty weak compared to other ones I've had) and a bowl of hot & sour soup. The soup was pretty good.


My brother and I shared dishes family style with rice. I ordered the Hunan beef which was a plate of beef, bamboo shoots, broccoli, black beans, and Shiitake mushrooms in a brown spicy sauce. I really wanted spiciness that day because I had a killer headache that I wanted to clear with heat. The beef was pretty good but the entire dish wasn't anything special. It could have done with less grease actually.

My brother got the "Miracle shrimp," which was their name for honey walnut shrimp. It's basically a common dish in Chinese restaurants that is made up of mayonnaise-sauced fried shrimp and candied walnuts. I thought that their version was pretty good actually but again, nothing awe-inducing. The walnuts were good to munch on, and the shrimp wasn't overly coated with mayonnaise. I'm not sure how other Chinese or Vietnamese restaurants in Austin compare but since I've been to a LOT of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants, I have fairly high comparison points. It was a decent place to eat for what it was, and the "typical" dishes were all there.

5510 S I H 35, Austin, TX 78745
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Steakhouse

(Pictures from the phone since I forgot my camera!) I was very excited when I heard that we were going to a steakhouse for dinner. Texas = steak. It sounds like a MUST. I heard from my cousin that the prices were pretty good for a steakhouse and that the food was great there. How could I resist Texas beef? Luckily there was a deal for two entrees and an appetizer for $25 so my brother and I snagged that one to save on money.


Our appetizer of choice was the plate of onion strings. There were a LOT of onion strings, and they were well-crisped. I don't like it when onion strings or onion rings are heavily battered but these weren't. To start, the tables also got delicious bread with butter and cinnamon butter to dip. Great stuff.


Entrees come with soup or salad and a side of choice. My soup came out first, and it was a cup of French onion soup. Yes, I had onions right after onions. It was actually very good. Usually French onion soups that I have are very salty but this one was a good mix of saltiness and savoriness. The cheese on top was still hot and melty, and the bread underneath was a nice combination of crunch and soft. That was awesome since the bread pieces are usually soggy whenever I get French onion soup at other places; it was a definite sign that they had made it shortly before serving it.


Then my medium rare 8 oz. smoked sirloin came out with garlic mashed potatoes. Oh my. It was cooked to the right temperature, and the smokiness of the beef was delicious. The beef was tender and oh so flavorful. I loved the pepper-crusted edges too. Though it looked small on the plate, its richness (and all the other food) had me nearly bursting. I can't remember the last time I had such a delectable steak. Fantastic place. I wish I could go again!

4715 W Hwy 290, Sunset Valley, TX 78745
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Italian, Buffet
www.cannolijoes.com

(Apologies for the pictures - I didn't have my camera) This was the first "real" meal that I had in Austin, and it was for the bachelorette party. I thought it was a tad odd that after the girls all got massages and felt relaxed they would want to get stuffed at an Italian buffet. After a few wrong turns, we made it to the place, and I'd say that it looks pretty neat on the outside. Its exterior walls are painted with scenes of Italian buildings. Inside it looks like a street in Italy with the food stations looking similar to shops and street vendors.

I ended up getting one and a half plates of food. For $8, it was a decent lunch considering it was all you can eat. However, as far as Italian food goes, it's definitely just mediocre. I liked that the food was created in small portions by an actual cook behind the serving station; I could see the cook mixing up some vegetables and sausage before she put it out on a small serving plate. That was the cool part because I like knowing that my food isn't mass produced. However, the recipes must have been generic enough to be able to made by many and probably be liked by many. None of the dishes stuck out to me as being much better or much worse than another. At least it wasn't a terrible meal though!

I'm back! I got in Monday night and proceeded to relish the comfort of being home, particularly because I was sick. Can you believe that I've had a headache for 10 days straight now? It's unbelievably annoying and quite debilitating actually. I was basically in bed for almost all of yesterday, rolling around and complaining. While in Texas, however, there were so many things going on that I only got to "feel" sick whenever we rested or were en route somewhere. Otherwise, it was busy busy busy until it was time to go home. In retrospect, it probably made matters worse that I had drinks while with a headache but hey, it was part of the festivities! My cousin and his bride looked radiant, and the ceremony was amazing. Congratulations to the both of them!


So there are definitely a string of Eatery posts coming up in the next few days but I wanted to also put up a general thing on Austin. We were actually south of Austin so we weren't in the heart of the city; therefore, I can't accurately make any judgments on Austin itself. In fact, we traveled around places but they were all quite fun. The night that I landed, the group went to an event called Wurstfest.


It's funny to joke about that because it is publicized as the best sausagefest you could go to, haha. It made me think of Octoberfest in a sense but this was an annual festival celebrating German wursts! Talk about eating a lot! (Oh by the way, I forgot my camera at home so all of my pictures are from my phone - sorry.) I had some curly potato chips with cheese on top, cups of Shiner beer, a huge wurst on a stick, sauerkraut in a pita, sausage and cheese balls, and some German chocolate pie. Delicious.


Then we went to the music tent where there was just so much energy! They had a band playing using accordions and even a keytar to get the Texan and German music going. People were so excited; I loved the feel of everything, especially since most of the crowd was older. I mean, who doesn't love jumpin', bumpin' grandmas with lit-up neon red mohawk hats?


The day after, I explored a cool place called Central Market while the bachelorette party got  massages. It made me think of Whole Foods actually. I liked how they had informational displays with their food like the banana chart. It showed how many days it would take for a banana to ripen if you bought it at a certain color!


My breakfasts for the week came from their fantastic muffin display. I snagged a box that I made of chocolate cherry pistachio, white chocolate apricot, antioxidant punch, and chocolate toffee nut crunch. Don't those flavors just make your mouth water? Afterward, we went to a buffet which will be posted about tomorrow!

11906 Garden Grove Blvd, Garden Grove, CA 92843
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Mexican
www.lossanchez.com


If you've grown up in Garden Grove, how could you resist Los Sanchez? If this were a college town, Los Sanchez would be the number one spot for hungry college kids to go. Good food for good prices is not the only awesome thing about this place; the guy who calls out the orders has the most epic voice you could ever hear. He makes Los Sanchez what it is, haha. Anyhow, it had been a while since I had been to Los Sanchez so I made it a point to go after work one night. As always, they delivered huge portions for small prices.


Look at that burrito. That, my friends, is the "Works" burrito which is filled with succulent, peel-away pork carnitas and pieces of chicken. It has rice, it has beans, and it has delicious cheese. On the outside is what makes their burritos "wet," some mixture of red sauce and more cheese. This was actually the first time I've had the Works. I usually just get a wet carne asade burrito but the new choice was fantastic anyhow. What was great was that the meats themselves were just superb on their own. They were so tender in a melt-in-your-mouth way that is highly desirable in such slow-cooked meats. Great burrito.


The nachos supreme were indulgent but not mind-blowing. It was similar to the carne asada burrito I was used to except that there wasn't a tortilla skin but there were tortilla chips. Carne asada, refried beans, red sauce, and loads of cheese made up the nachos. Good but not great.


Of course, since the portions are enormous, I had to take leftovers back home for my teenage brother to demolish. Look at the size of the leftovers though. They were practically a meal in themselves. Well done Los Sanchez. You have over-sated me once again!