One Hot Pot

This was a birthday to be immortaliseed. It had been two years since I had seen my dad, one-half brother, and feelingmom. They came to visit from Los Angeles the week of my birthday. It was also days before Christmas. I knew this birthday was difference to be special because I couldnt remember the last magazine we were all told together for my birthday or Christmas. Im thankful for the special birthday dinner I had with my family. On the day of my birthday, I had to go to work.After work, I hurried floor to get ready for dinner. We all met at my sisters house at 630 P. M.When I walked inside, nobody was ready. Everyone including my nieces, nephew, sister, and brothers were busy reflection television or playing on their I phones. I looked rough and saw my dad and stepmom in the kitchen preparing food. I asked them, what are you guys doing? and my dad said, Ive decided to have dinner at home rather of going out to eat. I thought that was a great idea because I would rather s pend quality time with them at home instead of at the restaurant. Then I started to look around to see what he was making. I saw a big keister of change state stock.At that point, I knew we were having a hot pot. Hot pot consisted of stewing a metal pot of stock placed at the center of the eat table which was fueled by a portable butane gas stove. duration the hot pot was simmering, ingredients were placed into the pot and were defineed at the table. Ahhh. I was so excited about the evening because hot pot was one of my favorites. The weather was cold and raining outside while the hot pot was simmering which made the house felt warm and cozy. There was no stop meal for this particular day than a hot pot.My dad took all day to prepare the food. He cut and cleans various uncooked items including aggregate (lamb, beef, chicken, and duck), vegetables (bok choi, bean sprout, daikon, tofu, tomatoes, taro, lettuce, and mushroom), seafood (fish, squid, lobster, prawn, crab, clam, a nd oyster. ) He had to pull apart the crabs, scrub the clams, and shuck the oysters from the husk preparing the food was the most difficult part of the meal. Finally it was time for dinner. Everyone started to loading the food individually into the hot cooking broth with their chopsticks.When the food was cooked in the pot, it was usually eaten with a dipping sauce. My favorite was the clams, so I grabbed a haulage of clams and loaded it into the pot with the strainer and gently placed it over the boiling water and watched the clams open. Once they opened, I placed them in my till and started to dig in. Hot pot wasnt like any standard meal because it could last for hours. Everyone would eat or wait for the food to cook while talking with each(prenominal) other. Even after I was all-embracing and I would sit there and listen to everyone talk and then I got hungry again.We would usually eat late into the night when we had hot pot for dinner. I couldnt imagine a better time than Christmas time to be with my family sitting around at the dinner table admiring each other. Besides my dad and step mom, my oldest sister, three older brothers, a half brother and my sisters five children were there. Even my mom and step dad came over to celebrate and some of my cousins too. Because of my parents divorce, it took a lot for all of us to be sitting around the homogeneous table. This meal was unforgettable.