Gobble *cough* Gobble.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday! Mine was very fun and relaxing, except for the cold I have been fighting for the past few days with a cough equivalent to the black lung. I'm actually on the plane right now going back to school! Google Chrome is giving Delta passengers free wifi for the holidays. I think being online thousands of miles in the air is pretty cool.

So of course this post is going to be all about our Thanksgiving feast. Unfortunately, my cold made it so I couldn't stuff my face with as much food as I usually do and my black Wednesday festivities made it so I couldn't help out much during the day. My mom had invited her whole office for Thanksgiving dinner, which was about ~20 people! I didn't think she was making enough food, but she proved me wrong and everyone was able to get seconds and thirds, but there were no leftovers. It was just that good :).

Dishes included: turkey, sweet potatoes, wild rice with veggies, stuffing with sausage, leeks, kale, squash (my absolute favorite), brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes (made my yours truly), gravy, salad and cornbread. This is the first time my mom made that stuffing and I was in love. It was heavy like most stuffings and I'm a new found lover of leeks, kale and even squash now! Desert included pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie and a flour-less chocolate cake with whipped cream made by one of my mom's co-workers. Overall, it was a fun night filled with eating, drinking and being merry. I left around 9 to go see Harry Potter with a couple friends (such a great movie!). The next day I got the pleasure of eating the leftovers. There wasn't much left, but luckily my mom saved me some stuffing, mashed potatoes and turkey. Again, I'm using a professional camera that I don't know really how to work, so pardon my pictures. I really want to take some photography lessons soon!

Appetizer spread.

Coppa and salami.

Various cheese and crackers. Triple cream, brie (my favorite) and aged cheddar.


The turkey right out of the oven.



Dinner spread.

Another angle. There's my beloved stuffing up in front.

The turkey.

My plate.

Close-up. I'm getting hungry again.

Desserts: Pumpkin cheesecake on top, pumpkin pie and flour-less chocolate cake.

The damage done by my dad and my mom's co-workers.

I hope everyone had just as fun and yummy Thanksgiving as I did!

Thanksgiving Break, Here I Come.

I don't have anything specific to write about except for the fact that I am finally going home tomorrow for Thanksgiving Break. I am so excited to be in the comforts of home with my family and friends. Oh and the 5 days of eating I will be partaking in! Winter is my favorite part of the year because it reminds me of family and being home with my group of friends that I rarely get to see. Plus it means lots of home cooked food, going to my favorite restaurants and extravagant meals for dinner parties. In turn, this means lots of food to talk about and take pictures of. I can't wait to just relax, eat, catch up on my shows and more importantly, catch up on my blogs. School has been so busy.

This year for Thanksgiving I plan on helping my parents with the cooking. I usually hide out for the day until the food is ready, but this year I actually want to help with the cooking and watch my parents make their specialties. I'm still trying to think of what to make. I'm thinking of something simple and putting a spin on it like garlic mashed potatoes or some appetizers. I have great inspiration from all the other blogs I read. I will fill you in on what happens/what doesn't happen (if I end up messing up!)

Things even started getting festive at work. I had to get pounds and pounds of bread ready for Thanksgiving meals the Union was hosting. And there were pies everywhere! Then, I got to pat out numerous trays of gingerbread because they make all the gingerbread house decorations for the Purdue Memorial Union. I love the smell of the spices and it gets me so excited for the holiday season! Lots of updates will happen in the next week, so stayed tune.

Because I hate writing without any pictures, here are some flower cupcakes my supervisor makes at work. I can't imagine who could eat all that icing but they are pretty. I'm loving the three colored flower in the top left corner. Three colors in one icing bag....or something, I don't know how to do that. I'm bummed I didn't take any pictures of the turkey cookies!

Kelly and Alan Take on West Lafayette Part 2.

This is probably one of the busiest weeks of the semester, but the biggest assignment got pushed back to after Thanksgiving break so I'm celebrating with a little blogging. Plus, I'm sure everyone is wondering how the rest of Dads Day went! Well after a crazy night at the bars with the most popular dad (everyone was buying my dad drinks left and right), it was kind of a struggle to get up to tailgate for the Purdue vs. Wisconsin football game. But it was so exciting to take my dad to a Big 10 football game. Unfortunately Purdue is on a losing streak and I don't really want to talk about it...but we lost. On a better note, dinner was awesome.

