Thai Red Curry

(Transferred from the old blog, Numeenum)

I love making curries. They are easy and amazingly delicious. While I primarily will make Indian curry, Thai makes a nice alternative for 'curry night'. Many people think of the simple cumin curry when they hear the word "curry", but in all actuality a curry is a type of dish with food in a sauce, kind of like a thick stew, typically served over rice. There are many curry recipes. Curries from India typically are tomato based, heavily seasoned, usually with cumin, are served with Basmati rice, while curries from Thailand are coconut based, seasoning includes lemongrass and ginger, and served over sticky rice. There is an Indian curry that bridges with Thai, a coconut curry called Korma, which is one of my favorites. I will post that someday soon for sure.

Today I worked on a Thai Red Curry. I had two different sources for flavoring the coconut milk, one being the standard red curry paste that you can find at your grocery store, and the other being a packet of dried herbs I got in St Augustine at Old Spice Traders. You can get the seasoning packet online, along with the special rice I used, a green bamboo flavored sticky rice.


Thai Red Curry typically has potatoes, various colored red bell pepper slices, choice of meat or tofu. I didn't have anything on hand but tofu and chick peas, which I consider my "curry staple" since that mix goes great in every curry I have tried. I also added green peas to the red curry, which added a little more flavor and was quite yummy.

To make the curry with the dried herbs I used 2 tsp of the powder, 1 tsp olive oil, stirred to a paste, then added half a can of coconut milk (the other half was used for the store bought paste). I simmered this for an hour to get the flavors to mix together. Then I added my 'curry staple' of tofu, chick peas, and green peas, simmering for 20 minutes, then served over the sticky rice.

The image above is of the curry I made with the standard paste, the one to the right with my spice packet. Both were great, but the one made with the spice packet seemed to have a little more kick, which Ryan and I prefer.

Miami...my mammy

Zelda is sleeping in way late this morning, so I am going to take advantage of this and catch up on my blog. She is so cute, she stayed up watching the third Star Trek movie with us, eventually falling asleep toward the end although she tried to fight it. (I know, I'm actually watching Star Trek now…Shauna, I know you are proud ;) ) The cat also decided to sleep next to her…see how sweet:

Ok, so anyway, I've been wanting to write about my last little trip. My mom flew out on June 12 so she could watch Zelda while Ry & I went to a few shows in Miami. It was great to see my mom, she is looking good, and I know the trip was good for her. The drive wasn't too bad…about 3 hours. Our hotel was on the beach in North Miami Beach, right between the Trump Towers. No…it wasn't as posh as Trump, but the beach was so nice I could have stayed in a shack and have been just as happy. The weather was gorgeous, little rain in the afternoon that kept any insane heat at bay. The ocean water was a stunning turquoise, like the Keys, but unlike the Keys there were beaches to hang out on. Zelda was still a bit intimidated by the water, but she loved to try out every seat in every cabana, and wash the sand off her feet using the little sprayers.

She and my mom had a great time while Ry & I were at our shows. The resort we were at was very family oriented, so they always had something going on. There was almost always live music, which Zelda adored. She would go right up to the band to be able to dance. My mom even got hit on by a Cuban guy asking her to dance, too. Wish I was there!

Speaking of the Cubans…going to Miami was the first time I took a trip in Florida when I actually felt like a tourist, as in I didn't feel like I was in Florida. Very few people spoke English as their primary language. I really enjoyed the rich cultural difference. It was refreshing. We found an awesome Cuban restaurant nearby the hotel, one frequented by locals, and it was amazing.

So our first night Ry & I headed out to see The Cure in Sunrise/Ft Lauderdale. I was so blown away from their performance. Having recently come from Duran Duran, a band of about the same age, I was expecting a similar show…enjoyable, fun, but good enough to see once and be happy with it. I didn't expect to have the band full of energy that reminded me of seeing Placebo back in the day. They filled the whole arena with it. Robert Smith's voice was as clear and beautiful as can be. The music spoke with its own aura. Their opening act, 65daysofstatic, was quite impressive as well. After this show I definitely plan on going to see The Cure as often as possible. I'm so glad I actually had a chance to catch them this time around.

A camera phone pic of The Cure from our first seats...we eventually moved lower because the people around us were lame and sat down through the entire show

The next day we drove down to South Beach and I was immersed in memories from Grand Theft Auto 3: Vice City. I'm glad I wasn't driving, as I had impulses to ram into lights, buildings, and honk @ the hoes. ;) I love that game, heh heh! We stopped off at Escondido which was an area that was highly Spanish influenced, even more than the rest of the town. It was gorgeous, but not wanting to spend money we left after walking around a bit, heading back to enjoy our resort. Later that evening Ryan and I took the bus back down to South Beach, enjoying the variety of architecture and different neighborhoods. 

