Saturday Droops and Heavenly Sauce

 

Have you had those days when you want to get so much done but you're lying around like a zombie on vacation? You know, drooling on yourself, staring at the walls, yawning? Grunting. Ignoring those people you could eat if you had the energy? One of those days? 

I even thought about getting off my butt and cleaning the house but that lasted, what? About six minutes? Long enough to do dishes, wipe down counters, and call it a day. And I had so much planned! Cleaning floors, wiping out the fridge, laundry, washing the couch covers, washing our bedding. Yeah. It is exhausting just writing it. 

Terry let me know he was up for doing something with me. I love the sentiment, but what action would be taken with this idea? Take a nap together? That sounds like an event I can get behind. It's been a long week and I feel like someone has beat me up and left me to lie on the hard ground. I think it's a combination of the heat and not doing anything for about six months, then making an attempt to do everything all at once. Life in general is exhausting. 

We have had such a great time this summer. Days at Wildlife Safari. Days with concerts, but that is usually accompanied by long travel. I say as we get old the blog posts get boring because we don't do much but when I look back, we've done quite a bit this summer. 

Colliding River view, Styx and Foreigner concert, concerts in the parks in Eugene and Sutherlin. We have gone to the coast a couple of times. There have been several trips to Wildlife Safari. Parks have been visited to hang out and do nothing but have lunch with Mal and Hayden, but still getting out. 

Trips here and there around town. Out to eat, to the stores, everyday type of trips. Many trips to Eugene, Springfield, and Lowell to see family or have gatherings. It's been a good summer so far. 

Tonight is a good night for breathing. That's an activity and at this point, strenuous enough. There are certain days it should be deemed as an Olympic sport to be quite honest. It's tough adulting all the time. Hell, it's tough being human all the time. Who are we kidding? 

Tonight is going to be fairly calm, but we are thinking of a restaurant to eat out. Nothing fancy. Just some food. That's how blah I am today. Everything went through my head that I could serve us for dinner tonight, but no energy is there to bring this idea to fruition. I cannot believe how drained I am and have been for a day. Guess that means I'm getting old? 

The night ended on a perfect note of sheer self gratification. Yes, it's a selfish reason I loved the ending to a day of no energy; the heavenly flavors of Thai cuisine. What better way to complete a perfectly good day of laziness? Terry asked if I wanted to return to the little cloud in the heavenly food skies that is called Seven Thai. That's a big, unmatched "duh." The flavors that await!

Tonight I ordered something different, something so good that I will move to Thailand to explore more cuisine from these beautiful people. One of my favorite dishes has always been fried rice. Throw in a few veggies, top it off with some soy sauce and you've been blessed. 

But what if you top that fried rice with the lightest, crumb covered loveliness on the planet? You've got a melody of flavors and a crunch unsurpassed by most anything in the food realm. With this restaurant, I have become a foodie of small proportions. As a diabetic, that's not a good thing. 

This mound of love has captured my heart. My husband even gave me permission to kiss the cook, whatever the gender. Moans and groans came from my lips as I ate, followed by giggles between Terry and I. The goodness in front of me was simply pleasurable in a way most food does not rise to. Remarkable. 

As a Thai virgin, I was not expecting something quite so delectable, so perfect in form and taste, but it delivered in a cosmic way. Last time I entered this doorway to undeniable heavenly flavors I had the "cashew nut" meal as it is titled. But, as much as I liked that dish, this one rose to the top of the stairway to heaven, leaving the cashew nut meal one rung below.  

I've never had chicken so crunchy, so greaseless, and so grand as that served on a plate. At first I assumed the "crumbage" was that of the lovely panko crumb dredge, but no. This was lighter, fluffier, and so spot on that it had to be a rice crumb coat. I have never used the rice coating, but definitely will after having my first time around with it. I mean, just look at that chicken!

This picture doesn't even do it justice. I used the "food" setting to capture the crunch but it made it look like a blurred photo. Anyway, nothing could capture the genuine experience I had with this food, even if a professional photographer snapped the photo, mainly because the experience was of taste, not mostly of appearance. It looked great too. Don't get me wrong. But the flavors and the textures were soul soothing on a whole new level. 

