Cow Goes Up the Mountain....or something like that

I had the wonderful opportunity around Thanksgiving to get together with some friends of mine from all around the world and enjoy a special Cambodian meal. The khmer title is translated something to the tune of "cow goes up the mountain" or "cow went up the mountain". You use a special pot which has a space in the bottom for coals and then a moat around the outside of the pot for broth - where you make soup, and peak in the middle - where you cook the meat.

Hot coals ready, now for the food - oh yeah it is a little different in Ohio in November when you can't be outside, we had to keep some windows open - since we were doing one of those taboo activities of grilling inside. Cambodia never gets quite this chilly, so they can always be outside to enjoy this meal.

The above picture shows Lok getting things started. You can see some of the various items we cooked throughout the evening, greens, mushrooms, watercress, and noodles for the soup, beef and pork to cook on the "mountain." Throughout the meal you add items to the pot and then take them out as they are cooked and you are ready to eat. There is a spoon for the soup, but the meat is all chopstick work. Then of course there is also rice.

Cooking and eating. From the bottom left the group included Lionel (Brazil), Andrea (lived in Cambodia for 4 years), Lok (Laos), Marlin (I believe he works for MCC - the organization who does IVEP), Albert (Kosovo), Wilmer (Guatemala), Emily (recently returned from several years in Turkey), Gloria (Dominican Republic), and Susan (China), and just out of the picture Ronnie (Ukraine) and Holly (Ohio). We had a good time, not all of us were as good with chopsticks as others, but we all had plenty to eat.

Thank you Andrea, for cutting up all that food and inviting us over, as well as providing the pot and "recipe". I am so grateful that the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to get to know so many wonderful people from all over the world.

Cream of Carrot and Swiss Soup

All this rainy, slushy gray weather is making me wish for soup, soup, and more soup.

Today's soup turned out to be one step down from a stew- a carrot and potato soup made with home grown veggies. That is, since I don't have a garden, some of the carrots and potatoes mom was nice enough to bring down when she came to visit last weekend. The potatoes for certain and the carrots, perhaps, were from their garden last fall. I shredded them and added them in to my stew pot with a bit of thyme and other seasonings.

Then when they were nice and tender I added in some milk and a pile of slivered swiss cheese.

Wonderful and filling on a cool spring night. The soup was a modified version of the Cream of Carrot-Cheddar Soup in the More with Less cookbook.

Memories of Cambodia...

Happy Valentine's Day! Many people enjoy going out for a nice dinner on Valentine's day, me I was excited to stay home. Finally, I am home and have no excuse not to make a nice bowl of Tum Yum Soup. It is a perfect day for it, though the temperature's are warmer today, up to 39°F, it is damp and dreary and I just feel cold.

This may surprise you, but since most anyone reading this most likely knows me personally it shouldn't, I am NOT asian - as was plainly informed to me once in a rousing game of Mafia, in which I was killed first because I was not asian. So hopefully, you'll understand when I didn't realize until a couple of days later that it wasn't tamarind that I wanted but rather galangal that I had meant to purchase. At that point I was disappointed, before that I was rather excited. I saw the lemongrass first and then the tamarind nearby and thought, ahh, now I can make some delicious Tum Yum. Oh well, I was still excited this evening and made delicious soup, but now I have some tamarind and I am not sure what to do with it.