The Johnson Family Dinner Event

I didn’t have the opportunity to update you all on an event…a family tradition of sorts, that my cousins and I started this year.  I have to first explain how this new family tradition started.  Thanksgiving Dinner, 2008-I come from a family of very talented cooks and caterers, so I have been spoiled all my life with good food…UNTIL THAT DAY.  Canned Greens?  Horrible!!!  Greasy and gloppy Mac-N-Cheese?  Atrocious!!!  Luckily, the turkey was pretty decent, but what was a real sin…STORE BOUGHT ROLLS, and not even the good store bought rolls.  We’re talking about the store bought rolls that cost like $1.99, and have a taste of the plastic bag that it comes in.  That’s an “abomination to the Lord himself”.  My two cousins, Stacee and April, my sister, Krystal and myself had a conference.  We decided that afternoon that we will no longer deal with mediocre food.  We also wanted to use food as a catalyst to bring the family together.  Our grandmother died in May of 2008, and she was a central figure in our family, and was a fantastic cook.  We decided that our immediate families (My mother, father and sister and my Uncle Harry, Aunt Faye and Stacee and April) will get together every three months, with a different culinary theme, and just eat and enjoy each other’s company.  We started out shortly after the New Year, 2009…and the culinary theme was Italian Food, which is one of my culinary specialties.  I made a huge lasagna (Pictured below), and my cousins made Chicken Florentine, we had terrific Italian-themed salads, garlic bread, Alicia made a fantastic cheesecake (Also pictured below), my Aunt made desserts as well (She is a helluva baker…she should make her living doing that).  My sister made punch, which is all good…because her punch has reached “legendary” status.  We ate well, played Nintendo Wii (Thus making me come to the realization that I am out of shape), and laughed and joked.  A great day.

The Spread

 

Alicia's Yummy Cheesecake

 

Three months went by, and it was time to plan another dinner event.  We had to come up with a culinary theme?  ASIAN!!!  Everybody wanted Asian, and I was certainly down for it.  In the last few months, I have been cooking and eating more Asian cuisine, and I have come to really, really love it and appreciate it for its flavor, yet simplicity.  Alicia is an Asian food “addict”, so this event really hit her “comfort zone”.  This time around, we expanded the event, and invited my father’s older sister, my Aunt Barbara, and invited my cousin, Stephanie, whose father was my Dad’s younger brother.  He passed in 1982.  Of course, Uncle Harry, Aunt Faye, Stacee and April, my parents, my sister, myself and Alicia.  We set out to create a menu.  We had an awesome menu, that brought in the flavors and cuisines from several nations including Korea, Vietnam, China, and Thailand.  Here is the menu and the people who made/cooked the items:

STARTERS:  Vietnamese Vegetarian Spring Rolls (Myself), Pork and Chive Dumplings (Alicia), and Asian-Style Meatballs (Stephanie…the meatballs weren’t photographed)

Vietnamese Veggie Spring Rolls and Pork and Chive Dumplings

SALADS & VEGETABLES:  Green Papaya Salad (April), Asian-Influenced Green Beans (Stacee), and Baby Bok Choy Noodle Salad (Aunt Faye)

Green Papaya Salad

 

Asian Green Beans

 

Baby Bok Choy Salad

SOUP:  Hot and Sour Soup (My mother….dish not photographed)

MAINS:  Red Curry Crawfish/Shrimp (Myself), Peking Duck (My father), Grilled Korean Bulgogi Skirt Steak (Myself), “Twice Cooked” Pork (My Aunt Barbara), Asian-Inspired Udon Noodle Dish (Stacee), and Lemongrass Chicken (Myself-Not Photographed)

Red Curry Crawfish/Shrimp

 

Peking Duck

 

Grilled Korean Bulgogi Skirt Steak

 

Twice Cooked Pork

 

Asian Inspired Udon Noodle Dish

 DESSERTS-Thank God for my cousin, April, because the rest of us did not keep with the Asian-theme when it came to desserts.  Although my family likes different cuisines, I don’t know if they are quite ready to part with their love of American and/or Western-European-influenced desserts.  I have admit, I am the same way.  As I stated, my cousin, April, was the exception.  She made Mango Sticky Rice, a dish we have seen on many Thai Restaurant menus, and speaking for myself, something that I have constantly passed over.  But…we are to try everything, so I did, and I am very glad I did.  This stuff was unbelieably good.  I wanted to try more and more and more and more of it, but I was too full from dinner.  It really was delicious, and I look forward to trying it the next time I venture to my favorite Thai restaurant.  Other than, my father made a bread pudding, but instead of using stale bread, he used stale cake…DAMN GOOD.  My wife to be, made a fantastic trifle using scratch-made strawberry cake, fresh strawberries, lemon curd, vanilla pudding, and whipped cream.  Just take a look below for the rest of the desserts:

April's Mango Sticky Rice....DAMN GOOD!!!

Strawberry Vanilla Trifle...one of my wife's signature desserts

 

Gene's Mango Bread Pudding

Krystal's Coconut Cake

Gene's Carrot Cake

Again, this is how my family rolls.  We have made ourselves, our stomach, and the souls of past family members proud.  This is legacy building in the making.  Enjoy and Good Day!!!