Happy Tuesday everyone! If we were really meeting for coffee today, I’d invite you to meet me for some yummy eats in Causeway Bay because we are in Hong Kong!

(Actually, by the time you read this, most likely I’ll be flying back to Bangkok, but let’s just pretend we’re still in Hong Kong and I’d show you around.)

This was our first trip here, and we fell in love with the city immediately. It has the same vibrant self-made energy of New York – but with British-Chinese structural efficiency and Asian flair. It’s a pastiche of old and new, a patchwork of East and West.

Being a harbor city as well, Hong Kong is very cosmopolitan and it seems everyone you meet has an international background.

One of the highlights has just been going to museums. That’s one of the things we’re starved for in Thailand: no great art museums, at least that we’ve found. It was refreshing just to tap into some slice of culture and history…and there’s no doubt that China has a veritable empire of history behind it, one that sadly, we only know bits and scraps about.

And the food…ohmygoodness it’s amazing. I’d never been a full-fledged fan of Chinese food, but now I’d say, before arriving in Hong Kong, me and Chinese food had just never been properly introduced.

Topping my list of newfound favorites are xiao long bao, which are dumplings filled with a gulp of broth inside. There’s a whole proper method of consumption…but the taste? Exquisite and delicate. Much like my other new favorite: almond pudding. Oh, I’m salivating just thinking about it.

And I even got to meet Buckeroomama and the infinitely adorable Zoë, and we shared a fabulous hour of coffee (and nonstop chatting) together! (I’d share a picture, but the picture is on my hubby’s phone and the internet situation here in our hotel is…complicated…so it’ll have to wait until the next post.)

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and say hi and share a few glimpses of our trip. I’ll be sharing more photos over the next few days, after we return to Thailand. Hope you’re all having a fantastic start to the week!

Meanwhile…Hong Kong: I’ll be back.

We’re getting into the Christmas spirit here in Thailand, primarily by baking a lot of goodies.

This, my friends, is Moose Crunch.

It involves popcorn, pecans, cinnamon, vanilla, white chocolate…oh yes, and sugar-butter. In essence, crack.

We also have snickerdoodles, turtle thumbprints, vanillakipfel, and Kentucky bourbon balls.

Mmm….vanillakipfel….

Check back in a week. We’ll probably look like a Kentucky bourbon ball.

But we’ll be smiling widely as we roll ourselves out the door.

Yesterday, we went to an enormous international flower exhibition. I didn’t bring the D300 because I wasn’t expecting anything quite so grand. But the exhibition space was immense, set in large gardens with temples on a hill. And lucky we went in the evening because we got to catch some fantastic light shows. And THEN it was lucky I had Harold, my digi Harinezumi, stowed in my purse after all.

Anyway, are you gearing up for Christmas? I’m so ready for it. I think, even after all these jaded years, Christmas is still my favorite holiday. I can’t help getting wrapped up in jolly. I’ll probably be sparse around here for the next week or so. But in the meantime, I hope you all have a most fantabulous holiday! And lots of your most favorite gifts, and mistletoe-induced smoochery!

Much love,
Jade

They remind me of my grandmother, who used to eat them every day, dunked in sweetened condensed milk. I went for the soymilk instead because, well, I choose life.

As far as the taste goes, I find them all right – nothing to write home about. But I love them for the memories of my grandmother, her soft, wrinkled skin, and her laugh.

Do you ever do that? Love something simply for reminding you of someone special?

Traveling to Bangkok reminds me just how provincial my own city, Chiang Mai, really is. I still love it to live in: it’s a comfortable size, there’s still access to great international food, and the mountain scenery keeps me grounded. But Bangkok is a hell of a lot of fun to visit – if you enjoy shopping and/or eating. Which I do.

If you need proof, just ask my friend, Lynette.

We met up for dinner at an Indian restaurant (after an afternoon spent shopping), sat together eating and talking for a couple of hours, decided to go walk and wander…made it as far as the next street corner, whereupon I said, “Ooh! Dessert!” and promptly sat down to dessert and tea for another couple of hours.

(Oh, but it was amazing Indian desserts: flan custard, and rice pudding with cardamom, nutmeg, and raisins….)

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Mostly, I just spent the time admiring the Thai women walking the Sukhumvit and catching the Skytrain. Even when they dress casual, they dress elegant. They’re fashion forward with a Euro-Korean tendency, whether they tend towards classic lines and nautical stripes or floral dresses that, on the rack, you’d think would be more appropriate for an 8-year-old girl, yet somehow Asian women pull off as simply feminine. I’ve tried this look before. It doesn’t end well. Mostly, it just makes me look like a somewhat disgruntled, overgrown kewpie doll.

