Putting on Our Aprons

We've been using a meal delivery service for the last month or so.  For us, it's cheaper and better food than we would get from take-out, which becomes our go-to in times of busy-ness and stress. And it's been great.  The meals are tasty and easy to prepare; and the kids even like most of them.  They are sometimes high in calorie, but there are lower-calorie options too.  And we're trying new things--I ate fish and Mama had fruit in her food, neither of which is our usual fare.

And we're even learning some new techniques. 

• chicken breasts and pork can be cooked at 450F for about 30 minutes (instead of our usual 350F for closer to an hour; and they don't dry out!)
• veggies can be roasted at 450F also, for about 15 minutes
• always add an acid at the end--vinegar, wine, lemon
• stir in creaminess at the end--creme fraiche, cream
• garlic grated into yogurt is a great sauce
• stuff cheese in pizza dough rolls--yum!
• garlic or miso paste in mashed potatoes is good
• hoisin and ketchup makes a good glaze
• small sweet peppers are even better than big bell peppers

The Next Step

Or not.

Pretty in Purple

My scooter, with snacks

The side of my right foot had been bothering me for awhile, often when I hit it against something or stepped on it too much.  I tried my plantar fascitis boot, rest, muscle relaxers, etc.  And then one day I was at the barn with Sis and our pony Patience and I stepped on a rock funny--and almost fell over.  Not good.  That afternoon I went to the speedy orthopedic walk-in--it isn't broken or fractured, but something is in spasm, so they put me in a boot.  I wore the boot for two weeks, intermittently based on if I needed to drive and how much of a hassle it was, and no surprise, it wasn't better.  I'm not really sure wearing the boot constantly would have helped, though.  It wasn't any better.  Anyway, I went to see a podiatrist on Friday and they put me in a big purple hard fiberglass cast!  Non weight-bearing.  For four weeks.  Very annoying.  Especially because I'm not balanced or coordinated under the best of conditions.  I have crutches and a kneeling scooter, which I like very much but which isn't very practical for certain spaces.  And I have a temporary handicapped parking placard, which will help when we go to the movies, the BTS concert, school events, etc.  Stairs are scary and I avoided them the first 36 hours, but now I can go up on one crutch and clutching the bannister and go down on my butt.  Showering is harder--can't get the cast wet but also can't balance completely on one leg long enough to shower.  So right now, we're winging it.  Last night, it started itching furiously and Mama held the fan to blow it into the cast for some relief.  Better today.  I crocheted a toe sock to get my piggies clean and Sis decorated my toes with gold-flecked polish. It's entertaining at least.

My rainy-day look

It's boring.  And annoying. And uncomfortable. But not particularly painful or even scary, so much better than emergency abdominal surgery or my back injury.  Just have to pass time. 

My homemade toe sock

So I'm reading, Zentangling, crocheting, taking my Bird Academy feeder bird class (ugh, I bombed telling all those "little brown jobs" apart today), blogging,  and watching "Agents of SHIELD."  I've culled magazines.  Fiddled with my music playlists.  Three full days down, only about 25 days left to go.  Maybe I'll be better at Feeder Birds by then!

Last Week of School!

Last week of my school term, that is!  Yep, I've almost finished my first semester of seminary.  I've just turned in my second paper this morning (having turned in the first class's paper on Friday) and need only wait to engage other people's final papers.  It's been an amazing semester.  I learned so much in my two classes--one on the Christian church, the other on feminist/womanist examinations of the Marys in the Bible (mainly, Virgin, "of Bethany," and Magdalen.)  Because I'm not a Christian, I have a real lacuna when it comes to scripture and Christian history, but, because most of my hospice patients are Christians, I wanted a better understanding.  And I got the beginnings of it, from a major outline of Christian history from Jesus through Liberation Theology and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to the major stories of the four Gospels, plus all the church fathers and councils and schisms and even some of the Gnostic and non-canonical Gospels.  I also started growing my working knowledge of the vocabulary of theology and religious studies--mercy, do they have the words, including tapeinosis, anawim, synergistic, monophysite, kerygma, kyriarchy, apophatic, hermeneutics, patristic, dispensatioalism!!!!--and the various methodologies for studying text and history (womanist/feminist/mujerista, Black Theology, Liberation Theology, historical-critical, etc.)  Most importantly, I learned some ways to approach the subject matter from the outside, especially when it is so important and personal to many of my classmates.  Religious studies is, in many important ways, nothing like art history--truth and belief and faith come into it in a way that art historians never have to contend with (even if they disagree with your theory or attribution or date or provenance.)  It's definitely much trickier, but in many ways easier because "I believe" doesn't require facts.  I will say this, though: as much as I am a beginner at religious studies, my classmates know almost nothing about the historical study of art; they often made wild leaps based on their own perceptions without any context or academic inquiry.  Frustrating. 

