Good Bye to All That

Dear Ones:

This is my last blog post for some time. I hope some day that I will come back to Thailand and pick up these posts again. AJ and I are going to New York City for at least a year and I will be in touch. For now,

Walk good,

Jo Anne

P.S. Follow our new adventures on http://morethanonemoreday.blogspot.com/ and http://travelswithkoko.blogspot.com

Furballs want treats too

My cousin Anne Marie refers to her dogs as furball babies.  Though I prefer to refer to myself as Pack Leader rather than Mommy, I believe that our dogs deserve to be spoiled with treats now and then. Sammy and Katie (that's Sam on the left) accept pinches of food from the table, and were allowed to sample my strawberry cake. I didn't ask them whether they liked the cake because the human verdict was good enough for me. We were at Robert and Anne's for dinner and we each had two slices of cake.  Then the thought occurred to me, why not make dogs their own treats?

I did some research on the internet and discovered that there are certain foods that are forbidden, such as chocolate, butter, garlic, and onions, because they can cause serious illness. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it looked fairly safe, if only because none of the forbidden foods was on the list of ingredients.  Making these treats was also a good way to finish up the baking ingredients in my pantry. The only things I needed to go out and buy were Cheddar cheese and margarine.

Doggie Cookies
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup margarine
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons white granulated sugar
2 teaspoons beef bouillon (I used 1 cube chicken bouillon because Gigi likes chicken)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

Preheat oven to 325˚F (I preheated the convection oven to 170˚C). Grease 2 baking trays.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, margarine, and boiling water. Stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, cheese, and egg. Mix in flour 1 cup at a time until a stiff dough forms. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and smooth edges so there won't be sharp rough edges after baking. Place 1 inch apart on the prepared trays. Bake 35-45 minutes (25-35 minutes in a convection oven) or until golden brown. Remove and cool on wire racks. Store cooled cookies airtight in a covered container.

Well, aren't you going to feed me?

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Some time ago, my sister-in-law had expressed a wish for a strawberry cake. Well, why not? Now, baking a cake is an art; it has its rules that must be strictly followed. The amount of flour is better weighed than measured, for instance. Butter cakes have proven to be finicky fussy things that like their eggs and butter at room temperature. They have a positive aversion to over mixing. Wretched optimist that I am, I decided to experiment with the basic buttermilk country cake recipe from The Cake Bible and try for that elusive creation, a strawberry cake.

At room temperature:

4 large egg yolks

2/3 cup buttermilk (substitute: 1 tablespoon vinegar in a measuring cup topped with milk to 1 cup line)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups sifted cake flour (I used 1/2 cup cake flour and 1 1/2 cups special flour)

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup fresh strawberries, washed and gently patted dry with paper towels

1 tablespoon granulated sugar or sanding sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 400˚F. [Cake Baker's Note: It was 350 in the original recipe but the addition of fruit increases the volume.]  Grease a 9x2 inch cake pan and line the bottom with a parchment circle. Grease the parchment then flour the pan and parchment. Set aside. [Cake Baker's Note: Since the edges turned out dry and hard, I conclude the pan was too small and the temperature too high. Next time I would use either a 9 inch square pan or a 10 inch springform pan, reduce the heat to 350 and bake 30-40 minutes.]

Slice the green tops off the strawberries. On a clean dry work surface, place strawberries with the cut tops down and slice each strawberry into 1/8 inch slices. Let strawberries drain on paper towels.  Set aside. Pour off sour milk, if using, to make 2/3 cup. Remove 1/4 cup  from the 2/3 cup buttermilk or sour milk. [Cake Baker's Note: I haven't figured out yet what to do with any left over sour milk or how long it will keep in the fridge.] In a medium bowl, lightly combine the egg yolks, 1/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk, and the vanilla. Set aside.

 








 In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend dry ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining buttermilk or sour milk. Combine on low speed until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat until just combined. [Cake Baker's Note: the original recipe said beat 1 1/2 minutes.] Add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating until just combined. [Cake Baker's Note: the original recipe said beat 20 seconds after each addition.] Scrape down the sides. By hand, gently fold in half the sliced strawberries. 

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Gently shift the pan back and forth on the countertop to eliminate air bubbles. [Cake Baker's Note: I saw this on an America's Test Kitchen DVD.] Gently press the remaining strawberries into the top of the batter. If using, sprinkle the tops of the exposed strawberries with granulated sugar or sanding sugar. Use your fingers for this. Try not to get any sugar on the batter as the sugar leaves pit marks in the cake top on baking. If you are going to put a topping on the cake afterwards, the pit marks do not matter. [Cake Baker's Note:  Save the half-cup strawberries for decorating the cake top later.  I noticed that some of the strawberries in the batter closest to the edges got stuck to the pan. To prevent this another idea is to pour half the batter in the pan and arrange the strawberries on top then pour the remainder of the batter on top of the strawberries.]

