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Check out the birthday card my boss made by hand and had all the co-workers sign. Isn’t it a hoot? Since my head has been superimposed over Gordon Ramsay’s head, I have very large arms and, as Seinfeld would say, “man hands.”
I love it.

If you’re looking for a place to eat dinner tonight, consider heading out to Three Lil’ Pigs in Daleville. They’re celebrating their fifth anniversary by offering free food to every fifth table. Here’s a little more info. Test your luck!

Also this weekend: Festival in the Park in Elmwood Park in Roanoke. Head out there for a variety of food and other activities. And if you’re from out of town, be sure to swing by the farmer’s market in downtown Roanoke and check out all the local products.

Finally, please don’t forget to chime in on the hamburger discussion we started yesterday. In case you missed it, the Texas Tavern has been named in a new book, “Hamburger America” by George Motz.

Do you agree with the TT’s inclusion? If not, where would you go to find the best hamburger in Southwest Virginia?

I’m taking Monday off. Thanks to all the soldiers and their families who have sacrificed for us. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

It must’ve been the tantalizing selection of ethnic foods at the Local Colors festival in Elmwood Park on Saturday that did it.

Whatever it was, I was in the mood to whip up something completely different for dinner last night — something with exotic flavors and a few ingredients I don’t normally break out at dinnertime.

In my house, Sundays are always reserved for the most time-consuming recipes; things like pot roasts or stuffed pastas or homemade casseroles. The Thai peanut chicken I made last night may have tasted like it took all afternoon, but it was surprisingly fast and easy.

I (almost) followed the recipe I found online. The only changes I made concerned the sauce, since I tend to be a really saucy gal, especially when the dish is going to be served over rice. The original called for 3/4 cup each of peanut butter and coconut milk, but I went ahead and rounded it up to a full cup of each and adjusted the other sauce ingredients accordingly.

The unplanned addition was a green mango salad that I decided to stir together just before I started dinner. I had seen a delicious green mango salad at Local Colors and didn’t get a chance to try it.

I’m sure theirs was more authentic, but mine didn’t turn out too shabby. Instead of following any one recipe, I studied about 4 different recipes and threw in every ingredient I had on hand from them all.

The only key ingredient I was missing was fish sauce, but I don’t think the salad suffered too much from that omission.

In the end, the spicy, creamy peanut chicken dish was complimented well by the cool, tangy zip of the mango salad. Try this combination some time– you won’t even have to reserve it for a Sunday night!

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