Hello, meet BOB

Have you met BOB? I wanted to tell you about BOB. And, so goes the verbal spillage put forth by my son. Have you met my son? He's the little now three year old running around Bangkok and absolutely obsessed with DreamWorks' newest offering, Monsters vs. Aliens. 

The whole obsession began around mid-April when movie posters featuring a motley crew of monsters started to appear in Bangkok. The ever-present posters (on the Skytrain and all the shopping mall floors, projected on random walls, bill boards, etc.) struck an immediate chord with my son and my husband and I laughed and played along by telling him the characters names. On and on and on the dialogue went, becoming elaborate and more detailed. Monsters vs Aliens imaginary play games were created in our house, craft projects featuring the characters were started and great discussion ensued: What do you think Dr. Roach (a monster) ate for dinner tonight? What color gelatin is BOB (another monster) made out of again? What would Missing Link (another monster) do if he were here? Do you want to be Ginormica (you guessed it... another monster) tonight mommy?

The one little trick to this obsession is that the movie is really intended for a much older audience. But, after including the friendly little monsters in our lives so often, I broke down, bought a copy of the movie and proceeded to snuggle in with my kids to possibly get it out of my son's system. No luck. After "watching" the movie.... okay, he's seen about 10 percent of it, I hit fast forward and skipped entire scenes... the obsession continues. And, I've agreed to embrace it. So when we celebrated my son's third birthday this weekend, I whipped up a triple batch of butter cream and enthusiastically built BOB's likeness in cake. Viva la monsters.

Cooking in Thailand, entry no. 54:

Tropical Fruit Cakes

In the event you don't have a reason to cook up a BOB, you might want to find an excuse to whip up these delicious tropical cakes. Light and fluffy, they are really more of a muffin than a cake. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream for dessert or warm and serve alongside a glass of fresh squeezed juice for breakfast!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3 large or 6 small Thai variety)

3/4 cup sour milk (add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to sour your own)

2 eggs

3 tablespoons steeped peppermint tea, cooled

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup fresh diced pineapple

1 carrot, grated

1/2 cup cashews, roughly chopped (optional)

Method:

Grease a popover pan (a cupcake pan will also work) and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream the butter and add the banana. Mix together and, working progressively down the ingredients list, add each ingredient until all are combined. Spoon into prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden on top. (Cooking time will vary depending on the size of pan you select)