May Kaidee's Vegetarian Cooking School Bangkok

What vacation is complete without indulging in a bit of gluttony?  Absolutely none if you ask me!  And that is exactly what we got at May Kaidee's Thai Vegetarian Cooking School.  We learned how to make 14 delicious vegetarian thai dishes and this was honestly a highlight of our trip.  

May Kaidee is a charming personality and a good enough teacher to make you feel half like she thinks you're an old friend and half like she thinks you're an absolute idiot without being offensive at all... 

To be fair I've never cooked with lots of the Thai ingredients before so it was fair enough if she thought I was a bit daft.

She educated us pretty quick though by stopping at a spring roll factory (which was basically one woman with a hot pan and some dough) and then a little market shopping for galangal, lemon grass, and kaffir limes.

The group consisted of a couple international teachers (Canadian and American) and a UN worker.  

Pretty interesting group of people.

All cooking was done in a basic open air kitchen... 

And they have everything sliced and diced already so it was pretty easy.

This was Tom Kha Soup I think.. whatever it was it was unbelievably delicious.... 

We were pretty sweaty since we were cooking over an open flame in 90 degree heat.... 

Somehow the Thai ladies don't seem to have a problem with this.

I felt like such a huge sweaty beast compared to them the whole trip.

Also good to note: Apparently Thai herbs give you a "pleasing body odor."

Nom nom.

This is Som Tom aka green papaya salad and was one of my fave Thai dishes... 

May Kaidee apparently liked dancing, which was cool with me because I love dancing. 

So she showed us some of her moves...

You know, as people usually do after eating 14 dishes.

And even Nick joined in!!

I would put this on the must do list for any epicurean travelling to Bangkok.

Delicious and fun! Yay!

ps.  Delicious in thai is "Aroy" - definitely my favorite Thai word.

pss. I only learned like 3 Thai words.

The Grand Palace : Bangkok

Hellllllllllllo Blogosphere!

Isn't it ironic that the busier I get the less action Kelly Leigh Get's Busy gets?  I think so.  But what can I say - I am super busy right now.  So busy in fact, that half of you probably don't even know that we just got back from Thaliand!!!

I had been wanting to go there for like 5 years so it was really a dream come true.  It was everything I could have asked for in a honeymoon that was 3 years in the making.  Ha!  

I really don't know where to start - I took 1,074 photos... and sorting through them feels a little mammoth task right now, but I guess the best place to start is the beginning...

We started our trip with a few nights in Bangkok, and did the touristy thing of going to the Grand Palace.  The Grand Palace is a Buddhist temple and it is hands down the most stunningly beautiful man made thing I have ever seen.... Imma be honest with you guys here and just come out and say it - it makes the Notre Dame look like child's play.

And my pictures hardly do it justice....

Yorkshire in the Spring

Hello friends,

I just wanted to share some pictures with you all from our weekend.

It's been exceptionally beautiful around here lately.  When the sun shines, it makes you wonder why you would ever throw massive temper tantrums about how much England sucks.  (ooops)  But right now when I look out the window and go on long walks with my dog and my husband, I have to think that God brought his A game when he created Yorkshire.

In fact, I have been in an exceptionally good mood lately.  I don't know whether it is because the flowers are blooming and the sun is shining or because I have gotten into vet school... but I guess it might be a bit of both.  There is something incredibly liberating about achieving your dreams.

The stresses of moving our little family to America are pretty big, but I somehow seem able to deal with them infinitely better than I ever have before, perhaps this is because my shitty dead end job has just become a short chapter in my life, and not my destiny.  

There are a million things we still need to figure out... I haven't even decided where I am going to school yet... I'm still waiting to hear back from one school.  And did you know that even when you don't live in America you have to file US taxes?  This was news to me.

Somehow I have faith that we will get all of it sorted out, and before I know it our little house in England will be sold, and I will be most definitely be complaining about how !"£"$$ %%^ hard my vet school tests are.  But for now, I am enjoying my time in God's country... 

Joni Mitchell came on the radio today, singing about how you "Don't know what you got till it's gone" and I thought man that girl knew her shit.  I guess it took me 3 challenging years to well and truly make my peace with this country, and now that I know I am leaving I can finally appreciate what it has to offer.

Without England I might not have discovered my passion for gardening, and I would have never thought about keeping chickens in my backyard (if you follow me on pinterest you know I am OBSESSED and we will be getting some asap)... I would also not know how much I freaking love tea and biscuits.  

