Hopes too high

I am determined to keep going with this adventure, but the obstacle of having three small children and just taking care of everything else in general is definitely making it quite the challenge. To be able to do this every week is just nearly impossible. I will just say that I will continue to experiment in different foods and different cultures when I am able to. I still hope that it is often! I have already found so many new foods that my family and I love that we never would have known exsisted had I not started this project! It's been two or three weeks since my last entry. I decided on Thai food for my latest quest, it only took me two weeks to make a main dish and a dessert!

About two weeks ago I decided that Thai food would be my next adventure. A few days after, I set out to make a dessert called kluay buat chee that I had found on www.ifood.tv which is a terrific website I found that has user posted videos of them making food. I have learned that although following a recipe for me has never been difficult, seeing a dish prepared makes it easier to make sure you know what you are doing. Did I mention I haven't ever even tasted Thai before this adventure? In this case, I wouldn't have needed the video, but it was still nice to be able to watch it. Kluay buat chee was a very simple dish to make. All that is in it is coconut milk, a little bit of sugar and bananas. In my family we make a similar dish, but the bananas are pan fried in sugar and butter. I was thrilled to find this healthier version of a dish we LOVE to use as a side dish at breakfast, or even a dessert. The coconut milk gives it a great taste too! Anyway, it only takes about ten minutes total to make this dish. You heat the coconut milk on medium until it bubbles, then you add the sugar and bananas and cook until they are soft. Super simple! Extremely tasty!

About a week later, I had the free time (aka my husband was home to help with the kids while I messed around in the kitchen) so I was ready to make a main dish. The one I decided on was Kao Moki Gai (Thai chicken in yellow rice). This too quite a bit of time to prepare. I knew it was going to be pretty spicy! Some of the ingredients called for were cayenne pepper, tumeric, cumin and corriander. The latter three are used heavily in Indian food, which I eat quite often...so I knew this combination and how much to use of each...might be too much for me to handle! While I mixed all of the spices together and started cooking things on the stove, I could hear all of the babies and my husband Adam start coughing! I was right, this was definitely going to be SPICY! As an accompaniment to the dish, there is this sort of dipping sauce composed of sugar, vinegar and jalepenos. When I served this, I learned that this dipping sauce was going to be the only way I was going to be able to make it through this dinner! It was very very tasty, but probably the spiciest thing I have ever tasted. That is the great thing about cooking at home though, I know next time to tone down the spices!

I would say that even though it took me a few weeks, my Thai adventure was a success. Everything came out right and we liked it...always a positive in my book!!