Good morning …welcome to my weekly roundup… I do hope you are all keeping well and practising social distancing…I am…It is getting a bit unreal though…silence everywhere although the birds are still twittering and tweeting the squirrels are amusing me running around on the branches of the mango tree just outside my window playing catch me if you can while stopping for a munch on the mangoes every now and then…
Much is closed now and a nightly curfew is still in place as are roadblocks to prevent people from unnecessary travel between provinces…Hotels are closed to new guests, alcohol buying is prohibited in most provinces now and ours from yesterday to stop celebrations happening in villages and homes during Songkram (which) has been cancelled but there were fears people would buy alcohol and celebrate at home in groups. I have stocked up with water balloons and orbeez for the pool so the kiddies can enjoy Songkram in the safety of our home. It is becoming very real and surreal but communities are coming together even more than normal which is lovely to see.
Enough chatter from me for the minute let’s have a look at this last week…Grab your favourite drink…at the moment as I have already drunk my Oolong tea it is Coconut water…It is so hot I need to keep hydrated…settle down in your comfy reading place and let’s have look at the posts from last week…
Monday: Recycling and Climate Change…6th April 2020…Wildlife starts to return?
Nature is ever powerful and can regenerate so much faster than maybe even the learned scientists knew…Will any lessons be learnt?… I do hope so…Amongst all this tragedy we have to take some positives we have to believe that the world and its inhabitants can and will change for the better and respect nature more…Around the world, we are seeing blue skies and so much more…
https://carolcooks2.com/2020/04/06/recycling-and-climate-change6th-april-2020-wildlife-returns/
Tuesday: Down on the Farm…Tom Kha Gai and the Takhop Fruit…
My lemongrass is nearly ready to blitz into powder…I have mango peelings and pits soaking to make a syrup, broccoli stems make a lovely extra vegetable on your plate and my galangal is now frozen…My quest to use every single piece of what we eat..No waste is well underway…..The Tom Kha Gai was also delicious…
For tips and the recipes…Click the link below…
https://carolcooks2.com/2020/04/07/thailand-down-on-the-farm-tom-kha-gai-and-the-takhop-fruit/
Whimsical Wednesday… with CarolCooks2…
l will endeavour to keep my blog a happy place and not because I don’t care about what is going on but I need to stay positive and focused… I am happy that the British PM, Boris Johnson is now out of intensive care and wish him a full and speedy recovery…
Like these two bears please keep your social distance and have a Happy Easter at home xx
https://carolcooks2.com/2020/04/09/whimsical-wednesday-with-carolcooks2-2/
Thursday: Smorgasbord Health Column – Food Therapy – Brown Rice so much more than just a grain…
As a follow on from the recent series on the Weekly Grocery Shopping List of foods that contain the nutrients the body needs Sally is going to repeat her series from 2017 on the health benefits of some of our most common foods.
This week it is Brown Rice plus recipes…
Friday: CarolCooks2…This week in my kitchen 10th April…Homemade Bread …Pork and Peppercorn sauce.
Fresh peppercorns are one of my favourites and used in many Thai dishes…This Pork and Peppercorn sauce is very nice and quick to cook which is always a bonus especially here given the heat in the kitchen.
https://carolcooks2.com/2020/04/10/carolcooks2this-week-in-my-kitchen-10th-aprilhomemade-bread/
Saturday: Not for a few weeks…
Saturday Morning trip to the Market…Not this Saturday morning or until further notice although as it is a food market it is still open…I passed it yesterday as we were travelling to Makro for our monthly shop and it was heaving… no social distancing that I could see so my plan to avoid this market stays firmly in place…
I will be sharing some of the fruits and vegetables which I cook with here and some recipes until such times as normal service is resumed…
Enjoy your Easter and Passover celebrations in your own home…Be safe and stay well xxx
https://carolcooks2.com/2020/04/11/saturday-morning-trip-to-the-marketnot-for-a-few-weeks/
That’s all for this week…I hope you have enjoyed this weekly roundup xx I invite your comments…Let’s chat!
About Carol Taylor:
Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.
I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.
Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.
Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!
Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all are having a great weekend, stay safe and wash those hands xx
Retired? No one told me! 
I am so sorry I missed your entire exciting week, dear Carol, but I am catching up. Be well and stay safe!
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Thank you, Dolly we lost a dear brother in law on Tuesday makes it all seem real and scary moreso.. Take care 😊
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I am so sorry about your loss, dear Carol. My condolences to the family.
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Thanks for your blog, Carol, and for the optimism it gives me for the planet.
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Thank you, Pete and thank you for your constant support I always look forward to your comments. We have to stay positive hard as it is sometimes…Be safe and take care 🙂 x
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Happy Easter, Carol! I hope you and your are enjoying the Easter celebrations. Thank you for the great RoundUp. Coconut water, as a tea? 😉 Great idea, indeed! Here, we have only pear trees, in the garden. At least they are refined to Williams Christ pears. But nobody wants to make alcohol out of it. Best wishes, Michael
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No Coconut water as a drink just as it is, Michael…Pears are lovely especially with blue cheese. or baked with walnuts and honey very nice :)…Lucky you to have a pear tree 🙂
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Thanks, I’ve got it now.;-) A good idea. So that means that I will buy blue cheese, soon. Finally I have something to present. :-)) Thank you, Carol!
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My pleasure, Michael…Enjoy!
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Will do. Thank you, Carol!
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My new goal as “sheltering at home” enters week 4: staying safe and SANE! Nice to see that if we only just stopped driving and polluting so much, the air would clear!
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Well done we have also done a few weeks at home I just go out if I have to for food maybe twice a month …I know it is amazing how quckly the world is changing now noise and pollution has lessened…
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Isn’t it? I think a few of our social changes will stick to a degree and we’ll see a bit of a “cleaning up of the planet”…not a LOT, but some!
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Every little helps, John although I would love to see a whole lot of changes…I can but dream 🙂
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Definitely going to have a go at the Tom Kha Gai it sounds wonderful, also really like the idea of using all of the broccoli stalks. Loving how nature is reclaiming the world a bit now we are all locked away, hoping that it might lead to some lasting changes. Stay safe.
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I hope so, Sharon… We have brocollli stalks again tonight… I also hope it leads to some everlasting changes, Sharon x
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happy easter, carol and it’s so good to see the way the planet is thriving without us interfering with it. p.s. tom kha gai is my very favorite thai soup
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One of mine as well, Beth xx Happy Easter x
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Thanks for the mentions Carol… we are adapting, and I doubt that I will be quite so carefree about my shopping both in frequency, time of day and necessity again…xxhugsx
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My pleasure, Sally…I know I won’t be I also hope many more will be kinder and cook from scratch and waste less…The bonus would be governments and businesses realising that if they make changes to their manufacturing practises the results would be obvious within months/weeks…That would be the icing on the cake …I can but dream Hugs xxx
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We all can dream Carol and you are doing your bit to influence the rest of us to be more mindful… good job..♥
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Reblogged this on Smorgasbord Blog Magazine and commented:
Time for our resident food expert’s weekly roundup and this week Carol shares the clear skies over some of the most polluted parts of the globe as the lock down temporarily ceases production. I guess it is easy to see where the main culprits are! Some terrific recipes as always with ways to ensure that you use as much of the fresh produce as possible by preserving and freezing. There is also some whimsy from Wednesday… always informative and entertaining.. #recommended
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Thank you, Sally and thank you for the advice on the health benefits of eating brown rice…Hugs xxx
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