Thai food is one of my favorite things to order when eating out — I love the spicy-sweet combination of flavors — but I’d never tackled it on my own. Now I’m inspired to try Thai at home after my cooking club recently did a Thai night. Everybody was amazed at how easy it was to recreate our favorite restaurant dishes. Recipes included crab-fried rice, pad thai, shrimp soup, marinated cucumber salad,Thai-style chicken and beef with broccoli. We also had wonderful coconut ice cream served in a hollowed-out pineapple — a super idea that impressed us all. The tablescape was impressive, too, with tealights and floating lotus blossoms on a blue pashmina wrap. How creative was that? As always, I am in awe of my talented and skilled friends. I think they keep me around for comic relief. They even forgave me when I inadvertently admitted to using frozen mango instead of fresh for my Mango Passion Cocktails and mango/lime salsa. “But I did it for you,” I said, trying to convince them I was altruistic and not lazy. “Since I didn’t have to spend time peeling and slicing fresh mangoes, I had enough time left over to make this peanut dip for you, too. And please, have another Mango Passion Cocktail. There’s plenty.”

Note: I got my recipes from about.com, where you are clearly given permission to use frozen.