Bake for 70 minutes until the top is golden brown and the color of the strawberries deepen to a bright red.  A tester inserted in the center should come out clean. Remove cake from the oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a small sharp knife around the edges so that the cake doesn't crack as it cools and separates from the sides. Unmold the cake onto a greased wire rack and remove the parchment circle. Then re-invert the cake so the strawberries are on top. Cool completely before adding any toppings.

If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with crème fraîche and decorate with fresh strawberries or chocolate curls. To make crème fraîche, whip 1 1/2 cups whipping cream, 1/2 cup sour cream, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat until soft peaks form when the beaters are raised. This makes a thick cream topping that spreads easily and yet won't melt or separate like whipped cream. It has a delicious tangy taste. Cake Decorating Idea: Spread crème fraîche on top of the cooled cake. If using fresh strawberries, dip one side in a little lime or lemon juice to prevent browning. Place UNDIPPED side down on the the crème fraîche topping and arrange in an attractive pattern.

Postscript:
Since baking this cake on Sunday, I found a recipe for Cornmeal Strawberry Cake on allrecipes.com. But that's for another weekend, another blog posting. 

 

A Prose Poem on My 57th Birthday

On my birthday, we drive down to Fisherman's Village, a little resort in Haad Chao Samran (Happy Kings Beach) on the Gulf of Thailand. The resort is packed with 40 little villas clustered on the beach. We love this little place, not only because it's small, but because it lacks the brassy impersonal feel of the bigger hotels and resorts. The area, too, is relatively undeveloped, since Hua Hin and Cha Am are where the hoi polloi like to unwind. Thus it has escaped the notice, for the time being, of the opportunists, social climbers, and sundry carpet-baggers from Bangkok. We are the only ones there; it is as if we have rented the place just for our private enjoyment.

For now, I have Haad Chao Samran to myself. There is something there, some quality of light, some trick or turn of the light, that makes whatever is commonplace seem strange. And new. Take this bird of paradise flower. They are a common sight by the ditches and canals in busy Bangkok, for they thrive wherever it is wettest. The bloom is ragged and slightly overblown from its exposure to the sun and the sea breeze. It will not last.

The coconut trees sough in the breeze as if lonely for company. I think of a short story by Italo Calvino, "The Enchanted Garden," about a magical garden that has an air of mystery hanging over it. Who owns it? Why is there no one enjoying the garden? The two children who trespass in that garden cannot really enjoy it either because they are afraid someone will find them and tell them to go away. They see a sad little boy inside the villa, obviously the owner of the house and the garden too. The children creep away. Perhaps they don't want to find out more. I, too, am content with what I see: the strip of land between the pool, the sea, and the endless horizon.

Thailand hasn't quite recovered from the recent political riots, still,  I don't recall an off-season this unattended. It's as if we gave a party and knew that half the guests wouldn't show up but went ahead with the party anyway. There is something sad and tentative about, as if an unsaid apology is on everyone's lips. The gentleman caller has failed to call on the lady. But because she is a lady, she retires to nurse her bruised dignity rather than complain about his lack of enthusiasm. 

There is really no one else in the garden to see the fitful blooms and their fading finery. Was anyone there to see them at their apogee? The amethyst blooms whiten with age in the gathering dusk. It is time to go inside. Soon. Mosquitoes whine their impatience to feed.

The little lizard posted his warning on the boardwalk. Then he climbed up the step and scuttled away. He left no editorial for me. No comment.

For dinner, in an empty dining room there is a table set for three. We eat a traditional Thai meal. First there is a soup, kaeng chud, a salty broth of napa cabbage, tofu, and bits of ground pork. The Thai like to spice things up, hence the little dish of nam jeem, a magical combination of fish sauce, garlic, lime juice, and chilies. A meal must include a Thai salad such as yum woon sen, salty, sour, sweet, and spicy;  a melange of slippery bean threads, slivered tomatoes, onions, tender Chinese celery leaves, and chopped chilies all served on a bed of lettuce.  Chinese kale (not pictured), crunchy and slightly bitter and served with nam man hoi or oyster sauce. And finally, to round out the meal, a kaeng, tender chicken slices in yellow coconut curry sauce sprinkled with slivers of chili and basil chiffonade. For dessert we cool our mouths with ice cream and fresh fruit. Andy's lime ice cream is a suspicious shade of green.
 

Daybreak. Last night's rain has washed away the heat and detritus of yesterday. It is cool. The mosquitoes have declared a temporary moratorium. Andy walks the beach and takes pictures of the day renewing itself.

Dawn's reflection. The light is muted in the windows. It must be a rule that a copy must be paler, denser, darker than its original. To reflect is to be open to receiving. I must remember that.

The beach. Layers of white tips and liquid mercury, gold sea-strand, and pink sand. It is hot. At breakfast I notice that another table has been set for two. Afterwards, I sit in the pavilion facing the sea. The sun climbs higher. It is hotter. I see a young couple walking on the boardwalk. Fisherman's Village is no longer just ours. In my bag, things to read, things to do. It's time to go. Am I ready to leave this place?

Pork Tenderloin in Puff Pastry and Apple Galette

What's for dinner?

