Salinity Now!

We were a bit skeptical about visiting the Dead Sea. Could it really keep us afloat? Can 31% salinity keep over 100 pounds on the surface without any effort?
It was pretty cold outside and the thought of swimming in a glorified lake didn't sound too inviting. But, we mustered up our strength and went - and we're so glad we did!

Taste of Thai

We search everyday for somewhere to eat our favorite Thai dish - som tam, also known as spicy papaya salad. We are addicted to it's delicious spicy, sweet, sour and salty flavor.

One of the things I've missed while traveling is a kitchen to work in. To help with the withdrawals and to learn how to whip up our favorite dish, we took a cooking class at Thai Farm Cooking school. The fabulous class was held at their organic farm outside of Chiang Mai. We even took a little video for those of you interested in bringing a taste of the orient into your kitchen.

For those of you who don't have 8 minutes of your life to waste on this video - here's the recipe:

How to Make Som Tom

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shredded green papaya (Peel the papaya and rinse under running water. Remove the seeds and shred the flesh with a grater).
• 3-4 Thai hot chilis
• 2-3 peeled cloves of garlic
• 1/2 lime
• 2 tsp sugar (we used palm syrup in class)
• 1/3 cup of fresh chopped green beans
• 1 tomato cut in 6 pieces
• 2 tbsp peanuts
• 1 tbsp fish sauce (can sub soy sauce)
• 1/4 tsp salt

Green papaya can be replaced with cucumber, cabbage, carrot or granny smith apple.

Put garlic and chillies into a mortar and mash with a pestle until crushed (or you can use a food processor). Add lime, sugar, peanuts, fish sauce, tomato, green beans and salt - mix together. Finally add shredded papaya and mix together well with pestle and spoon. Serve cold with fresh cabbage, lettuce or morning glory. Eat with sticky rice.

If you'd like more recipes - send me an email or leave a comment and I'll send them your way. I was really happy to find out making pad thai and curries are a snap!

Enjoy!!
-Jenn : )

Adventures in Fruit: Durian

We've been trying lots of new fruits in Thailand... thought we'd share the experience.

Our Indonesian friend Z has been telling us about durian for years. We finally got the chance to check it out.