Mckay usually requests something new and different for his birthday dinner and cake. I think he likes to keep me on my toes and really challenge my cooking capabilities. This year for dinner he requested Nahm Toke, one of his absolute favorite dishes he ate on his mission in Thailand. I'd never made it before but luckily, our friend Lynn (from Thailand) taught me how to make it before she moved away from Indiana last year. Nahm Toke is served with sticky rice, another thing I'd never made! If you're familiar with how sticky rice is made, you'll know it requires a special funnel like basket for steaming the rice. We don't have the basket, but several googled recipes and youtube videos claimed you could use a strainer or steamer basket instead. I'm sure the bamboo basket has magical sticky rice properties and makes a far superior rice, but mine turned out pretty good, and being my first time ever attempting sticky rice (bamboo basket or no) I think it was a success.
We ate outside on out Thai straw mat. Food in Thailand is served with a Pepsi so we had to be authentic.
Basically, Nahm Toke is marinated sirloin steak cooked on a hot grill "until the juices fall." (Nahm Toke literally means "water fall.") The sliced steak is tossed with lime juice, fish sauce, onion, cilantro, dried chili peppers, and little bits of toasted rice, which gives it a nice crunchy element. Serve alongside fresh cucumber and cabbage leaves. So good!
Mckay said this was some of the best he's ever had in the USA.
All Mckay wanted for his birthday was books. He's always loved reading, and right now he is on a reading craze.
So he got mostly books for his birthday! And some hugs from his cute boys.
From his two volume set of boys (Dallin and Connor), he got a two volume set of War and Peace published in 1938. Just what Mckay wanted! How did they know...?
He got 6 other books from his parents which he will probably finish in a month. My gift to him was that I fixed his pants. Mckay had a favorite pair of pants that got a huge 6 inch rip down the back. These jeans were still very nice and in good condition, except for the extra air vent. So he held on to them for 2 years (this rip happened when we lived in Utah), intending to have them fixed but it never happened. Finally, I felt confident enough in my sewing skills to attempt a repair.
I think it turned out pretty well. He wore them the next day and the stitching held up fine, except in one place. And looking at the picture now I can see my flaw. Hopefully after I fix that he'll be able to wear these pants for a long time.
Mckay requested a red velvet cake. I don't think he'd even had red velvet cake before (or at least not for a long time) but it has a cool name and it's something new and exciting that I've never made before. So I made it!
I underestimated just how much red food coloring this required. I think it turned out as more of a raspberry color, but the beauty of having a color blind husband is that it looks totally red to him!
It was very tasty. Despite Dallin "helping" me and dumping ingredients into the batter at completely the wrong time, it still turned out well.
3 comments:
Good job fixing his pants! That's a much better job than I could have done. And wow, Dallin is so tan! You guys must be going outside a lot.
You are a wonder wife!! Derek is lucky to get Taco Bell on his birthday :)
Haha, I love when kids "help" in the kitchen. Good job on the meal. It looks like it was delicious.
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