We met up with a cousin of mine, one with whom I kind of grew up like sisters. She lives in Australia now with her husband, but we managed to connect for an evening over Japanese food in this fantastic restaurant that is known for looking like an authentic Japanese house. Each table is in its own private wooden room, vintage posters line the walls, you doff your shoes at the door and sit down on the floor to eat.

I did tell you I went to Bangkok for the food, right?

She plied me with sashimi, gyoza, and yakitori, with a side of advice on precisely how one gets pregnant. Because that’s what family is for.

We also caught an evening with a friend who works in Afghanistan. She was visiting from Kabul, by way of Bogota (which is in Colombia – pretty much on the opposite side of the globe) on her way to a wedding in Udon Thani. Because that’s how she rolls.

But she’s another foodie, so we swapped tales over curried crab, garlic freshwater shrimp, deep-fried calamari, and steamed fish served over a live flame.

So you might say we ate some. But in between the shopping and eating, we thrived on the luscious beat of big city energy, all the way back to our overnight train.

And here is my husband at the train station, where, while we waited to board the train, a bird overhead decided to dive-bomb Toby’s bag with poo. Twice. Did I mention we were indoors? No manner of luck at all.

We did also catch some more touristy sights during our week there. Come back later this week, and I’ll share over coffee pictures of our river taxi ride, and after that, return to hear tell of my foray into the seedier side of Bangkok!

I missed you all this week and have been scrambling to catch up. There were 689 unread posts in my feed reader, people. 689. If I missed something you’d like me to see or comment on, please link it up in the comments below!

P.S. There may or may not also have been tiramisu cheesecake.

Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Macaroons.

Orange Spice Chocolate Macaroons

Harry Potter Inspired Macaroons.

Multiple, moist, & marvelous Macaroons!

Ok, I might be on a sugar high. Or I’m just weird. That is a distinct possibility as well. The orange spice chocolate macaroons are my own concoction though. I substituted raspberry flavoring for a couple dashes of orange flavoring and a dash or two of Angostura bitters, which rounds out the orange flavor and adds a hint of spice. And they’re all infused with a little Harry Potter magic because I was listening to Jim Dale read Book 5 as I was baking. I’m pretty sure that last ingredient was the crux of the biscuit.

And aren’t those little white dishes adorable? I love the little dip and tuck on the side: a tiny imperfection that makes for perfection. They’re a much loved and appreciated birthday gift sent all the way from the States. {heart}

Happy Wednesday!

Note: I had been wondering why my macaroons don’t have that smooth top that I see in all the photos (and they tend to brown even though they’re baked to the right time and temperature and taste nicely baked). I found this tutorial, in case any of you are tempted to try these. It looks like 1) humidity might be my foe, 2) I might not be folding them enough, and 3) it could be that my convection oven gets too hot, since it’s smaller and doesn’t work like a traditional oven. I can’t help the humidity in Thailand, but next time I’ll try to fold them more and see what turning down the oven temperature might do.

Or I could give myself permission not to care overmuch, given how yummy they are regardless. Hmm.

I wish I had something profound, intriguing, or thought-provoking to share with you today, but I spent the day rocking out to U2 (thanks to Chocolate Girl) and baking these Raspberry Chocolate French Macaroons for my husband because it’s his birthday today.

Have you ever had a macaroon?

I hadn’t. Until today, that is. But several of my friends have been raving about them recently (including Nuala who just got back from PARIS, mecca of macaroons), so I figured I’d better see what the fuss is about.

If you haven’t had a macaroon, you need to. Guaranteed Moment of Inspiration the minute it graces your lips.

(I also might have spent the day browsing Pinterest, playing with my hair and traipsing in the garden as the cookies baked.)

(I might be a bit of a geek.)

(Okay, I’m a total geek.)

(And then the mosquitos descended and I had to traipse my butt back inside.)

But then there were macaroons to be had! And all was right with the world.

The End.

Join in the celebration of simple moments at Sarah’s this week!

But in Thai it’s called a ngoh (which is the best transliteration I can find for it…). You pronounce the ng in the back of your throat, and then make a short, clipped “awe” kind of “oh” sound. You follow?

