Happy Mother's Day/Food Coma Induction Day!

   
        Ahh, Mother's Day in my family can only be described by one word--AWESOME. Let me tell you why.  My entire family is made up of incredible cooks; chefs, not so much, but cooks? Without a doubt. The one exception; however, is my aunt Laura who I've called "Goo Goo Laura" since I was born. Every Mother's Day she takes it upon herself--Lord knows why, to host a huge family/friend BBQ. She toils day and night daysss prior to the actual date to prepare all of the delicious food that is present at this extravaganza. We're talking homemade EVERYTHING! I just got back from it and am so stuffed that I can barely breathe! The spread of food never ceases to disappoint, and it just reaffirms my belief every single time that I am SO glad to be a part of my family!

        I just had to take pictures at this event to document the bounty of deliciousness that I devoured. One of the stars was a Kobe Beef brisket that my Goo Goo Laura smoked for 15 hours...literally melted in my mouth, and if there was a bone, it would have DEFINITELY "fallen off the bone". She had fresh raw oysters, humongous shrimp that was served both with cocktail sauce and grilled with olive oil and rock salt. There was roasted lamb, chopped salad, duck salad, creamed corn, gazpacho, a huge fruit bowl, the biggest assortment of cheeses imaginable, fresh croutons, guacamole, hummus--ALL OF THESE HOMEMADE, 2 massive fillets of grilled salmon perfectly seasoned, and the freshest salmon and yellowtail sashimi that we bought yesterday at the LA Fish Co. down in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. My dad and I tagged along with my aunt and uncle to this warehouse, or what I referred to as "the place that I would want to be trapped inside of if an earthquake ever struck." Here are some pictures of seriously only 1/4 of the foods that was provided at our annual Mother's Day get together. Oh! And don't even get me started on the desserts!!! I'll just say that my other aunt, Goo Goo Debbie, is the best baker in the world. Hands down. What did I tell you? Life doesn't get much better than being a Lee.

ahh the sashimi! The 15-hour smoked brisket...I told you it was "fall off the bone"!

I'm not a cheese fan at all, but this cheese was so pretty I had to take a picture of it!

duck salad!