Yum Yum...

As of Saturday night, I am back in good old Colorado, enjoying the spring weather after managing to go to Cambodia during their hottest season of the year...And so, my plan now is to give you a virtual tour of what I saw, complete with photos, a few video clips, and plenty of factoids :)

Say you're in Cambodia and want a snack, local style--one option is to buy a few of the round, green things on the head of the girl in this picture. These are lotus flower seed pods, about as big around as a big saucer. Your goal is not to munch on the pod, but on the seeds inside. If you look closely in the pic, you'll see bumps on the top of each pod--each of these bumps shows you where a seed in enclosed. So--buy a seed pod, crack it open near a bump, and pull out a seed. Each seed is shaped like a grape, but slightly smaller. Peel off the outer green skin of the seed to reveal the white munchie inside, and pop it in your mouth! Lotus seeds are firm but moist, with a mild flavor. Best of all, because the seeds are dug out from inside the pod, they can be eaten without any special cleaning or preparation--good when you want a snack on the go.

If the seed pods are not harvested to eat, but are left to grow, eventually they'll grow into lotus flower blooms, like those in this second picture. Lotus flowers can be white or pink, and grow in many of the ponds and lakes in Cambodia. The pink ones are the most common, and in fact, the Khmei (Cambodian) word for "pink" is the same word as "lotus flower." Lotus flowers hold significant meaning in Cambodian (and Buddhist and Southeast Asian) culture. The petals may be used as dishes to hold food, while the shapes of the closed buds and the open flowers are re-created in traditional architecture and dance.