Hello all again. It's been a number of weeks since I returned here but
wanted to thank everyone for their great info on Thai recipes. I still have
not found any decent coffee for making Thai Iced Coffee but I have been able
to approximate some of my favorite dishes.

Also, at your recommendation, I just purchased "The Elegant Taste of Thai".
Having only picked it up last night from the book store (had to order it), I
ran to the local market and got all of the ingredients for about 10 recipes.
I shall be very busy this week! I really like the book for all its
pictures and discussions on ingredients but I was a bit disappointed that
the pictures are not referenced (so you're not always sure you are looking
at the right ones!), the strange layout of the index (titles don't match and
you can't find any Thai names in the index), and finally, lack of discussion
for each dish. I suppose the focus of the book is just different than I
anticipated.

While I'm extremely grateful that I can get as many ingredients locally as I
found at my favorite market, it only makes me greedy! I cannot find any
decent bananas for Thai Fried Bananas, no banana leaves for wrapping &
steaming or baking, and various other items for which I must buy
substitutes.

I read someone else's post here about getting away from exact measurements,
etc. for cooking. EXCELLENT point. When I began my attempts at recreating
my favorite restaurant dishes, I began with a recipe tha closely
approximated the ingredients and then fiddled from there. The only danger,
however, is that my husband is furious that I didn't write down how much of
each item I used. He's very precise like that. Too bad, I cook to taste,
smell, texture, & overall appearance. To this end I have nearly perfected
(at least to our liking) the Gai Tom Kha and we are getting very close to
our favorite Kung Curry (this is a dish I can only get in one restaurant in
a stir-fry form with lots of peppers and onions and whatever meat you want
in a small yellow curry & coconut base).

I'll pass on some of my success (and failures) over the next few weeks as I
test this new cookbook.

Heather Fair