We are about to leave in a few days for our 6 week trip to Thailand with our now 4 kiddos who are 10, 8, 6, and 4! Continue Reading
We are about to leave in a few days for our 6 week trip to Thailand with our now 4 kiddos who are 10, 8, 6, and 4! Continue Reading
We were visiting our hip friends who live in Charleston, S.C., and walking around the local farmer’s market, hungry for Saturday brunch.
The smells of the fried food sizzling at the cluster of friendly food trailers were pulling us like a magnet to their windows. We ambled around looking at the chalkboard menus posted on the side of the trucks, and then I saw a menu item on a truck called Roti Rolls that made my eyes light up, and I started to drool immediately.
“Wakey Bakey: sunny egg, candied bacon, Thai pimento cheese, and roasted potato”. Thai pimento cheese”? What in the world was that and can I try it now please?!
Do you ever get stuck cooking the same meals every week? Even though there are millions of other things I could cook, my mind often goes on auto-pilot when doing our weekly menu plan, and I feel like I make the same 7 meals all the time. You feel me?
Let’s be honest. When I think of the average American soup, I think cozy, heart-warming, but sorta boring.
A bowl full of warmth, but usually not packed with varying flavors and textures, which is fine for those times when you are sick and just need warm sustenance.
But Thai soup is a different story and bland and boring are adjectives unheard of when describing Thai soup, or really Thai food!
“Wow! This is soooo good!!” My Thai Hubby mumbled out as he ravenously stuck another spoonful of the Thai sausage, with a spicy, zesty dipping sauce and jasmine rice in his mouth.
Its flavors of tangy kaffir lime leaf, spicy, heart-warming Thai red curry paste, and a hint of sweetness drew us in so much that each bite was like going to the cozy house of a welcoming host who makes you feel so part of the family you never want to leave.
I was never a fan of tasteless American instant ramen noodles, aka the ridiculously cheap Maruchan Ramen that give legit Japanese ramen a bad name.
So when I saw the variety of Thai instant ramen noodles called Mama sitting on the shelf at the one of the many 7/11’s that sits at every corner in Bangkok, I thought, “Ew, they have instant noodles here too??”
Have you ever felt super intimidated to try making a Thai dish you adore? Like only magical Thai chefs have the superpowers to make it, so why even try?
Usually I’ll try making any Thai dish I’ve had in Thailand at home, but homemade Thai curry paste always seemed like one of those super intricate processes that only super hero Thai cooks create.
When I taught in Bangkok, I would spend the hours before my lunch break lesson planning for my afternoon classes, but mainly dreaming and drooling about what fresh, cheap Thai food I was going to eat for lunch.
Walking down the street in Bangkok and just hearing the ploppity, plip, plat of Thai spring rolls frying up to golden perfection made my mouth water. I couldn’t resist buying a little baggy of them, and hearing that loud crunch after my first bite into their crispy layers as the tender steaming hot goodness of bean vermicelli noodles, shredded cabbage and ground pork flooded my mouth.
A potluck charcuterie hike to an epic view of the Blue Ridge Mountains where we feast on our spread and celebrate my friend’s birthday? Yes please! I was over the moon to attend. But I was stumped because I wanted to bring something Thai, but all the fancy cheeses, dried apricots, figs, salami, crackers, bread and such that are on a charcuterie are more European and rarely seen on a Thai table.
