Summer Soup and Cheese

I was showing some of my food photos to one of my Professors. I came across this photo of tomato soup and grilled cheese from last fall. Instantly I knew I wanted something similar for dinner tonight. It's cooled off around here from the weekend but it's still a little hot to be slow roasting tomato soup.

Also since I'm moving, I'm trying to get rid of food not obtain more. Answer: a simple gazpacho with fresh tomatoes canned last fall. I canned the tomatoes whole in their juices (with a bit of lemon juice) added a few other things. Blend. Chill. And Bob's your Uncle.

Inspired last night by Cory, I spooned the gazpacho into a wide mouth mason jar. I often make drinks for myself at night in mason jars, and the jar just made it easier to dip my grilled cheese in the soup. Excellent.

Summer Gazpacho
adapted from Food and Wine

6 ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/2 large cucumber—peeled, halved, seeded and cut into chunks
1 green bell pepper, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 cup water
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Salt
Hot sauce, for serving

n a blender or food processor, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, water, oil and vinegar and process until coarsely pureed. Season with salt and refrigerate until chilled. Serve with hot sauce.

The Triumvirate of Defense Treats

Last Friday I had my Master's thesis defense. Something I've been working towards for the better part of two years now. Normally at defenses, the person defending brings in some coffee and a few snacks. Normally this entails a fruit / bagel spread. But the more I thought about it, the less appealing that sounded. Especially since there's so much delicious fruit in season, and I've been traveling so much this summer I haven't gotten to bake with it.



Ultimately I decided on a triumvirate of treats. Blueberry Crumb bars, Strawberry-Rhubarb bars, and the Raspberry Buttermilk cake. All of these were things I had made before, and I knew them all to be sturdy, straightforward, reliable recipes. On Saturday I went to the Farmer's market and picked up the strawberries and blueberries. Both of which kept beautifully in Mason Jars in my refrigerator. Then Thursday afternoon I came home and baked up a storm.



On Friday, both the treats and the defense presentation went over really well. I'm now officially a graduate.

home made kit kat bars of glory

I still have a couple of Thailand posts up my sleeve, but I realized today that I promised this post to Sarah and then it completely slipped my mind.

When I first read the recipe for these "Homemade Kit Kat Bars" I was skeptical. They looked tasty, and certainly contained enough good looking ingredients like butter, chocolate, and peanut butter. And the recipe comes from Paula Deen, butter extraordinaire. But the base was constructed of Club crackers, which seemed dubious. I'm glad I went ahead and gave these a shot. The sum of the parts make for something unholy. The addition of a dash of butterscotch chips is truly an inspired choice. Calling them "Homemade Kit Kat Bars" is a misnomer because they don't really taste like the store bought Kit Kat bars. These lack the crunch and are about 200% richer. Also, they age really well. Like a fine wine or cheese, these just seem to get better after a day or two in the tupperware as the flavors continue to meld. Not kidding. It makes a 9x13 pan, but slice these puppies into tiny squares, you'll thank me later.

These are also incredibly easy to put together. The most annoying part is crushing the graham crackers into crumbs. The original recipe said it took about "45 minutes" of active time. Yeah, maybe if you take a 30 minute nap in the middle of making them. If you have the ingredients lined up, this will come together very quickly. Perfect for any summer picnics!

Kit Kat Bars of Glory
75 Club crackers (roughly 2 and a 1/2 sleeves of a standard box of crackers)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Line 9- by 13-inch rectangular baking pan with one layer of Club crackers (you may need to break some to fit).

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add graham cracker crumbs, dark brown sugar, milk, and granulated sugar. Bring to boil. Boil for five minutes, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat. Pour half of butter mixture over crackers in pan. Smooth surface with spatula.

Arrange another layer of Club crackers over butter mixture. Pour remaining butter mixture over surface. Smooth surface with spatula. Arrange a third layer of crackers over top.

Combine peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips in small saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over crackers.

Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate two hours. Cut into 2-inch bars. (I cut them much much smaller - see picture - closer to tiny squares) Bars will keep for two weeks, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

on impossible things

“Some things are so impossible, so fantastic, that when they happen, you are not at all surprised. Their sheer impossibility has made you imagine them too many times in your head, and when you find yourself on that longed-for moonlit path, it seems unreal but still, somehow, familiar. You dreamed it, of course; you know it like memory.”

from The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer

It's been a big (almost) year. Lots of things happening. Most of which seemed impossible and turned out to be easy. Their sheer impossibility stunningly easy.

weekend trip to khanom

Although I already put up photos from our trip to Khanom this past weekend, I thought I would write it up a bit as well. Khanom is a beach town about an hour and a half east from Surat Thani on the Gulf of Thailand. We left on Friday after Brian got off of work, and I hurriedly purchased a swimsuit. The sun sets around 6:30, so the goal was to make it down there before sunset.

