Pumpkins, Corn Maze and Thai Cooking

We had some fun times besides all of the usual stuff like algebra, science, English, world geography, work, etc.  Last Sunday Jay sang a beautiful solo at church.  It was called, "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace".  The words were inspired by St. Francis of Assissi.  While, we're not catholic, we did still remember that it was recently All Saints Day.  I think St. Francis would probably be one of my favorite saints.  He seemed to really understand the importance of loving others and putting their needs first.  We're so thankful for God's love and the love of family.  It was so fun having Jay's parents come join us for dinner last Saturday night and for worship on Sunday morning.

On Sunday afternoon we went to Anderson Farms where they have an awesome corn maze,  

pumpkin patch

and other fun things like food, rides, petting zoo,

etc.  I must say that it was different for me, having grown up on a small farm in South Dakota to be at a "farm" that was more like an amusement park.  My memories of walking through the corn fields were no pleasant.  The hardest summer job I ever did was corn detassling.  Spell check doesn't even know what that word means.  Let me tell you, it's NO fun!  So, it was quite different having an adventure in the corn fields.  And with my dear husband along, we certainly didn't need any modern GPS device to help us out!

Besides our fun at Anderson Farms, I also had fun making some Thai food this week.  I did make some Thai fried rice and some Nam Tok.  Penny says it's really pronounced, "dok" with practically a silent "k".  Here are some photos and my attempt at explaining the steps and the ingredients…

First, the recipe…. courtesy of Import Foods.com

Nam Tok ("Waterfall" Spicy Beef with Veggies)

Ingredients

You need 1 lb. of ribeye steak (cut fairly thick)  I used N.Y. steak

Marinade

1 TB fish sauce

1 tsp. tamarind concentrate (mixed with 3 tsp. of water)

1 TB lime juice

1 TB chopped Thai chili peppers

1/2TB Golden Mountain seasoning sauce

1 TB vegetable oil

Mix the marinade, coat the steak with it and marinade it for at least 3 hours.

The steak is then barbecued, broiled or grilled until on the rare side or medium rare.  Cut into half inch thick strips and the strips cut into bite sized pieces.  

Remaining Ingredients

1 TB-1/3 c. fish sauce

1/3 c. lime juice

2-3 TB Laap-Namtok seasoning mix 

1 TB freshly roasted/fried sesame seeds (optional)

1/2 c. chicken stock (plus lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, and galganal)

Vegetables

2-3 TB chopped coriander/cilantro or Thai basil

2-3 TB mint leaves

couple of sliced Ngo Gai (Mexican cilantro)

Method

In a wok, or large frying pan, bring a little oil to medium high heat and add the strips of BBQ'd beef.  Immediately followed by all the remaining ingredients (except the veggies).  Stir fry until heated through (about a minute).  

Serve with Thai sticky rice (or other rice) and the veggies.  I like the use Mae Ploy sweet and spicy sauce for added dipping flavor.