Cooking Thai at home

I love Thai food--and had been really hungry for some when Kate announced that the menu for Wednesday would be Pad Thai and Tom Kha soup.  I have eaten both in restaurants, but these two were the best ever.

"It's so easy," she said--as she gave me the recipes to try for last night's dinner with the family.

Yeah right.  For a chef like Kate, every edible thing looks easy!  Mine fell short of the bar.  You have to cut up the raw chicken with kitchen shears, then slice scallions, ginger, cilantro, basil, and lemon grass.  You have to cook the noodles and make the sauce, squeezing limes and using Thai chili and fish sauce and coconut milk.

I followed her recipes last night, but mine was not as good, not even close.  Either you're a chef or you're not.  Kate is the real deal.  Cooking a meal like that is a real act of love.  And Kate does it without the kitchen looking like a tsunami has just entered the room.  I, on the other hand, will spend Friday morning washing dishes and bowls and pans.

Charlotte and Gerlinde

Of course, in partial defense, I was cooking while Elena was here.  She spent the afternoon with me--such a delight!--and we went to the toy store to buy something with the money Nana had sent her.  "I love birthday cards that have money in them," she said as she chose her stuffed pig and monkey.

Elena sleeping in her first big girl car seat

"Can we have some of those little chocolate cookies in the refrigerator?" she asked.

Turns out she meant chocolate chips!

Joy had brought her a bilingual book (we read the English pages) and had wrapped it in fabric--which Elena just loved.

Meanwhile, Pam has sent me a feast of inspiration in blog posts to read--and I love Poor Man's Feast. I think maybe I'll return to reading about food, not trying to make it!