Jenmenke

Road Warrior

pad thai

Road Warriors Three, Day Four

Monday 8/1/2011

Another good night of sleep, and up early. I suppose when you are asleep by 9pm, it becomes difficult to sleep much past 6am…

We found out from the Camp Host that a mountain lion is a frequent visitor to site #15 (ours) at Cascade Campground. He apparently likes to poop right about where Grace and Lydia were sleeping. Dave is sad. He wanted to see a mountain lion. I think Grace and Lydia are not sad. I think they are happy. To be alive.

Since the Queen mandated the plan to stay at the Dunes tonight, we finally had a relaxing morning of sitting around, cooking some bacon, eggs and pancakes (and marshmallows for dessert. seriously.).

Really this is day four and it is seriously the first time we have not had to race into high gear, taking down camp and getting on the road to the next checkpoint. And I gotta say, I liked it!

During our leisure hour, it was decided to stop at the Princeton Hot Spring Pool for a much needed shower and swim — heavy emphasis on the shower part, because you couldn’t do one without the other. No one really cared all that much about the swim, Morgan declaring that she thinks hot springs are, for the most part, “gross.” But if it meant a shower at the end, there would be no complaints from her or anyone else.

As we began to pack up, there was a bit of dissension at the other end of camp between the sibs. Oddly, this seems to motivate my kids to do more and bicker less. Interesting. V E R Y   I N – T E R – E S T –  I N G . And I’m left to wonder how I can replicate this glitch in their programming at home. Maybe if Dave and I pretended to fight at home they would do more around the house? No, that can’t be right. We fight all the time. We’d wouldn’t need to pretend. Oh, nevermind.

The pool and the shower were divine. Simply devine, declared the Queen. Sadly for you (or not), I have no shots from the shower.

*********

On to the Dunes.

BUT WAIT! Isn’t this the place that had the green tea ice cream from year’s past? In Poncha Springs?

Yes. yessssss it is.

The Queen demanded a recess and the convoy obeyed. And she claimed the very last scoop of her beloved green tea ice cream. Pad Thai was enjoyed by all. Though the cream cheese puffs, mango malts, and cold beer weren’t bad either…

[non journal addition: I’ve looked on the blog for the part where I wrote about this in 2009 and can’t find it, but it’s the same place that had the sign that said “Pad Thai Ice Cream” that was so funny and intriguing we had to stop in 2004 and again in 2009 and again this year. The sign is the same, but they fixed the syntax]

THEN it was on to the Dunes, the Queen being oh so happily fed.

We arrived about 3:15pm. We had called ahead to make sure there would be enough spots the day before and were told that while they could not guarantee anything, Mondays and Tuesdays were their slowest days, usually not filling up until later evening. Au contraire: There were 15 spots left when we got there and they were full by 4:00. Crazy times, man.

We attribute this insanity to the fact we are vacationing the fair land of Colorado about three weeks earlier than usual. It obviously makes a huge difference. Alas, sites 49 and 51, our favorites, were taken. Lame Loop 1, with the rest of the riff raff was our fate. By chance, we did get spots close to each other though.

We set up and relaxed with many-a-drink. The Queen finally received her desired vodka tonic, a mere 49 hours later. To make up for the delay, Cabana Boy refreshed me with two more. Never a real good idea. Cabana Boy knows better than that… We had a nice view of the dunes and watched various groups on the summit through the binocs. Eventually the kids bored of their electronica (a first!) and our intertia, and headed down to the Dunes by themselves.

Ahhh. Peace. (Until the Jaguar pulled up, that is. More on this later)

They brought back these (and more) shots:

 

Tacos were on the menu, and after a sufficient amount of leisurating, I got to work.

The tacos did not disappoint.

Nor did the seemingly unending array of fun size candy bars that I dispelled from the food bin for dessert: Kit Kat, Butterfinger, Twix, Baby Ruth, Snickers. I mean really. Isn’t that what camping is all about? Junk food?

Charlie continued to perfect his Giant Puffball marshmallow technique. I just don’t get it. I’ve never seen marshmallows puff up this this before. And it makes us all wonder if there has been a change in the recipe or something.

We didn’t ponder it too long. It was bedtime. I know that because the sun was going down.

Meatless Monday Seventeen!

Shrimp Pad Thai

I’m over-the-moon about this recipe.

[Now, if by chance, there were anyone under the age of 40 reading this post, I will have lost them with that first sentence. What kind of loser says “over the moon?”]