My friends and I took our dads to Bluefin Bistro in downtown Lafayette. Like Bistro 501, it's one of the more popular "nice" restaurants around Purdue's campus. It has the essentials: steak, seafood, pasta, but it is most known for, its sushi. First my dad and I were pretty skeptical about the sashimi and seafood because of the location of West Lafayette and Indiana itself. There are no close bodies of water and we are in a small town where sushi and seafood aren't specialities. The waiter ensured us that the seafood is flown into Chicago and driven from Chicago to West Lafayette everyday, so it is fresh. And luckily, he was right! My dad and I ordered one of Bluefin's towers which included sashimi and two special rolls of our choice. My dad and I picked the Poke Roll and Blu-C Roll. The sashimi was great! It didn't taste old or fishy and the texture was perfect too, not too mushy or rubbery. I am now a believer in Bluefin sushi!

Boiler Up!

Hail Purdue.

Sushi Tower.

LOVED the Poke Roll. Tuna, tomato in a sweet/lime-y sauce.

Salmon, Shrimp and various type of Tuna.

Lastly, I took my dad to Five Guys for a midnight snack. I wanted him to taste the magic! He enjoyed it, but says he likes In-N-Out better. Hoping one day I can experience it. But for now, Five Guys will do :).

I was dying to take my dad to Triple XXX the next morning before he left, but the line was out the door. We went to Greyhouse Coffee instead which is a small coffee house on campus. We ordered breakfast crepes and coffee. I enjoyed it and would go back there again. I ordered the egg and spinach crepe and my dad ordered the egg and sausage. Don't mind the spots, its just hot sauce!

It was such a great weekend with all the dads. I can't wait to be home in a week for Thanksgiving break. A break of indulging myself with food and (trying) not feeling guilty about eating everything in sight. This year I plan on contributing in the Thanksgiving cooking. Can't wait! I will keep you all updated on what I hope to make and how it turns out. Cross your fingers.

*Side note: I'd kill for a bowl of ramen or pho right now. I know where I'm going right when I get back to Seattle!

Kelly and Alan Take on West Lafayette Part 1.

First, I would like to thank all my readers and friends for the kind and positive feedback on my blog. I have never had some many people tell me they have read and enjoyed it before. My stat count even hit a high of 22 last week! As someone as modest as I am, it makes me really happy inside to hear people say they find it interesting and enjoy reading the blog. I'm very flattered and thank you! I hope you all keep reading! It's nice to know that my dad and sister aren't my other readers (though I really appreciate you both :)!)

I had a fun filled weekend with my dad who came to visit for my sorority's Dad's Day. Dads from all over come to hang out with their daughters, tailgate, watch the football game (which turned out to be horrible), wine & dine their daughters and go out to the bars. Since I go to school so far from home, I knew this weekend was going to be a blast. My dad spoils me with nice restaurants, shopping sprees to Wal-Mart (hey that's big for a college girl!) and of course free drinks at the bars. If anyone remembers from last year, my dad was a big hit. He is one of the most outgoing and personable people I know. Plus, he is always smiling! Nothing to hate about that! I am so lucky and grateful that he was able to come visit for the weekend.

The first night he arrived, he took my boyfriend and I to Bistro 501 which is a little French Bistro in downtown Lafayette. College towns aren't really the place to find fine dining, especially here. There are miles and miles of chain restaurants like Texas Roadhouse, Outback Steakhouse, Cracker Barrel, Bob Evans, etc, but there are only about 5-6 nice restaurants by Purdue's campus. We went here last year and enjoyed it, so we decided to go back. The menu seemed smaller, but I knew I wanted some kind of meat (of course). My dad and I decided to split a salad and the rack of lamb. He was complaining that he hadn't eaten any vegetables lately and we had to make my mom proud! We also ordered a side of pomme frites (basically special French french fries), my favorite! My boyfriend got the steak frites. Each main course came with either a salad or soup and since my dad and I had ordered a salad, we got French Onion soup and the boyfriend got a salad. It was a great dinner. I would highly recommend it to anyone that is trying to impress a date, their parents or a nice graduation dinner. The lamb was cooked perfectly to a medium rare, but my dad didn't enjoy the sauce. He said it was a little too sweet, but I guess I was too busy stuffing my face to realize. Wes' steak was cooked to perfection!

French Onion Soup.

The Parisian Salad. Figs, walnuts, dried berries, etc.

Rack of lamb with green beans and mashed potatoes.

Wes' steak frites.

Pomme frites with an excellent garlic and mayo dip. And my first ever martini. Now I know to sip slowly...ek!

Harry's with my dad and friends. Thanks for the drinks!

Alan approves and takes a shot with us!

I have decided to split up this weekend into two posts, come back for Part 2 when Kelly and Alan Take on Purdue Football and Bluefin Bistro.