ChiFlyer

For me - the key to learning any language is continual repetition unless one has some kind of intrinsic language ability. I certainly do not. It took me 5 years to become decent at Spanish and I had a patient native speaker girl friend during those 5 years. I also took 4 years of Spanish at the local JC and read books on the train into downtown Chicago from the burbs where I lived. Being retired in Thailand now with myself reaching the end of the early part of the year US activities (tax season, FBAR, etc.), I am in need of a new hobby. I am thinking about taking another run (5th time now?) at getting better at pasathai. Game plan to start is to use Google Translate to hear the sounds of the expressions that I already know. -> (Teim h̄ı̂ tĕm). From there drill vocabulary making sure to hear the phonetics properly. From there practice with the Mrs and possibly take a course.

I am about half way through S04 of "For All Mankind". IMDB 8.1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_All_Mankind_(TV_series) Usually, I do not care for alternative history shows, but this one is really well done.

Yes, I do use a pressure cooker and use it several times a month. I bought an Instant Pot through Lazada. This pot is manufactured in the US, so it is not wired for 220. They send it to the UK to be made 220 compatible and then send that on to Thailand. It was kind of pricey at about 12,000 as I recall. On the other hand I am very happy with it and do use it frequently. It has multiple settings so that it can be used as a steamer, pressure cooker, slow cooker, saute pan etc. I use it most frequently to make soups and also chicken stock. https://www.google.com/search?q=instant+pot&sca_esv=40ad471a4e6b196f&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u#spd=16157608380652506747 With regard to beans, I use canned beans. It was believed for a long time by many people that cooking your beans from scratch with dry beans was a better way to go. ATK and some others did some studies that concluded canned beans (depending on the product) was a better way to go. I can not post a link for the ATK review as one has to subscribe (pay money) to use their site these days. It did not use to be that way. I seldom follow their show anymore because of things like this. The ATK recommended product for canned beans in the US was Goya. Goya is not available in Thailand, but Bush is at VM and IMO it is a close second. The other problem with Goya for me personally is that the CEO makes pro-DaRump statements. They had an add of Invanka posing with a can. https://www.businessinsider.com/ivanka-trump-roasted-for-photo-promoting-goya-black-beans-2020-7 I am of the opinion that dry beans are just not worth the effort.

Here is the Swifty recap of the game. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/11/entertainment/taylor-swift-super-bowl-kelce/index.html

Not to mention Swifty Power. 🙂

Cajun Shrimp and Sausage Pasta - Addendum I made this dish again tonight. I decided to lightly brown (a little over 5 minutes) the Andouille Sausage before adding to the sauce as is done in Alton Brown's Shrimp Gumbo recipe. This improved the overall flavor IMO. I would show pics of tonight's preparation, but they look quite similar to the pics in the earlier post.

From my twenties after breaking up with my college sweetheart. Actually she tossed my rotten ass out. I was hurt. I had not been a perfect boyfriend. This song helped.

Chicken Salad Sometimes something rather simple turns out as tasting really good. I had a Chicken-Avocado Sandwich in my lineup, but wasn't all that happy with it. I searched around for Chicken Salad alternatives and decided to try this recipe. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a54787/best-chicken-salad-sandwich-recipe/ I followed the recipe exactly as stated for the salad portion as this was a first try. I decided it to serve it over a bed of lettuce as opposed to on a baguette. I have enough carbs in my diet. This worked out really well and the Mrs liked it as well. The chicken poaching step has endless options (Garlic, spices, ...). There are a lot of things one can do to pimp up the salad portion of the recipe as well. I have already decided to sprinkle in some raisins next time. Also there is a spice missing that I can not quite put my finger on. I will have to do a little more reading about Chicken Salad recipes. A pic. The slice of cranberry walnut Sourdough Bread was obtained via Lazada. I thought it was quite good, but the Mrs did not care for that option, even though she very much liked the Chicken Salad.

