Monday, December 6. Cold Weather, Hot Food: Panang Curry At Thai Spice. The Cool Water Ranch population (one) awakened to a twenty-five-degree world. The central heater ran continuously all night, yet the temperature inside was in the fifties. The air coming from the vents was only a little warm. I didn't want to accept the cold truth at first, but the Pitiless Reality side of my brain said that what we had here was a broken heating coil. Well, it's been twenty years. I just put up with it today by running a small space heater in my office with the door closed.
To dinner at Thai Thai. But Ricky had a full parking lot. I went across the highway to his competitor Thai Spice, and took a table far away from the single door that allowed cold drafts inside every time it opened. (Common problem around New Orleans, where by the time the restaurants get around to fixing this, it's warm again and they forget about it.)
First a cup (they call it that, but it seems like a bowl to me) of tom yum goong soup, the clear, spicy one with tomatoes and shrimp. Very warming.
Then Panang curry with chicken. I know I've had this pinkish-orange version of Thai curry somewhere at some time, but my first few forkfuls (and spoonfuls; Thai curries are supposed to be kinda soupy) told me that my mental image of the dish was too faint to qualify as knowledge. It had a flavor somewhere between those of red curry and green Thai curry. It's named for a region of Malaysia. The sauce includes dried chilies, galangal (an herb related to ginger), peanuts, cumin, lemongrass, coriander, and garlic. The most important thing I now know about Panang-style curry is that I surely will get again.
The wireless web radio I ordered a week ago arrived. I'm thrilled. It satisfies a desire I've had for decades to tap into radio stations and networks all over the world. It looks like a standard one-speaker table radio. But instead of picking up AM and FM, it pulls in almost any free audio stream on the web. There are thousands--a delightfully overwhelming richness. The radio is small enough to fit on my windowsill. It uses no computer resources. It does suck up some wireless internet bandwidth, but it seems to have no effect on the other computers in the house.
I fooled around with the radio awhile before going to my lonely bed. I found, among other fascinating services, a station that plays nothing but Mozart. It's in France, and every half-hour or so a Francophone voice comes on with a few words about something or other, then returns to the music. My own station's streaming audio can also be tuned in. Now if only this could be available in a car, I wouldn't have to worry about 1350's turned-around after-dark signal.
Thai Spice. Covington: 1531 US 190. 985-809-6483.