On the way we were treated to some light rain and rainbows, and we rolled into town proper just after sunset. We ended up getting a room at the Rabingsa Resort - which is owned by the brother of Brian's bosses wife - so this incurred a slight discount on our room.



As one of the less expensive rooms, there was no view of the beach, but we did get a nice sized room, with a bathroom and air conditioning. There is also a resort restaurant with free wifi - making me endlessly happy - and an amazing green curry dish.



Saturday morning we went on a motorbike ride to track down a 7-Eleven and some sunblock. Then time for a swim. To someone used to swimming in the Atlantic ocean (if at all) I was amazed at how warm the water was, which makes sense seeing how it's warm here constantly. Both days we were there we went exploring and had lunch at other resorts up the road. One where I had an awesome Pad Thai, and one where we had dubious burgers and onion rings.



Both mornings we also had free coupons for an "American Breakfast" at the resort restaurant. Coffee, eggs, toast, ham slices and tiny hot dogs. The second morning we were able to convey our desire to have the eggs scrambled. (Sometimes it's the little things).



The resort also seemed home to a variety of beach dogs. There are street dogs everywhere in Thailand. There's one that lives on Brian's street that they feed occasionally. Still petting the dogs is not encouraged, as they are probably home to a fair amount of diseases or bugs. And as the girl who constantly approaches dogs on the street, a dog lover to heart, seeing but not being able to touch or really feed the dogs breaks my heart. At the resort it was pretty clear these dogs were fed leftovers from the restaurant daily, and perhaps from frequent romps in the ocean they seemed fairly clean. Saturday night I finally gave in and fed some of our green curry to one of the dogs. The next morning at breakfast she definitely remembered me as soon as we sat down to eat. I figured there was no risk of attachment since we were leaving that afternoon.



So after some reading and a nap on the beach, we packed up the motorbike for a windy ride back to Surat. Because it wasn't a holiday weekend, Khanom and the resort were pretty much deserted. The only other people there were a few Thai families. It was beautiful and peaceful. Awesome.

the motorcycle diaries

Before coming to Thailand, I had never been on a motorcycle. Two of my friends from home have crazy stories involving meeting men for the sole purpose of riding on the back of a motorcycle. But, such an opportunity had never presented itself. Pre-Thailand I sometimes joked with Brian that I would probably spend all my time on the back of his motorbike, arms wrapped around him tightly and shielding my eyes between his shoulder blades.

Surprisingly, I adjusted to motorbike riding pretty quickly. For some reason it does feel safer than motorcycle riding in the States, although it wouldn't directly appear that way. Everyone driving around here seems much more aware of other people on the road. Plus, it's much superior to the alternative modes of transportation around the city - pedal bike, and tuk-tuk.

So when Brian said we would be heading to Khanom this weekend by motorbike I didn't think much of it. He had done the trip before, and it's about an hour. He was driving, and I had the backpack full of clothes and a computer, and a side bag for the books and cameras. Wow, is long distance motorbike traveling not what I was expecting. Fifteen minutes in my butt was numb, and my feet were asleep from resting on the pedals near the engine.



On the way down Friday night, there was some rain, and the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen in person. It was like something out of a story, at one point it actually appeared to drop off into a patch of green, and it looked like had we veered off the road we might have found the pot of gold at the end of it.

Date Night

This one's for you, Hilary.



Extreme international long distance dating has its disadvantages to be sure. Chief among them is the impossibility of a first date. That would only be possible with an expensive and lengthy transcontinental flight. So, after being in Thailand for about a week, B surprised me with a fairly elaborate plan for a date night.



First up, B got home from teaching and we headed downtown. There he lead me to an ice cream parlor, Swensen's. I'm talking something straight out of 1920s Americana. There was a huge gleaming counter, the waitresses wear read uniforms, and the sundaes were served in big glass dishes. I went for this Snick-Choc concoction of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream, caramel, a Snickers and a chocolate waffle cone piece. These people were not fooling around.



Next it was time to have a beer on the pier and watch the sunset. Which it does brilliantly and with startlingly accuracy at 6:30 every evening.



Then, dinner not yet ruined by ice cream and beer we headed for hamburgers and french fries at a tiny hole in the wall restaurant. I won't sugar coat it, the cheese on these bad boys was a little odd. But part of me was really happy to be eating a hamburger, as they constitute one of my favorite food groups. They are also my idea of perfect date food.

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B: "No one is going to be interested of a picture of a burger in Thailand."

From there we hurried to this giant department store with a theater at the top of it. We got tickets for the only movie showing with an American soundtrack - Pirates 4. I had been planning on seeing that movie sometime around the 4th of Never, but the act of movie going was symbolic, and I like seeing movies in theaters. This one was really nice, but sort of like sitting in a meat locker. Also the popcorn is really really good. Sadly the soda was a bit too sweet, there's something about all the soda here, even the American stuff, that seems just a touch off.

Either way, it was a lovely night. One worth waiting for.