Category Archives: blogs

Dogs are not our whole life but they make our life whole… Saangchai and Soi Dogs…

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Having just returned from my few days away I am still playing catchup…So I thought as Saangchai missed me I would repost one of his earlier posts which also has a link to Soi Dogs the wonderful organisation where we got Saangchai from…Without them, there would be so many more stray dogs on the streets…I will now hand you over to Saangchai…

Yeah…I get to chat with you…Woof…First time in a while but hopefully my mistress will let me on here much more..For now, this is an earlier one I wrote when I was just a puppy… Now I am grown up I don’t chew any more…and I let her friends in now although I do give them the once over a little warning scowl( growl)…

 

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It just fell apart!

It seems like everything I just “lick” falls apart…….well maybe..just maybe I chew it a little bit……Hey, peeps welcome to my Monday blog… have you noticed that I don’t say ” woof ” so often?

It ‘s because my mistress…. she doesn’t like it and I think I am just going to have to do as I am told.

Her friends came round..again!……..So I barked… well I did growl too……but they came in any way and my mistress she got her…you will do as you are told voice on…and kept saying NO!

What’s a boy to do?  anyway I gave one last  ” woof ” and lay down beside her…but that lady seemed very nice, I slowly crept under the table towards her….she let me lick and smell her hand…she seems ok..maybe next time  I’ll be nice….she smelt of lots of other dogs so maybe she has forever dogs too..she must be ok…..my mistress is pretty cool so if she says it’s ok ….

Yehhhhh little master is here, we have so much fun…he plays and rolls about with me…today he is excited and keeps saying we are going to the beach..what’s the beach?

Anyway off we go in the truck… it wasn’t very far and I wasn’t sick..hehe…he is good fun!

Oh, this is nice and soft and I can dig holes! We run and run and went down to the water it was much bigger than that lake the other day…my mistress splashed me and it was fun…but then those things they call ” waves ” they chased me……I run off…  it scared me!

My little master and my mistress gave me lots of pats and told me it was ok…but..those waves still chased me…

SAM_7095 SAM_7096 SAM_7097 SAM_7098 SAM_7099 SAM_7100But It was fun we played ball and my little master can run really fast… just like me…my mistress wouldn’t let me off the lead…she said maybe next time…she is worried I might run off…but come on…would I?

My mistress has asked me if I can tell you my lovely readers about “Soi  Dogs”..she was watching something yesterday and she kept wiping her eyes ..these humans are silly sometimes ….she cuddled me and was really sad for a little while…

Ok..then I’ll do it……please read this and if you can give one of my furry friends a ” forever home”  like me or just……donate some money…what’s money?  I don’t use that!

BUT ANYWAY….here is the link…. please watch it as I don’t want my mistress to be sad…….and if you help…woof, woof…I won’t bark at you if you come to my home…..DEAL?

dog meat tradehttps://www.soidog.org/

See you soon…Thanks for reading…Saangchai…Woof

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.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

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!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3 

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a creative week ahead xx

Things That Bloggers Need to Stop Getting Stressed About

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Great advice on how not to get bogged down and envious ….Love what you do and celebrate your success 🙂

Suzie Speaks

imageHow to blog. There are so many questions that I see being thrown around continually among bloggers. How often should I post? Should I create a Pinterest or Stumble Upon account? What plug-ins should I use? How often should I share my posts on social media? Should I be self-hosted? There is no definitive guide as to how to create a successful blog, and therefore there are no definitive set of right or wrongs. Most of what I have learned has been through trial and error, and from advice given by bloggy friends. Some of it has worked, some of it hasn’t, and I have shared my experiences in the hope that they prove useful for others. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that my advice will be successful for everyone, if indeed anyone at all. Focus on doing what works for you, don’t be afraid to try new things, and…

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Who else could burn hard boiled eggs?

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What a week I have had in the kitchen…You couldn’t make it up….

