cooking

Nicole has 8 school friends coming for dinner tomorrow. We spent a few hours shopping for Thai ingredients. She will do the cooking. She’s making coconut chicken, vegetable curry, and spring rolls and shrimp. It’s been allot of fun learning to cook with her. I'm taking Sarah, Philip and Thomas to see the movie Mega Minds, and Juergen will be watching Jessica. Nicole takes her comprehensive school exams beginning next month. She is also hoping to take a vacation with her friends (one week). But that just depends on time and money. Most of the friends will have to pay their own way...we would pay for Nicole's trip. So where and when will depend on money. That's fine with me. I know they can not go far, or spend too much. I'm totally cool with that. But I'm saying no to Egypt and Turkey. There has been too much violence there. And Greece? Too unreliable. Nicole wanted to go to Thailand, but it cost too much. Know one drives...so they are also restricted in that way too. I'm so happy she has good friends. But they all realize they will be going in a dozen different directions after graduation. The reality is starting to sink in. It will be a very intense year.



Tom Yum Goong (Thai Prawn Soup)



Raw prawns 12
Straw Mushroom (halved) 40 (80 pieces)
Fresh galangal (thinly sliced) 2 tablespoons (19 pieces)
Kaffir lime leaves (shreded) 4 leaves
Lamongrass (cutted) 9 segments
Fresh Thai chili (lightly pounded) 25
Coriander (sliced) 1/3 cup
Chicken soup stock 3 1/2 cup
Fish sauce 4 3/4 tablespoons
Lime juice 5 tablespoons


Method
• Wash the prawns and shell them
• Clean straw mushrooms and cut them in half
• Bring chicken stock to boil with medium heat (take 5 mins); add lamongrass, galangal, and prawns until prawns turn pink (cooked through) (take another 4 mins); add mushrooms, kiffer lime leaves and fish sauce (take another 2 mins); turn the heat off
• Add lime juice and lightly pounded fresh Thai chili
• Garnish with sliced coriander; serve while it is hot