HEELS

John, my father, and I have started a new tradition. Instead of always having one person cook, we are going to get together at least once a month with a special menu- usually with a theme- and have each person take a dish (or two, if they feel like it). It will help us explore new recipes, take the burden off of the normal cooks, and be a lot of fun. At least, so far it has been.

Last night was the first night. We were feeling adventurous and decided on Thai. Dad made a dish from the Lemongrass Cafe cookbook that I borrowed from the library, and John and I each made a dish from the general (but really quite excellent) Thai book that I bought years ago at a bookstore sale.

The results:
... were DELICIOUS. We are such awesome cooks! From the top, clockwise: Made by Dad- Sweet and Spicy Shrimp (shrimp, broccoli, cucumbers, pineapple, celery, tomatoes, chile paste, fish sauce, soy sauce...to name a few of the ingredients); Made by me- Fragrant Chicken Curry (Chicken, LOTS of curry paste, lemongrass, coconut milk, onions, garlic, cilantro, yogurt, apricot jam...); Jasmine Rice (made by me, but it hardly counts); Made by John- Thai Asparagus (asparagus, toasted sesame seeds, green thai chile, red bell pepper, garlic, ginger... so simple, so good!). All that plus a bottle of wine made by a company on whose cave our company worked. It was a very special dinner.

After dinner, we ate lovely, refreshing chunks of watermelon and then sat down to watch a Planet Earth (an Oceans one). After all that settled, I brought out the Coconut Custard with Mango, which was good, but not quite as good as I'd hoped. I was hoping for more of a creme brulee texture and got more of a gelatinous flan texture, but the flavor was nice. The best part was the fresh mango- I bought one that was a honey mango or some such thing and it was one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted.

Cole, unfortunately, was not all that interested in the food. He's been a particularly picky eater lately, and it was too spicy. He sat and ate swiss cheese slices and then had a few bites of pizza when we went home. I guess you can't please everyone.

(My tummy's grumbling just looking at that picture. I can't wait for the leftovers today at lunch!)

(Oh- John and I also got away by ourselves and saw a movie, the first in quite some time. We saw Harry Potter and mostly enjoyed it. I was squirming a lot by the end due to the massive dose of cheeziness, but it was still totally worth seeing. I nearly offended people before the movie started, though, listening to their comments about the previews and things. I need to learn to keep my snorts to myself. But tell me- if someone was watching a preview for Fred Claus and shouted out "That right there- that's a WINNER. That's my kind of movie!", would you be able to help yourself? I know you all are clearly better people than I, but really...)