The wrath of the leprechauns

Our life in the city has been abnormal these last six days as Thailand's Red Shirt protesters have blocked traffic, thrown blood and paraded through the city streets chanting and waving banners. And, as I write this, the protest continues, continuing to grind traffic to a standstill. Perhaps, I'll have more to say in the upcoming days about this mess, but for now... I declare a break from Red Shirt discussions. Today a far more important event, at least in our home, took place. The leprechauns struck their annual magic.

When we woke, our clothing was plastered with shamrock stickers. During breakfast, soda water magically turned sparkling emerald. At mid-morning, a trip to our art studio revealed that the usual crazy rainbow cacophony of crayon colors was replaced with an array of green. And, dinner was a fiasco... with a table full of lime-tinted croque monsieur sandwiches, stalks of asparagus, green gelatin sea horses and mango "shamrock" smoothies.

I raise a glass of green Beer Sing in honor of those pesky St. Patrick's Day mischief makers and wish you the luck o' the Irish. Here's hoping your house fares better when the leprechauns strike....

Cooking in Thailand, entry no. 82:

Mango Shamrock Smoothies

Delightful on March 17 or any day after. If you don't have fresh mangoes readily available, substitute a freshly sliced orange.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of whole milk

1 tablespoon honey

1 whole mango, peeled, pitted and sliced

1/2 cup of ice

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

1 drop of green food coloring

Method:

Add all ingredients into a blender, and swirl until smooth. Pour into tall glasses and serve.