Finally!! I made restaurant-tasting Thai food at home!

I have tried several times to make my beloved coconut curry from scratch. I've tried them all - red, yellow, green. It never seems to work out right. On top of finding a really good recipe, I also finally broke down and purchased the one ingredient I swore I would never use - fish sauce. FISH. SAUCE. (Yuck! - just the sound of it!) But it has made ALL the difference.

So I gave this new recipe a whirl and was so excited that it actually tasted like the red curry I get at the restaurant. *Squeal* You don't understand - I love Thai food. I mean, like I REAAALLLY LOVE Thai food.


It's pretty easy and I found everything I needed to use at Meijer. I did, however, use regular coconut milk instead of light coconut milk. My thai food is the one place I will not sacrifice or cut corners.

I added a LOT more crushed red pepper than the recipe called for. I went a little heavy to start, tasted it when it was done and still added some more.

The recipe can be found HERE at MyRecipes.com.

I also made it a second night without the chicken - just mushrooms, onion, green onion and garnished with cilantro. Voila! Coconut soup. But it you do it that way be sure to use extra coconut milk.




Without the chicken to soak up some of the marinade it was a little too concentrated, so I wish I'd had more coconut milk to dilute it a little. Still really yummy though!

Out On A Limb

Such a beautiful animal. I was so happy this one hung around as I stood there on the side of the road snapping shot after shot.

I'm posting this first shot on Sweet Shot Tuesdays. :)

I'm No Good At Decisions

I'm going to get one more lens for my new SLR before I call it quits for a while on new equipment. Hahaha.... I thought I could start out with just one lens. This will be my third. I already have a 50mm and 100mm.

I had the opportunity to use my sis-in-law's 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 wide angle lens, and fell in love. It is almost fish-eye style and creates a beautiful span in the photos. It would be perfect for sunsets and landscapes - both of which I love to shoot. Only problem; it's not very versatile. This will be the last lens I buy for a while, maybe I should get something that "covers more bases"?

Lens info from B&H

The other lens I'm considering is a 17-55mm f/2.8. It has a larger aperture and could also take a larger variety of shots due to the adjustable focal length, though it doesn't get quite as wide-angle as the 10-22mm and I really like that effect. It is also more expensive.

Lens info from B&H

What it comes down to is A) with only having three lenses will I feel limited by having a variety of shooting ranges, but nothing in between (10-22mm, 50mm, 100mm)? Or B) if I get the 17-55mm will I miss that extra little bit of wide angle? I could also borrow the other from sis-in-law if needed.

Who am I kidding - I'm sure I'll end up with both eventually. But it's going to be a while. So which one will hold me over?

Wide angle?
Versatility?
Wide angle?
Versatility?

.......

Best. Potatoes. EVER.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and we made it the other night. They are SOOOO good, SOOOO flavorful, and SOOOO easy. Not to mention they make for a nice presentation.

I used minced garlic from a jar instead of fresh cloves (I always have it on hand, and it was nice to have the garlic juice to drizzle on them a little also.)

They take a few minutes to prepare - stuffing the little slices with the toppings, but are just delicious!!

The original recipe can be found here on SeaSalt With Food


I served it with a Garlic Lime Chicken recipe, which ended up being just okay. The potatoes, however, I will be making often.

This Is The Greenest Winter I Ever Did See

Walk In The Woods On A Warm Winter Day...

Touched.

I have come across a photographer/humanitarian/explorer/blogger who has just affected me beyond words. His work, both photographic and otherwise, is so incredibly inspiring. I just read a blog post of his that I don't think I will soon forget. You should give it a read. Then you should check out the rest of his blog/site.

Jeffrey Chapman













(Photo by Jeffrey Chapman)

Playing with the new camera...