The Joy of Cooking...

So I was a little leary about using a pressure cooker for the first time, especially when I couldn't track down an English user's manual. I borrowed Chloe's science safety goggles and stood lurking behind the kitchen door, thankful for once that my kitchen is a tiny closed of box. Nothing exploded, and we eventually had a form of chili! I've used it a lot since. It might take me all day to chop vegetables, but it can cook them in 5-7 minutes! How I got the pressure cooker is its own cultural experience, to be expalined later...

Mmmmm.... snackies. Fried tofu, imitation (????) hot dogs, fried potatoes, and mystery meat on a stick. You see these vendors all over -- they come out in droves at night. They serve up all flavors of pretty molded tofu and several varieties of hot dog, reusing the oil indefinitely. We haven't ventrued to try any more since Matt gave them to the girls and Emma got really sick.

More "tea eggs" steaming on the stoop. Above you see steam baskets for little rice flour dumplings. This is the barrel stove that is so common. They cut a little door flap in the bottom so that they can light a fire inside the barrel, creating the cooking surface on top. This is why I taught my girls never to touch a barrel, as you never know when one is blistering hot.

Another of Matt's shots documenting my first stint with the pressure cooker.

Notice I'm wearing flip flops? This was back before we could see our breath in our place.

This is a nice restaurant in the tourist area. I don't think I've ever NOT seen this man at the stove. He stands there all day, making snacks and meals for tourist, on his fancy FOUR burner stovetop.