May 5
Manuscript draft completed! 105,000 words before cuts. After revisions: ~95K
May 11
Chantha arrives in Nashville.
May 13
Clara Kim graduates from Sewanee!
May 17
We celebrate Clara's graduation with a giant feast of Khmer red curry, pâté de foie, beef and jicama spring rolls, and sticky rice treats.
May 24
Chantha makes num kruok (savory Khmer coconut-rice pancakes) for brunch, and a state of sensory ecstasy falls upon Halcyon House.
May 19
Hal and Kim shoot the first of several cooking videos starring Chantha. (Coming soon!)
May 26-27
The Slow Noodles Cooking Tour kicks off with a class on spring roll making and bun (vermicelli bowls) on Saturday and a kuy teav brunch class on Sunday.
photo by Ryan Carter of Parachute Media
June 2
Chantha and Clara corner the market on Thai bird's eye chilis and create a Superfund toxic cleanup site in Halcyon kitchen whilst producing 52 jars of Khmer Flare Extra-Hot Chili Paste; evacuation of 12South while capsaicin cloud dissipates.
The Rest of the Summer
It is on: a madhouse schedule of Khmer cooking classes, dinner parties, Mekong Blue sales trips, and periodic raids on the produce aisle at Interasian Market.
Khmer Flare Chili Paste sells out. Customers demand a second production run.
July 3 & 5
Final cooking classes of the summer, both sold out, with 12+ attendees: bun nem nuong & bún bò Huế. (With big thanks to Miranda Whitcomb Pontes for sharing her home for the closing Slow Noodles event of the season!)
Aug. 19
Chantha flies home to recuperate. Riots in Nashville as emergency reserves of Chantha's green papaya pickles fall to dangerously low levels.
Sept. 19
Clara makes first attempt to reproduce her mother's green papaya pickle recipe. A city holds its breath.
Sept. 20
Clara's green papaya pickle experiment succeeds. A city celebrates. A man named Austin Gray achieves enlightenment.
Sept. 29
Clara Kim orders a butane burner. The Season of Khmer Hot Pot begins. The bards will sing of this for generations.
Oct. 6
Clara launches a gorgeous new website for her parents' nonprofit weaving center, Mekong Blue & SWDC.
Brilliant literary agent Joy Tutela agrees to represent Chantha's SLOW NOODLES memoir!
Oct. 12
Goldman Sachs offers Clara Kim a job! We devour celebratory bowls of bún bò Huế at VN Pho & Deli.
Dec. 1
Clara moves to Salt Lake City to start her First Real Job. Hal provides snowball-throwing lessons and leads an IKEA raid. We reconnoiter Asian groceries and celebrate at CY Noodles House.
Dec. 2
Riots in Nashville as emergency reserves of Chantha & Clara's green papaya pickles fall to dangerously low levels.
Dec. 16
Relief comes virtually: Clara takes over @SlowNoodles Instagram feed, and a hungry city finds vicarious sustenance from afar.
A giant THANK YOU to all who helped us on our journey this year: folks who joined us for the Slow Noodles Cooking Tour, writer friends who read drafts of the MSS and offered suggestions, and everyone who encouraged, supported, and dined with us this year. Cheers and happy new year to all!