finished the brooklyntweed hat!

i finished the red light special hat from brooklyntweed last night. i had dropped some stitches the first time i finished it up, so i had to go back. i took noe knit's great class, although i missed the last class, which explains the messiness on top.

just like the pattern promised, blocking made my messy stitches look much better. not as good as most on the flickr group, but better than it did originally.

Great Cooking Class in Chiang Mai, Thailand

I was in Chiang Mai last week visiting my parents, and took a great cooking class. This one seems to be less well-known than some of the others, and the class was great. They're led by a woman named Yui (her husband manages the business, classes at their home) and we learned a ton just in the half day class....

Here's what we made on a Friday (Sabaidee)
Fried Brown Rice with Thai Herbs - a really simple and great fried rice with meat, pumpkin, simple herbs. Made it the second night I was home.
Stuffed Cucumber Soup - a soup rarely eaten in restaurants, more of a homemade thing. Sounds a bit unlikely but is fabulous.
Panaeng Curry - we made panaeng curry paste and chicken curry. Also tried a curry with pork. Yui gives fabulous tips about getting your curry flavor just right - and all my curries, not just panaeng, have improved.

The classes on Friday are the lightest, the Wednesday classes are the heaviest (guay-teaw-rad-na, satay, etc.), other days the classes are "popular dishes" - another student said that that class was great.

A lot of Thai | 165 Soi 9 Lampoon Rd. T.Nonghoi
Muang Chiangmai 50000 THAILAND
www.alotofthai.com
Tel.(66) 053-800724 Mobile.(66) 09-8539680, (66) 09-9544930
E-mail : lothome@hotmail.com

exfoliating

exfoliating
Originally uploaded by quesadillacraft

before the "big show" at maesa elephant camp, the elephants had to get clean... each elephant has his or her own "mahout" - a trainer who stays with them for life. the two are very bonded, as you can imagine. mom and i wondered what happens if you get assigned a mean elephant, or a mean mahout?
the cleaning involves all the elephants heading down to a nearby river and they sit, lay down, roll over, etc. so that their mahout can clean there every part. they get a good scrubbing. and all that scrubbing makes for a perfect time for making elephant doots. so they sit and get cleaned and poop into the water. ladies, who i hope get paid very well, stand downstream with huge buckets and catch the poop as it floats downstream. i think i'd rather be a mahout.

a bit of surprise (and trunk snot)

dadelephant
Originally uploaded by quesadillacraft

here is dad getting patted on the head by an elephant after failing to produce more bananas or sugar cane. the elephant sort of ruffled his hair post-pat, as if to say "i know you're not smart enough to buy two bunches for me, old pal, but i'll forgive you." suffice to say, i do believe this is an expression of true surprise.

taking a seat - maesa elephant camp

caseyeleseat
Originally uploaded by quesadillacraft

here i am getting comfy at maesa elephant camp. i'm cracking up because - well, because i'm sitting on an elephant's knee - but also because he is chewing sugar cane and each bite makes me bounce up and down and covers my back with gooey elephant slobber. mmmm.

foot massage at kad suan kaew

massage
Originally uploaded by quesadillacraft

a 60 baht (2 dollar) foot massage outside kad suan kaew mall. there were many jokes among the masseuses about our huge white feet.

deedle balls

deedleballs
Originally uploaded by quesadillacraft

a hmong woman was selling multicolored deedle balls on the textile street by wararot market. lots of deedle balls available throughout chiang mai, if you're in need.