We then got to enjoy a wonderful show from Eddie Izzard, who was brilliant as ever, and who made a sure point in a tactful way that red-neck ignorant Americans need help ;) ha ha…even though that was just a little snippet, the rest of his act delved into daisy eating dinosaurs, the insanity of Moses and that his followers believed in a guy who talked to a burning bush, followed him from a desert to another desert, staying for decades…to the ridiculous fashion of the length of words in latin....believe me he made it work. A definite must see, I will so go to him again if the chance arrives.

Walking around South Beach @ night, we almost got hit several times, it was crazy, as was our bus ride back to the hotel which took half as long as the bus ride previously, since they were going twice the speed limit and had run some red lights. I felt like I was getting my just rewards for running people down and stealing buses in Grand Theft Auto. Karma! ;) We enjoyed the beach @ night, then the next morning the water was as still as a lake, which made for a wonderful end to a great little vacation.

My mom stayed a few more days, and it was not long enough…never is. Zelda had a wonderful time and easily recognizes who Grandma is now. Hopefully we'll all get to visit again soon….I'm trying to make a way to come out to Salt Lake again this year.

I've been craving going back to Miami since leaving. I just really enjoy going places that are exiting and tropical at the same time. Every time I see the sign on I95 showing how many miles to Miami, I think how awesome it would be to get some girls together and stay a weekend in South Beach. I'm going to start saving up for that very idea, and any of you ladies reading this that want to join in, you should! It would be a blast!

Ok, now that I've gotten that down, I'm going to go wake Zelda up before she sleeps through half the day. What a cutie.

Cheers,

Heather

Thoughts of the moment

Zelda is now taking a nap, prior to which we were dancing and singing Karaoke Goldfrapp & Muse. Zelda loved it so much that she was giving me kisses and hugs during the songs. She is so awesome.

LOST season finale was amazing...ran through all emotions, completed some circles and opened more doors...love that show!

Not surprised Hilary is going to conceed, but I am surprised I feel a bit bummed about that. Perhaps I cared more about it than I thought, perhaps its just pms.

I'm so getting into plants...my backyard is going to be an awesome oasis. So far I have some hibiscus, birds of paradise, butterfly bush, avocados, queen palms, and other goodies. I'm expecting even more plants in a few weeks...my back yard was naked when we moved in so we couldn't have enough.

I almost called this little entry 'musings', but I'm not that silly

Why living here is so dang cool

So I was just sitting here catching up on things on the computer when I hear something I think is a car going down the road. I try to ignore it, it didn't stop, only to get louder to the point I could feel it. Then it dawned on me "Oh, crap, the launch!", and simultaneously with the thought I rushed out to the back yard to catch the last half of the Shuttle Discovery going into space. Seeing and feeling it happen is such a beautiful rush of exhilaration. Even after the view of the shuttle was long gone, leaving its large trail and glowing booster rockets gliding back down to earth, you still continue to hear and feel the power it makes. I just love it and can't get enough of it. Definitely one of the great highlights from the move we made almost 4 years ago.

Its Official...

Well...I am now 28, and no longer a Duran Duran virgin. I stretched the birthday celebration over the past couple of days which has been fun. First on the 18th we dropped Zelda off with Julie, Helge, & their daughter so that Ryan and I could go head off to see Duran Duran for their Red Carpet Massacre tour. It was so awesome to finally see them! Our seats were pretty good, a little over on the side, but that is ok. The opener, Your Vegas, was actually good, but of course the highlight was finally seeing Duran Duran on stage. Simon's voice is just as good on any record. They performed a few songs from the new album, with Timberlake's influence really showing through. Naturally they played songs spanning their career. I was thrilled to hear View to a Kill and Come Undone. Halfway through the set the band lined up in a quartet of sorts and did a 20+ minute medley of songs played in a minor key, which included The Normal's Warm Leatherette...it was definitely the highlight of the show. Anyway, here is the setlist:

THE VALLEY
RCM
NITE RUNNER
HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF
PLANET EARTH
FALLING DOWN
COME UNDONE
SKINDIVERS
THE REFLEX
SAVE A PRAYER
A VIEW TO A KILL

ELECTROSET;
LAST CHANCE/ALL SHE WANTS/LEATHERETTE
I DON'T WANT/SKIN TRADE/TEMPTED

NOTORIOUS
GIRLS ON FILM
ORDINARY WORLD
SUNRISE
WILD BOYZ

RIO

After having a fab time with Duran Duran, we headed back to get Zelda, and hung out with a tired Julie & Helge for a little bit. Next on Monday we went out for the traditional birthday dinner along with Eliza. We went to my fav, Wolfgang Pucks. It was so yummy! When we got home we danced the night away, previewing our convertable dance club before the grand opening next month. Kenna even stayed up past midnight dancing away. It was a blast.

