Culinery Bliss

After I dropped off the kids this morning, I asked one of the teachers if they knew where the closest Asian market was.  If I haven't said it before, I'll probably say it a hundred times, but.....I LOVE my GPS!!!  Honestly, I don't know how people survived before computers.  I would be a hermit if I had to rely on a paper map.  After today, this is my favorite grocery store!  

I mean, get real....$1 for a container of strawberries?  I got scolded for taking a picture in the store.  I wish you could have seen all the fresh fruit, veggies and herbs.  They had the very same herbs you use for the Vietnamese Pho soup!  I was like a kid in a candy store.  

This is my great finds for the day:  Thai basil leaves, strawberries, mangos, pork buns and Longan fruit.  I already purchased the Thai Basil and sweet chili sauce at the Giant grocery store yesterday!  You can tell the Giant grocery chain is custom taylored for the diversified ethnicity in MD.  They have their own international aisle.  

Mmmmm, Longan fruit.  Can I just tell you I can practically eat the whole bag in one sitting?  I don't know where they imported the Longans from because the Longans you buy in the local markets overseas are usually larger in size.  The ones I bought today were about the size of a giant olive.  But they were still sweet and juicy!  When you peel the outer shell, the inside kind of resembles a clear mushy brain.

Post Note:  Sebastian tried the Longan fruit after school and he said it tasted like a cross between a white grape and a pear.  So there you have it...a taste description/comparison!   ;-D

I looked up the nutritional facts about this fruit and this is what I found.  Hmmm....I'll try to remember this the next time I get bitten by a Snake!!

Medicinal Uses: The flesh of the fruit is administered as a stomachic, febrifuge and vermifuge, and is regarded as an antidote for poison. A decoction of the dried flesh is taken as a tonic and treatment for insomnia and neurasthenic neurosis. In both North and South Vietnam, the "eye" of the longan seed is pressed against a snakebite in the belief that it will absorb the venom.

The Longan fruit is related to the two fruits below.  You can find these fruits in the Far East.  I've eaten all the fruits and they definitely bring me back to my childhood!!

This is what was on the menu tonight:  Thai Chicken Basil and Chili sauce AND a bottle of Pinot!   Mmmmmmmmmm...the packaged sauce was surprisingly delicious.  I rarely take chances with prepackaged sauce since I like to make my own sauce from scratch.  But living in an apartment temporarily has the kitchen storage disadvantages.