Sometimes I don't bother with a cookbook or a recipe. Instead I like looking inside the freezer at what's available. It can be inspirational. I don't mean the frozen turkey bones draped in icicles left over from Christmas. That just means it's time to clean out the freezer! Ah.  Package of puff pastry. Pork tenderloin. Hmm. There's a jar of jerk seasoning in the fridge. And since the puff pastry would really be too much for one tenderloin,  I'll have enough to make an apple galette as well out of the remaining dough. Done.

Pork Tenderloin in Puff Pastry 

1 pork tenderloin (Remove the silver with a boning knife)
1-2 teaspoons Walker's Wood Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
2/3 package puff pastry
oil

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Rub the jerk seasoning all over the tenderloin and let sit for about 1 hour. Pan sear the tenderloin until it is golden brown all over. Roll out the puff pastry to 1/8 inch thickness and place the tenderloin in the middle. Fold up and pinch the ends closed. Put seam side down on the prepared pan. Brush lightly with oil. Bake about 30-40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Cool slightly. Slice and serve with a brown gravy.

A galette is really a one-crust apple pie so I adapted Mom's apple pie recipe here. 

Apple Galette

3 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and sliced (Tip: use a melon baller to scoop out the core)
juice of 1 small lime
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons flour
oil
sanding sugar or granulated sugar for sprinkling (optional)
1/3 package puff pastry

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Peel, cut apples in half from pole to pole, then core and cut the apples into 1/4 inch thick slices. Set aside in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour. Add to the apple slices and toss to coat. Set aside.  (Lick the spoon afterwards. Yum.) Line a rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.

Roll out the pastry dough into a 12 inch (more or less) round that's about 1/8 inch thick. Put the pastry round in the center of the baking sheet. Mound the apple slices in the center, juices and all. Leave about a 2 inch border. Fold up the edges and overlap as needed to make a bowl to hold in the apples. Brush edges lightly with water to seal and sprinkle with sanding or granulated sugar, if using. Bake until the pastry is golden brown about 25-35 minutes in a convection oven. Cool slightly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

An apple galette is a really easy mid-week dessert to make if you don't have a lot of time or if you're recovering from recent foot surgery! Now if I could only figure out what to do with 2 kg of frozen peas...

The Gimp's Perspective on Emporium

We went shopping at Emporium yesterday. Rather than hobble around on crutches and slow down Andy and AJ, I borrowed a wheelchair from the shopping mall.  It was free, too. AJ and I went into the Gourmet Market on the 5th floor to do some grocery shopping. It gave me a whole new appreciation of one of Bangkok's upscale supermarkets and what it's like to have limited mobility.

I couldn't push the cart and wheel myself around. AJ helped me. (He stepped out of view at just the moment I pressed the shutter button!)

Some items were clearly out of reach.

The main aisle was broad and inviting for wheeling around. But crowded.

This side aisle was not exactly wheel-chair accessible.

The view from the checkout lane consisted of a mélange of body parts.  I found myself eye to eye with babies in strollers. To its credit, Emporium did have a washroom for handicapped people.  But the garbage bin in there could only be opened by foot. If you were on crutches, you couldn't step on the pedal and maintain your balance on one foot. The hospital handicapped washroom also had a foot pedal trash can. Bangkok still has a long way to go when it comes to being thoughtful to people with limited mobility.

Gimpy Tales from Bangkok

In the past four years I developed a bony bump on my right foot that made it increasingly painful to wear shoes and even to bend my toes in certain Yoga positions. The Thai call it ta pla or fish-eye which is a very descriptive name for the common bunion, medical name, hallux valgus. So I made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to have the surgery on Friday, which is a Buddhist holiday on the calendar. See where x marks the spot!

When I woke up after surgery my right foot had saffron yellow toe nails and was encased in white gauze.  They put me up overnight on the 16th floor.  That night I was restless with itching, vomiting, and some pain. The nurse said the itching was a side effect of one of the anesthetics.  Worst of all, I was often woken up as soon as I managed to fall back to sleep to have my temperature, pulse, and blood pressure monitored.

The surgeon  discharged me from the hospital Saturday with instructions to take antibiotics and pain killers. However, I insisted on driving myself to graduation at school that afternoon, hobbling about on a cane. Andy shook his head and pronounced me "gimpy." Well, if gimpy means stubborn then I haven't missed a graduation since I came back and I wanted to be there at my last one.  That's me with the "Fabulous Survivors"of the senior class.

On Sunday I overdid it. I had breakfast in Starbucks Soi Thong Lo and lunch at Seacon Square, hobbling around with a four-toed cane and refusing to make any concessions to the pain in my foot. By afternoon, the foot began to swell and redden. We went back to the hospital where they called the surgeon. Fortunately he lived nearby so he did not have to fight Sunday traffic as we did.  He took off the bandage covering the wound and said, I have to re-admit you. You might have an infection.

They started me on IV antibiotics and gave pain killers as needed. Though the blood test was negative for infection, the surgeon insisted I stay till Tuesday. Besides the poking, prodding, and pumping, the nurses were sometimes spooky.  For instance, there was the nurse at the other end of the call button, day and night, who always asked me "Can I hell you?" Another one with the light cold fingers  gave me the antibiotics intravenously. I always felt cold afterwards. And the one who never failed to make me laugh, the Nurse of the Body Functions who greeted me  cheerfully, "how many pee-pee and poo-poo today?"