Jerk Chicken revision #3. I continue to experiment and adjust my attempts at making a Jerk Chicken dinner that I am happy with. I made another such attempt tonight. I found the results to be an improvement, but the process still needs more work. I tossed the recipe that I had been using and tried the following: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/jamaican-jerk-chicken I liked the results better, but it seemed to be missing a few things. After reading a few other Jerk Chicken recipes, I decided the next attempt would be this recipe again but I would add 1 tsp of ground cloves and a small amount of a sweetener (probably 1 TBSP Isan Honey). I may also cut back on the Allspice a little as it is dominating the taste more than I would like. Had some success with finding a better hot chilli to use in Thailand as Scotch Bonnet etc. are not available. I picked up a small packet of "Orange Cayenne" at the Little Walk VM. Spot on for what I was looking for. I would categorize this chilli as being somewhere in-between jalapeno and habanero. The Mrs used a couple in her Som Tom and really liked the taste as well. I did the chicken in the oven at 190 C for 30 minutes and temped it. Spot on at about 175 F. As usual I used chicken thighs as they are very forgiving with regard to not becoming over cooked. A well prepared Jerk Chicken should be done on the grill or at least finished on the grill in order to crisp the skins. Because I was experimenting for taste, I decided not to do this. Also grilling outside in Thailand, given the rising temperatures at this time of year, is becoming unpleasant. If and when I get to the point that I am satisfied with the taste of the Jerk marinade, I will move to finishing the chicken on a grill. Some pics of the current effort, which despite my being a curmudgeon about it, was pretty decent. The Mrs and I did like the taste of the marinade. More later, but not for a while.

A Stephen Colbert interview with Christopher Nolan (writer and director of "Oppenheimer"). Interesting I thought.

The Mothers with Edie and Flo -> "Happy Together" The song popped into my head tonight.

For fans of the excellent US news documentary show "Frontline", the new season S42 began on January 23rd. Two episodes have been released so far in 2024.

My granddaughter turned 7 yesterday. Due to the time difference I do not get to communicate a lot with her or her brother. Still I am sent a few pics and try to get over for a visit from Thailand to the US every few years. At approaching 75 that is about all the long distance travel that I can afford, needing Business Class these days. Still the event brings a few songs to mind.

"The Man from Earth" IMDB 7.8 2007 At 1:27 this movie is not a big time commitment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth I watched it this afternoon and I would recommend giving it a try. Probably not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. It has zero big name stars and the filming feels like an old B movie. Still the philosophical vent can be interesting. I pulled it from IPT after noticing it on a recommended list.

I have an iPhone and the answer for ios is the same -> Google Translate.

This is not my bike. It is being sold by the cousin of my Thai wife. He is a reasonably responsible 30 year old or so Thai guy coming out of a divorce. We have him over to the house for dinner from time to time. My read on the guy is that he is an upstanding young man with a very good job by Thai standards. If there is interest in the bike send me a PM and I can be an initial conduit. The young man lives/works in Chonburi and that is where the bike is currently located. He does not speak great English, but can communicate. The Mrs told him that I sold my bike fairly quickly by posting a few internet ads and asked me to post her cousin's info. I have no idea if this is a good or bad deal as stated. I suspect there may be some wiggle room. Nice looking bike though. Model - Yamaha 321 Year - 2018 Mileage - 40,000 kms Asking price - 90,000 Pics

@tommy dee Back when we purchased the company that owns the house we live in, I was looking to possibly re-tile the pool. Now that we are into the cooler weather (the water is uncomfortable for swimming at this point) I am thinking this would be a good time to do this. I have tried contacting a couple of firms that do this type of work, but not gotten any responses. IIRC you had this type of project done at one of your places. Any company that you might be able to recommend for a getting started conversation?

When we bought the shares of the company that owns our pool villa, I remember being told that we needed to pay some kind of property tax once a year. I have since fired the lawyer-accountant that we used for the actual purchase. He made a few mistakes and was not as responsive as I thought that he should be. Our pool villa is legally in Huay Yai. Anyone have any thoughts on how I can proceed on this. I have a new lawyer for our other matters (wills etc.), but I am under the impression that the property tax is something that I could do myself. Also, I believe this is a small amount of money based on what I have been told. Any comments?