And so I've applied to the MDiv program.  Yes, another Master's degree.  It'll take awhile, at 6 or so credits a semester (maybe once I settle in, I can do 9; still working on balancing home life and my type-A student personality), but will enable me to be a credentialed chaplain when I'm done (and officially, an ordained minister, I think.  That'll be "Reverend Doctor Mommy Hungry to you!")  Most importantly, I want to be a hospice chaplain for people who are outside the mainstream of Christianity or the other major faiths, the "nones," spiritual-not-religious, agnostics, and atheists.  I want to be able to sit with them, comfort them, help them process and reflect, while acknowledging all the big questions for which, for me at least, there are not easy answers.  And to do that and be paid to do it, I need to do this first.

But until next semester, what am I going to do with myself?  Actually, I've been working on a list:

• my Raptor class through Cornell's Bird Academy "Be a Better Birder" classes
• prepare for the Summer Tangle Challenge, which I hosted online last year
• I have a back up of crochet projects, including a beautiful Sweet Pea blanket from Attic 24 (I already have the yarn pack)

Those are the big ones, but I'm looking forward to reading, baking, and exercising on our new recumbent bike.

I haven't been exercising much because I injured my foot a few weeks ago, though that is more dramatic than it sounds.  The side of my right foot really hurts, but only sometimes it; it's not broken or fractured, but I'm wearing a boot to rest it.  I have an appointment on Friday to find the next, um, step, since it's not healing.

And I need to be able to walk and drive!  Especially because we are going to Texas in less than two months!  Yay!  We have the hotel booked and are working on the airline tickets.   We can't wait to see family and show the kiddos a different part of Texas, around Austin and San Antonio.  On our list right now:  Schlitterbahn (a waterpark), Natural Bridge Caverns, Bullock Texas State History Museum, the Alamo and other Spanish missions, the Riverwalk, horseback riding, and lots and lots of eating--Tex Mex, barbecue, German, who knows what else.   Plus Buc-ee's!!!!  

Also, in less than two months, the kids will be rising high school students.  High school!  And 14 years old to boot.  I'm excited for them and trying really hard not to count that we only have four years left living in the house together before college (if all goes right . . . .)  And for the first time, they are going to completely different schools; Sis is going to a animal science magnet school and Bud is going to our local school, with a full schedule of honors classes.  The last two years of middle school have been really easy for them academically (way too easy) and so I expect next year to be a difficult challenge. At least I hope its challenging.  But I know they are up for it.

Let's see.  Bud is loving his hip hop classes.  Sis is finishing up her time in our GS troop.  Both are going to camp this summer--Bud has a weeklong sleepaway magic camp and Sis has four weeks of counselor-in-training at a GS day camp. Plus horses, kung fu, etc.  We also have some movies coming up that we are planning for--Pikachu, Spiderman: Far From Home, I forget what else.  

And yes we saw Endgame.  Loved it.  Cried some.  Actually, I cried more at Princess Leia in the new Star Wars trailer.  No spoilers here.

And we saw The Prom, the Broadway Musical.  LOVED it.  It's a satirical look at flagging Broadway stars seemingly coming to the rescue of a lesbian teenager whose town doesn't want her to bring her GF to the prom.  Hilarious, touching, catchy songs.  We had a wonderful time and stage-doored afterwards meeting everyone (thought the lead "Emma" and the principal were the "swings"; still really good.)  And I bought a bright yellow shirt that says "We're All Lesbians." Can't wait to wear it to Pride, which we're attending this summer, on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.  We had lunch before the show at Tea and Sympathy, in the Village, which Mama had read might have to close due to rent hikes.  We had a lovely spread--high tea with amazing Victoria sponge and a nice "Rosie Lee," cottage pie, rarebit, Scotch egg, and  . . . I can't remember what Mama had (bangers and mash?)  And apparently the whole time we were chatting and eating, Glenn Close was having her lunch a few tables away; Mama spotted her but thought she was wrong in identifying her, until the owner made a Fatal Attraction rabbit joke after she left.  Wow!  I wonder if we could have kept our cool if we'd known she was there?  I'd like to think so.  I checked our pictures later; none in her direction.  Before leaving, we bought some candies--Bud likes British Crunchie bars and their crisps--next door.  