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Firstly…I love black rice but no one else in my family does, well except for Saangchai. So I put a small amount in a pan with some water ..I was not cooking  enough to use the rice cooker..checking and checking it didn’t appear to be cooking so I kept topping up the water again and again, it was drinking it…mmmmm

Then the lights when on!

 

It was glutinous black rice aka ( sticky rice) ……Plan B….so I soaked it.

Popped it in the Sticky rice basket to steam ….

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.Where was my head that day it just exploded ( not my head)…..I had all this really swollen rice to more than twice its size….At least the dog ate it…..So I do have kitchen disasters you will be pleased know…lol

But the bright side of my week was ….The Thai family came over and I said I would cook….I decided to make Nam Doc Moo which is  sliced BBQ pork/beef with Coriander/mint and shallots and the requisite chillies, lime and fish sauce.

I was asked do you not use Msg..shock , horror from me Nooooooooo!

So I presented my plates of Nam Doc and it just went to Ooohs and Ahhhs and a demonstration of how much Msg they use and the translation was that mine was much better than theirs when they didn’t use msg.They loved it!

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To say  that I wasn’t just a tiny bit pleased is an understatement..from a Thai?…It’s taken at least 6 yrs to get this good at making Thai food and now I have cracked it..Yehhhhhh

I was stoked…so happy!

That euphoria didn’t last, yesterday I burnt the boiled eggs….Now those you who are writers will understand how engrossed we get in our work….won’t you?

An hour later…I came down as I was summoned…He shouted at me!

One of the eggs had exploded over the kitchen and the other two were burnt as was the bottom of the saucepan……Oooooops

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So a mixed week in the kitchen with more disasters than I have had for a while.

Oh and after 6 years, juggling with the heat and the different flours I have finally made the PERFECT DUMPLING!

Until next time.

Stay safe, laugh a lot and be happy.

 

 

 

 

 

A-Z Challenge( People Edition) 2nd Post.

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This is my second post on the A-Z  challenge…The brain child of https://gapawa.com/2016/05/24/a-z-challenge-people-edition/ It won’t be daily but whenever I find that blog! I am having so much fun looking for that blog the one that stops me in my tracks! The one I really like and want to write about. Firstly I look at my faithful band of followers whose posts I love….the problem is so far I have found zilch at the beginning of the alphabet so have been trawling the web…..and oh what an eye opener that has been….what crap some people write…..

But after much deliberation and frustration I have found some little gems…yehhhhh!

” Luffa ” Update….it’s reached the top of the pot…..just saying!

Food blogs I love…. mainly Thai closely followed by Indian…. but either they are so ” famous” they don’t need any help from Moi and so full of adverts that it inhibits my reading….I just want to see the recipe!

Anyway I digress and I found …quite by chance a ” Humour blog! and I love it..it’s my type of humour and can be found at http://bunkaryudo.com/

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Now who puts a paper bag on their head…Bun ( as he is affectionately) called does..ha ha well I had the best time wandering through as he chatted about old bags, pigeon poop, one thousand words on the inside of a ping pong ball!

I am still smiling and underneath that bag I reckon is an intelligent guy with a wicked sense of humour and I bet if you read one post you will read two….

But  on a serious note he…Bun tells you ( depending) on where you live….mmmm he left me out…but I forgive him that…when you will recieve his post.

Ha Ha  just read ” The Ghost of Christmas Presents ”  this blog is addictive and if I had a glass of wine in my hand at the moment..but I haven’t it’s only 6.40 I would choke….this man must be British or have some British blood in his veins he is funny and will be my go to blog if I am having a bad day…

Thank you Bun 🙂

I will be back sometime and I promise I will find some brilliant blogs for you…gotta be a good one to top this but I will find you…you can’t hide…. so if your blog name starts with “C” I am coming!  Or if you have a wicked blog and want a bit of promo and it starts with the letter ” C” then contact me….Now there is an  offer you can’t refuse 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Connexions!

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I once read an article which stated that we could go around the world with the people we knew and they knew in 6 people which is weird but true.

