Pad Thai

So I went way out of my comfort zone and made pad thai.  I grew up in a small farming community and wasn't exposed to a lot of different food. It wasn't until I was an adult I got to try new things, from different cultures. One day out of blue while ordering lunch for work, my coworker suggested I try some pad thai, and I really liked it. But because I didn't eat a lot of asian food I had no idea how to make it, let alone just what was in it.  Through the years, I tried it at different places, and it always tasted just about the same, but always good. It wasn't a dish, like Shepard's Pie, where depending on who is making it, it can taste completely different and can be really, really gross.  So for a while now, I have been picking up items here and there to make it, the rice noodles one time, the sauce another, I was, I thought, finally ready to attempt it.

But the day of I needed to get bean sprouts, so we ran by the store and I picked up a few items, while getting the sprouts. After I got home and checked the recipe again I realized I also needed to get green onions as I call them, scallions as others call them, well la de la. They are just green onions. So back to the store I went.

I won't add the recipe again, because I just used what was on the box, anyone can find it. But I read it over and I figured I was good to go.

I started soaking the noodles, and prepping everything else. Chopping the peanuts, and onions, cleaning and de-veining the shrimp. Something that was another first for me, I didn't think it would be so easy, you should trust yourself and just go for it. I heated the oil, got the egg, and shrimp in, the noodles started cooking. It is cool how they sort of deflate and get soft.  All while I am doing this the bread I made is in the oven. This by the way, was the hottest day of the year so far, both the oven and stove wasn't making it much better. I got everything else in, and I was finished. Yahoo!

I called my son in to try it, while it was still hot. We were both down to our last bites when a DUH moment happened, I realized I left the bean sprouts out. It was still good, we didn't notice, but I can see how they add to the dish. Next time, I will focus on one thing at a time, and bake the bread after I eat.  But what do you do with two cups of bean sprouts?  I guess I need to find another great recipe to try.  One thing I have to admit is that I used pre-made sauce, I wanted to deal with using rice noodles and not have to worry about  trying another recipe at the same time. So maybe after the next couple of times I make this, I will attempt to make the sauce also.

It was a nice change to the usual thing. I can say my mother never made anything close to it when I was growing up. I am hoping that when my children look back they can say that their mom was awesome, and could make anything.

You can see the bread, with the melting butter on top, the rolls in the back. Also I didn't think to take a photo of the pad thai until it was all gone, but you can tell we enjoyed it.