Yesterday I woke up to the phone ringing, but didn't get to it due to my wanting to sleep in. An hour later I got up and it was a message from my Dad singing me Happy Birthday. I called him back and spoke with him and my Mom. It is hard being away from family on my birthday...birthdays are important with us. I realized this is the first one without any of my immediate family here. I've been spoiled the last few years; in 2005 my sister flew out here, in 2006 I got to meet all of them in Vegas, and last year my parents arrived early for a planned trip to surprise me. I love my family and miss them, but it was still great to be able to talk with them. How I wish I could be with all of my good friends and family now!

Later I met up with Jen @ a PostSecret exhibit in Melbourne. It was very interesting and spanned all sorts of human emotions and frailties. Most all were touching in many ways...some quite sad and desperate, and some funny. If you aren't familiar with it, go to postsecret.com. Zelda & I headed out to a few stores and I got her a little milkshake..she had such fun making a mess! Speaking of her and making a mess, when we indulged in my birthday cake Zelda's face was completely covered with chocolate. It was so cute. Anyway, Jen came back over later yesterday evening, and we played Worm's Armageddon for the XBox and watched some Flight of the Conchords...both of which were hilarious.

Well, thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, gifts, friendship and love. I've now got 2 more years in my 20's...so I'm going to make them rock! So far I'm off to a great start.

Cheers,
Heather

New

It has been over a week into 2008. I have great anticipation for things to come this year. I can feel change and movement in the air like electricity. Things feel positive for me. I love it.

This year has many plans for progression. I have quite a few goals, more attainable than those past. I feel and hope that this year we will finally get our own house. The market has stabilized, our car will be paid off, I will be getting a part time job, so it is all falling into place.

A few of my favorite bands are touring this year and putting out new music. I am also discovering new music all the time. It has been what feels like such a long time since I've last been to a live show and I am craving it. Hopefully I'll be able to see quite a few this year.

I've also declared 2008 the year of good health. I've been taking weekly allergy shots in hopes that by summer time I will be able to eat raw fruits and vegetables without an allergic reaction. They are 80% effective, and I pray that I am in that 80%. It has been an entire lifetime of not being able to enjoy nature's harvest, and that time needs to change. With that I'll be able to eat better, and along with my new weight machine I'll be one hot mama! ;)

I love being a mom. It is hard for me to imagine my life was ever without Zelda. It is like she has always been around. She is such a light. I am blessed to have the ability to be able to stay home with her and give her the care she needs and deserves. I love watching her discover things and enjoy things in a way only a small child can. It is refreshing. In the past couple of months she has learned to walk and say a few words, learned the magic of doors, began feeding herself, and continues to add more dance moves to her routine. She is currently feeding herself a banana, which she hoards into her mouth as though she could never get enough.

Well, she is now done with that banana, so I best go tend to her. I will save my thoughts for another time.

Bela's Undead

I wanted to post this quite a while ago, but as usual I procrastinated. Tis a habit I really need to break!

Anyway, I was reading about the funeral of a film director that I find inspiring and amazing, Ingmar Bergman.

This was back in August. (See..I told you I've been procrastinating). I wanted to share with you one of my favorite films, The Seventh Seal. It is a must see. Fascinating and thought provoking. He made this movie in the 50s, and it is in Swedish, but the translated subtitles get the message well enough across with the artistic imagery. So for those of you out there who like movies that will make you think, see this one.
.

Speaking of old movies and such, a little over a month ago Ryan and I watched Ed Wood. Silly, of course, but I never realized how sad the last years of Bela Lugosi were. He is awesome, and it was unfortunate to see his decline. What I liked so much about "Ed Wood" is that it showed that he was still able to find someone that cared about him in the end...something I wish for all of us.

Later that night I decided for some unknown reason to look up which famous people were born on Zelda's birthday.

Well, wouldn't you have it, one of them is Bela Lugosi.
How funny that I would find that out on the very same evening. She also shares a birthday with Snoop Dogg, Tom Petty, and Viggo Mortensen. I share mine with Socrates and Cher. Ha!