Easter happened, quietly.  Ma and Gong came over for ham, Sumi salad, heritage fruit salad, roasted asparagus, roasted brussels, and pie (they brought the pies; I had a lemon almond tart from Whole Foods.)  We dyed eggs later in the day and the kids had fun looking for them in the morning.  

What else?  We went to Vermont a few weeks ago.  And it actually snowed on us some, which I love.  We had several great meals--a lovely stop at the Vermont Country Deli (mmmm, the macaroni and cheese, and pulled pork!! plus great desserts), our favorite Scottish pub MacLaomainn's, great breakfast at Country Girl, lunch at Worthy Kitchen, another lunch at a tasty fish and chips place--and a delightful time exploring, mainly visiting covered bridges, seeing an exhibition of Grandma Moses, seeing raptors at the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum (great views and shop, too), two great bookstores, Manchester Woodcraft shop... whew!  We really do love Vermont.

The kids were in Boston last weekend for a UU 8th-grade retreat with their Affirmations class.  They were there to see important sites in UU history, from the headquarters of the UUA to historical sites like King's Chapel.  They were also there to work on their credos, which they will be presenting later this month.  And, as part of that reflection, I solicited letters from teachers and neighbors and relatives to send with them (Oh, Lambeth, I should've asked you!  Well, if you'd like to write one, I can send the details.  Stupid me.)  I know the letters were deeply meaningful for them, but "what happens on retreat stays on retreat."  So I don't know much more than that.

I do know that Mama and I had a wonderful weekend at home in our empty nest.  We had some great meals--a new-to-us Ethiopian place (spicy, but the spiced iced tea and Ethiopian coffee ice cream were amazing), a NY-style deli, and our favorite Bloodroot--and toodled around some.  We went to the Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival, enjoying all the yarn displays.  So many pretty colors!  Such expensive yarn.  There were also booths on felting and rug hooking.  My favorite booths were in the historical re-enactment tent where they were making bobbin lace, weaving on a weighted loom, doing needle lace, hand spinning, and so many other old craefts (to borrow from the book I'm reading by Alexander Langlands.)  We saw sheep and this amazingly fluffy angora rabbits--just like touching a cloud in a dream.  We bought little felting kits (hedgehog and penguin), a small frame loom to use with some of my very lightest yarn, a huge ball of rainbow rug yarn for who-knows-what-but-it-was-soft-and-pretty, and some very tasty feta pesto cheese spread.  We also picked up several prints of pen and ink drawings--one of a covered bridge in the snow, one of an old colonial hearth, and one of some horses at a barn for Sis, plus one for Pop and Gommie's cabin.  We got Bud some local honey and also some strawberry butter.  All in all, a really great day.  And weekend.  I won't look forward to it completely, but it's nice to know that we can still have a wonderful time with just the two of us.  

It did rain off and on.  In fact, I think it's been raining off and on for more than a week, with probably a week or so more to go.  I guess the April showers were cutting it a bit close this year, heading straight into May.  But at least it's only rain.  My dad got some terrible winds a few weeks ago up at his cabin in the woods, felling dozens of big and beautiful trees, cutting off access to his property, damaging his tractor, interrupting power and water, but not hitting the house.  Still, that much damage is very discouraging and sad to hear about.  Especially because my mom was out of the country with her travel buddy Granny Q--on an amazing cruise down the Rhine, with a few days in Amsterdam with tulips and the Rijksmuseum, and an inspiring visit to Heidelberg castle ruins.  But she's back now and able to help decide on how to start cleaning up the property.

And I think that's it.  May is busy, but good busy.  Patience continues to heal and we visit her everyday to change her bandage and give her some exercise; she also gets some time to munch on the grass in the pasture.  Sis has been riding another horse to get back into the saddle, literally.  Bud has an audition for the hip-hop dance team at his dance school; he also has his annual international kung fu festival.  They both have their Affirmations service and party.  And we have tickets to BTS in a few weeks.  Then pretty much school will be out and we'll be headed to Texas!

Whew.

But I do hope to write before then.  

