it's weird losing phone service, like losing a security blanket. now all i have is my cell phone, which i might consider upgrading the package to allow more minutes since this will be my only phone. i really couldn't afford two phone lines. my rationalization was that if somebody ever stayed at my house, there would be no way s/he would be able to call anyone. but i can't afford to pay $360/year just so this hypothetical guest can make calls. it's also kind of ironic that my father and i did a lot of phone wiring work in the house, and now i won't have phone service so those lines will go unused. once i get a job and start earning enough money, i'll reconnect myself. reconnection fee is $75 by the way, at&t doesn't do anything for free you know.
after a quick run to the supermarket to buy some groceries, i came back and made thai red curry again, this time using the can of thai curry paste i bought in chinatown last week. it's funny how it's called red curry even though its more like orange with little flakes of red chili pepper. i learned from my past mistakes, this time forgoing any lemon juice. i also made sure the flavor was correct, periodically taste testing, adding a tablespoon of sugar to balance the sour taste of the curry paste. i also added some mint leaves and green pepper slices and half a chopped up habanero pepper. next time i won't add them until the end, they get soggy and lose their flavor when i let it stew in the curry. the instructions also called for cups of water, but i just used a can of coconut milk (i can understand why water would be needed, the pungency was just a tad strong, the water would've diluted it a little bit). i turned my back away from the stove to do the dishes while the pot of curry was simmering, and by the time i turned around, some of the curry had boiled out of the pot. never turn your back on a stove! the final result came out okay, a definite improvement, although the serving i made was for 4 people, so i ended up having a little bit of rice with a whole lot of curry. the beef cubes were a bit tough, they might've been overcooked, or maybe it's just the natural consistency of beef. next time i'll try chicken or pork. i still think the best red curry i made was the time amy came to visit (it was chicken red curry). i think it was just a happy accident.
i'm not sure if i can eat anymore red curry though, i'm sort of all curried out. i wanted to make something from my fire & spice cookbook, but a lot of the ingredients can only be found in asian specialty stores, and i'm nowhere close to any those.