By now I had learned to respect the pain in my foot. I avoided putting any weight on it. I practiced hopping from bed to bathroom and back with a walker the nurses lent me.  But the nicest part of the second hospital stay was Mimi's carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  It was the best medicine.

On Tuesday morning the surgeon discharged me.  Stay off the foot, he ordered, or you might have to come back. I meekly agreed. Life has now become a calculation of distance times access equals getting from Point A to Point B. At home, the step up from the driveway to the porch I estimated was worth a three-inch "hop." We went to the Club tonight but used the back entrance because it has a ramp.  I'm also beginning to realize how much of Bangkok is not accessible to people with mobility issues.

At home, Andy and AJ are my legs. On Wednesday, I went back to school. It was nice to have a fuss made over me! I borrowed the school wheelchair and my students wheeled me everywhere. They helped me take down all my bulletin boards because I couldn't reach and couldn't climb, of course. The teachers were so helpful and so kind.  I baked a cheesecake on Wednesday night. On Thursday, it was the last day of school, our End of Year Assembly. I managed to hop down four steps so I could be at the foot of the stage to say goodbye to the school. There are four of us teachers leaving and one retiring. We had a pizza and cheesecake party before the students all went home at noon. Before they left, I got them to sign my autograph flag book. Then on Friday, AJ came with me to school to help me finish packing up and clearing out my classroom. He went all over campus getting signatures on my check-out form. He supervised the janitor who packed my car with ten boxes filled with 19 years of teaching. His last stop was at Finance to pick up my check. We turned our backs on RIS/RIST for the last time and drove out of Perfect Place, the moobaan (housing estate) that leads to the main road.

And that's it. There won't be very many more letters from Thailand for a year (I hope). AJ and I are going on to our next adventure: New York City. We will both finish our degrees: his bachelor's at Hunter College and my doctorate at Teachers College.

Cake Monday: Toll House Crumb Cake

I got rave reviews for the last coffee cake I made so instead of trying something with the esoteric name Orange Glow Chiffon Cake, I decided to make another coffee cake. Why be fancy? But I adapted the method from The Cake Bible. Unlike the stubborn frustrating butter cakes, this method works just fine for this cake, resulting in a moist, tender crumb.

Toll House Crumb Cake

Topping:
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed and sifted
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar and butter. Use two knives or a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until it is the size of peas. Mix in the nuts and chocolate chips by hand. Set aside.

Cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream of plain lowfat yogurt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Butter a 9x13 inch rectangular pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, lightly combine eggs, vanilla, and sour cream/yogurt. Set aside

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are just moistened. Scrape down the sides. Increase speed to medium and beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides. Add the remaining egg mixture in 3 batches until just combined. Scrape down the sides. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Cover the batter with the topping. Be generous. Bake 45-50 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Reactions

The Prime Minister came out and made his plea for cool heads and reconciliation, promising help to rebuild. The curfew is still in effect tonight. I don't know if there will be a curfew on Sunday night as well.

From what I've read on the blogosphere and in the English newspapers, people are divided, as is often the case in polarizing events such as this. There is much bitterness; bitterness for the Red Shirts that they did not reach their objective--although it must be admitted in hindsight that the dissolution of parliament was a long shot. Bitterness for the pro-government supporters that action wasn't swift enough and indignation that the government was powerless to prevent the arson fires that took place. Hundreds are jobless and perhaps ruined.

An enduring mystery is why the temple that was supposed to be a weapon-free zone had so many weapons and why there were six bodies there, all shot, one of them a young Red Cross worker. Then there are the pictures that got people buzzing: the Red Shirt leaders enjoying their incarceration in air conditioned bungalows at a border patrol camp.

Meanwhile, the person the government is accusing of bankrolling the protests is now denying he was in any way involved, much less its leader, though thousands saw and heard his night-time messages of encouragement. I am speaking of Thaksin, former Prime Minister and thorn in the side of every PM since his ouster in 2006, including his own party's. Not one has managed to hang on until the next election. His postscript is not yet written, partly because he has gone underground again, and mostly because he's so good at it. Pied Piper of Promises.

***
Recommended reading The Wheel of Life Turns at Ratchaprasong by Jeffrey Race. Race sees parallels and missed opportunities in Thailand's past and present. It seems the country is doomed to repeat its past (isn't that what they say about history too?) or until a hero arrives to save us from ourselves. Such a person has yet to make an appearance. Some of my Thai friends have expressed a yearning for the bad old days of dictatorship. Wishful thinking that's also not new.

Don't Believe Everything You Read on Facebook

Andy called: pack your bags, we're going to Haad Chao Samran for the weekend. The Reds are going to cut power to the city.

