Monika Blogwell

Colorado was beautiful. Good friends, good food, good weather. What’s not to like? On the way to Estes Park, I was introduced to cherry cider. It’s liquid cherry pie (and we all know how I feel about pie). Patrick and I loaded up on peach syrup, strawberry rhubarb jam and other cherry paraphernalia (thanks, Jenny!), figuring what we didn’t eat would make a great gift.

Despite the fact that I fly relatively often, in my post-wedding fatigue, I somehow managed to forget the liquid rule this time around. I headed through security only to hear the dreaded words: “Bag check.” This was followed by the next dreaded words: “Who’s bag is this?” The officer dangled a black sack precariously over the conveyor belt. Mine.

After being chastised by the security lady who gloved my peach syrup with suspicion, I had to make a choice. Keep or toss. There was no way I was about to throw away more than $20 worth of fruit products. It was time for the mad dash back through the giant Denver airport to check my bag.

But first came the walk of shame. I rearranged my items while The Preserves Police held my bag and waited impatiently. (They don’t let you have your items back when they find something “banned” from carry-on inside until you have left the security area.) I was then escorted by the guard through the weaving line of security stations, past all the other guards and the wondering eyes of all the other passengers in line. I could feel the redness creeping up my cheeks. One guard even half-jokingly asked me as I exited, “Have you been bad?”

Ultimately, I made it back to Southwest’s check-in counter and then back down to security. I was on time for my flight, and am now back in swelteringly hot Texas. Colorado was fun, but that peach syrup had better be good.

The Suspects: Syrup and Jam

I’m in a very silly mood today. Perhaps it’s because I ate some Pringles. Or perhaps it’s because I’m going to Colorado today for the first time ever. But I’m not done talking about Pringles yet. Does anyone else wonder what happened to the green specs on sour cream and onion Pringles? They’re kind of essential to the Pringles-eating experience. I think it’s a conspiracy against chips.

So back to the point. I have a wedding to attend near Denver, and in addition to looking forward to the festivities, I’m also yearning for a break from the insane Texas heat. I can’t wait to see the Rockies for the first time. And I can’t wait to breathe mountain air. (It’s still somehow allergy season in Texas.) I’m also excited about visiting the Denver Art Museum.

Here’s what I think of whenever I hear the word Colorado. Every time I see a reference to Colorado, I have to say the word twice thanks to Sifl and Olly. Watch the video. Laugh. It’s Friday.

One of my favorite books is Gabriel García Márquez’s Love In the Time of Cholera. And one of my favorite lines in this book is, “Very well, I will marry you only if you don’t make me eat eggplant.” Both eggplant and cauliflower get a very bad rap, which is sad because both have a lot of potential as vegetables when prepared properly.

For dinner last night I made a variation on Aloo Gobi, an Indian dish with potatoes, cauliflower and lots of spices. The dish is best served with rice and/or naan and can be modified in many ways. It’s a great way to get someone who doesn’t like cauliflower to change his/her mind. For more protein, add chick peas or, for you meat eaters, some chicken. Or feel free to add additional veggies like mushrooms or green peas. To speed up the cooking of the dish, I precooked my cubed potatoes in the microwave. Pour enough warm water over the potatoes so they are covered, and cook for about 5 minutes. Reserve the water from the potatoes – it’s good and starchy, so you’ll get a thicker sauce.

Also, a note here about oil. I hardly use any oil when I cook. I use just enough to keep the first ingredients from sticking. For this reason, be sure to use good non-stick cookware when preparing this dish.

Finally, I like my Indian food spicy. However, you can modify the spiciness of this dish by using fewer (or no) jalapenos. I don’t use teaspoon or tablespoon measurements when I add spice, and I recommend that you start with less spice, and add more according to your personal taste.

Ingredients
1 tbs canola or vegetable oil
1 medium-sized onion, sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro, stalks cut in 1/2” pieces, leaves chopped and set aside
3 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and diced
1 can diced tomatoes in juice
1 t garam masala
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t garam masala
1/2 tsp ground ginger (or 1 tsp fresh grated)
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced (can be slightly pre-cooked in water in the microwave)
1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into 1/2”-1” pieces 1/2 c water (or reserved water from pre-cooked potatoes)

Directions
Heat oil in a large pan or wok. Add onion and stir until translucent. Add cumin and cilantro stalks. Stir in turmeric, paprika and salt. Add jalapenos, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, garam masala, potatoes and cauliflower. Stir until everything is well coated. Add the water/reserved potato water and cover. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 15 minutes or until cauliflower and potatoes are completely cooked. Serve over rice and garnished with fresh cilantro.

This weekend was pretty mundane. A lot of housework, organizing and boring adult stuff. However, there was one exciting development. I learned that you CAN make hummus in a coffee grinder.

Patrick told me that in his poor college student days he used to make hummus in a coffee grinder because he didn’t have a food processor. I thought the idea sounded downright ridiculous. Who would pulverize chick peas in a coffee grinder? Apparently, Patrick. But then I decided, partly out of boredom and partly because I didn’t want to get my blender dirty, that we should give it a whirl (literally).

Let me interject here (one can interject one’s own story, right?) by saying that I have an amazing blender: the VitaMix 5200. It’s my most prized kitchen gadget. The thing can even make soup — hot, steamy soup just from the friction of its blades! And the smoothies… the smoothies are heaven. It’s pretty easy to clean, but it’s heavy and takes up a lot of counter space. Since I keep it stowed in the box until I have a bigger kitchen, I wanted to use something a little more inconspicuous to make hummus. So, out came the coffee grinder we never use. Patrick now has a fancy-pants coffee maker with a built-in burr grinder — his most prized kitchen gadget.

Believe it or not, the hummus came out great! The only thing I would do differently, would be to use pre-chopped garlic. The coffee grinder didn’t appreciate an entire clove of garlic. Amazingly, the motor didn’t burn out. Then, I went on to make some delicious pesto. I blended the clove of garlic and the olive oil first (the olive oil helped the blending), then added pine nuts and basil. I mixed in the parmesan cheese by hand and added a little salt, and today had a caprese grilled cheese with pesto, provolone and tomatoes. Yum. Now if I could just figure out how to get my hot water boiler to double as the Kitchen Robot…

Coffee Grinder Pesto

I’ve never been good at throwing things away. It’s actually quite infuriating how attached I get to material things. I’m in the middle of going through my bedroom right now, sorting through my closet and trying to figure out what to keep and what to toss. I’ve read myriad websites and blogs about this. “If you haven’t worn it in over a year, get rid of it.” Some even suggest photographing the things you’re going to send to the scrap heap. That way, at least for us overly sentimental folks, there’s a memory of it.

My parents recently had a garage sale, and just the thought of some of the things they were selling sent waves of panic through me. You’re getting rid of my puppets from pizza hut?! Say it isn’t so!

I’ve always been this way. I think of the time, the money, the moment I saw it on the rack, and I over-rationalize to the point that my “toss” pile winds up getting smaller and smaller, dwindling into one or two worn out t-shirts. Rhine stones will come back in style, I foolishly tell myself. It’s like I suddenly enter a trance where I am hypnotized by every ugly, outdated thing I own.

But it’s all just stuff. I’m taking a break right now from the closet-cleaning claustrophobia, to clear my head and remind myself of the Buddhist mindset: material possessions are all just illusions. If all these objects went away tomorrow, I’d be okay. There’s so much more to life. And, if it turns out one day I need the things I give away, well, then thank God for e-bay.