The containers are coming!

Word is that our shipment is arriving in just a couple of hours. I've started the day optimistically, but with a dose of caution applied. After all, I've heard that before and similar to a fat lady singing, the shipment isn't here until the boxes have cleared our home's security guard, ascended to the top floor and are escorted across our threshold.

We decided to minimize the dishes (we're the dishwasher). T made fried eggs to top of rice that had been left to warm overnight in our cooker. While I prepped a special treat of a breakfast, that my mom recently reminded me of, for the kids. Basically a fast rice pudding, it has been a great way to use up leftovers and make the kids welcome yet another bowl of rice. C made place cards for our table, customizing them with each of our names. F attempted to scale one of the kitchen counters, with what I think was an original plan to summit at our drinking water container (a 15 liter sanitary water bottle with a battery operated pump).

After breakfast, I placed a few local calls to check references that will hopefully result in the hiring of some domestic staff. And, then....

.... the boxes began to cross our threshold and the parade of belongings began. In a completely neat and tidy manner, seven shoeless Thai men efficiently dispatched our packages to the appropriate rooms, opened them and created nice tidy stacks on every conceivable surface. There are books stacked on the family room coffee table, perfect rows of baby dolls covering every inch of C's bed, bikes lining our formal entry, picture frames in perfect corner to corner alignment on our living room couches, little matchbox cars parked end to end on the built in shelves, candles in orderly rows across the breakfast bar, serving platters and dinner dishes and multiple pots and pans and my great cooking knives (oh my!).......

Ahhhh. Exhale. Our shipment is here. The move is officially over and we will happily be spending several days establishing our new home. Now you'll have to excuse me, I am catching a whiff of that amazing gardenia candle I packed a month back.

Cooking in Thailand, entry no. 4:

Instant breakfast rice pudding 

I used to eat this occasionally as a kid. Thanks to a reminder from my mom, my own kids are now enjoying this as the occasional special breakfast treat. (And, I now have another recipe in my repertoire to use up any rice that I cooked in overabundance the night before!)

Ingredients:

cooked rice (white or brown), about 1/2 cup per person, heated

cinnamon

brown sugar

your choice of milk or cream

Method:

Dish the rice into individual serving bowls. Sprinkle with desired amounts of cinnamon and brown sugar. Top with milk or cream. Stir and enjoy!!!