Food is the mos t interesting thing I do anymore.

It's true. My life would be boring if I didn't eat.
I've been working on the concept of curry. I don't have it down, but I'm getting there. Here's what I've been using:
1. Start the rice in the rice cooker. (If you forget, it's a real pain. Trust me.)
2. In your trusty pestle, combine 4 or 5 red chilies, some peppercorn, one or two cloves of garlic, and maybe a shallot. Theoretically, some tumeric, coriander root, lemon grass, garlic chives, and Thai ginger should be added. But that's a lot of stuff I don't know how to say in Khmer. Also, I can point at garlic a lot more easily than coriander root, mostly because I know exactly what garlic looks like.
3. Pound everything in the pestle until you don't really recognize it. Or until your arm starts hurting. Use your other hand to keep little pieces of chili from splattering into your eye, because that hurts. Trust me.
4. Throw the paste onto a skillet with some coconut milk. Stir fry some veggies in it. Maybe some meat, if you have any. Eggs work too.
5. Serve over rice. If your roommates start eying it, tell them they're welcome to have some- you only used 4 chilies, so it's not that spicy. They should leave it alone.
I've had good success with eggplant, carrots, some lettucey thing I've been buying, bell peppers, and cauliflower. Not all at once.
Earlier tonight, some friends helped me to push the boundaries of fusion cuisine. We combined Japanese and Mexican styles, in what we called the "sushito"- a combination of sushi and burrito. It's a very American concept. The BLT sushito was a hit (that's bacon, lettuce, and tomato, for those who doubted). Next time we're going for the Philly roll: steak and cheese. It'll go downhill from there, I'm sure. These are the same people who cooked chocolate chip cookies (really more of a cookie cake I guess) over a BBQ grill last weekend. Just because it's not conventional doesn't mean it's not amazingly tasty.
Speaking of cookies, the rice cooker experimentations are going well. My roommate Mathilde and I made a wonderful chocolate cake, with good chocolate that she brought back from France. I wish I had pictures. And half an hour ago, I put in some oatmeal cookie dough. At the time of this writing, it needed about fifteen more minutes, maybe longer, but is looking promising. This is, of course, the problem with rice cooker baking: your maximum temperature is barely over 200 degrees Fahrenheit. This means a cake may take up to a week to bake fully. But, in the ovenless land of Asia, this is totally worth it. Also, isn't oatmeal cookie dough the best tasting uncooked thing ever?
In other news, the weather is starting to change. I'm told that April is the hottest month, and the rainy season may be starting. I asked my students, because we're studying weather terms this week. However, we've never studied climate, so getting a straight answer has been difficult. But it's rained 2 of the last 3 days, which hasn't happened since I've been here. I guess I'll know soon enough. In any event, I'm going to put a spare pair of socks in my backpack.
I just checked the cookies again. I think they need another six months.