A Weekend Away

I had another lovely Zentangle retreat at Copper Beech Mindfulness Institute, my fifth!  I love the location--a huge, connected, multi-building monastery on a forested hill complete with labyrinth and (at least once that I saw, though not this year) Great Horned Owls.  This time, my little room overlooked the woods, my favorite view there. 

I was getting into the retreat spirit early, stopping at the other labyrinth in town--can you imagine, two lovely labyrinths?--which I had never walked.  I do love to walk a labyrinth--it's restorative and contemplative.  And it's the first thing I did when I got to the monastery, walking the labyrinth there, which is my favorite of anywhere.  I love the wide, flat, accessible walkway, and most particularly the beautiful stone circle in the middle.  In fact, I actually bought a print from the Monastery Gallery of a photo of the labyrinth, stretched to make it look painterly.  Lovely.

The majority of the weekend was devoted to Zentangle. I love to learn new Zentangle technqiues, to be challenged in my practice, and to draw with a group.  And I got to do all that this weekend.  Several of the projects were outside my comfort zone--I generally like black-and-white, non-representational tangles.  This weekend we used a lot of watercolor to make little houses and a "creative girl" (inspired by Danielle Donaldson), which would not have been my own choice, but I had such a great time tangling.  And I've gotten more comfortable with color as non-representational, meaning I'm not specifically coloring in particular shapes, but only laying down washes of color before or after drawing. 

The two women at my table were new to Zentangle and asked a lot of questions; so I got to explain and explore Zentangle with them--comfort tangles (the ones you know and use a lot), favorite resources (www.tanglepatterns.com and the books Zentangle Primer and  A Tangle a Day), tips to turn the tiles while drawing, step outs of Huggins and w-2 and pokeleaf/root and Diva Dance Rock 'n Roll, all of which only mean anything to people who tangle. There were tons of supplies, raffle prizes for many (I gave away my blank canvas tote and origami book to one of the newbies at my table who didn't win.) 

We enjoyed several fantastic meals--roasted chicken, lemon fish, roasted potatoes, the best balsamic vinaigrette, orange-y pickled beets, oatmeal with all the toppings (granola, raisins, Marcona almonds, blackberries, cinnamon, yum!), frosted lemon poppyseed cake, a variety of cookies, and delicious little cannoli--it's such a treat to be cared for this way.  It was a lovely little break.

While I was away, Sis worked her last Girl Scout cookie booth for the year and for her term as a Girl Scout (she wants to be an independent Juliette next year, without a troop, so I had my last cookie booth last weekend!)  She also got to walk her horse outside on a sunny day because the ground had firmed up a bit.  (I got to go outside with the horse and Sis yesterday; Patience was so happy that she actually rolled on the ground.  I missed it, though, because I was corralling the dogs who had spooked her just a few minutes before.)  And Bud had his first competition of the year, winning three gold medals and a high score of 9.93 in straight sword.  Yay! 

Fragment dice to choose a tangle!

Catching You Up

Yes, I've been a hopeless blogger for months, and most of all in this new year.  If I can still call it a new year here in March.  It's not just busy-ness that has kept me quiet here; I've been expressing myself on FB, in private discussions, and in the few papers and responses I write for my seminary classes each week.

Yep, seminary.  I'm a "special student" taking two classes for credit that will count towards a degree program when I apply for the fall semester.  Both classes surround Christianity--one on representations of Mary, the other on church history.  And, while there is a lot of theology, there is enough history, which has always interested me (though, usually not the history of the east Mediterranean!)  I'm also learning how to navigate discussions and interpretations of text I don't "believe" in, which is to say, the Bible is only a text for me, not a sacred statement of belief and faith inspired by God.  So, I'm more likely to look to socio-historical interpretations or feminist/womanist hermeneutics when I examine a text.  Yep, see me using the lingo there?!  I'm loving it.  I think I'd forgotten how much I really do love being a student and learning things in a structured environment.  And I'm really good at it.  So it feels wonderful to be in school again.  Which Sis and Bud just don't quite understand.  And Mama is happy to see me so engaged, if a little bit jealous that I love my "work" so much.

