Father's Day '13

It's not a surprise that this spiral image for Father's Day caught my eye.  It really was a BUSY Father's Day weekend.  Luckily, I had finished on Saturday the last minute work obligation that came up late Friday; because there's no way I would've been able to fit it on on Sunday. 

Grocery shopping and initial food prep on Saturday; then after church on Sunday, it was non-stop prep and cooking.  I was actually surprised at how much time the prep took.  For some reason, it seemed more than usual.  

My menu changed quite a few times, but following is what ended up being served for Father's Day dinner:

• Kimchee - two kinds (fried fishcake and radish)
• Mandarin Orange Salad - Surprisingly, this was actually a popular dish, but it was pretty good.  Just mixed mandarin oranges and red/green onion with mixed greens of arugula and spinach.  I made the dressing with the mandarin orange syrup, ginger infused olive oil, and blueberry vinegar
• Fish Hotpot - This was the usual, fish, scallop balls, asparagus, mushroom, and tofu in chicken broth (served over brown rice)
• Pan Fried Fish - This was the rest of the fish that wasn't used for the hot pot; just simply pan fried with salt, pepper, green onion, ginger, and garlic.   It was actually tasty, and the fish fillets were in nice sized chunks.  Of the types of fish I can buy at the supermarket for this, I like Alaskan Polluck the most, because of it's thickness and consistency.   The Tilapia and Swai seem to be thinner and less flaky; and Salmon isn't as good for pan frying - better for baking or broiling.
• Korean Ribs - This was considered one of the best dishes, just simply pan fried the marinated beef ribs
• Beef w/Vegetable Stew - Used some of the Korean Ribs, and boiled with potatoes, bok choy, button mushrooms, and carrots.   This was not such a popular dish; but, turned out as expected for a stew
• Snow Peas w/Chicken - Mainly had the shredded chicken from the roasted rotiserrie chicken, where the bones were used for the broth.   Marinated the chicken with an Island Soyaki sauce; and mixed with stir-fried snow peas.  I didn't particularly liked the way it turned out; but, at least one person liked the dish
• Ginger Cilantro Lime Cucumbers - This was much better with the small fresh cucumbers.  With the larger ones, the flavors didn't come out as well.
• Dessert - The pastries were a hit, one bavarian creme and the other a strawberry cheese danish.  Just heated them up, and served with ice cream.   A friend also brought strawberry and apple mixed with the plum powder.