In which I spend an entire day eating

I already thought Thai cooking was hard work when Toby and I do it, but boy is it ever a workout. I spent the day at the Thai Farm Cooking School getting to intimately know a mortar and pestle but for the first time I appreciate how different the flavors are when you do so (Safko, owner of rarely used mortar and pestle, we now can cook together!), and how to properly do it. Good thai food is a phenomenal combination of flavors - they try to hit every note on the tongue - and they did a great job teaching us how to put ingredients together today. Of course, it also helps if you have access to fresh aubergines, coconuts, papaya, and a staff of four Thai women making your sticky rice for you.

The school was on a gorgeous farm in the mountains with an incredible facility, although I think inhaled a lifetime of smog riding the songthaew (open air pickup truck that serves as a taxi) out of the city. My new favorite dish I had today was, of course, a dessert - coconut sticky rice with mango. We heated coconut cream with sticky rice, added a lot of salt for a contrasting salt bite, and then sliced the most delicious cold mango on top. We had already eaten some half dozen meals at that point (cook for an hour, eat for half an hour, repeat all day!) but I still downed that one fast.

This evening I successfully got my wired money from a Western Union - HUGE RELIEF! - and now off to the Sunday night market to spend it all on elephant statues and toasted crickets. Thank you Toby!