The first thing I did upon arrival in Chiang Mai, Thailand, was head to May Kaidee’s Vegetarian Restaurant. It’s on Ratchapakinai Road, next to the Sumit Hotel, about 4 doors up from the Thai Red Cross office, which is easy to spot. I had a bowl full of something luscious, with coconut milk curry...
Despite my uncomfortable and worrisome, bubbling and unstable abdomen, I decided to brave the trip to Warorot Market, an enormous warren of shops. Typical of markets throughout Asia, this one filled the three or four stories of the concrete building, plus all the space in the side streets adjacent to it. At home, we...
I spent the day at Chiang Mai Batik Painting School with Ann, the teacher, at her home. She served me some snack/dessert cakes she had gotten at her daughter’s school. They were like miniature crepes, stuffed with a filling like you’d find in eclairs, and rolled like burritos. The Thai name sounded “like Tokyo,”...
I went to lunch with the wife of a friend, to celebrate the 26th-year anniversary of my becoming a vegetarian. Thanksgiving Day, 2003 was the last time I ate meat. I had my last fix of turkey and went, well, cold turkey after that, and have never looked back. I did at one point...
During my cooking class at May Kaidee’s Vegetarian Restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand, one of the other students asked Duan, May’s sister and the woman in charge of the shop, what the secret was to their pancakes. “We use a mix,” she replied, “and coconut milk.” “Ah, it must be the coconut milk,” my...
I chose to spend my Thanksgiving holiday by “volunteering” at the Elephant Nature Park. I was picked up by a van at my guesthouse and rode with ten other tourists from Canada, the U.S., Brazil and the U.K. for an hour and a half to the sanctuary. Once there we were given a safety...
Happy Thanksgiving to you all back home in the U.S.! It’s a day ahead here in Thailand, so my Thanksgiving was celebrated one day before the U.S. I went to visit my two Thai massage friends at their shop and took some Pad Thai, Penang Curry, and rice from my favorite vegetarian Restaurant here...
The other students who were with me for our vegetarian cooking class shrieked when they heard the cha-ching, cha-ching of an ice cream vendor pass the restaurant. “Ai Dtim! You dtim. We all dtim for ai dtim!” The Thai version of the ice cream truck had passed. “You have to try it,” they insisted....
I went back to my favorite, May Kaidee’s Vegetarian Restaurant, not wanting to experiment with breakfast. I get that way with recipes sometimes, going back to tried-and-true old favorites rather than trying new things, because when I get too many flubs and just want good food, I want good food! Good old Pad Thai...
Yesterday I tried a different vegetarian restaurant, Taste From Heaven, which supports the work of the Elephant Nature Park, a haven for elephants rescued from the hands of abusive owners or those who are otherwise unable to properly or adequately feed or care for them. It also helps remove older elephants who are no...
