Birthday the Pai way

Today Aidan booked a thai cooking course for the two of us for my birthday. It was absolutely amazing and just what I wanted to do on my birthday...cook and eat.

First we visited a local market to explore and learn about regional ingredients that would be used in the dishes that we would later prepare.

Thai eggplant:

"Ear or woody" mushrooms: 

Quail eggs (didn't use these but learned that one quail egg, which is about two inches in size is equal to four chicken eggs calorie/ nutrition wise!) : 

After the marketplace we began preparing our first dishes. 

Katie's- cashew nut chicken 

Aidan's- flat noodles with soy sauce.

DELICIOUS!

 

Next, I learned how to make papaya salad which consists of grated green papaya, grated carrots, quartered tomatos, a squeeze of lime, smashed green peppers, a pinch of coconut sugar, half a spoon full of fish sauce all mixed/ mashed together. 

Aidan learned how to make deep fried spring rolls YUM!!!!! - glass noodles, chicken, garlic and other veggies.

Next we made Thai curries and soup! 

Theses are the ingredients for the curry paste. We mashed them in stone mortar and pestles. 

This is red curry and glass noodle soup.

After an afternoon of cooking, eating and learning about regional Mae Hong Son produce and various foods, we were exhausted... So we returned to a birthday upgraded bungalow overlooking the Pai river. 

And of course the birthday princess bed...( wayyyyy better than sleeping on styrofoam which we were previously sleeping on I think....) 

And the birthday babe herself on the front porch overlooking the river! :)

When you arrive in the town of Pai amongst the surrounding vibrant green mountains there is a glowing white Buddha perched high upon the slopes.  So... After some hors d'oeuvres and cocktails we decided to hike up to the looming Buddha figure.  It was incredibly beautiful! 

From the Buddha there is a panoramic view of Pai and the Mae Hong Son province. 

Happy Birthday Katie!!!!