Vietnamese Thanksgiving at My House

 It's taken me a while to post my family's version of Thanksgiving because a little thing called finals got in the way. If you didn't notice, I had to buy my time with some old kale entries. Not that kale isn't awesome enough to warrant its own time, but let's face it, you guys like pictures of lots of crazy interesting food and a salad and pasta just isn't gonna cut it.

My family never celebrated the holidays but in the past year or so, as our family expands with significant others, holidays have become an occasion to celebrate. Usually mom makes one or two main dishes and everyone makes a side if they can. Phil and I did not make anything this time because we were busy.

 With the leftover crab from our crabbing trip, my mom made crab egg rolls. I don't know how to make them so just infer from the pictures above.

 Crab egg rolls in the center along with the spread of other foods.

 We bought seasoned raw veal with onion and cilantro (top left), and special dipping sauce (top right). Yes, despite all my talk about how mean it is to eat foie gras, our family eats veal. It's a bit of a losing battle because I've been trying to be more animal friendly and yet my culture eats the weirdest things. I've also grown up eating balut so I guess why feel bad now about the veal? I don't know, leave me alone...it's unfortunately delicious...

 My sister's dish was frozen (well not anymore by the time we ate it) arctic surf clams presented in the same geoduck fashion. This was so good and tasted just like geoduck but cheaper! I guess sisters come in handy sometimes.

My brother's gf made really good and interesting bruschetta-like appetizers. There was a mixture of pork and shrimp, onions, mayo and other things I can't remember.

Not pictured is my mom's crab soup that she makes for almost every family gathering, and we love it. It's made with homemade chicken broth, imitation shark fin(?), more leftover crab, lotus shoots, other things I don't know because mom's cooking is complex. YUMMY! Can't wait for Christmas, tis the season for good eatin!