Vietnamese Night!

While we were in Maui the first place we ate (by chance) was a great little Vietnamese restaurant. It had the word Saigon in it. We were tired from our travels and this place offered us a great hands on meal. We had what they called "Vietnamese burritos" and a Vermicelli Salad. (the pics are from our honeymoon)

Since being back on the mainland we often find ourselves wanting to run away and become island people. In our small attempts to find our inner islanders, we do things that take us back mentally to Hawaii. So, for this little trip back to Maui we decided we would recreate this meal!

First, we had to figure out what the heck it was we ate and then figure out what they were actually called. After a bunch of research and looking at the picture above we came up with our menu.

Our menu consisted of Bún Thịt Nướng (Vietnamese rice noodles with bbq pork and vegetables), and Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese salty-sour dipping sauce) along with Shrimp and Ground Pork on lemon grass skewers (this was supposed to be sugar cane but we couldn't find it) wrapped in rice papers with a variety of vegetables..

This meal was relatively easy to cook. So simple, yet so flavorful. The idea with the shrimp and ground pork was that you cut off chunks of the "log" and put it into a rice paper. At our dinner table we had dry rice papers and dipped them into a bowl of boiling water. I'd show pictures of this but they did not turn out well at all. This was a great hands on meal with tons of fresh flavors ranging from mint to fish sauce.

I think we have a new favorite recipe! In comparing the pics of the "salad" I think we did a pretty good job! This meal actually turned out to be a really great lunch also! We cooked this on Saturday and had it for lunch on Monday. It tasted just like it did the day it was made.

Flash Back!

Life has been busy and back to normal as of late. Baby pictures always make me smile. So here are a few! I'm guessing we are both under the age of one in these pics. I don't know why but I feel the need to disclaim that Mario is five years older then I am. But oddly, I think my head was larger than his. Anyways, enjoy the photos.

p.s. thanks to our moms for hooking us up with a bunch of childhood photos. They were for the wedding but got ditched at the last second. At least we have the photos scanned and saved for ever. Along with a few of our favorite pictures of our grandparents.
~N