Homemade Thai Feast

What a feast!!!  I was all ready for making a beef stew last Sunday night.  I headed off on Sunday afternoon, in a very hungover state, to do by 2 weekly grocery shop.  I bought everything that I had on the list, and definitely still when I left I had in my head that I was making stew for dinner.

But when I got home and unpacked the shopping I couldn't get the idea of making a thai out of my head.  I bought all of the ingredients to make a chicken and cashew nut thai red curry, but I then realised that really, a feast was all that was going to cure the hangover!

We ended up with;

• Thai red chicken curry with cashews and mange tout
• Satay rice noddles
• Egg Fried rice (Uncle Ben's Mircowave!)
• Soy and Honey glazed purple sprouting

Giggling Squid

After so much food over the last couple of weeks the only option is really to eat a bit more! We spent the last 2 days of 2013 with G's parents and on Monday night (30th) they took us to Reigate for a gorgeous Thai meal.

We went to the Giggling Squid and had a lovely time.  I am so enjoying Thai food and would definitely go back to a Giggling Squid (they are dotted all over Kent, Sussex and Surrey).

We would recommend:

Finger Food Platter A lovely set of spring rolls, prawns on toast, golden parcels and pork dumpling.

Chicken Satay Succulent marinated chicken grilled on skewers. Served with peanut sauce, a cucumber and shallot relish.

Paneang Chicken Curry

Pa-neang is another form of red curry. Thicker with coconut milk and grounded peanut. Also Pa-naeng has stronger fragrance from finely sliced lime leaves.

Chicken Pad Prik (chilli paste, bean and Kaffir lime leaf)

Stir-fry red curry paste, Thai long bean and lime leaf NUT

Impromptu Weekend

What a fantastic and social weekend we had.  Friday night we popped over to friends for pizza and Children in Need, on Saturday we headed over to lovely Lewes for a coffee, and on Sunday we drove to Chichester for a Thai Dinner for our friends 30th Birthday.

That was the plan anyway...but Saturday ended up turning from a lunch time coffee into a whole 12 hours of lovely conversations, copious amounts of red wine, a walk around Lewes castle and several pubs.

It is so nice when days like Saturday happen and that you end up having such a lovely time that you just end up spending the whole day together.  My friend Harriet and I had decided to have a coffee and then, realising our other halves had never met, we invited them along.

We headed to the Pelham Arms for lunch where I indulged in a very tasty burger and some wine.  After lunch I made the executive decision that not drinking wasn't fun at all and that leaving the car in Lewes for the night was the best idea!  It certainly was!

After lunch we wandered to Lewes Arms, a gorgeous little pub hidden behind the castle for some wine and to meet friends, after which we headed to the lovely Kings Head for more Merlot.

As if we hadn't eaten and drunk enough we shared a lovely Dinner with Harriet and Ellis at Pailin Thai Restaurant, Station Street, and then headed back to theirs for some late night board games and popcorn!

What a wonderful weekend, and I'm very much a believer that the unplanned, impromptu weekends are often the best.

Merlot at the Pelham Arms

Harriet and Me at the Lewes Castle Gates

So many lovely hidden gems to discover in Lewes