Well, I guess xmas needs to be done.
Days ago Felix and I braved the shops, the lines, and the ‘cheer’ and managed to have a fun day shopping. Today I am staying in and finishing up my card presents (for display after they have been given out).
Here is a cool site to escape xmas with cityshrinker.com .
Now, I am just looking forward to getting this presents finished, then being on holidays, floating in the pool and sleeping.
Dec 11, 2007 and I am itching to be overseas. Christmas is coming in a haze of false joy and shopping, something I haven’t experienced in Australian form for several years. I miss being able to pack everything I own into two bags, I miss being able to move on when the mood takes me. Mostly I miss new things and adventure.
Dec 11, 2006 we arrived in Nanjing and ate pancakes.
Dec 11, 2005 we pottered around Nha Trang in the rain
A few weeks ago, mired in the muck of finishing my degree, I came across a recipe for the Thai Chilli Jam Nam Prik Pao at Chez Pim. Filing it in the wish list category I attempted to forget about it and focus on the never-ending semester.
This weekend with Felix away, uni finished and the Asian grocery’s of Marrickville at my disposal I tried this recipe out.
Now I don’t really like Thailand, and I have eaten so make $6 lunch specials in Newtown that Thai cuisine doesn’t really hold the allure of say, Northern Chinese or Vietnamese for me. Mostly the Thai restaurants around here serve the same dulled down staples, and the fear of peanuts restricts choices considerably, therefore, Thai food has never really done it for me. But I am entraced Asia, and the complex concept of balance in this type of food is intriguing.
The dried chillies blackened in the wok, while I considered the Tamarind. I had never cooked with it before, but the thought of it brings back lovely memories of South East Asia. Tamarind pods stacked high in markets in Thailand. A tree heavy with fruit in Laos. Ladies on public buses in Cambodia, perched in the aisles, chattering happily, dropping the discarded shells and seeds on the ground with the cricket and tarantula carapaces. I don’t remember the first time I tasted it, but sampling the resulting sour tamarind sludge brought back a procession of meals and memories.
As did slicing all the garlic and schallots, and deseeding the chillies (note: buy larger dried chillies next time), making me feel as though I were working in a kitchen again.
The chillies are blended to a fine powder, then the fried garlic and schallots, then all the ingredients are cooked down to a jammy consistency. My garlic was fried crunchy and the blended, uhh, crunchy too, so the result is not as smooth as Pim’s. I think i left too much pith and seeds in too!
Not the perfect chilli jam, but with some stirfried veges in a dinner for 1, it was impressive. Maybe this will be Christmas presents!
This blog has been sorely mistreated, and for that I am sorry, and ready to make amends. See, what had been consuming all of my time is finally finished! Yes, that’s correct, I have finished my degree, which is a definite cause for celebration, but all I have been able to do these last couple of days is sleep (and laundry).
So what did I make?
Scopophilia an interactive installation art work about surveillance. A huge amount of work went into this, and it was exhibited successfully at ESCape our graduation exhibition (I made that website too).
But life is in no way back to normal. I am updating everything, looking for a real job (either that or I am taking off to India, undecided as yet)
Now though, it is time for me to go make some Thai Chilli Jam