So for now, I'm enjoying my last few months in Yorkshire, and appreciating all this quirky country has to offer.

xoxoxo

Kelly

From Class Dunce to Silver Award!!!

My little Doodle has just done me very proud. 

Some of you may remember her first obedience class... 

in which she quickly established herself to be the class dunce by breaking two leashes...

But she made us so proud tonight, 

she passed her silver award level with the Kennel Club's Good Citizen Dog Training Scheme!

I couldn't be a happier dog owner!

And in case you don't believe me...

Proof below...

I love this animal!

Crufts! For the Love of Dogs!

Well friends, Nick and I are completely pooped from yesterday's big day out to the Worlds Biggest Dog Show - Crufts!  I know it is the "world's biggest" but nothing could prepare you for just how big it is.  It took a good 15 - 20 minutes to walk from one end of the convention center to the other, dodging hundreds of sales people for EVERYTHING dog related, (I am still begging Nick to let me buy Heidi this goregous dog bed) and trying not to get distracted by the cute dogs that were competing for the prestigious best in show.
the whole day was massively jam packed with events, and we could have gone for the whole four days and not seen everything, but some highlights from the arena included...

The start of a canicross race... (we finally got our own canix hands free jogging belt... I'm pretty excited to not have my arm pulled off by Heidi everytime we go running...)

We also watched heelwork to music... which was pretty entertaining considering the winner was dressed as a giant frog.

We cheered at the neck and neck agility finals...

And learned a lot at the fantastic gun dog displays which we must get Heidi involved in ASAP.

But the best part of all was really just wandering between judging rings.. checking out people and their dogs.  Like this cliche red head with her gorgeous Irish Setter.

The red and white setters really were stunning.

This made us laugh..

The Gordon and English Setter cuddling.

A poodle, a collie, a visla and a westie stopped to have a chat while their owners were buying them some well deserved toys...

A group of great danes hanging out at the Eukanuba stand.

This was our hands down favorite breed that we'd never heard of before - the Italian Spinone.  Huge dogs, but soooo sweet and cuddly, I had one pretty much on my lap when I stopped to chat with his owner.

And of course, the real reason we have become so dog obsessed around these parts... The German Shorthaired Pointer... arguably the best breed ever.

What's not to love - playful, cuddly, low shedders, and soooo gorgeous!  There were some incredibly handsome males around and I am seriously tempted to get Heidi a lil broski soon.

How could you not love those sweet faces?

 And look at this little fella in his tweed with his GSP... I was cheering for him to win Best of Breed, but a lovely old lady won instead.  I have to say I have never seen so much tweed in my life.  Must be a gun dog owner thing.  There were so many vendors selling tweed skirt/suit combos I was almost tempted to buy one and get in on the country dog showing lifestyle.

More German Shorthaired Pointers Competing for the big win at Crufts...

We really had the most fantastic time, and I can honestly say that before I went I was wary of the whole dog show scene - breeding for exaggerated features and creating mutant dogs that aren't truly healthy.  But after yesterday I really got the impression that the Kennel Club is a great organization, that understands the value of dogs in our lives.  They want you to get the most out of YOUR dog, purebred or mutt, and support activities such as Canix, Agility, heelwork, gun dog training, and obedience (which Heidi and I personally attend and I think is great...Heidi may have other thoughts..)

When I walked around the show rings at Crufts, there were so many happy healthy dogs, with their breeders and/or owners who loved them and were proud of them.  There were dogs and owners cuddled up together, dogs being kissed and fussed over.  While some of the judges and breeders may need to take a deeper look at the traits they are breeding for, The Kennel Club is developing more and more genetic tests which will hopefully eradicate some of the genetic problems we see today.  Couple that with the introduction of the super strict vet checks and I think purebred dogs are back on the right track.  Some of these people may have be misguided, but they still want the best for their dogs.

As much as I support adoption of mutts, I believe there will always be a place for responsible breeders in the dog world.  Breeders who will stop to talk to you to tell you how great their breed is - but make sure you're not getting yourself a dog that isn't right for you.  Breeders who will make sure no puppy will ever end up in a pound because they are strict about who they let buy their dogs.  These are the breeders that expect you to send them pictures of your new dog on it's birthday, and will answer your emails when you just can't figure out how to break your puppy's bad habits.

Dogs are most certainly one of life's greatest joys.  And I hope that all of you can experience the pure and unconditional love of a dog, whatever your breed (or nonbreed) of choice.

Paws Up!
-Kelly