My First Roast Chicken

For Thanksgiving this year, I made my first roast chicken ever. I was a bit apprehensive, since I've never done it before and cooking a whole bird seemed like a daunting task. But everyone always says how easy it is and how good it is, so I thought, why not give it a try. I used the Pioneer Woman (of course) roast chicken recipe as a base and changed a few things using what i had available to me.

Instead of rosemary in the butter, I used thyme and added some chopped garlic. My veggie box that week came with a bundle of poultry seasoning (rosemary, thyme, sage), which I stuck into the cavity (up the butt - hehe) of the chicken along with the lemon.

Overall, I thought the chicken came out very well, super moist and juicy. The lemon and herb flavors came through nicely.

Lessons learned:
- Leave the butter out longer to allow it to soften (soft butter really helps) 
- Pat the chicken dry and pat it dry again. Butter sticks better to super dry chicken 
- Turn the broiler on for a few minutes at the end to crisp up the skin more

A few pictures of the process, nothing amazing:


naked chicken


ready for the oven


all done!

長尾巴...

attack of the cute

There's a saying in Chinese "長尾巴" or growing your tail - which is a nice way to say "you're another year older"... My tail grew this week, and I was reminded again of how loved and blessed I am.

Here's a quick collage to summarize it all. Surrounded by family, friends, and food.

Thank you to all of you who are in my life and constantly remind me of how great our God is and how His love is all around us.

Catching up...

A few images from the past few months, mostly phone pictures. Will hopefully begin updating this regularly (as i always say...)



per diem


in'n'out


dinner w/ the Lu's


Father's Day Beef Wellington


Napa Trip


Dinner w/ the Ahn's

Happy Hump Day!

Here's a look at what I made for dinner last night cause I actually had some time...

Plate 1: Chinese Broccoli, steamed swai fish, rice

Plate 2: Broiled chicken thigh, roasted root veggies, rice
I also attempted (keyword attempted) to make Chinese fish soup for the first time...I'll post those pictures another time...

Valentine's Dinner

Made by mr. edmund lee :D


what's for dinner?

Entree: GoatCheese-SunDriedTomato Stuffed Chicken









Prepped, Cooked and Plated!


Salad nice and simple


Dessert: Croissant BreadPudding





i didn't wash.cook.clean! how nice it was :)

Christmas Eve Dinner...

(disclaimer: there was much more food than what i photographed, but i was too busy eating to take a photograph)

I celebrated Christmas with my parents for the first time in 4 years...we decided to do alittle potluck on Christmas Eve with a few family friends.

I decided to tackle my first prime rib :) With the help of my dear chef friend mLee, i obtained a recipe and an idea of what i wanted to do...get a bone-in prime rib roast, make a good rub of garlic, rosemary, and olive oil...I tried to capture the process i took in making it, but as you will see below, i did not do a great job in getting my camera out.


The 8 lb standing rib roast


The spices used for the rub


Fresh out of the oven, with a bulb of roasted garlic on the side


moose cookies that my friend made...they're like rockyroad ice cream put into a cookie. quite delicious (i'm eating one as we speak)


The gingerbread house (from a kit) that a few of the girls made.


The yule log cake that we had for dessert...unfortunately looked better than it tasted..

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

My sis made some delicious pumpkin pie (as reference on cathalinaK). she made the crust from scratch..and then mixed the pumpkin mixture. it turned out pretty well.

here are some photos of the process.


pouring the batter into the pie crust...


after the filling was poured into the crust...


after coming out from the oven..notice the crater...anyone know why?


first slice of yumminess.

Sticky Rice...

for our International Potluck

I made this for a potluck at work. I adapted ChezChristine's recipe

What's inside?


After mixing in the mixture to the rice...


all done!


If you tasted it..let me know what you think

Katy's Travel Adventures

Back in August, we had a little get together for our dear friend KTD, whose getting married in alil over a week!! Her family/bridesmaids put together this amazzing spread of international foods, for our world traveller. I took a few pictures of what was offered. They did sucha good job


Tri-Tip Salad (San Luis Obispo, CA)


Paninis (Florence, Italy)


Lamb Shawarma (New York City, NY)


Haupia (Honolulu, HI)

Assortment of Drinks

Pomegranate Green Tea (CA)


Green Tea (Japan)


White Wine Sangria (Spain)