Saturday, January 17, 2009

Day 17 Cooking School 2 and Market







OK what is a gerund....It is a verb acting as a noun.   IE Run is a verb but  Running can be a noun for example Running is fun.   Running is the Noun and is fun is the verb phrase....So there you have it ...gerunds

So I took another cooking course today but more importantly I went to the local food market before my cooking class.   What a cool experience.   They had about 25 different types of rice.  They had sticky rice...just what you think it is sticky....Then of course jasmine rice and black rice in all different grades and quality to suit your cooking needs.   They also had lots of different kinds of chilies from mild to super hot...Size does not matter the smallest pepper they sell is the hottest pepper around.  

Then I went to my cooking class where today I made the following
Yellow Curry the secret ingredient that makes it yellow are turmeric and curry powder
Thai vegetable soup the tofu, coconut milk and kaffir lime are what makes it special
Fried Chicken with cashew nuts...hmm delicious one  cashews, carrots, chicken, oyster mushrooms
Spring rolls...yep I know how to make them now...they were great
Stir Fried Big noodles...really wide rice noodles like 2 inches wide...flavored with dark sweet soy sauce...this was yummy
Mango with sticky rice...wonderful dessert, I brought this one home for dessert later tonight
Pad Thai...easier than I thought it was going to be..

The class was on a farm about 20 miles outside of Chiang Mai and we picked some of the vegetables that we cooked with so that added a special twist to it.  
I have to say cooking and eating all day is exhausting and tiring...I am thinking a nice massage so I will be heading downtown and go to my massage place.
I have also included some pictures of the market which was really great.   You will see baskets of rice, bags of chilies, all kinds of bottled sauces and garlic and  greens, a real festival for your eyes.

The you will see a picture of me in my Thai cook's hat getting ready for my day of  cooking.   
  




6 comments:

  1. Wow -- it sounds like you had a really great class..... but you didn't take any photos of your creative presentations this time (or were you eating it as it came out of the wok?)

    And what a different style cook's hat.... are you bringing that one home with you? (can it fit in your luggage)?

    Don't make us jealous of the balmy weather in Thailand... I guess we've gotten used to milder winters here and this cold snap has woken us up. Heard that in Chicago it has been in single digits for several days with high winds making it MINUS degrees F (in multiples ie -15F or more)

    So give us some details on your massage? Have you "a preferred" massage place? Do they know you there yet? How much does it cost?

    Why don't you give us a new MAIN Picture to look at (time to change the house away -- put it on the posting on the day you had first mentioned it) Maybe you can replace it with some beautiful scenery in the Chiang Mai area.

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  2. Oh -- and can you give us some update on how the TOEFL class is doing? You've reached the halfway point....

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  3. To Kathy Wakefield and the Students in Texas - the markets in Asia are always very exciting places. There is a huge amount of activity and they are aisles and aisles of booths with each booth specializing in "something" -- produce; paper goods; nuts; spices etc. And there generally are several booths selling the same thing. It appears that the locals have their preferences with which booths to go to... just as we have our preferences here as to which stores we shop in. (ie going to GAP versus Eddie Bauer) The produce sections -- are very interesting -- the produce is always very fresh (probably just cut the evening before or even that morning) and it is piled high on the tables.

    The markets also generally have meat and poultry and depening on the location of the city that you're in -- even a fish section.

    These markets are the "supermarkets" that we have here in the USA.

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  4. I look forward to taking advantage of your culinary education when you return! I have a new taste for Thai food, so I can't wait to try some of these creations. I agree with Paul, you should take pics of the final product, when you are finished...

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  6. David, I second that...can't wait to savor your new culinary talents. (international additions to your CHICKEN recipes repertoire??!!)

    Yowza! What a great adventure! I poured through your clever and detailed narratives, enjoying every word. Thanks for sharing the fun and T.I.T. challenges with us! (p.s. I have a great short video of your earlier Dragon encounter in Germany...you and Christopher in the downtown Stuttgart... If I can figure out how to post it somewhere, I will.) And send some of that warm weather my way!

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