Thai Cooking Class

Jeff and I signed up for a cooking class at The Foxfire Gallery in Greenville. I'd heard about the shop in the Living in South Carolina magazine we get from our electric coop. Fox Fire is a gourmet kitchen shop in a quaint section of Greenville. They have an outstanding selection of kitchenware, gadgets and small appliances. They converted a section of the basement into a full size kitchen that rivals Emeril's. Chefs from the Greenville area teach classes in the evenings and weekends. Sometimes a chef will come up from Atlanta or Charleston and other big cities across the US.

Our chef for the evening was Alyn Abrams of Greenville. He spent twenty years as the head chef in a few different restaurants in Greenville and attended culinary school in New York City. He now devotes all his time to managing the "cooking class" department of the Foxfire Gallery. The Thai Class menu was Coconut Milk Soup, Crispy Spring Rolls with Spicy Ginger Dipping Sauce (tom kah gai), Potstickers with a Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce, Spicy Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce and Chai Cream Tea.

When we arrived we were graciously greeted by one of the four assistants and seated at a long bar that formed a half circle around the kitchen. There is seating for about 12 people at the bar and we were lucky to be directly infront of the "chopping" area. Alyn showed how to prepare each course of our dinner then the assistants served us as it was completed.

We had a great time! Alyn was entertaining outside of being the teacher for the evening. He had many stories to tell about working in the restaurant industry. We got copies of all his recipes and I had to laugh when he described the process of getting the ingredient list together as he normally doesn't measure for the type of cooking we did this evening. It reminded me of asking my mom for a recipe and her answer was something like, "a little of this and a little of that". But I cook the same way for the most part.

I can't wait to try everything at home. The soup was wonderful and Jeff and I already decided to make Potstickers next year for our annual get together with friends over Thanksgiving. They can be made ahead and frozen. The two dipping sauces will be perfect marinades for grilled chicken.

The best secret we learned: The Asian restaurants don't use cayenne pepper or tobasco to heat up their dishes. They use "rooster sauce" (there's a picture of a rooster on the bottle) the actual product is Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. It's become so popular now that you can find it in the international fool isle at the grocery store. It is hot! But, there is a smooth quality to the taste and a small amount adds another level of dimension to whatever you use it in.

Next month Foxfire has a Saturday trip to the La Bastide Country Inn. La Bastide is known for some of the finest dining in the Carolina's. The trip includes a tour of the Inn and gardens where they organically grow their own produce for the restaurant. The trip ends with the chef preparing a meal based on produce the class participants pick from the garden.

We had a wonderful evening and are looking forward to more classes at Foxfire.

12 Trees

Last winter Jeff and I made a promise that we wouldn't plant any trees and bushes this year. Last summer, especially because of the drought, we were tied to watering. I can't remember how long it took each morning and afternoon. I imagine this summer, when it's 90 degrees in July, that memory will come back to me.

Last week Aldi's had a really good sale on ornamental trees, shrubs and fruit bushes. I was kicking myself for not getting there sooner because they ran out of the blueberries early in the week. But they sure weren't out of trees and bushes.

Saturday we planted, three Eastern Redbuds and two Purple Leaf Plums. We long forgot promises made in the dead of winter and the spring day got our adrenaline going (adrenaline I'll question when it really is 90 degrees in July). Soon we decided if you have to water five then what is a few more? And, a White Dogwood would really look good paired with two of the Redbuds and the horses could use some shade in the front pasture. Sadie, Jeff and I piled into the truck and headed off to our favorite nursery. We came home with a Cherokee Princess White Dogwood, two Red Maples (to line up with the one we planted last year), a Weeping Willow (for the low damp spot in the pasture) and a Blueberry Bush. By the time we got home it was pouring down rain. So much for having a relaxing Sunday.

Sunday the trees were in the ground by 2pm. We were putting stuff away when Jeff walked out to the cabin and came back saying, "You are not going to believe this but the trees Judy gave us last year, that you thought were dead, they're budding out." I couldn't believe it. Someone gave her some oak trees and she had more than she could plant. We ended up with three of them. It was the 90 degrees in July thing and we couldn't decide where to put them, so we transplanted them into bigger pots. Nothing special, no peat moss, no special dirt, no fertilizer, no mulch; we just stuck them in a pot of our hard as a rock clay. They didn't get much water all summer and none this winter (except when mom was here and she felt sorry for them). I told her, go ahead water them, but they're dead. We got the shovels out again and planted the most drought resistent, neglegience resistent, trees I have ever had. If they survive the summer then I'm going to throw all my gardening books out the window. You know the ones that tell you in great detail how to take care of newly planted trees; we broke every rule in the book on these.

Then we got the Blueberry Bush in the ground and pruned the two we bought last year, cut the grass, dug up another flower bed and planted three of the six shrubs I got at Aldi's. These are Burning Bushes and supposed to have fire red leaves in the fall. My back is aching and the other three Lilac bushes will have to wait till next week-end.

When I was growing up I had a friend named Debbie who lived up the street from my house. She had a huge Lilac bush in her front yard. I have been in love with them ever since we made May Day baskets of Lilac's every year and took them to all the neighbors. She and I both had our bedrooms painted lilac. Mine is still that way at mom's. I have never had a Lilac Bush and not sure how good they will do here, but it's worth a try. Aldi's price was to tempting to a Lilac Lover.

Then there are the plants coming from The Michigan Bulb company. Jeff doesn't quite know how many there are and how many more holes he is going to be diggin'. I'll let him in on that after the fatigue from this week-end wears off.

We'll we broke our "no new plants" promise...it will still be 90 degrees in July and we'll be watering all summer, but next spring is going to be absolutly beautiful!