We get catering jobs

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of rock music. We had a very busy Saturday afternoon because we got a big, big order to prepare food for some band playing at the University of Minnesota's new football stadium tonight.

Is it weird that I don't know who U2 is? Are they bigger than Celine Dion?

This is probably why no one comes to True Thai for the music but that's OK because no one goes to rock concerts for the food.

Hot enough for you?

Wow. The heat index Tuesday afternoon hit 122°F! That's the most Minnesota has felt like Thailand since I moved here.

Anna's tips for hot weather:

1. Remember to drink lots of fluids
2. Don't leave the dog or the kids in the car while you're shopping
3. Get out of the kitchen and go out to eat in air conditioned restaurants

I don't think this qualifies as a Public Service Announcement, but it is my first blog post since July so I think that counts for something. Back in Thailand, we would go to the beach on days like these.

For more exciting pictures of Thai swim suits, see Sean-Inc's Thai Heat Wave post. It's three years old, but the swim suits still look good to me!

Closed for the 4th of July

True Thai will be open July 1, 2, 3 and 5, but we will be closed on July 4th.

Each July 4th True Thai employees get together at an undisclosed location to celebrate having a day off. For most Americans, the 4th of July means parades and parties and fireworks. It is a very American holiday, but even in Thailand you can find 4th of July celebrations like this one in Chiang Mai from two years ago. (click the link for a video)

I like the hat, but I'm not so sure about the pants. Have a happy and safe 4th of July with your friends and families. True Thai will be open on Tuesday, July 5th, as usual.

Construction alert!

Just got this notice from True Thai's neighborhood group

We received word from the City today regarding the mill and overlay of the 25th & 26th Ave S-Curve between Franklin and Riverside.

From Stephanie Malmberg, Project Manger:

"As part of the 35W Bridge Detour Route Rehabilitation Project the City will be paving 25^th& 26^th between Franklin & Riverside. The work will begin Monday June 27^th and should be completed by Thursday June 30^th. We will be closing the road to thru traffic for the 3-4 day duration of this work. Local access will be maintained to businesses and residences and emergency vehicles will be able to get through the site. Working hours will be from 7pm to 7am."

For more information: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cip/25-26AvesS-R/index.asp

Sorry, but it looks like you'll have to work a little harder to get to True Thai for a few days. Fortunately, it's worth it!

Have you made your Father's Day reservations yet?

If coming to True Thai Restaurant is part of your Father's Day plan, it never hurts to call in and make a reservation. Father's Day is never quite as busy as Mother's Day, but it's still pretty busy!

I wrote about my Dad two years ago, and how my parents' families immigrated to Thailand from Vietnam a hundred years ago. Not everyone's family story is quite so dramatic (or sometimes even more so), but everyone's stories about their father or mother is special because our parents are special to us.

Have an enjoyable Father's Day with the Dad you love.

Eat Your Vegetables Day

Tomorrow is national Eat Your Vegetables Day. Thai people really like vegetables. I tried to count how many we have on our menu but lost track at 34 (I am sure there are more than that!). We serve leafy vegetables (lettuce, napa, gailan, spinach, cabbage), onions (green, yellow, purple), peppers (bell, Thai, jalapeño), and hard to find items like Thai eggplant, purple yams and Chinese broccoli, as well as almost all the usual "American" vegetables (peas, corn, tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, etc.).

You can't make Thai food without Thai spices, but all the spice in the world cannot turn a cauliflower bud into a Thai eggplant, or a jalapeño pepper into a Thai prikki-nu hot pepper. Vegetables are very important to Thai cuisine, and it's very hard to order food from True Thai without finding vegetables on your plate.

Children love our vegetables, but we have had a few adults who insisted on their right not to eat any. For them we have appetizers and desserts, but that is no way to go through life. Everybody needs vegetables in their diet, and if you don't like vegetables, you're either eating the wrong ones, or you're eating poorly prepared vegetables. (Hint: the right seasonings help a lot!)

True Thai fans love vegetables. This year, why not drag a vegetable-hating friend to True Thai to find out just how good vegetables can be. They taste good, they're good for you, and veggie dishes are cheaper than dishes with meat or seafood.

True Patio!

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, Minnesotans are wearing shorts and it's time for True Thai's patio dining season to begin!

An old picture, but we're getting to be an old restaurant!

Closed Memorial Day

In my lifetime, Thailand has not known war firsthand. Border skirmishes and internal conflicts, yes. And Japan did invade us during WWII, but only for about eight hours and then we established an armistice. Modern Thailand is not a warlike country, but we certainly know war.

During each war in Asia, Thailand becomes home to countless refugee camps. What I know of war, I learned from others who had fled from war. When I was young and our family would take food baskets to nearby refugee camps, it was heartbreaking to see the smiles of refugees because you could tell it had been a long time since they had any reason to smile.

This picture is of the Umpiem Mai refugee camp in northern Thailand. Over 150,000 people live there, mostly Burmese refugees who have fled the military junta in Burma.

There is nothing good to say about war, and each war creates a flood of victims. Memorial Day is the day we set aside to think about war and those who didn't come back.

True Thai Restaurant will be closed Monday, May 30, in recognition of Memorial Day.

Thai grrr!

I was happy to learn that there may be more tigers in Thailand than was previously thought. I like tigers, maybe because unlike crocodiles, I have never met a tiger except in a zoo.

In Asia, the tiger is the King of Beasts! In fact, the tiger really is the King of Beasts, having been voted the "world's favourite animal" in a poll conducted by Animal Planet. (Dogs finished second.)

Three species of tiger have become extinct, but six species still remain. The tigers in Thailand are Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris corbetti), but no matter which species you pick, there is no such thing as a small adult tiger. Male adults of each species grow to eleven feet in length and weigh about 650 lbs.

The Wat Pa Luang Ta Bua Temple in western Thailand is known as the Tiger Temple. There are 34 tigers living with the monks there. I think those are very brave monks! Sadly, that's ten percent of the tigers still known to live in Thailand. You can see a video of those tigers at YouTube.

Now that I live in the United States, I am much more pro-tiger than I used to be. My sister Mem, who still lives in Thailand, is not as big a fan.

*****

I think this is the first time I've ever updated a post, but I just learned there is some good news from Thailand for tigers: Sudjai Chanthawong, the head of Thailand's biggest tiger trafficking ring, has been arrested!

Have you made your reservations yet?

Every time we celebrate a holiday, I find myself thinking about the next holiday. After Easter, the next holiday is Mother's Day on Sunday, May 8.

But not in Thailand. In Thailand we celebrate Mother's Day on the Queen's birthday, which is August 12. May 8th is Don Rickles' birthday, but I do not think that is why they picked the second Sunday in May to be Mother's Day in America.

Have you made your reservations yet? There are only two days in the year when I know in advance that True Thai will be packed with customers: Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

Father's Day? We do OK, but our customers seem to like their moms better than their dads. If you like your mom and want to take her to True Thai on Mother's Day, make your reservation now!

Closed Easter

Just a reminder that True Thai Restaurant will be closed Easter Sunday so our employees can spend time with their families. We will be open during regular hours on Saturday and Monday.

Please accept our wishes for a happy holiday weekend.

Happy Songkran!

Sorry not to have been posting more often, but a friend just sent me a link to someone else's pictures of the Songkran festivities in Thailand.

I promise to post more often in the future, but in the meantime enjoy Regina's pictures.