Home-made Thanksgiving pies!

As usual I made multiple pecan pies - both regular and mini versions.  Every year I think I'm trying to gain more and more supporters of my pecan pie ha.  Also I wanted to try to make coconut custard pie since I couldn't find Entemanns version.  That may seem sacreligious, but I swear their coconut custard pie is better than ANY other fancy ones I've tried.  Mine came close in taste, but I need to work on making the custard itself more smooth/velvet-y.  My dad did comment that if someone like Trader Joes or Whole Foods sold this pie, they'd probably get a lot of buyers because it seems more authentic/home-y.  I'll take that as a compliment ha.

Full version of my coconut custard pie

One slice gone

Delish though looks very...liquid-y ha

Instagrammed pies

Mini pecan pies all individually wrapped.  I tried to make a fun shape with them all haha

Dinner at Nha Trang Place in Jersey City, NJ

I felt like Asian food and hadn't had Vietnamese in awhile.  Dan and I both ordered vermicelli dishes.  I think I like it because the texture of the noodles is very different from any other Asian noodle dish.  I eat vermicelli noodles a lot in Filipino pancit or soup dishes, but the sort of semi-wet way the Vietnamese prepare it is unique.  I love adding the fish sauce to it.  I also love the way they cook their meats.  The dish sort of reminds me of bibimbap since you mix the meat and veggies with the carb.  I also love how everything is so huge and cheap so you feel like you get your money and tummy's worth.

Bun/Vermicelli with grilled chicken

Same dish but with grilled beef

Brunch at Thirty Acres in Jersey City, NJ

Finally hit up Thirty Acres for brunch a few weekends ago.  I would definitely recommend it but understand if it's kind of out of the way for those who don't live in JC.  But the price is right!  Considering how an average meal for two could cost at least $70 (AND this is without booze since it's BYOB), a thirty-dollar brunch isn't so bad.  Dan and I left feeling supremely full, but everything was tasty as usual.  We had to sit at the bar even though brunch had only been going on for less than an hour, but I enjoyed actually getting to kind of see what was going on in the kitchen.  Unsurprisingly we ordered WAY too much food.

Grilled kielbasa with cheddar on rye.  Topped with a fried egg of course

Brioche french toast with sauteed apples and fresh made whipped cream

Side of bacon and fingerling potatoes.  I seriously think there was a pound of bacon there.

Home-made Fried Pork Chops, Spanish Rice and Beans, and Veggies

I was REALLY craving some hearty meat last night, but home-made meat.  After a trip to the grocery store I decided on pork chops since I know it takes the least amount of time and preparation.  I was also craving rice and the Goya aisle just summoned me.  Also the usual sides of zucchini and mushrooms - HP's fav. veggie combo.  I handled the dipping and breading of the pork chops while Dan fried.  HP hates hot oil haha.  He also sauteed the veggies with garlic and butter, and I made the rice and beans.  All in all a veryyy filling meal that didn't take quite as long as I thought, which was good because I seem to always be starving by the time I get home from work.  Lots of leftovers too!  Success!

Pork chop, sauteed veggies, and cups of Spanish rice and beans

Another shot

Extra pork chop :)

Home-made Shepherd's Pie

To celebrate power post-Sandy and pre-emptively celebrate the election, Dan and I decided to cook Shepherd's Pie.  We wanted something home-y and winter-y and also that would last for more than one meal.  Unfortunately we ended up eating so much of it that there's probably only enough left-overs for one more dinner ha.  But that's just because it was SO delicious :)  We wanted to make it more healthy so Dan added kale in addition to the mixed veggies.  I worked on the vegan garlic mashed potatoes and Dan handled the meat/veggies.

Ground beef mixed with kale

First slice of pie

All the layers.  What you can't see is we ate half the tray haha

Home-made Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Made these beauties right before we lost power for a week at my parents' house.  I wanted to make Snickerdoodles but didn't have any cream of tartar (wtf btw) lying around, so found a different recipe that I LOVE.  Will definitely be making these again come Christma stime.  Also I am in love with my new three-tier cookie rack.  Thanks Marshalls!

Dinner at Skinner's Loft in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I went to Skinner's Loft one time for happy hour like over a year ago.  This time we decided to go to dinner after I was stalking the menu and saw some excellent reviews on their filet mignon sliders and Lobster BLT.  Spoiler alert: both lived up to their wonderful reviews ha.  Though I do have some critique.  Overall the meal was delicious and the place was really beautiful upstairs (not the bar area, which is nice but looks a little stuffy).  Kind of felt underdressed in my yoga pants, b/c the upstairs had chandeliers and lots of glass and nice artwork.  They weren't snooty or judgy though, and we saw a guy that looked like Andrew Zimmerman's doppelganger!  Definitely recommend this place if people want a nice, classy dinner.

Bread in a fun tin - So many diff kinds inside.  All delicious and came with both butter and olive oil.

Shrimp and Crab tostadita with corn and avocado salsa.  Very nice and light with great crab taste.  The shrimp was pretty hidden though.

Fried calamari with marinara sauce and jalapeno-citrus aioli.  This was a HUGE plate; I already got full after eating it ha.  The aioli was awesome as was the marinara.  Probably better shared among 3-4 people.

Filet mignon sliders with shoestring fries.  It's hard to see but there were 3 sliders under that mass of potato. The sliders had mushrooms on it and were smeared with garlic butter, which was a big selling point for me.  It was delicious and the meat amazingly tender, but there was SO much garlic butter that the brioche became soggy and almost impossible to eat. In fact half-way through my second slider I just removed the bread and just ate the meat and shrooms.  Now I LOVE garlic and like butter, but it was just too much.  Next time I come I'm gonna say garlic butter light or even on the side if I can get away with that.

Lobster BLT. w/shoestring fries.  Delicious and not too mayo-y (I hate mayo).  Also I didn't mention this above, but I had been really excited about these shoestring fries but as other reviews mentioned, they are SO thin it's like you're not eating anything.  We tried eating with a fork but it wasn't much better.  You need to grab like 4-5 at once before you feel like you're actually eating something.

Close-up of the slider

Flan with toasted coconut.  YUM YUM YUM.  Delicious flan and I loved the grittiness of the coconut.  Smart addition.