According to the Facebook site that we've been following for the latest news on the Red Shirt Rally, some Red hold-outs were going to attack a power station. Their staging area was reportedly just outside Bangkok at the property of a Red MP. Andy called all his friends. He told Mimi if she had to, she should take Mama to the hospital where she'd be safer than at home. Mimi said, just go. He called Boong and told her to look after Gigi.

We threw together a change of clothes for 3 days, swimsuits, sunblock, snacks, laptops and DVDs, and piled everything into the CR-V. We left the house and drove towards Bang Na intersection, a huge concrete monstrosity of elevated highways going over the river, up the river, beside the river and away from the river. Sort of like Washington DC's Mixing Bowl, only I'd say this is more like ruammit--a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a whole lot of confusion mixed in because of the Thai predilection for giving incomplete directions; the infamous thinoon! or "over there!"

On our way, we passed the supposed staging area and saw enough policemen to deter any Red Shirt determined to be stupid. Andy checked the internet on his iPhone; the Facebook announcement had been retracted. We turned around. He called his friends. He called Mimi. He called Boong.

It only cost us Baht 20 for the toll.

In the Aftermath

School was closed today so we tried to visit some of our usual stops. The noodle shop outside Seacon Square was open but Seacon itself was closed. Uniformed guards and people frowning into their walkie talkies were wandering around the perimeter. The club was open but not crowded with the usual faces. There was even seating in Starbucks at the height of the afternoon heat. The supermarket was crowded though, but the air conditioners and the refrigeration units had conked out. The dairy products had been moved to buckets filled with ice. Most vegetables and fruit, except the expensive imports, were gone. No eggs for the second day in a row. Rather than risk food poisoning, I passed up anything raw and uncooked. We have enough food at home anyway; tonight we had skillet pizza.

The curfew hours have shifted from 9 p.m. tonight to 5 a.m. tomorrow and will extend to the weekend. So far, it is quiet in the streets, but the number of places that were set on fire by arsonists has grown to nearly forty. The city says that CentralWorld will have to be demolished; it cannot be saved. The worst is the terrible loss of life. Sadly, they found the bodies of at least six people, all shot, inside a temple that was supposed to be neutral territory in the middle of the fighting. The government spokesman said that emergency services received a call for help from the temple but guards would not permit them to enter the grounds.  It remains to be seen if the government will investigate what happened at the temple. To its credit, the Abhisit government has tried to be transparent and publish accurate figures of those killed and injured; a vast difference from May 1992 when estimates of those killed and injured ranged from a mere dozen to hundreds.

 

Red Shirt Rally Day 69: Descent into Chaos

The government has imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. tonight until 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Today the government soldiers moved in on the protesters at their Rajaprasong rally site. The Red Shirt leaders surrendered. One reportedly told the Red Shirts to stop fighting while another is said to have told them to keep up the fight. Leaderless, the protesters became a mob that looted and set fire to buildings, including a TV station. Five people died today. All this is according to reports from CNN and The Nation website.

All this tragedy happened on a beautiful sunny day. The school had let us out after half-day so I met AJ at the club. I went into the study room to surf the net for the latest news. The Nation wrote there would be a curfew but didn't say when. At 4 p.m. Andy left the office and went home. He said we should come home now. The club is closing early and there is a curfew tonight. At the club, the Thai members like to swim after 4 p.m. when the sun has lost its strength, but the pool was empty. AJ and I went immediately to Tops to buy food. The shelves were barely filled but I managed to get chicken legs and breasts, new potatoes, and small onions for a stew. I grabbed two liters of zero percent milk. Finally, after two days, there was fresh milk again. We joined the queues at the checkout just as the announcement came over the PA that the supermarket was closing.

On the way home, the English language Radio Thailand announced the curfew over the car radio. As we waited in the u-turn lane to enter our soi, I saw a dozen motorcycle riders drive by on the opposite side. The pillion passenger of one was carrying a long white pole with a sharp point. As they approached the cookshop on the corner of Soi Phung Mi, an old man came out of the shop and applauded. Some of them ducked their heads in acknowledgment.  The motorcycles continued east towards Bang Na intersection and as they passed out of sight, I heard two explosions. The first one was a deep boom, the second sounded like a fire cracker. As we drove deeper inside the soi, we joined a queue of  cars going slowly in our direction. A white Toyota had stalled on the bridge near the 93 Building, but once I got around it, we got home pretty quickly.  It's hard to believe; is the Red Shirt Rally finally over?

 From the kitchen window, neighborhood sights and sounds were familiar. The backdoor neighbor's dogs panted in the afternoon heat. Mongkut, the black and white, rolled in the road to scratch an itch. I saw our neighbor jog by. He always jogs in a green tee and red shorts. In the kitchen, I prepped the chicken and the vegetables for the stew. AJ washed and put the brown rice in the rice cooker. Then I heard the whirr of helicopters in the near distance. We have just heard that the Central World shopping mall in Rajaprasong is burning out of control.

Tomorrow the assessment begins: we tally the score and assess the damages. There's sure to be some finger-pointing.

Red Shirt Rally Day 68: Things Will Never Be the Same Again

photo from www.nationmultimedia.com May 19, 2010

Did you see the picture of the baby on top of the barricade?