It may look like a round, fuzzy caterpillar, but when you unwrap it…

There’s a fleshy, delicate fruit inside!

If you’ve ever had lychee, it tastes like that, but a little crispier.

(Side note: If you’ve ever had St. Germaine liquor, have you ever noticed it smells like fresh lychees?)

Do, however, watch out for the seed…

Whether you call it a rambutan or ngoh, I call it a recipe for a great afternoon…

Well, it was authentic if, by authentic, you mean white people get served last. From T’s experience in India, that’s pretty typical. The waitresses spoke Thai, but we were guessing, based solely on appearance, that they were Muslims and probably from Pakistan.

We sat down and perused the menu, then waited a while to place our order. Finally, a waitress came around to our table. When I ordered in Thai, she interrupted and called back to the other waitress, saying, “Hey, this one speaks Thai. You wouldn’t think it to look at her.” Meanwhile, I’m gaping at her because, yes, hello? That whole speaking Thai thing? That means I UNDERSTAND what you’re saying.

But, in typical Thai conflict avoidance fashion, I brushed it off and laughed because, yeah, I’m mixed. Only Thai people looking closely would see the Thai in my features.

We finished placing our order, which was clearly complex because we ordered two mango lassis AND a chai. Clearly two people wouldn’t want three drinks, right? Silly us. Especially when there are four whole tables with customers waiting and only two waitresses and their mother to serve us all. They were slammed and we should take pity.

And so we proceeded to wait.

And wait.

An hour goes by.

A table that sat down after us ordered, ate, paid and left before I gave up and ordered water to stave off the hunger. But, to be fair, that table had Pakistani customers.

Finally, after almost an hour and a half, we are served a palak paneer, a mutton (goat) lamb tikka masala (that’s what the menu called it anyway – I’m not sure it actually contained three different types of meat), and garlic naan. We should have gone with plain naan, because WOW GARLIC. Now, I am a fan of the garlic. I’ve eaten roasted garlic heads, and when I’m sick, my mama’s home remedies involve eating so much garlic it seeps out your pores. So one might say I am not faint of heart around it. But whooooeeee! My palak paneer is a spinach dish and therefore should be a dish primarily green of color. This one was about half-green, half-white. The white? All garlic. The same with T’s tikka masala – which, by the way, tikka means “boneless” and this had shards of mashed up bone in it. Proceed with caution.

I’m pretty sure, when you are in the restaurant business, the aim when feeding customers is not to put them in a state where they are busy dreaming of their Listerine at home while trying to consume your food.

I could be wrong.

Nevertheless, there it was. We couldn’t finish our meal. Which is kind of saying something since we waited an hour and half for it. Oh yeah, and we never did get the tea.

We paid and left, then went elsewhere to soothe ourselves with dessert.

Mayhaps we should stick to Thai food.

However, for me, an irremediable foodie, the real treasure trove is the day market. In Chiang Mai, Warorot Market (or Kad Luang) is like a farmer’s market on crack. Hundreds of stalls pop up early in the morning and stay open until evening, selling fresh fruits and vegetables, meats of all kind, fish, seafood…raw, dried and/or grilled…all under the open air. Here you can find homemade curry pastes and powders, fresh spicy sauces (nam prik), tea leaves, pickled fruits, tobacco, and spices of incredible variety and intensity of flavor. Used to the uber-sanitary appearance of meats in American grocery stores, I do feel hesitant to buy meat laying out at an open air stall. But, on the other hand, I know this meat was freshly killed earlier in the day and is probably more sanitary than the processed meat we get (Hey, I read Fast Food Nation and saw Food, Inc. I know what’s up.) Plus this is probably where a lot of the food we’ve been eating has come from, and we’ve survived just fine thus far.

But here I can show you what I did get:

Holy basil with a fragrance to high heaven (pun only sort of intended), kaffir lime leaves (which I use in some curries, salads, and deep-fried fishcakes), green curry paste, panang curry paste, a spicy tomato and pork sauce condiment called nam prik ong, four boxes of coconut milk, and the little green and white orbs are a variety of eggplant. Total for all the goods? Less than $6.

I also picked up a vegetable called cha-om. It has tiny feathery leaves on long thin stalks. (English name: Acacia Pennata)

I used it in one of my favorite home-cooked meals (I haven’t seen this in a restaurant anyway): an omelette dish filled with the cha-om, and served with rice and nam prik ong on the side. YUMMY!

