Sara Sarver

Today, we took a trip with our new friends/neighbors/Thai family to the edge of Khao Yai National Park.  It was originally a trip to look at shrubbery and flowers for our yard, as they are fellow gardeners and knew the best places with the best prices for us to see… and then it turned into a family outing to the waterfalls about an hour from our neighborhood.  After all, the garden shop was halfway there, so why not just keep driving toward some fun?

Long story short, it was great.  I loved the falls, the scenery, the mountains, our Thai family (yes, I call them family as we’ve connected so well and they have done so much to care for us already), and just everything that we did today.

Another thing I hold in common with them is a love for food.  Yep, the matriarch of the family (3 generations live in one house) enjoys cooking, and all of them very much enjoy eating.  Fabulous, no?  Every time we have a meal together, they bring (or order) us new things to try, as well as remember our favorite foods.  (And, I often return favors with baked goods, knowing they’ll enjoy it!).  Today was no different – as we went from the tree vendors to the falls, our friends told us to pull over so they could buy us a roadside snack.

All along the road (as is the case pretty much anywhere in Thailand) were little stalls and cabana-type structures hawking roasted meats, veggies, fruits, salads, and snacks.  The one we stopped at was selling something called ข้าวหลาม – khaaw laam.  Fortunately for you guys, I remembered to take a photo halfway through munching in the car.

It’s really a simple snack – sticky rice roasted over a fire or coals in a piece of hollowed out bamboo.  The rice is usually mixed with some sugar, coconut cream and sometimes black beans (like mine) or sesame before being roasted.  You can eat it hot right when you buy it or take it home, pop in the fridge, and eat it later cold.   Yum.

P.S.  In case you were wondering what we had for our picnic at the waterfall, we had perhaps my favorite meal in Thailand – som tam and roasted chicken.  This combination of food is to Thai picnics what burgers, hot dogs, and potato salad are to American barbecues.

… and Brook feasted on a couple of chicken feet.  Blergh.