Have a look at this beautiful photo of shrimp pad thai, which was sent in by blog reader Angela.
Angela noticed the Thai cooking class mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry and thought she’d send in this photo of a dish she mastered.

According to Angela, she was addicted to the shrimp pad thai at Thai Orchid, but when that restaurant closed, she tracked down a Thai cookbook and decided to master the recipe herself.
“I was surprised to find that my rendition was just as good,” Angela wrote.

The first time I tried Thai food, I was hooked immediately. I adore the flavors of coconut milk, curry, kaffir lime, lemongrass, ginger and Thai basil. So like Angela, I decided to try and create two of my favorite dishes, pad thai and green curry, at home.

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It’s that time again, folks — time to give away a free cookbook to one lucky blog reader!
Since March is National Peanut Month and we live in one of the peanuttiest states in the country, if not THE MOST peanutty state in the country, I figured we might as well go with a peanut theme.
Peanuts can contribute in a fine way to just about every course in a meal. Pad thai is terrific with crushed peanuts, roasted peanuts are fab on a tossed salad and peanut butter…well, peanut butter is the king of all manners of cakes, pies and cookies. It can also be incorporated into sauces, marinades and soups.
Of course, some folks would say their favorite way of eating peanuts is roasted, salted and straight out of a can. Especially if that’s a Virginia’s Finest can.
The cookbook I’m going to give away today is called The Only Bake Sale Cookbook You’ll Ever Need by Laurie Goldrich Wolf and Pam Abrams.
Conveniently, it contains a recipe for a treat called Everything Peanut Squares. It’s got your peanut butter, your chopped peanuts and your peanut butter chips. It’s chock full o’ nuts!
You can find the recipe below. And if you’re interested in winning this cookbook, write a comment about the best peanut-related food experience you’ve ever had. The deadline is Wednesday.
Have a nutty weekend! But not too nutty…

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