I have only know Sally from Smorgasboard through likes and shares but when you dig deeper we have a bit in common.

We both owned a tri – coloured Collie, ours was named Sam.

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At one point we also lived fairly close to each other in the Uk and now we are both moving around the 15th April or thereabouts….coincidence or what?

Do you have any ties with someone you barely knew  or know but have things in common? Let me know….

 

Saang Chai……my life with humans!

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Shooooosh..Hey I’m back..my mistress has gone to get a fresh Coconut drink and I thought I would sneak on…she has been working like a trojan on her book and a dog hasn’t had chance to get a word in…..I shadow her and zilch… but she’s been gone a while and I can hear her talking so if I type quick I can update you on my exploits…all good..woof!

We are moving soon and I am going on a plane not sure if I like that idea but spose it’s better than being in a truck or car for 18hours..that’s what mum says anyway and she knows best. I must have cage so she’s getting one from the vets this week to get me used to it..she doesn’t me to get scared..but I’m tough…wooof

We are getting a house…she said, with a garden that is walled in.. so Houdini can’t get out…I have never met this Houdini don’t know who they are, woof….

Our garden is big here with lots of trees and lots of places I can get out…..but I bring presents back……my mistress doesn’t like it though and my master went to see the man who keeps  putting presents out for me…he he …he has now put a cage round his black bags with such big gaps.. I can just walk straight in and get a bag…..my master is quite angry..but what’s a dog to do we all get the bags and love seeing what’s in them.

 

I was very sick the other week though and had to go to the vet…he gave me an injection and tablets and my mistress kept saying to me I was a silly boy and why did I eat things from these bags when she cooked me nice food…well she does…I get fresh cooked chicken and kidneys..all sorts and nice bones but I am a dog……woof

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I don’t bark and growl at her friends anymore and then I get lots of pats so that’s good

Uh Oh…here she comes best go…until next time and I will tell you all about my plane ride…woof

Thai Lemon Grass Salad(Yum Takrai)

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This recipe is for all you veggies as promised. I personally love this salad it is so fresh and vibrant, you could leave out the dried shrimp if you really eat no meat or fish products, slightly different taste but still good as if I don’t have any to hand then I leave them out.

Yum Takrai (Spicy Lemon grass Salad)

15 stalks fresh lemongrass.

1⁄4 cup finely chopped ginger

2 tbsp. toasted cashews
2 tbsp. whole dried shrimp
1 1⁄2 tbsp. fish sauce
1 1⁄2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/2-1 1⁄2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. whole dried shrimp, finely ground
4-6 red Thai chillies, stemmed and thinly sliced
2 shallots, very thinly sliced lengthwise
3 raw stemmed long beans, cut into 4″ pieces for garnish.
Method:
Trim and slice lemon grass very finely. Transfer lemongrass slices to a medium bowl, separate rings with your fingers. Add ginger, cashews, shrimp, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, ground shrimp, Thai chiles, and shallots, and toss well. Garnish with long beans. Serve on Banana Leaf or Betel Leaf as in my picture.
Serve with steamed jasmine rice or cauliflower rice if eating Gluten free.
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We also serve with a tamarind sauce made by combing 3 tbsp tamarind pulp with cup water in small pan, bring to boil and simmer 5 mins.
Remove from heat and stand 15 mins you can help break tamarind down with a spoon, strain through sieve extracting as much liquid as possible.
Add 2cm peeled finely chopped ginger and 2 cloves finely chopped garlic, 11/2 tbsp palm sugar,2 tsp fish sauce,1 tbsp chilli/garlic sauce and 1 tsp soy sauce to tamarind liquid. Bring to boil, simmer 5 mins.
Whisk 1 tbsp cornflour with little water whisk into sauce cook 1 min or until thickens.
Taste and adjust seasoning add more sugar if required.
Keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.
I hope you enjoy this little salad, if you love Thai food then please have a look around my blog for more authentic Thai Recipes.
Love you all xxx