Fall is a perfect time for... tropical fruit??

Thailand has the most beautiful archetecture... and the most delicious fruit.

Lies.  These fruits and vegetables are all lies.  They are all fake. For some reason you can buy ANY sort of food replica you can think of at the JJ Market in Bangkok.

So I have taken a bit of a hiatus from blogging due to personal life and work stuff.  First, I was in Thailand for a little over a week.  It was splendid.  It would have been more splendid if I was not there for work and if Scrunches and the Hubster could have come along.  Eight days is way too long to be away from your tiny person.  But I was rewarded with the most spectacular toddler hugs and kisses when I walked out of customs at the airport.

Rambutans and mangosteens at the JJ Market

One thing that was amazing about Thailand was the fruit.  Oh. My. God.  I think I ate a giant plate of fruit along with every single meal of the day.  Dragonfruit (which tastes like a mellow kiwi), jackfruit (which I was informed by my friend JC was the basis for juicyfruit gum's flavor), mangosteens, pomegranates, mangoes, pineapples, every mellon you can think of...

Top to bottom: pineapple, dragonfruit, jackfruit. OMG yummy!

...and durian.  I was pretty adventurous about what fruits I ate and on the whole trip I was on a mission to try a durian, also known as the "king of fruits."  I posted something about this on facebook and received equal responses urging me to find the super delicious fruit and ones telling me to stay as far away from the vomit inducing fruit as I could.  People have very strong opinions on this.

Durian: not even once

My hotel had signs that said if you brought in durian, you would be fined.  $250 cold hard US dollars.  That is a lot of Thai bhat.  So what is the big deal about durian?  Well it stinks.  And I am not exaggerating.  It smells like rotting garbage and feet.  Some people say that the taste is not at all like the smell; it smells like mild and creamy almonds.  Others say that its so vile that they cannot eat it without gagging.  Even Andrew Zimmern, the guy who will eat anything on the Travel Channel's show Bizzare Foods, will not eat durian.  This is a guy who will eat pig bung. He eats bung, but will not eat durian.  Let that sink in.

Some people say it looks like people droppings.  Those are so weird colored droppings. Source

I did not find a durian until my last day in Thailand.  Even at the market where I found it, they had it already cut up and wrapped in plastic.  I looked at it.  It was yellow. Fleshy.  Large.  It cost about $2 for a foam tray of the fruit.

This is how they sold the durian at the market I found them at.  This picture is from a market in Singapore.  Source

I couldn't do it.

So instead I bought a bag of durian candy at the airport.  My boss also bought some durian chips.  I have yet to open the durian candy. I just cannot bring myself to do it.  I know that this is all largely just me psyching myself out, and its probably not that bad, especially after being mixed with sugar and turned into a starburst like candy.  But I am kind of scared.

However... my boss brought the durian chips to our staff meeting earlier this week and everyone (except our usually fearless director) tried one.  So what did it taste like?  Well, first off, not as bad as I feared.  It was NOT good... but it was not horrible either.  I actually thought it tasted like fried onions, but kind of sweet.  I don't know.  But I do know that I will NOT be eating any durian chips again.  What is crazy to me is that actual fresh durian tastes MORE potent than the dried stuff.  So I am still curious...

Outside the court of the Emerald Buddha they had these statues everywhere.  They were huge, a little menacing and beautiful all at once.

Thailand is beautiful and has SO much history.  I know these pictures are not baking or even food related, but wow.  Go see it for yourself one day.  You can thank me later.

There had to have been hundreds of these golden buddha statues all over Wat Po

The Reclining Buddha was by far the most impressive thing I got to see in Bangkok.  This thing is HUGE.  To give you an idea, that vase of flowers is about as tall as I am, if not a little taller.

Enjoy your day!  I will be back soon with actual recipes!