All adventures start with a full plate...

I can talk food for days. Literally, days. I think it's my favorite subject, above and beyond, because unlike politics it tends to garner only the most positive of reactions, and while I don't mind cooking up a nasty look every once in a while, I'd much rather be cooking something with lemon grass and turmeric.

On my recent vacation to Chiang Mai, Thailand (which I am still planning to write about, but you know how it is, I tend to drop the ball on long-term blog projects), I took a Thai cooking class in a little open-air bungalow. Before the class, the instructor took my partner and me to the produce market, where my eyes went buck-wild and I turned into a trigger-happy camera-holder. The market was insane. Fresh produce, vivid colors, pungent scents, strong flavors, you name it. Check out some photos:

the market


tom yum soup


tom kha ingredients: lemon grass, slice of thai ginger (galangal), chilis, kaffir lime leaves, corriander, slice of turmeric


closer look at the tom kha bundle


chilis and thai eggplant bundles


fruit: rambutans, mangosteens, som (thai oranges), young coconuts


lancet fruit, dragon fruit, asian pears


thai eggplant, thai ginger, chilis, turmeric, herbs


tiny hot chilis


msuhrooms, beans, and heart of palm

Hopefully soon I'll have time to post photos of all the food from the cooking classes. Stay tuned!