My husband was over macking a bowl of something. I asked what it was and he replied, "Yellow curry." The beautiful bowl of food consisted of coconut milk flavored with curry. Yellow, of course. In that rested pieces of potato, red and green pepper slices and a few other veggies thrown in for good measure. All of this gratifying food was served with a bowl of rice. He asked me to take a bite and wow. It was so good! Another triumph in the land of Thai food. I have to say, Thai folks sure have their foodie shit together!

Pleasing to the eyes and to the palate. No matter which of your five senses you use to consume this bowl of loveliness, it's perfection. The taste, the color, all of it is the type of food you find in a magazine or a cooking show. 

Now that we have eaten our dinner, it's time for the happy ending. The one, the only, the creme de la creme of this meal or any meal for that matter, the mango sticky rice. 

I was introduced to this lucious dessert the first and only other time Terry took me to this restaurant. The only time I had eaten Thai food. Consider reading Thai'd Up in the blog if you missed it, to catch up on the magic of Thai cuisine, at least in the world according to Vicki.  

The beautiful, chillingly great, orgasmic mango sticky rice. I feel that sentence needs to be put in lights, as you would see on a billboard announcing celebrities. But alas, Blogger has yet to develop such a feature in their word processing capacity. 

A lovely patty of warm sticky rice as a soft, cushiony bed to host the princess of the show, the mango. All of this is topped with the fairy dust presentation of coconut sauce. Sweet, but gently sweet. Sprinkle a touch of sesame seeds, which, who knew? It's not like I ever noticed them until I examined the photos I took this visit. Nothing to see here. Move along. The tiny seeds are lost in translation on this plate. I felt no crunch and definitely tasted no flavor. Anyway, they're at home on the dish, but really, who cares? Let's be honest. 

Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourselves. That first spoonful is a warm sensation in your mouth. Bursting through the experience is the ambrosial delight of the coconut sauce, both sweet and warm. The taste of warm coconut and rice, then add the fruity flavor of a cool mango and you've got a delightful combination of happiness and joy. Your taste buds will appreciate you. 

Ignore the seeds behind the curtain. They look cute and all, but provided nothing in terms of eating this dessert. Once again, my bags are packed and I'm ready to head off to Thailand. My husband won't mind.

 I informed him I needed to, as a minimum, begin making this dessert at home, but he brought up a very good point. If I learn to make it, we won't have the fun of going out to eat the rest of the wonderful food at our now favorite place to be, the Seven Thai eatery. 'Nuff said. He's right. I guess I'll leave the creation of heaven to the folks who know how to do it right, the angels at Seven Thai. 

Photo by Michelle McCallum

Photo by Khiem Dang

We arrived back home. Once again, stuffed to the gills, but it was a light stuffing if that makes sense. You know you are full, and overly full, but it's a lighter food you ate to take away that heavy feeling as if you've swallowed a rock. Like eating Chinese food, in 20 minutes you're hungry again.  

This dish is definitely worth stuffing yourself for. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a cook to make out with and a flight to catch. So much to do and so little time.

***

At home I sat, pondering the awesome food we just inhaled. So good. But I knew it was time to head to bed. We had watched an episode of Leverage and I knew the day was drawing to an end. Midnight is late enough. 

Terry went outside to partake in his relaxation routine of smoking a cigar, while I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and headed off to dreamland where the mango sticky rice dish is endless, with no caloric intake and where the blood sugar levels remain calm. 

While laying in bed, pondering the errors of my ways in eating stuff I shouldn't be eating as a diabetic, I noticed something on the ceiling. What the heck? Was it a spider? A stink bug? Nah, too small. No spider legs sprawling out from under the carriage of this bug either. Only one thing left to do ... grab the camera. 

I zoomed in tightly to get some shape descriptors at least of this bug using my ceiling as a pathway. Now it all made sense as to what I was worried would fall on me during the night ...

There we go. I knew what it was after the first photo, but chose to keep zooming in. Phone cameras are a convenient item. See that nutrition list on the back of a box or can that nobody on the planet can view without a microscope or find out what species of creature is walking through the pits in your ceiling and might fall on you in your sleep. Watch that last step, little lady. It's a doozy!

Good thoughts that it was a lady bug. I was out in minutes, dreaming of mango trees in Thailand ...

Good night, all. Until our next blog post, have a wonderful weekend.