Thai trip...

In my quest to be a little more adventurous, I took another class at Viking. The subject? Yummy, delicious, Thai food. I love all the spicy, oniony, garlicky, peanutty tastes that Thai food has to offer, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get better acquainted.

I must admit, when I got to class and looked over the menu, I was a little daunted. I mean, I've heard of fish sauce, but galangal? Kaffir leaves? I was a little nervous. Turns out, all my worrying was for naught. Our fearless teacher had us read through each recipe beforehand and took us step-by-step through the meal. She went over the correct way to hold a knife, which I always forget, and a better technique for slicing shallots. We cooked for about 2 1/2 hours, and we had a great time. I didn't know a soul in the class when we started, but I was put in a cooking group of 4, so we got acquainted pretty fast. When the time was up, we sat, enjoyed our meal with a glass of wine, and topped things off with a mango sorbet. It was delicious. And surprisingly, Pad Thai isn't that difficult.

Menu: Thai Beef Salad with Lettuce Cups, Sticky Rice, Tom Kha Gai, Steamed Jasmine Rice, Pad Thai with Shrimp, Mango Sorbet "Martini," and Ginger Cosmopolitans.

Lettuce Cups--yummy

We really made this--scout's honor. It was sooo good.

Shrimp Pad Thai

These cosmos would get me in major trouble on a Saturday night.

I wish I had taken a picture of the Tom Kha Gai, but I forgot. It's a soup made with chicken, broth, mushrooms, coconut milk, etc. Really light.

The good news is they sent us home with the recipes, step-by-step directions, and grocery lists. When I'm feeling very, very, brave I'm going to give the Pad Thai a go.