Otherwise, as you know, we went to Thailand over Christmas.  I'm sure I didn't tell you everything I had meant to, but between temples and food, I hit the highlights.  The other big thing to happen in January was almost entirely negative and traumatic:  our horse was severely injured around her back fetlock (ankle/foot) in a freak accident, Sis found her lying in a pool of blood (horses have 50 liters so can spill several, which looks awful), it took forever for the vet to arrive, she was taken to the emergency vet hospital far away, where she spent a few weeks.  And it took awhile for us to know if she would be ok.  She's back at our "home" barn now, but still takes antibiotics, is on stall rest, and has a huge bandage.  But oh so much better than it was.  We learned a lot about equine medicine, which I'm not sure we needed to learn experientially.  Except these things happen to all pets and big horses can have big problems.  Sis has been a trooper--sure, she had hard days and lots of stress--but she has taken great care of that pony and been very diligent and responsible.  I'm proud of her.  I'm just sorry she had to go through this.  Sorry for our sweet horse, too.  But yes, Sis will be able to ride her again and things should be all well.

What else?  We're talking about high school!  Sis got into a special magnet school and is so excited to be going.  Bud will be in all honors here at our town school, which is a perfect fit.  They've never been in different schools before.  It also means we're only four years away from their heading off to college; half that to a driver's license.  Time flies.

Other tidbits:

• Sis has decided to leave our GS troop at the end of this school year, but she will stay on as an independent "Juliette" because she loves being a camp counselor and also likes some of the council programs (like archery and outdoor cooking.)  It's bittersweet.  I've been her leader for 9 years--this was my last cookie season!--but I now it's right for her.
• Bud just finished lunar new year season for kung fu, after numerous performances.  Now he's prepping for competition season, which starts this Sunday.  He's also teaching the little kids' class on Saturday afternoons and the graduating senior on the team is also preparing him to take over as unofficial head of the team.  So proud of him!
• Mama is actually doing some studying on her own, trying to pick up some new tech skills.  She misses coding and programming and is finding her way back to it.
• The cats have found a relatively happy balance, though Hermione is still grumpy.  Or even grumpier, especially as she is increasingly arthritic.  But Eris isn't as scared of her, or any of us, anymore and, after two years, really seems to have settled in.  Romeo, the new orange guy, is just in love with Sis, whom he follows around and sleeps beside and sits on; he even guards her door from the other cats and us once she's headed to bed (until he is ready to turn in!)  He only engages me when I am in the kitchen, in hopes that he'll get a little milk. I do give in sometimes.  Albus is still our great protector; he does clockwise rounds of the first floor a few times a night.
• My mom is coming for a visit next week, before she goes on a grand trip down the Rhine in April with her dear friend Granny Quinn.  They should have a great time.
• I had a terrible stomach bug a few weeks ago.  At first we thought it was another obstruction and almost went to the ER (twice!); I was that miserable.  Threw up for hours and hours.  With a fever.  But we checked in and the doctor on call thought it was a virus. Ugh.  Sprained my poor stomach muscles and my back, and didn't move for two to three more days, didn't eat for another week, talked to all my specialists, still a bit hesitant to eat much.  Blah.  I've never been that sick.  
• We've seen a few movies.  How to Train Your Dragon 3 was a wonderful, if tear-jerking, ending to the trilogy.  Those are some great movies.  (But the trailer for the dead-dog-spirit movie A Dog's Journey that we saw before the feature was enough to start our crying early!)  We also saw Captain Marvel--NO SPOILERS--we loved it.  Really great, right up there with Black Panther and Wonder Woman, for the genre.  
• We aren't doing anything for spring break, a "staycation," I guess.  But then we did go to Italy and Thailand last year, plus got a horse and a new cat (both kinda unplanned!), replaced our upstairs flooring, and spent a week at Audubon family camp, in addition to all of our usual things.  The kids are going on a retreat later this term, with their church group.  And Mama and I are using it for a local nano-honeymoon.  We'll do some cool things here in CT that we've wanted to do together, instead of heading somewhere $$$$.  
• ....because both kids are going to camp this summer and we're going to TEXAS!  Yep, we're headed for a week or so in the Lone Star State to see my sis and folks.  The exact dates are TBD because we're still having snow days (had one last week, actually.)  But it'll be great fun!
• As for fun, I'm going on retreat this weekend which is lovely.  I wasn't going to go, but Mama insisted, which was really nice.  Or she's trying to tell me something!
• And I will end with a recipe we all really liked recently:

Slow Cooker Chicken Salad

2 lbs chicken breasts

8 oz cream cheese (choose your kind; I think I used 1/3 fat free)

salt, pepper seasonings

Spray the slow cooker with cooking oil.  Place chicken in cooker; season.  Cube cream cheese over top and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 6-8, until chicken is cooked through (165F.)  Remove from cooker and shred chicken.  Stir in any desired ingredients--I added finely chopped celery and sliced almonds.  Refrigerate until chilled.  Actually my kids liked it warm, with pasta.  Then we ate it as a cold chicken salad.  And today I actually heated the leftovers with zucchini, onion, salsa, and bell peppers which made a kind of Tex-Mex chicken-a-la-king.

