Thai Thanksgiving

"Thank You" written in all the languages represented at my international church

I saw these Thai pumpkins piled high at the vegetable market

And we made pumpkin gingerbread cheesecakes out of them. They are bright yellow!

I showed the girls how to make buttermilk biscuits

And they caught me sprinkling sugar on apple cranberry galettes

Awesome interns Stephanie, Jayne and Heather helped the girls decorate for our party. Those are Thai silk swags filled with bougainvillea flowers from the garden. 

The feast (of course there was rice!)

Cornbread bacon dressing, Sarah's grandma's traditional bread stuffing (with chestnuts), homemade macaroni and cheese, and pumpkin macaroni and cheese. Steph and Jayne made these adorable signs for all the food in English and Thai!

                        Mashed potatoes- we ran out of bowls so plated them up Thai style on a giant patter. I totally had Close Encounters flashbacks as we made our giant mashed potato mountain! And  buttermilk biscuits

Gingerbread spice butter for the biscuits, corn on the cob, and roasted vegetables

We made a gallon of gravy! I taught the girls how to make a roux with flour and bacon drippings- they loved it! Then we whisked in turkey roasting liquid, chardonnay, and butter. And some pureed roasted vegetables (thanks Martha Stewart)=yum! It was smooth and delicious- I gave them all "A's." And then there's cranberry sauce with fresh ginger, orange juice and cloves.  

Our beautifully moist turkeys.  My favorite moment was early in the morning when the girls first walked into the kitchen.  I wanted to show them the turkeys roasting in the oven (they've never seen one before) and one girl leans in and waves- and in broken English says, "Hello Turkey! How are you?" The other girl screams "I hot!" giggle giggle. And that is what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving ;)
Banana coconut bread pudding with dulce de leche caramel, roasted bananas in caramel cream sauce, and lemongrass whipped cream.  All homemade of course. ;)
The girls loved "making it snow" on the apple cranberry galettes. 

Our pumpkin cheesecake with gingerbread cookie crust and sour cream topping. And a gingerbread cookie to top it off.

Homemade vanilla peppermint candies shaped like roses and hearts.

My neighbor Pii Bua joined us and stayed to help with the dishes. We are both tired and sweaty but very happy ;) That silver thing in the corner is our giant mixing bowl full of mashed potatoes.

After the party was over, the visiting team from California and I stayed up until 3 am eating corn on the cob, skyping and goofing off. Our taxi driver and his wife joined us for a while. It was a perfect end to a lovely day.

                                        Happy Thanksgiving! 

The Kitchen Tour

So here's where I have been spending my days (and nights) the past few weeks. Lots of scrubbing, moving, sanitizing, organizing and love from a lot of people= one pretty awesome kitchen. 

Everyone who comes into the kitchen first visits the hand washing station, complete with paper towel and soap dispensers- quite possibly the first of its kind in Chiang Mai

Dry Storage. (it takes a lot of effort to keep everything dry in this humidity!)
The oven, affectionately called "The Beast." I asked them how long it takes to light it, and they said until for-ev-er! 
Almost certainly the first 3 compartment sink in Chiang Mai.  With hot water!!! 

Our two lovely work surfaces (yes, that's granite!). . . on the wall is an air con unit! 
The cleanest deep freezer in Thailand- a few weeks ago, it didn't used to be white. . .
Sparkly clean refrigerator and wine cooler (we use it for produce and beverages)

6 burner stove and. . . that's right- a griddle! And a hood with and exhaust fan 

Our beverage prep/table setting station. We store all the dishes behind these doors

The breakfast bar for our early waking guests 

The beverage station

One of our lovely tablesWouldn't you love to have breakfast here? 

Almost all of the kitchen equipment  was donated by an amazing couple from Singapore when their restaurant went out of business. We pretty much love them ;) 

Here and There and Anywhere

I made green eggs and ham for our breakfast guests.

   Thanks to Grandma Lelia for teaching me how to make her awesome scalloped potatoes. And thanks to Mom Mom for teaching me to make her awesome pesto (that's what makes the eggs green.) And thanks to both of you for reading me many many rhymical books about all the places I'd go. 

Just eat the blossoms

I was eating this delicious soup for lunch and I couldn't identify the green leaves. Guess what they are? Morning Glory!  And they taste prettier than they look! 

   Mom- watch out! Your flowers are no longer safe when I come home ;) 

And to drink- fresh pressed lemongrass juice. Delicious and keeps the mosquitos away. 

Tour of the Garden, Part One

Welcome to the Garden!
Every tree is different! So many beautiful leaves and yummy fruit.
We even have a "lake" and a boathouse, complete with hanging lanterns. The girls think there's an alligator that lives in there. 

The front entrance

The Rice Barn and ox carts. The ox, sadly, is now a wall decoration. This property was a working rice farm a few years ago.

 

and we have the rice refining equipment to prove it! Hanging from under the roof is the world's most gigantic sifter. My dinky pastry version is kinda jealous. 

               The aforementioned elephant. And papaya trees in the background. And me. 

Thai-lenol

Oh, green aprons.  American pharmacists cheerfully passing out elixirs for every flavor of ailment.  I’d like a tall homesick latte. For the price of one tall beverage, a family could buy 12 pineapples. (what they would do with a dozen pineapples, I don’t know. Actually, I have a few ideas. . .  I’m thinking caramelized over ice cream) 

  Right next to the coffee shop is a pharmacy that passes out prescription(less) drugs like cappuccinos- except a lot cheaper. We laugh at the amoxicillin, valium and Deet 95 alongside peppermints and purell- but are blind to what we sell over our counters. 

   What do we seek relief from? What ails us, America?

It must be intense. 

Because it drives us through tropical storms and suicidal street traffic to this corner. This hopeful coffee corner. 

 We are the junkies. We shell out for hit after hit, unaware that the whipped cream on top of this afternoon’s jolt could pay for a mother’s child to put down his selling-flowers and play somewhere far from the glow of red lights. For tonight. 

   And across the street there is a different bar, selling different drinks.  And different pharmacists offer different elixirs.  They wear different uniforms- they are far from green. And far from aprons. 

Thai Parade

Nothing is more awesome than a pink plastic Llama

                                  wearing flip flops. 

                                  Except, perhaps, the innovative solution to those pesky float extension cords

Hey guys, if we get a black truck and turn off the headlights

We'll be invisible! 

Sprinkles?!!!

False alarm. It's actually chocolate covered rice. Mm mm mm mm mm. . . crunchy. 

Happy Loi Krathong

(That's Thai for light stuff on fire and launch it into the night sky)

First, you light the all-paper lantern with a lighter (and your bare hands)

Then you hold the giant luminaire/hot air balloon/firework (with your bare hands)

Like so

Until it gets so hot that someone lets go. . .

and it floats up. . .

up. . .

and away! 

Thailand twinkle lights.