Green Papaya Salad

The first time I tried to make green papaya salad it was a total disaster, so I'm happy to report better results this time.

First, you have to find a very firm green papaya beceause they taste more like a cucumber than a fruit. If you don't, it'll be this in between thing that tastes sort of like fruit and sort of like vegetable. Peel the papaya, then cut it in half and hollow out the seeds. With a very sharp vegetable peeler. shave off paper thin ribbons of the papaya. You can leave the stripes wide, or stack them and cut them into strings. I like a little of both.

For the sauce, I used an eight of a cup of a fish sauce that has chili flakes in it, a teaspoon of sugar, a crushed garlic clove, and the juice of half a lime. There should also be carrot slivers and crushed peanuts. Sometimes, less is all I have in the kitchen!

And, a pretty pretty picture. A florist showed me this amaryllis bouquet. I really like it and I think it would actualy complement my dress very well, but part of me still thinks a big white bouquet is super boring, especially when I'm already wearing a big white dress. Also, I'm a little scared the blossoms will be so big they'll overwhelm me. I don't want to look like a little kid carrying a giant bouquet!