I’m excited because I’m finally set up to start cooking at home again. With easy access to such an extensive farmer’s fresh market, I’m really looking forward to being able to buy the precise quantities I want to last just a couple of days so I can continually buy food super fresh. While the street food has been delish, it is definitely a comfort to cook at home again.

Some of my favorite street food I don’t even have photos of, like khao mun gai, which involves chicken on top of rice that has been cooked in chicken broth and served with a chili sauce, or kai pa loh, which involves a hock of pork leg simmered for days in a cinnamon-star anise-rich broth and hard boiled eggs. And tub tim grob! Oh, be still my heart. My favorite dessert! I won’t explain what it’s made of because you’ll just raise your eyebrows and go “Eh?” But I will say it involves a delicate strawberry-vanilla like flavor, with a bit of crispy goodness soaked on ice and coconut milk.

Here’s what I do have photos of though:

By the way, Thailand does indeed have excellent coffee. Our fears were much assuaged. Also: European desserts here are amazing.

Pure blended fruit juices. This one is orange and passion fruit.

Because remember these guys?

Lest you think passion fruit is the only interesting fruit around here, let me introduce you to jackfruit.

These guys are filled with little sweet yellow segments that are a bit crunchy/chewy and oh-so-yummy. But please do not confuse this spiny fruit with durian, which looks very similar, but with larger spikes. Durian smells to high heaven of the lovely perfume Eau du Diaper and tastes much like it smells. I think so anyway. A lot of people love it. But due to its intense perfume, in many cities in Asia, it is banned on subways and buses and recommended that you not enter public transportation at least 20 minutes after consumption. You think I’m kidding.

Much better for the palate, however, is mangosteen, sweet, delicate and delicious. Plus it’s pretty.

And did I mention there’s good coffee?

Because yes, oh yes, there is.

Also consumed, but not pictured above: pad phuk boong (fried morning glory – I eat this almost every day), tom kah (coconut soup), larb moo Issan (a northern Thai meat salad), deep fried fish topped with lemongrass salad, deep fried fish topped with five sauces, moo ping (grilled pork on skewers), yum talay (seafood salad), roasted duck in salads and curries, pomelo, dragon fruit, guava, and rotee (an Indian style crepe served with sweetened condensed milk).

And oatmeal. I found Quaker Oats at the grocery store and eat that with soymilk and a banana every morning because I’ve been a little stopped up since I got here. Better than the alternative I must say, which is what usually hits foreigners upon introduction to the Thai diet. (TMI?)

But on that note, you might have noticed some of the above dishes appear on the spicy side? I can confirm that they are indeed at least as spicy as they look. And what goes in must come out (FIRE IN THE HOLE!!). And a blog about life in Thailand would not be complete without…

A Word on Toilets

When you first arrive in Thailand, if you’re staying in a relatively nice hotel or in a fairly well-to-do family’s home, you might first see a toilet that looks like this:

Looks like a western toilet, except for that little hose & sprayer contraption right? That’s because Thai people don’t really use toilet paper to wipe their bums. They spray them clean. (Toby loves the bum gun.) It’s not unlike a mini massage shower head…so it sometimes makes me wonder how many Thai women have secretly been made “happy” with it. However, it is a good idea, when you do have toilet paper at your disposal, to cultivate a habit of wiping and then throwing it in the bin because many septic systems aren’t prepared to handle the TP.

It’s especially a good habit to learn to carry TP with you, because even though you try your hardest to also go to the bathroom when at home or at the hotel or other safe spot, you will eventually find yourself confronting a more traditional Thai toilet:

A glorified hole in the ground

This one is actually raised higher than most are. It’s also one in our house (in the backyard…for the gardener to use? Haven’t figured it out yet.) and so is significantly cleaner than many public ones. Whatever you do, DO NOT SIT on these toilets. When you see one with muddy footprints all over it, you’ll know why. These are for squatting over. You drop trou, squat, aim and do your business. You may notice there is no TP. Hence the need to carry your own at all times (to throw in the trash, not the toilet!). You may also notice there is no flusher. Ours has a sprayer, but most places will have a trough full of water and a bucket. Of course there are no signs to explain anything. What you do is take the bucket, fill it with water and dump it in the toilet until all your business goes away.

Fun, huh? Kind of makes our preoccupation with sanitary sheets over the toilets seem relatively quaint, huh?

Oh yeah, and you might be wondering how to dry off after spraying yourself clean? Never fear. Average drying time in Thailand heat is approximately 45 seconds.