Mother's Day 2011

Knitting Rocks!!

Yes, it does. Thank you Viviana, my Princess Pie, for this awesome key chain. I heart it!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. If you are fortunate enough to still have your mother, I hope there was lots of hugs, kisses and appreciations going around. If your mom is no longer here, I pray that you found some way to honor her memory. If you are a mother, I hope that your family treated you well. If you are not a mother, I hope that you found a way to appreciate the mothers and mother figures in your life.

We, at the Casillas Domum enjoyed an evening with loved ones.

David made his now, World Famous Smoked Turkey. He made it this way for the first time on Easter and I do believe that we will never, ever eat turkey from the oven again. It is absolutely the best turkey I have ever tasted. Sorry, Hector. I know you are very hurt by that last statement. You're still the stuffed jalapeno king.

I know he doesn't look very nice now but once he goes in his tanning booth...watch out!

So I don't know exactly how David prepares the turkey. I was trying to pay attention to what he was doing, but I was busy doing my own thing. From what I saw, the turkey is slathered in butter and seasonings then placed in a bed of veggies (carrots, celery, onions) and some chicken broth. It's covered then put in the BBQ Grill with the lid closed. Oh, I almost forgot something that I think is very important; David had these pieces of branches that he soaked in water and I think those went into the grill with the turkey. That is what makes it smoked. But the turkey does not get too smokey if you know what I mean. Sometimes, when food is smoked, the smokey flavor is very overpowering. This turkey just comes out so moist and juicy. It's amazing. If you want to try it, let me know and I will try to get the recipe.

I was too slow with the camera and didn't get a picture of the turkey before my mom started to carve it, but you get the idea. It is perfectly browned and did I mention juicy?


I made Pesto Mac and Goat Cheese. I used this recipe but I made a few modifications:

I added roasted tomatoes.

Before

After

Also, instead of the 16 oz. of goat cheese, I only used 8 oz. and I added about 1/4 cup each of shredded white cheddar, rosemary asiago, and jalapeno jack.


I also made greens with chicken sausage from a recipe I got from the Food Sample Counter Lady at Trader Joe's and Giada's cornmeal and rosemary cake with balsamic syrup.

Before

After

Cari made these wonderful carrot, zucchini and apple cupcakes. Yummy!


It was another deliciously wonderful Padilla gathering!

Jeanette with her boys, Alec and Luc



Cari and her brood, Viviana, Nico and Andy

My child and me

Mom and Cari

My mom made me this adorable half-apron that I wore all night!

After dinner, Mr. Casillas and Nico relaxed with fishing magazines. Nico is totally "hooked" on anything related to fishing, thanks to Mr. Casillas. He talks about fish and going fishing every day. It is so cute.

Good night, everybody!