‘Good Food~Good Mood’ recipes to make you drool
By Jamila Lopez
November, the perfect balance between fall and winter, the time for comfort food, cozy socks and sweaters, and let’s not forget pumpkin flavored everything!
Arguably the best month to celebrate the three F’s. Family, friends, and food, and to gratefully give thanks for the big and small things in life.
As a student away from family, I’m sure there are others like myself who may be feeling down or home sick around the holidays.
Nothing would cheer me up better than a home cooked meal like what I would have if I were home.
It seems that most families’ traditional food for thanksgiving meal includes a turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing vegetables, and pumpkin pie.
Although These sounds great, coming from a large and very diverse family, our feast is very nontraditional, just the way I prefer it to be. Meaning our feast will consist of Puerto Rican food, Chinese food, Italian, Southern soul food, Mexican, You name it, we’ve most likely will or have had it.
My most remembered childhood memories are from holiday family gatherings. On a day like Thanksgiving, prepping starts early morning , food is cooking by 10 a.m. The thanksgiving aroma is moving in as family members start to show up with their own dishes.
From afternoon to late evening, the day has consisted of love, laughter, and stuffed bellies. After a day of feasting on a typical thanksgiving day, I would have eaten around five times between the hours from cooking to farewells, not including the variety of choices for dessert, mmm my favorite.
Thanks to The Buccaneer staff, I was able to test out some recipes.
I was able to buy all ingredients for each recipe, As much as I loved trying the crab Mac and cheese, I would have been able to afford fresh vegetables for a side dish, had I not spent a little extra on crab meat.
I shared this meal with three classmates, my instructor and two visitors, We had a great time enjoying a home cooked meal with each other and had just enough food left over for each of us to take home another meal.
As much as I would love to brag about what I’ll be having for Thanksgiving with my family, this coming Thanksgiving will be for two, with my family living in California, it is just my son and I in Port Angeles.
Celebrating birthdays, holidays and other special moments haven’t been the most exciting or joyful as they would be back home with family.
However, the more self- acceptance you have, the more happiness you’ll allow, I have accepted my path and challenges also realizing this is the time for me to set my own family traditions.
This year’s Thanksgiving may not consist of gumbo, hot water corn cakes, deep fried turkey, Puerto Rican Arroz con pollo and Mofongo… Wow how heartbreaking, though, our dinner will have plenty of love and laughter and be a delightful meal.
For my personal Thanksgiving, I plan to have a healthy meal for two, a home baked sweet potato pie with my budget set under $70.
This year I am thankful for my family and friends, for holding my head above water, and thankful in advance for the blessings yet to come.
Staffgiving Menu
Appetizer
Mini oxtail tacos
Main Dish
Four Cornish hens
Two stuffed with orange
and rosemary
Two glazed with apricot jam topped with chopped walnuts and
dried chopped apricots
Sides
Garlic herb mashed potatoes
Fresh crab Mac and Cheese
Dessert
Sweet potato pie