Mommy Hungry

I think that's all I can think of right now.  

Of Buddha and Boat Noodles, Part 2: Restaurant Meals

It seems impossible to capture the food we ate in Thailand with photographs, except I can taste the flavors when I look at the pictures.  So, this will serve as a record for my family to remember all those wonderful meals and hopefully also serve as some instruction in the food culture of Bangkok.  I'm focusing here on restaurant meals because street snacks will take up a whole other post.  But my mother-in-law tells me that even many of the restaurants we ate at are considered street food.  With a few exceptions, the restaurants were hole-in-the-wall, haphazard, but extremely clean places run by families.  No one in our party became ill, no doubt in part because they chose specific places for us to go and also because the food is fresh--they don't have the refrigeration to store it (nor is any of it processed on a huge, national, industrial scale like, say, Perdue chicken or lettuce that crosses the country) and they cook it at high heat to order, so not a lot of mass production and processing and sitting around.  And some of them actually had Michelin recommendations!  The flavors are complex, almost always salty, sweet, and sour together (not as much bitter and I know they cut down on the spice for us.)   With different textures--crunchy but "juicy" sprouts added to dry noodle dishes, herbs like parsley or cilantro accompanying almost everything (which they also cut out for some of us), and they don't shy away from bones and skin and heads and body parts.  They also like gelatinous textures.  There are lots of little condiments and additions and customizations to each dish.  There was no dairy (but lots of coconut milk), very little wheat, lots of sugar--mostly this was in the drinks, but one noodle dish had a tablespoon of white sugar on the edge of the bowl to stir in!  We always ate family-style; though people could make specific requests, all the food was shared (though, all the seafood eaters were careful not to hog the chicken dishes Sis and I relied on.)  There wasn't a progression to the meal--you ate what came out first and worked your way through dishes as they showed up.  Drinks were often bought separately; I almost always got iced coffee or iced tea, Thai style--which means sweetened condensed milk.  We drank water out of bottles; sometimes we tried chrysanthemum or lemongrass tea or butterfly pea drink (which was purple.)


Nai Mong Oyster Place
This restaurant has a Michelin recommendation--and I'm sure it deserves it.  Though, I didn't eat any of the fried oyster omelet, everyone but Sis and I thought they were outstanding.  The man stands at the window near his wok and stir fries the oysters, just as his father apparently did before him.  Ma and Gong have been coming here a long time.

  

Fried oysters on sprouts

Yentafo Noodle Place
Yentafo is a particular sauce, made from a particular soy bean paste, translated as "pink noodle soup."  I think this was our first foray into Thai restaurants, with our cousin joining us for the meal. Everyone got a bowl of soup (the only time it wasn't family style was if we were having bowls of noodles) and could ask for specific toppings.  Mine was pretty plain, with chicken.  

A standard bowl of Yentafo

    

My more reserved chicken version

Yarwalat at Night

The sidewalks were packed and all the street food vendors were out.  We were with our cousin again, who guided us to the best places.  We ate peppery soup with Guay-jup (spiraly) noodles--I liked these, though they were so spicy, but I could eat the little fried "croutons" you dropped in the soup--and then had Hong Kong stir-fried noodles at a separate place..  I don't think I got any photos of the food this time, which was a rarity.  By the end of the trip, no one would eat until they checked that someone had a picture of it!

Som Pong Seafood Place

We ate here with a couple of aunts and uncles.  It's a roadside restaurant that has grown in size since Ma and Gong first started coming here.  I've included several photos of the table, but I don't remember all the dishes we had.  They served great lard nar (a chicken vegetable stew dish for Sis and me) and amazing mango with coconut sticky rice. Bud ate all manner of seafood, including mantis shrimp (which are kept in a special tank because they can break the glass with what is the fastest punch by body weight in the animal kingdom, equivalent to a speeding bullet.)  There were also several good sauteed veggie dishes.

Steamed whole fish

Chicken Lard Nar, the go-to dish for Sis and me.