Indeed, a Thai newspaper printed the picture that took up half its front page. There is a baby (eyes blanked out) sitting on top of the tires forming the Red Shirt barricades. In the background is "no man's land" the strip of asphalt that separates the protesters from the soldiers.  Was it a taunt to the snipers or a dare to the armed soldiers? Sensible people are appalled.  It's further proof, they say,  that the Red Shirts are ignorant and easily manipulated. I think back to six weeks ago when the Red Shirts held their mobile rally. It was peaceful. What has changed to make death a thing to challenge?

Death is also on show. Do you want to see something?  One of the Thai teachers whipped out her cell phone to show me a bird's eye view photograph of four bodies in the street. Somebody sent it to her, she explained. Three of the bodies show no signs of violence but the fourth body, a woman, her blood stains the street in a long dark red ribbon. No one can lose so much blood and still be alive. I turn my head away but I can't forget the image. This isn't mere sensationalism; the Thai press routinely offers graphic pictures for mass consumption. Viewing carnage is normal to the Thai. When is it too much?

To end the protests, the government should shoot all the protesters, this teacher said flatly, a quiet anger in her voice. Her visceral reaction shocked me.  But her feeling isn't unique to the Thai; she actually paraphrased my father. He once declared to a group of Americans that anyone caught committing a crime with a gun should be put to death. Like me, the Americans didn't understand the context of a speech act and looked away, embarrassed.  They didn't know the reason my father spoke like that was his anger at the powerlessness of the Jamaican police to put a stop to the country's murderous crime rampage. That was back in the 1970s and nothing much has changed since. Last year an average of five people were murdered every day in Jamaica.

What will stop the Thai from killing the Thai?

Red Shirt Rally Day 67: Death in the Morning, Civil Disobedience in the Afternoon

The general wounded by a sniper died this morning.  Described in the press as a "rogue" he was an officer who could have defended the status quo but he chose to join the Red Shirts' cause. Now his death represents the deep fracture in Thai society, a serious setback for peace and finding common ground. News reports say that the King is sponsoring Seh Daeng's funeral. Meanwhile,  protesters ignored this afternoon's deadline to leave the Rajaprasong rally site. 

What's unusual about these protests from, say,  May 1992, is how deeply it has entered the consciousness of the residents of the city.  Perhaps the protracted nature of the protests is the reason, but none of the previous protests ever took place literally on the doorstep of the middle class. Protest sites were Phan Fah Bridge and the Democracy Monument, symbols of protests past. Rajaprasong, with its gleaming office towers, proud shopping malls, luxury hotels, and well-appointed condominiums for the well-heeled, seems like an unlikely protest site.

The school will still be closed on Tuesday for students, but all the teachers have been asked to come in.

Red Shirt Rally Day 66: Uncertainty

The government has declared Monday and Tuesday "public holidays."

Since Seh Daeng was shot Thursday night, the violence has escalated; more people have died and hundreds more injured. The uncertainty about what will happen next has caused the postponement of the first day of school for Thai students from May 17 to June 1st. The international schools which follow the British/American school year are closed on Monday.

I got an SMS from a friend today, warning me to stay away from department stores and malls in certain parts of the city.  To create confusion, the SMS said, there are going to be grenade attacks in areas outside the Rajaprasong conflict zone. She didn't say who originated the SMS or where; it was a forwarded message. That just shows how hard it has become to separate fact from rumor, disinformation from the truth.

The government's waffling hasn't helped either. From setting emergency decrees that are largely ignored by their own people to threatening to enforce a curfew then backing off, it's hard to say that the leadership knows what it is doing. The overall impression is that it is as chaotic in the 11th army camp, where the PM  has  barricaded himself,  as it is around the Red Shirt barricades.

Red Shirt Rally Day 65: More Street Violence

First of all, let me assure all our family and friends that we are safe. As we live in eastern Bangkok about 10+K  away from the disturbances, we are not in the thick of things. However, we won't be able to go to mass since the church is very close to the protests.

Fresh violence erupted after the Red Shirt general was shot in the head on Thursday night. He's in hospital but is not expected to live.  The government had reportedly planned to isolate the protesters by cutting water, power, transportation, and communications in the Rajaprasong area. However, because residents of luxury condominiums there were not told to evacuate, those plans were shelved. Fighting Friday resulted in 10 more deaths and many injuries.

Many Thai are waiting and hoping for the King to speak to the protesters. Many believe that a word from him will end the standoff.  He has intervened in past crises but he has avoided any intervention this time.  I was thinking about that literary trope the deus ex machina, the unexpected intervention that saves the day.  In a world where retribution is complicated and power or lack of power is often contested, it's natural to wish for someone to end the predicament in which one finds oneself. Perhaps it's naive to expect to be saved from situations we ourselves created. If that is so, would Thailand return to the way it was before?

Red Shirt Rally Day 63: Tensions Rising

The government has withdrawn its reconciliation plan which included promised polls in November when the Red Shirt protesters made counter-demands and refused to leave the protest site. The tensions worsened tonight when Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawatdipon, known as Seh Daeng, the Red Shirts' security advisor, was shot by a sniper. The government has labeled him a terrorist but the army denies it ordered an assassination.

