Garden of Light: Thai Red Pork and Pumpkin Curry

This happens to me every year.  December is another busy month.  Since we're out of town for Christmas, we pack so much into every weekend, and the days come faster and faster and my blogging, well, I end up telling you all about December in January.

So stay tuned for Christmas and Chanukah, but for now let's backtrack to earlier this month when we made our annual trek to the Botanical Gardens "Garden of Light."

BH has a couple new words this month, including "Christmas Tree" and "Lights."  Both of which got used a lot that night. 

He definitely got more out of it than last year.  Chasing after his brother.  And Thatkid is old hat at it now, remembering all his favorite spots and sharing them. Like the trains.

Both boys sat enthralled by the singers as we ate our dinner.

And then it was time to visit Santa.  Thatbaby was 0 for 2 on Santa visits, but I was hoping the familiarity would help.  That and having the entire family in the picture.  As usual, he was very interested up until it was our turn.

But once we got up to the big guy, he was all out.  In a series of pictures, this was the best one.  And it's not good!

As a reward for bearing with us through Santa, we brought the boys over to Thatkid's favorite part of the garden - the snow!  Thatbaby tried sledding with Thatboy and was scared out of his ever lovin' mind. 

So he sat and drank hot cocoa while watching his brother sled.

And when Thatkid finished up on the sled, they practiced their snowball technique for a bit.

Unfortunately, this was an exceptionally warm weekend, and so both the sledding snow and the snowballing snow was mushy and melty.  Not ideal conditions.

It definitely got colder as the month went on.  I had several runs that were in 30 degree weather.  Weather like that makes me worry that I'm cold blooded.  I don't mean that in a "heartless" way, but when I go out in the cold, I feel like it takes me days to warm up.  I spend the days shivering through the house no matter how many blankets and sweatshirts I put on.

Sometimes you need to get warmed from the inside out.  Curry is fantastic for that.  Both because it's a nice, warm, dish, and, because the spice level is also good at raising your internal temperature.  I have a week spot with curries that have a coconut base, and this one seems especially seasonally appropriate with pumpkin being one of the star ingredients.  Don't skimp and use coconut milk.  I mean, flavor wise it would be fine, but coconut cream gives a beautiful thickness to the sauce.  This works fine with chicken, but pork has such a great fall apart quality when cooked into a curry.  So if your days (or hearts) are cold, this is a perfect recipe to thaw you out.

Thai Red Pork & Pumpkin Curry

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb pork loin, cut into cubes

2 red chiles, seeded and chopped

2 Tbsp Thai red curry paste

12 oz coconut cream

1 3/4 cup chicken broth

1 lb pumpkin, cut into cubes

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the pork and sear until lightly browned.
2. Add the chiles and red curry paste and stir fry for 4 minutes.
3. Pour the coconut cream into the pan and stir, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
4. Add the chicken broth and pumpkin.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender.  Season with salt and pepper.