The dish at the bottom is sun-dried pok with keffir leaves, one of our favorite dishes
of the whole trip.

We loved stir fried greens, which we ate at many places.  They are seasoned with
soy sauce, garlic, etc.  The greens are various plants, one called
"Morning Glory."

THIS.  Mango sticky rice with coconut cream and crunchy
roasted mung beans. BEST. DESSERT. EVER.

Suan Thip

Our late lunch was at the royal Thai food restaurant Suan Thip, a Michelin-recommeded place housed in numerous traditional Thai houses and nestled in a lush garden with a canal. The food is served in numerous Thai set meals, meaning a collection of dishes that go together and in this case were served on woven trays. There were make-your-own appetizers in kefir leaves, rice crackers with peanut pork spread, fish curry, royal basil chicken, pineapple Thai fried rice, Chicken in pandan leaves, and this amazing coconut ice cream sundae with roasted mung beans, blue palm heart, yellow jackfruit, pink water chestnuts fried in tapioca, and green pandan noodles. We had Thai iced tea (which is an orange rooibos always served with sweetened condensed milk), coconut shakes in fresh coconut, pineapple shakes, and a lemongrass iced tea.

A traditional Thai appetizer, where you put various minisculely-chopped tidbits like onion,
lime, shrimp, roasted coconut, peanuts into a keffir lime leaf and eat it.

That's galangal soup on the upper left.  The main dish is a
fish rice, if memory serves.

Coconut smoothie in a coconut

Little fried pork packets with plum sauce

Very spicy fish curry in the foreground

Royal Basil Chicken for Sis and me

A very tasty peanut/pork spread for rice crackers

 

Coconut ice cream with jack fruit, palm hearts, "ruby tip" water chestnuts,
crunchy mung beans etc.

Chinese Banquet at SBL Restaurant

We feasted on a formal Chinese banquet with some of the extended family at a restaurant favored by Ma's dad, Lao Gong, because it served Teochew specialities. We had two special Teochew appetizers (one was a cold pork jelly and the other was sauteed duck tongue), crispy pork skin, fried fish, soy sauce fish, Peking duck rolls, crispy duck, crab with scallions, stir fried pork, noodles, shrimp shumai, chilli prawns, sauteed goose feet, fried taro nest, sauteed sea cucumber, chicken soup with young bamboo, custard buns, taro bread with red bean paste, and tapioca taro dessert soup with coconut milk, plus chrysanthemum tea. Whew.  Most of this was passed around via Lazy Susan; all of it was family style. 

Sauteed crab with scallions and peppers

Roasted pig--you eat the crispy skin first and then they take the pork
and stir-fry it

The lazy Susan at work--that's young bamboo chicken soup in the foreground

A lovely little custard bun

Snow fish in sweet soy sauce

Sauteed goose feet

Cold jellied pork 

Fried crab

Stir-fried sea cucumber

Soy sauce noodles, served at the end so guests don't fill up on cheap carbs

Refreshing chrysanthemum tea and a steamed taro bread

Dessert--taro soup with coconut milk and gingko beans

Ban Ong Restaurant by Canal

We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant the family has long visited--it was Lao Gong's favorite restaurant (he is Mama's grandfather), with his favorite green curry with egg omelet.  There were also chicken wings, sauteed vegetables, and a lovely chicken with royal basil dish for Sis and me. Goo and Gong tempted the fates by eating the super spicy boar, which neither could finish. The amazing dessert was taro dumplings in fresh coconut cream. And we liked the lychee iced tea, and sharp and a bit salty sparkling limeade (like at our Vietnamese restaurant back home.)

Omelet and Royal Basil Chicken

Various drinks and dishes, family style

Stir-fried wild boar.  SPICY! 

Coconut milk with noodles and taro.  So good.

Boat Noodle Place in Ayutthaya

"Boat Noodles" are a Thai speciality, so called because they were (and still sometimes are) sold by purveyors in boats on the Chao Praya.  These are small bowls--a regular adult could probably eat four or more in a serving.  And you can get all manner of meats and toppings.  Yum!  This place is famous for its boat noodles and it was packed--we sat at three separate tables across the entire place.

The various toppings

A snack of sesame-fried bananas while we waited.  So good!

Thai iced tea, which is essentially rooiboos with sweetened condensed milk.

Boat noodles!

  

A sweet palm sugar sponge cake with shredded coconut.