Assassination is never the solution.

Cake Monday: Toll House Bundt Cake

There are 5 consecutive Mondays this month and I sorely needed some inspiration! I resorted to a classic American recipe: Toll House Bundt Cake. It's made with a cup of brown sugar, lots of chocolate chips, and it has a crunchy almond topping. If your heart can stand it, enjoy!

Toll House Bundt Cake

Nut Topping
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup finely chopped nuts

Cake
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour milk (1 tablespoon vinegar plus whole milk to equal 1 cup)
1 cup butter (16 tablespoons) softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (sifted to get out the lumps)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 package (12 oz. or 1 1/2 cups) Nestlé Toll House semi-sweet chocolate mini-morsels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour 10 inch bundt cake pan.

To make the topping: combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix until crumbly. Spoon into the bottom of the prepared pan. Chill while you prepare the cake.

To make the cake:
Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla,  and sour milk beating lightly.

Beat the flour mixture on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and half the egg mixture and beat on low speed until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Add the remaining egg mixture in two batches and beat until just combined on medium speed. Scrape down the sides. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand.  Pour batter on top of the topping in the pan and smooth the top. Tap lightly on the counter to release any air bubbles. 

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake and cool completely.

Red Shirt Rally Day 54: It ain't over till the fat lady sings...

The Red Shirts have cautiously agreed to end the protests that have tied up this city in red, yellow, and multi-hued knots. According to an earlier report on the internet, the Prime Minister has offered to call elections in mid-November. The Red Shirts, says the Associated Press, want more details on the time line for the elections.

We'll see... We just won't remind them that's what he offered the first time negotiations broke down.

Cake Monday: Milwaukee Carrot Ring

It's homecoming week! Yesterday it was Real Green Bay Chile. For today's cake, I baked this recipe for carrot cake I had clipped it from the Milwaukee Journal when I was a stay-at-home mom. Just to be different (or just being difficult), I divided the batter between a 6 cup Savarin ring mold and one 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan. The ring came out perfectly but the loaf had a dome in the center and flat edges. Next time I will bake half the batter in an 8 inch square pan, or bake one whole cake in a Bundt pan. For this recipe, I adjusted the method for blending the wet and dry ingredients and added the finishing touches.

Carrot Cake
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar (original recipe: 1-2 cups sugar)
1 1/2 cups sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely grated carrots (about 2 large carrots processed finely)
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter one 12-cup Bundt cake pan. Or divide the batter between one 6 cup buttered Savarin ring mold and one 6 cup buttered 8 inch square pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In another large bowl, beat eggs. Mix in sugar, oil, salt, and carrots.

Stir flour mixture into egg mixture in 3 batches, mixing until just blended. Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake 30-35 minutes (25 minutes in a convection oven) or until cake is done. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Unmold and cool completely. For a finishing touch, frost cake with caramel glaze, a cream cheese frosting, or simply dust with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

Mimi requested this easy Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. You can control the desired sweetness:

8 oz block of cream cheese, softened, cut into cubes
1/2 cup butter (8 tablespoons), softened, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar (just 2 cups sugar yielded a tangy tasting frosting)

Beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and sugar to taste. Beat until light and fluffy. Frosts one carrot cake or 1 carrot ring and 1 carrot cake loaf.

"Real" Green Bay Chile

Near the Marquette University campus in the 1970s there was a diner called Real Green Bay Chile at 15th and Wells. Chile purists scoffed because "real" chile isn't supposed to be served with spaghetti. But the diner was a Milwaukee institution and a bowl of Real Green Bay chile on a winter's night has become the subject of nostalgia at our house.

I found this recipe for Chocolate Chile Con Carne at The Winter Guest (invitadoinviernoeng. blogspot.com) and decided to serve it Green Bay Chile style with pasta.  Other sides included a multigrain bread and German sausage, both from Bei Otto, a deli in Bangkok.

I couldn't decide what to make for dessert. I found a package of puff pastry in the freezer and 5 Granny Smith apples in the crisper. Apple pie it is. I tossed the apples with 2 tablespoons flour (could have been 3 tablespoons),  2/3 cup golden caster sugar, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon salt. I brushed the top crust with milk then sprinkled on some sugar. I baked the pie for 40 minutes and served it at room temperature with a scoop of store-bought vanilla ice cream. In the photograph, that  pie looks a bit like a giant sand dollar!

Red Shirt Rally Day 51: PR Nightmare or Disinformation?

This week has been a public relations disaster for the Red Shirts. This week they have barricaded themselves in the area known as Rajaprasong intersection in central Bangkok with piles of old tires and bamboo stakes. On Friday, they accused Chulalongkorn Hospital near the barricades of harboring government soldiers. Even though hospital officials assured them no soldiers were on the premises, they insisted on searching the buildings, alarming the doctors,  nurses,  and patients. Following the search, the Hospital decided that patients near the barricades would be moved to other hospitals.

