Welcome to Thailand!
I am super excited for this week because it is one of my favorite kinds of food. Bangkok Cafe is an awesome Thai food restaurant in Downtown Ferndale that I have been getting food from for my whole life. Chicken satay used to be the only thing I would eat from there until I was 11 or 12, yet it is still one of my favorites. I've never had a cucumber salad at Bangkok (I don't even know if they have one), but I love cucumbers. Part of the reason I added it is because it is vegan/vegetarian, but also because a huge part of Thai meals is balance of flavor. The savory-sweet peanut sauce and chicken contrasts well with the mellow coolness of cucumber and other veggies. If I wanted to get really Thai on you guys, I'd make some sticky rice.
Rice is the staple of Thailand, much like other Asian countries as well as Latin American countries. Even if it's not in sticky rice ball form, it is made into dumplings, noodles, and desserts*. I cannot express how important rice is in other cultures. Some say rice is to Asia/Latin America as bread is to Europe/North America. While this is usually how it is, rice and bread are shared foods between both cultures. In lots of European school it is served as a school lunch at least once a week. In the US, all types of food are eaten, so of course rice is important here, too. The only reason I am not bringing in rice is because the students in our class have probably had rice before**.
*If you've never tried rice pudding, I highly recommend it. Some people hate it, but I love it. Seriously, just try it.
**If you have never had rice before, I am going to buy you some rice and force you to eat it because that is a bit crazy. What kind of sheltered world do you live in?! After trying rice, refer to the first asterisk.
As you may have noticed there was not food this Monday. My home situation is pretty distracting and busy right now, along with my pit orchestra commitment to the Wizard of OZ production, and Saturday's orchestra festival. Part of this project is finding out what doesn't work, and something that doesn't work for me is putting school before my family. This project is not as important to me right now as my own mental health and family, so in that respect I will just be making thai food for my family rather than bringing it into class. I'm also going to be more proactive with this project and get grocery shopping done before the weekend. On Wednesday I will also bring in a list of foods for the class to choose from so that I will know how much to make.