We were back at the apartment before I could blink. It was the middle of the afternoon, and if we were going to feast I had some serious cooking to do. D and JD decided to grab another sandwich from downstairs and then head over to Dolphins to use the wifi for a few hours. Dr. J opted to stay and hang out with me while I cooked. It was a beautiful afternoon and the sun streamed through the floor to ceiling windows in the living room along with a cool breeze.
My thoughts began to turn to food, and I realized that I was seriously hungry so we put on some good music and snacked on some apples, cheese, and kettle chips along with (very frequent) little one-hit bowls of Buddha Cheese with Terminator.
My high was as sparkly as the sunshine. I had happy tingles all over my body and everything was super bright as I started formulating a plan of attack for dinner. First I started a ginger and lime simple syrup to use for fresh ginger soda and to macerate the fruit for dessert. The fresh spicy aroma quickly filled the small apartment and mingled with the pot smoke in the most delightful way. "Mmmm" said my Mr. "This is aromatherapy." I had to agree.
I then set to work marinating the steaks in a mixture of garlic, coriander (cilantro to the Americans in the house), ginger, hot chilies and lime zest. This was when I realized that some more careful planning was in order- because there didn't seem to be enough bowls or other vessels to contain everything that I had on the menu, so I pulled every coffee cup, plate, and pot out of the cabinets and ...smoked another bowl. (The Amsterdam solution to every problem in my mind.)
Basjoe's Buddha Cheese
My mental state buoyed by more cheese I realized I could make this work! As long I didn't make soup that was, but really, there would be plenty of food and that just meant less work for me. Menu revised I took a moment to appreciate the fact that I had brought a guerilla cooking kit with me (Some important utensils including a good knife, a large skillet, a large pot, and a salad spinner) as every single container-like object in the apartment was about to be drafted into service-- including the large vase that I drank water out of that first afternoon. Momentum restored with yet another bowl I got back to work making the do chua (literally "pickled stuff" in Vietnamese). Here are the sweet and sour pickles in aforementioned vase:
I also picked carrots and cabbage for the inside of the banh mi sandwiches. Then I made:
Peanut Sauce and
prepped Nam Sod Ingredients
Right before the boys were due back I decided that we really couldn't have banh mi sandwiches without some chili mayonnaise, and so I decided to make some from scratch. (Which officially makes me a crazy monkey because making mayonnaise by hand when the closest thing you have to a mixing bowl is the base of a salad spinner and the closest thing you have to a whisk is a fork is basically certifiable. Almost as crazy as making meringue that way, something I also know from experience.)
I was just starting to whisk frantically when the boys walked in- carrying a freshly-rolled one gram joint of dolphin haze. We joined the man across the way in another smoke break.
The dolphin haze was nice enough, but not special- no chemicals and a slight hazy flavor. While I kept at the mayonnaise, JD rolled the joints for that evening's festivities. Suddenly, horrible munchies struck all of us so I re-arranged the dinner plans and we started off snacking on the sweet ginger melon and the Thai pickles. Keeping with my plan to pair the fruit with the Utopia Haze, we fired that up alongside.
Amuse Bouche:
Amnesia's Utopia Haze
The grapefruit and cherry perfume of the haze perfectly complimented the sweet and tangy watermelon infused with ginger and lime. We devoured the large bowl of fruit as the heady tingly high set in. I again marveled at the combination of warm body stone and float-y expansive head high that I got from smoking this strain. While it wasn't as pretty as the Utopia haze had been last year, it was still a winner for me in terms of effects and it served as a great appetizer for the meal to come.
Utopia Haze from Late August 2009
After the high began to abate a little I quickly stir-fried the Nam Sod and seared the steaks for the sandwiches and we were ready to go. Here are the pairings I settled on for my Mr's 30th Birthday Dinner:
Appetizer:
Mellow Yellow's S-5 Haze
S-5 Haze with Nam Sod, a thai salad with ground pork, coriander, basil, lime, chilies and ginger. The limey taste of the S-5 haze was a really great compliment to spicy tangy flavors in the salad. The super elevating high also really cut through a long day of smoking and served as an almost caffeinated pick me up that had us all chatting and laughing our faces off.
Main Course: Make your own steak banh mi from a choice of Pate, Marinated Steak, Pickles cucumbers, carrots, and cabbage, Peanut Sauce, Chili Mayonnaise, Fresh Coriander and Basil served with:
Basjoe's Buddha Cheese with
Basjoe's Terminator
And
Bushdoctor's Purple Kush with
Basjoe's Pollem Hash
I have to say that the Purple Kush joint with the Hash was lushly delicious with a full funky spicy flavor. It also totally knocked me on my butt, rendering me way too stoned to eat or even stay upright in my chair. Fortunately the couch was literally right next to the table in my small apartment and so I got to enjoy kicking back and watching the boys stuff themselves on all of the delicious food. Watching people enjoying my cooking is pure bliss for me, and if the moans of pleasure coming from the table were any indication, this meal was really doing it for the boys.
We finished the meal off with an assortment of Swiss Chocolate along with some bowls of
Mellow Yellow's Chocolope
Which was quite nice, I think...
We never made it to the Red Cherry Berry and Vanilla Kush that night. Alas.
Yeah its all good with my geekness 
First shows of the year are in April and its in Scotland so no traveling too far 
