Cooking Lessons

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

Bitter melon

Went to the Shah’s last night for dinner and got rightly stuffed on bitter melon, undhiyu, beet salad, tuvar dal, paratha, masala bhakhari, rice, and chhaas – a buttermilk drink. For dessert, we had ever so yummy falooda. The bitter melon was a special request of mine, typically it is only enjoyed by old people, guess I’m one of them now. And although it would primarily be eaten by Rinku and Krupesh’s mom, Caroline, Purvi, and me, they took the time to make this specialty for me. I enjoy this so much, I asked the Shah’s mom and Purvi to teach me how to make this dish. So here on Saturday at midday, I came over the house with two pounds of bitter melon and we got to work removing seeds, chopping, teaching me the ones I should have chosen, cutting onion and finally cooking this bitter dish with some mustard seed, turmeric, chili powder, and jaggery. How did it turn out? Bitter and spicy, just the way I like it.

The Countdown

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Books I have read over the previous 10 months as part of the preparation for an upcoming 18 day Dory trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon

On June 18, 2010, I posted a photo here of Caroline standing in the icy waters of the Colorado River at Lee’s Ferry; back then, we had 124 days left until the start of our boating adventure through the Grand Canyon. Today, we are a shade over 30 days before a load of gear is packed into the car, and we take off for an overnight in Flagstaff before an early morning drive to Lee’s Ferry to board the waiting dories.

A day does not go by that I am not thinking of the Colorado. There is a large box sitting in our living room into which we have placed a long list of equipment and essentials that will be needed for the 18 days we’ll be in the Canyon and on the river. I have empty notebooks, pens, 128GB of memory for my camera, seven battery packs, plus three lenses and my tripod to make sure I am well equipped to capture my impressions of this monumental journey.

There has been little time from week to week to find blogging material for my site. My thoughts are forever floating through the dreams of what this trip holds in store for us. From maps of where the river cuts through the canyon to an in-depth historic geographical look at how the canyon was formed, I have been reading the best materials I can find about the route we will travel on. A book about day hikes from the river has given me insight into 100 of the potential dozen or more trails we will have the opportunity to hike while we are not on the river. Each day, we are supposed to be on the river for 3 to 5 hours with the boatmen who will be our guides. From the ranks of these famous guides, I have read “There’s this River…” an excellent thrill-a-minute ride along with some of the more amazing episodes that have happened on the river over the years. “Downcanyon” by naturalist Ann Zwinger gave me a perspective of the biodiversity that lives riverside in the canyon. The newest book in my collection is “The Grand,” a photo journey starting at Mile Zero, also known as Lee’s Ferry, to just 10 miles past our take-out point at Diamond Creek, Mile 226.

By early this coming week, we will begin the 30-day countdown. Butterflies, anxiety, nervousness, excitement, anticipation, and a palpitating heart grab my attention all too frequently as the river comes into view. Today, our embarkation point is 261 miles from where I sit at this very moment. Forty weeks ago, we wrote the deposit check that secured our positions on this river trip, and now, in 31 days, 19 hours, and 22 minutes, we’ll be gone. I will be counting down each and every one of the 45,800 minutes remaining.

Purvi and Krupesh

JWise Photo of the Day

Purvi and Krupesh Shah

Caroline and I visited Indo Euro Foods this afternoon to meet up with Purvi and Krupesh. This was the first time Purvi and I met since she and Krupesh were married earlier this year. Also at the store were Rinku and her husband Yagnesh and so with all six of us together we fixed a date for the following Friday to get together for dinner. On the menu would be bitter melon, undhiyu, and a special beet salad Purvi makes. I tried the salad some time ago as Caroline attended a ceremony called Katha at their house and brought some home for me as I was watching Indo Euro while Sonal was in India on vacation. It was great meeting Purvi today, she is very comfortable to be around and joke with, no shyness with this woman.