IIRC (always a bet to hedge) Eric Clapton's most serious drug problems (primarily heroin) came well after the "Cream" and "Blind Faith" albums. His recovery (3 years later as I understand it) increased his abuse of other forms of mood altering substances (primarily alcohol and cocaine in Clapton's case). The release from heroin addiction led to the "461 Ocean Boulevard" album. btw - Clapton (like Slash) has been clean for decades and has done a lot to assist other recovering persons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/461_Ocean_Boulevard# "I Shot the Sheriff" was easily the most commercially successful cut on the album. I was partial to "Let it Grow".

Killers of the Flower Moon I made it through watching “Killers of the Flower Moon” today. IMDB 7.7. The IMDB is understated IMO. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killers_of_the_Flower_Moon_(film) This is a powerful movie and well worth watching. At 3.5 hours long it is a bit much to get through. I split the movie in half and watched it over two days. Mesmerizing in many places. The movie is based on actual events. https://slate.com/culture/2023/10/killers-flower-moon-movie-true-story-osage.html Stephen Colbert interviewed Scorsese about the film and the exchange was interesting I thought. Basically, -> how dark is the human heart? https://youtu.be/XKy-68o_NpE “Killers of the Flower Moon” received 9 Academy Award nominations. “Oppenheimer” received 13. It could be a shootout. My money is on “Oppenheimer”, but “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a tremendous movie. DiCaprio not being nominated was a major snub. I pulled the movie through IPT.

Winwood and Clapton - "I Can't Find my Way Home". One of my favorite songs ever. I was lost and then I was found and then I got lost again. I'd like to think that I have been found again.

Stumbled into this cut while browsing something else. Steve Winwood and Carlos Santana -> "Why Can't We Live Together".

I have mentioned my "Shrimp Gumbo" dish before, but never posted directly about it here at T24x7. I prepare the Alton Brown version with a few enhancements. I made this dish tonight. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/shrimp-gumbo-recipe-1946875 I like using a dark roux for this dish, so I use Brown's oven method detailed in the recipe. For a blonder roux I would use a standard stove-top prep. A dark roux can be a little trickier as it can go from almost done to scorched quickly. I had a 4 cup container of Shrimp Stock in the freezer, so I did not make a shrimp stock. The Mrs. gladly accepted all the heads etc. in order to make a stock for one of her Isan dishes. Unfortunately, I discovered that my frozen container was a little short of 4 cups. Hmmm, as Brown states in the recipe this is a dish where one needs to be exacting with the proportions. I addressed this with the tomatoes. As I have said before I am not very fond of Thai Tomatoes. In this dish and others similar to it I use a can of diced tomatoes, but drain them through a strainer. I added the drained tomato liquid to the shrimp broth along with a little water and this yielded 4 cups. I would normally use White Wine to extend a shrimp stock, but I was out. I wonder who drank all that White Wine. The original version of Brown's Gumbo is very good with a clean taste. However, I like heat and also have a Thai wife. I pumped up the heat a little. I doubled the amounts of both the cayenne and black pepper. Also, after patting the shrimp dry, I sprinkled the shrimp with a Cajun seasoning (I use Emeril Lagasse's homemade Bayou Blast) before adding them to the pot near the end. Andouille Sausage can be dicey to find in Pattaya. I buy mine online through Smokey Mountain (used to be Prime I think). They are located in Pattaya, so the delivery charge is minimal, https://smokeymountainfoods.com/product-tag/andouille-sausage/ File Powder is probably impossible to find in Pattaya. I bought mine from an online source located in Phuket. hmmm, I am running low. Just bought some more. Looks like they are now selling this item through Lazada. This is the only dish that I use File Powder, so I only bought one bottle. That should last two years. https://thaiartisanfoods.com/product/cajun-file-gumbos-cajun-stews/ A few pics. The dish turned out very well IMO and the Mrs. thought it was good as well.

I recently started watching a TV series called -> "Prison Break". IMDB 8.3 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455275/ Plenty of action and plot twists. An implausible plot for sure, but I am enjoying the show. 5 seasons. 88 episodes and a 2 episode movie at the end of S04. Several Emmy awards as well. It is from Fox. I pull it from IPT.