The English newspapers published heart wrenching pictures of the move juxtaposed with pictures of the barricades. Manipulation of images by the media, certainly, but the Reds didn't help themselves either. They have been accused of violating patient rights. Though the Red Shirts have apologized, the damage has been done. As they have done before, the protesters have fallen back to their original positions in Rajaprasong. There they remain. Still.

Meanwhile, the state media is accusing the Red Shirts of plotting to destroy the monarchy. Accusing anti-government protesters of lèse majesté is an old ploy.  Critics charge that these laws have been used at times to muzzle dissent. The government needs to go beyond using ideology as an excuse to attack its opponents and instead seek real solutions to the current impasse. All this suspicion and counter-suspicion does nothing to ease tensions. What is needed is for both the government and the Red Shirts to sit down at the table and hammer out an agreement that will end the stalemate.

Red Shirt Rally Day 49: Standoff Continues

Yesterday, the Red Shirts attempted to leave their positions in Central Bangkok to go to Pathum Thani.  By the way, this is on the opposite side of town from where we live. It's not clear why the Red Shirts were going there. Perhaps it was to test the government's attempt to keep them hemmed inside the area called Rajaprasong intersection. Andy saw the procession from his office which is located in the northwest suburbs.  Later, I read in the Nation online, that a confrontation with riot police and soldiers resulted in the death of a soldier and several injuries. Later reports said the soldier was killed by friendly fire. In any case, the Reds eventually withdrew. Back to their original positions, presumably. And that's how it stands: no better, but a little bit worse.

Cake Monday: Orange Glow Chiffon Cake

This cake has a wonderful orange aroma and the slightly tangy taste of tangerine orange zest. It is light, moist, and tender. According to the author, this cake only has 129 mg. of cholesterol per slice.

Have at room temperature:

• 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup safflower oil (I used sunflower)
• 7 large eggs, separated + 3 egg whites (total: 1/2 cup yolks, 1 1/4 cup whites)
• 3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about 5 small tangerine oranges)
• 2 tablespoons orange zest (2 tangerine oranges)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven 325 degrees F. Prepare 1 ungreased 10 inch two-piece tube pan. Reserve 2 tablespoons sugar for the egg whites.

In a large bowl, combine flour, the remaining sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. Make a well in the center. Add egg yolks, oil, juice, zest, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute.

In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Add the reserved sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Add the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture. Fold in with a balloon whisk or a slotted skimmer until just blended.

Pour into the tube pan. The batter will come up to 1 inch from the top. Run a small sharp knife through the batter several times to eliminate air pockets. Bake 55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert the pan over the narrow neck of a bottle and cool completely in a draft-free place.

To un-mold the cake, loosen the sides and center core with a long metal spatula. Invert onto a greased wire rack and loosen the bottom and center core. Re-invert onto a serving plate or wrap airtight. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired, or decorate with flowers.

Red Shirt Rally Day 43: Explosions in Bangkok BTS Station

I want to reassure all our family and friends that we are okay.

You have no doubt heard about the bomb attacks here in Bangkok. Last evening while commuters were going home, there were 5 grenade explosions at the Saladaeng BTS station in the business district. One person, a Thai, was killed and dozens were injured. This is so sad, because it seems that the stand-off will continue.

For how much longer? No one knows.

Buttermilk Country Cake

Some bakers say butter cakes and pound cakes are ideal for beginning bakers, but I've been having an over-mixing problem with these cakes. That slice has more holes than Swiss cheese!

The creme fraiche topping is excellent and so easy to make. Not as sweet as a frosting, it is slightly tangy. I admit the bananas aren't a very country touch, but peaches just weren't available at Tops Supermarket in the City of Angels. 

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Cake Monday: Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Rose Levy Beranbaum calls this Chocolate Chiffon Cake "guilt free" in The Cake Bible (1988), because, she says,  one slice of this cake only has 110mg of cholesterol. Since I started baking, I've moved on from butter cakes to chiffon and sponge cakes. I find butter cakes more challenging. However, this version is my second attempt at this chiffon cake recipe. The first time around, the chocolate batter was too stiff. I had mis-read the recipe and only used 1/4 cup of boiling water instead of 3/4 cup to make the chocolate mixture. I started over again, and now I have 1/3 cup cocoa powder left in my pantry and 8 1/2 ounces of egg whites left over in the refrigerator. A third cup cocoa powder isn't enough to make a cake but I suppose I can make an egg white omelet!

I combined the egg whites into the chocolate batter using a slotted skimmer. This is not a common kitchen implement; it's a spatula with a round head filled with tiny holes.  For cooking Chinese food, I thought the only use for a slotted skimmer is to drain deep-fried wontons and spring rolls. Since I now eschew anything deep-fried, I found another use for the skimmer: removing blanched asparagus spears and sugar snap peas from boiling water. Now I have yet another use for it! It worked really well blending the egg whites into the batter without over-mixing the batter or deflating the whipped egg whites. The finished height of this chiffon cake is 4 inches at the edges and 4 1/2 inches in the center. I trimmed the top to make it even all around. The scraps were delicious!

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