Friends of the Agua Fria

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Approaching a ruin atop a hill near Prescott, Arizona

Today was the annual meeting of the Friends of Agua Fria National Monument, and as new members, Caroline and I were invited to attend. Over the years, on our travels across America, we, on occasion run across these “Friends of” groups. From the events they have scheduled and the programs they arrange, it seemed to me that Caroline and I were missing out on something. So when I learned of the Agua Fria group, we became members. This year’s annual meeting took place in a restaurant in Mayer, Arizona.

Native American ruin on a hilltop near Prescott, Arizona

We arrived at 8:00 for the coffee and breakfast part of the meeting. The meeting itself didn’t begin until 9:00. First order of business was the budget – which proved mildly contentious. Next up was info about the voting for a new board of directors. A presentation by a local grad student studying “race track” markings near native settlements took us up to lunch, during which a number of prizes were raffled off. Afterward, the election results were announced along with the winners of the fundraising silent auction. Then, finally, it was time for the part Caroline and I were really looking forward to.

Fragment of a broken metate near a Native American ruin site not far from Prescott, Arizona

Today’s activities included a local hike. Our destination was a Native American archaeological site on a nearby hillside. About a dozen of the 60 or so meeting participants joined our guide for the drive over a very rough road and short yet steep trail up the hill. Our Kia was the last car that I would dare take up this rutted, narrow sliver of a road, but the gentleman leading the hike had no problem letting us take over his back seat. A retired guy from Wisconsin nabbed the front seat. Once the vehicles were parked, we saw remnants of pit houses and a few pottery shards. But that was nothing in comparison to what we found on the hilltop.

Caroline Wise holding a pottery shard.

Crumbling stone walls, hundreds of pottery shards, a fragment from a broken metate, and more than one broken mano were scattered about, and the view from up here was commanding. The tour guide and the other attendees wanted to believe this was some kind of defensive position, but I don’t buy that; I think that, just like us, someone really loved the view. Considering that a few hundred years ago, the native population was quite small and scattered about, if a dozen Native Americans were trekking over the surrounding desert, who would risk losing 3 or 4 members of the group, possibly destroying its viability to survive? My interpretation has a bunch of folks making food with the mano metates, barbecuing, drinking from the pottery, catching a tan by day, and being dazzled by the stars at night.

Yesterday’s Buzzard – Today’s Chicken

JWise Photo of the Day

Fried chicken dinner, tastes like hot buzzard

I would have never admitted this but my results were so outstanding I just had to be open and confess this extraordinary find. Remember that dead buzzard from yesterday’s blog posting? I didn’t just stop to take its photo, that bird came home with me. After six hours marinading away the funny smell, I coated up the parts and got to deep-frying it. I swear this was going to go to the grave with me but spank me with a drum stick, this old buzzard cooked up and tasted at least as good as chicken. And, as it turns out, the buzzard has a pronounced gizzard which cooked up to make an exquisite gravy base that complimented the mashed red potatoes. I kept a huge glass of Kool-Aid at the ready to wash down any foul tastes in case I found myself gagging. Open wide, here it comes and so it was that I dipped into the golden brown crunchy fried buzzard wing thinking there wasn’t much meat there should it prove too much for my pallet. Holy mackerel, that’s some damned yummy bird. Pardon me if any readers should find this slightly gross, but I learned long ago from a fan boat driver in Florida that there are many ways to enjoy what nature has on the menu.

Death’s Vacuum

JWise Photo of the Day

Dead Buzzard

When your lowly job is to feed on the dead, upon your own demise the rot you embody leaves your corpse alone to turn to dust as the other scavengers avoid your stench. Along the roads of Arizona, it is not uncommon to see the buzzard snarfing morsels off a rabbit pelt left parched and flat after a good tenderizing from the passing trucks. That shriveled dead coyote that was there yesterday will be but a tuft of fur in a day or two. Snakes and other birds disappear in hours, but this ugly malcontent who while alive used to belly up and chow on the fetid remains of mystery roadkill meal du jour cannot find takers on a hot summer day, its shriveling head baking all day into the night. I passed this bird in the desert for the first time more than five days ago, today it looks much the way it did then. I must surmise that even buzzards have standards and won’t stoop to cannibalism. I wonder if its meat tastes like chicken.