Day 181 Purple Pie And Ice Cream Dinner

I couldn't wait any longer, the blackberries were staring at me through the freezer door, saying "put me in a pie, Kelley"! I was going to wait for the fourth of July, but I've decided that I can make two cobblers in one week. Tomorrow, I am taking the day off, but I'm leaving some cobbler for my faithful co-worker, hopefully it turns out OK. Tonight, I had ice cream for dinner, it was 103 degrees today, with a heat index of 106, I think ice cream was an ideal dinner for such an atrociously lava like day. I truly cannot wait for Fall, I cannot wait for cool weather and Autumn recipes, chowders, stews, pumpkin pies....why can't I make pumpkin pies now? Is there a law that says I have to wait until Thanksgiving? That's bogus.
I think that tomorrow, I'm going to peruse my Thai cookbook for curry squash recipes, I can only fry it so many times, before it's time to find a new recipe. That's not to say that I don't love me some fried squash, but, it's going to be an awfully long summer, with only hot grease as my cooking partner. Thank you for playing, I have to check on my purple pie now.
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Day 37 Is There A Snow Route To Thailand?

I read cookbooks like I read novels, I get carried away in the descriptions, the ingredients, the pictures, everything. So, today while I listen to the snow mercifully melt into a river in the back yard, and wait for the next wave to come, I am dreaming of the Bankok floating market and perusing a beautiful Thai cookbook, I received for my birthday, last year. I do not have ingredients for even a few of the recipes, so I'm mostly just dreaming of what I'm going to make when I'm able to move about the city freely, without the aid of skis or spikes on my shoes. It's true, I still have the red curry paste from my last experimentation, but it is a certainty, that I need further education in this area of international cuisine. Apparently, as I learned from my mistake, you cannot just throw the curry in and stir it around, you should  use ALL of the ingredients listed, and use the paste sparingly. I'm kind of a willy nilly cook and don't always follow the rules, which sometimes leads to disaster and sometimes to things that are surprisingly good.
So the recipe that I'm eyeing right now, is spicy noodles with mushroom egg rolls or guay tiaw tom yam kub po pia hed, as it's called. I've never made egg rolls before, but I'm all about it since this recipe is vegetarian, it's spicy, and I loooove mushrooms in, around, or on anything that I put into my mouth. Next we have zucchini and cashew curry or kaeng courgette med mamuang for our imaginary side dish, ending with mango brulee, mamuang for pretend dessert. It's all a distant dream now, but maybe I'll have a post blizzard dinner party with a Thai theme, we'll have a little curry heat to make us forget about the snow. Right now, it's time to pack the dream away, I'm off to make a roasted squash soup and maybe make a grilled cheese with my snow storm, survival food. Sometimes, it's just a super fabulous soup and sandwich kind of night, I guess.
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Mango Creme Brulee

Day 16 Holy Pepper Monkey That's A Hot Bowl Of Hell

So in the interest of keeping things interesting and cheap in my kitchen, I've been experimenting here and there. I must do this so as not to be seduced by the glittering lights of the Mazzio's pizza pick up counter or the lure of the Crispy Creme siren. So far my creations have worked out pretty well, until last night. First let me just say that I love Thai food, I love the heat, I love the spice, love it. Last week, at the Asian market, I picked up a very large tub of Red curry paste, which I love but have never cooked with. Look, you cannot scare me with heat, I can eat habeneros by themselves, my tongue is like a Zen monk playing poker with a dragon, I'm good. So, I decided on a very simple curry rice with vegetables, I added the curry paste, I added a lot of paste, probably like 1/3 of a cup. I knew as I did this that it would be warm, but I was in the mood for adventure.....I got an adventure, if adventure is another word for "son of a motherless goat, grab the baking soda, there's an electrical fire in my mouth." I have leftovers and  in the name of a faltering economy,I will not throw them out, I will find a way to get my money's worth, you bet your flaming, blistered gums I will.  http://www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com/