Shabu Shabu at MK Restaurant

This is like a Thai Friendly's, with lots of meal options and lots of desserts.  We had hot pot, where you cook various meats and veg in the center pot.  Ours had pork and chicken, I think.

Fast Restaurant
Yep, sometimes I just didn't know the names of where we were eating.  Thai has 44 letters and 22 vowels, plus inflection symbols!  So I gave the places nicknames, like the fast place.  We ordered a dozen or more dishes (which are usually relatively small, less than a US entree--each dish would give each of us a small serving) and they kept coming and coming.  We ate to make room for the next plate.  So good!  I don't see a photo of it, but this place is known as one of the best places for Tom Yom Goong soup--it was spicy and sour and complex.  I liked it thought I couldn't eat much of it.

Most restaurants and shops are narrow, at least in the first room or so facing
the street.  

You can almost always see them cooking and prepping your food.  In many places,
we walked past or through the prep area to get to our seats.

This place expanded out some in the back.

Mee Krop--sweet and sour crunchy noodles with sprouts

Ketchup macaroni with Worcestershire Sauce.  This has long been a family dish--but Mama didn't know it
was from a restaurant and not made up by her grandad.  Nope, it's a "real" thing.

Chicken Lard Nar

Sauteed Morning Glory

"Lime-y" noodles

Omelet

Noodle Meal by Ma and Gong's House

This is the meal that bit me.  I was happy to order Gua Tiew (wide white) noodles with minced pork and dug right in, only to find fish balls, fish cakes, and cilantro!  UGH.  My least favorite meal.  I downed an entire iced coffee to get rid of the taste.  Betrayed.  Luckily, everyone else was happy and didn't notice.  I ate a lot of fried wontons and turnips that night.

Even the minced pork had some fish in it, or was fried with the fish.

One-Hundred Year Old Restaurant
If I understood correctly, this restaurant is owned by a distant cousin of Gong's family (or of Gong's brother-in-law's family.)  A hundred years ago or so, the ancestor living in this small, traditional village by the river, paid an official to re-route the railroad away from town so that it didn't destroy their community.  The track went 4 km away and it is still a sleepy little place, with wooden houses from 100+ years ago, including this restaurant which is famous for its crispy fried wontons.

Crispy wontons as the base for pad thai.  Yum!

A chicken dish for Sis and me (Pad Si Ew, I think)

Royal Basil Chicken

Noodles with teensy tiny little red shrimp--can you see them?

Can you see them now?  They look like little chili flakes, but with black eyes. Apparently,
these are a very traditional flavoring in Thailand.

Siam Paragon Mall Food Court
So much better than any American food court I've ever been in.  Instead of crappy mall-only chains (like Sbarro or the oily Chinese or some random taco place like Texas Tacos or whatever), the purveyors at the food courts we went to were top Bangkok restaurants serving their best dishes.  Apparently, they compete to be in the malls!  So much variety, so much good food.  We had pad thai, lard nar, Heianese chicken, and I forget what else--and that was just scratching the surface!  I could have eaten there for days.  And this was the food court.  There were actual mini-restaurants in another section of the mall, serving sit-down meals.

Chicken Lard Nar and Heianese Chicken

I think that's the Pad Thai.

Breakfast at the Hotel

Breakfasts in Asia are not the egg-and-carb fests we have here and in Europe.  You start with either a broth soup or a rice porridge (congee or jook) and add toppings like vegetables, various meatballs, lots of pickled condiments, etc.  Mama and the kids loved having this a few times to start our day.

The porridge breakfast toppings

Feeding the Monks

The last meal to discuss isn't actually one we ate--it was the one we bought the monks.  Thai monks take their begging bowls out after sunrise to collect donations for their day's meals (which they traditionally eat before noon; monks who have followers collect food for them too, as little boy monks don't go out begging.)  It's become quite organized, with monks going to certain places where vendors have pre-arranged meals that people can purchase and gift them.  Ma bought a meal for each of us to give a monk, plus some extra fried doughnuts.  The monk opens the bowl and you put the food in, careful NOT to touch the bowl or the monk if you are a woman (don't get me started.)  Then the monk will give a blessing or a lesson and preside over a quick finger cleansing ritual (symbolic to your whole self, I think.)  One of the monks we fed had a man following behind with an insulated cooler so he could collect extra, presumably (hopefully) for his followers.  I like that they get cookies!