But I am. Over the moon.

I am giving all the credit to the recipe on Rouxbe.com. I know I have mentioned that site before, but can’t remember when. I watched a whole bunch of their video cooking lessons when the site was first launched and everything was free — about a year or so ago. (It was probably three years ago, and my addled and aging mind has compressed a thousand days into 300 or so.)

As planned, after that initial launch period, some of the content became subscription based. I got busy and stopped visiting the site, having watched most of it anyway. Then one day early this year, I got an email saying something like “One Time Chance! Lifetime Membership for the low fee of _____!” I usually delete offers like that, and who knows why, but I clicked the link. I refuse to give the amount I paid here because Dave has apparently been sneaking over to this site and secretly reading it on occasion (!) and I don’t want him using it against me. I like to pretend I am a woman barely making ends meet by using three year old garden carrots out the freezer for dinner. You know what I mean? He knows I’m buying cooking school lessons and… well then I’ll have to start explaining why I won’t turn the heat up past 64 degrees in the winter… (Answer: to pay for online cooking school lessons.)

You can go to Rouxbe (pronounced Roo-Bee) yourself to see how much it was. But let me just say this: my aging and addled mind — for some reason — saw the price as being $100 less than it actually was. It must be that sub-conscience 99 thing that I always dismiss as being so stupid. Like $1.99 or $299 or whatever. Well, it got me this time.

Oh for Heaven’s sake. It cost $299, OK? I spent fricken $299 on Rouxbe.com! Are you happy? In my mind I thought it was $200 and I thought that was a pretty good deal. Lifetime membership! The website is a huge undertaking. And very well done. I wanted to support them. Assuming they are still around in a few years, that’s a great deal, right? The site has expanded to contain a ton of stuff, they are always adding more videos…. Oh, you’re not my husband, why am I explaining this to you?!

Whatever. Now I feel stupid. Is it any wonder I can’t keep secrets? I write a stupid post and feel compelled to tell all. Just imagine how easily I cave when questioned by a real person! Note to readers: don’t tell me secrets.

Anyway, I certainly experienced pangs of buyer’s remorse, but since I have the membership, I’ve been using the site a lot more. But here is what I can’t figure out: most of it still seems free to the public! It really is an amazing site. This shrimp pad thai recipe is so good. I’ve probably made pad thai three or four times in the past, and frankly, they stunk. Nothing like the real thing. This recipe was THE BEST. Easily as good as the best pad thai I’ve had in restaurants. And it’s so simple. And you can watch it free. While I paid $299. And you can feel smart and frugal. And I can feel dumb and frivolous. Even though you wouldn’t even know about it if I hadn’t taken the $299 bullet. Consider it my gift to you.

The only new ingredient I used for this batch, versus the other recipes I’ve tried, was tamarind concentrate. To be clear, other recipes had called for it, I just didn’t have it. But I hardly think that alone could have made such a huge difference. Taste, yes. But the recipe as a whole, no. I think it was the actual technique, which a video demonstration is perfect for. See for yourself: watch this video below. If you like it, watch some of the other videos, too. Be careful though, you might get hooked.

I have no idea what I’m embedding up there. The preview? But here is a link to the whole shebang: Rouxbe.com Shrimp Pad Thai Recipe Video and Text
My notes: (because you didn’t think I had all the ingredients, did you?!)
  • I did have tamarind concentrate, not the brick, but a jar of it, and used the same amount listed in the recipe.
  • I used vegetable stock instead of chicken, and for once didn’t taste it.
  • I used stupid thin little rice sticks because — for the life of me — I can’t find the larger flat ones ANYWHERE. And it makes me so mad! And that is why my noodles are more mangled in the photo above. At least that’s why I say they are more mangled, and not because of my unpracticed technique.
  • I ran out of fish sauce after 4 tablespoons (instead of 6) and it was just fine.
  • I did not have palm sugar (jaggery in Indian cooking) and used brown sugar as a substitute.
  • I did not have pickled radishes. I had moldy radishes and considered putting some vinegar on them and calling them pickled, but I restrained myself.
  • I did not have ground shrimp. I made no substitutes and make no apologies.

My photo is, as usual, hideous. I apologize for that. Oh, and I also apologize to Morgan, who I yelled at before dinner and, therefore, ruined her true enjoyment of another great meal cooked by her mom.

With that, I end this post and leave to go eat the leftovers as depicted in this blurry photo: