How do you say 'turkey' in Thai?

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We made it to Chiang Mai! It was no simple journey, let me tell you. It started with a 2 1/2 hour van ride to Krabi, complete with two tiny blonde children yet again. Then, after an hour at a rather sketchy transportation agency, we got in another van and were taken to another sketchy transportation agency. From there it was onto a bus that definitely looked as though it had seen better days. Still, it made the 4 hour journey to Surat Thani. We switched again (after eating some terrible noodles), this time to a significantly flashier bus, and rode another 9 hours to Bangkok. We had a very brief time in the capitol: just enough to get to the train station, stretch our legs, and get on the train to Chiang Mai. The 15 hour trek had us pretty darn happy to reach a shower and bed.

Despite the day and a half of straight travel, Caz and I were up early. It was Thanksgiving, after all! We were far from turkey and pie and green bean casserole, but that wasn't going to stop us from eating ourselves into a coma. We signed up to do a cooking course at Baan Thai cooking school. Our class consisted of a couple girls from Holland, one from Spain, and an American couple. There were five courses to be made, and for each we got to choose from three dishes.

My menu was:

 - Stir-fried prawns with curry powder

 - Spring rolls

 - Seafood in coconut milk soup

 - Green curry with chicken

 - Mango with sticky rice

Caz's looked like this:

 - Pad thai

 - Spring rolls

 - Chicken in Coconut milk soup

 - Chiang Mai noodles

 - Deep fried bananas

In the beginning Bat (I think? She said it means "duck" in Thai), an English major at Chiang Mai University and a trainee at the cooking school, explained the technique for making sticky rice and took us on a tour of the loal market, pointing out all the ingredients we would be using. She was quite nervous as it was her first time leading the first part of the class, and her English had some gaps, but she was very nice and cute and tried hard to get everything across to us.

When we returned we had a few snacks from the market, then got into the good stuff. The teachers divided to dishes between two kitchens, and everyone who prepared the same dish prepared their own ingredients and cooked them side by side as the teacher gave instructions. It was pretty quick, as most cooking must be, and if it were left to my memory, there's no way these dishes would ever get a repeat performance. Luckily we were given a very helpful recipe book, so we'll be able to get some hints if we forget anything. Once our dishes were done, we rejoined our table and all ate together.

All 5 courses followed the same pattern, with about an hour to walk around the neighborhood and digest between the soup and curry courses. We ate all the dishes we created, and it was good. Very good. Anyone who knows Caz and me is aware that a triple decker PB&J is the height of our cooking prowess. As unbelievable as it sounds, however, we succeeded in making some really delicious Thai dishes. Of my menu I think the stir-fried praws or the coconut milk soup were the best. I loved Caz's Chiang Mai noodles and deep fried bananas too. Of course, you can't go wrong with staples such as pad thai, spring rolls, and mango sticky rice either.

It was a day full of incredibly tasty food, and we ate to bursting. We left Baan Thai feeling sleepy and fulfilled, just as one should at Thanksgiving. Happy holidays!