Caroline and I have this Native American woven basket that we have been filling with trinkets from our travels around the United States for years. From the bottom left: Sheep wool from Dion Terry’s grandmother’s house near Wide Ruin on the Navajo Reservation, seashells from Holly Beach in Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico, various stones, below the chip from Caesar’s Palace is a small piece of Trinitite from the home of the first nuclear explosion in New Mexico.

Just left of the Trinitite is a grey pumice-like stone, it is from the blast zone at Mount St. Helens Volcano, and on its left is a piece of petrified wood from St. Johns, Arizona. The vertebra above all of these is of some unknown animal; we think cow, from Utah. Hanging on the vertebra are keychain ornaments from the Japanese Anime – Neon Genesis Evangelion. The empty seed pods were found somewhere near Phoenix, Arizona; on its left is sage from Tsakurshovi Jewelry and Gifts at Shungopavi on Second Mesa of the Hopi Reservation in Arizona.

On the right of the sage, you can see the feet of a small doll found somewhere in the west on a reservation, to the right top of the photo is an old can with a broken arrowhead on it. The crocheted round object on the top right with the red star is a Navajo Christmas ornament given to us by Dion Terry’s mom, Charity.

No, this is not an extra-long-grained hamburger; it is homemade spaghetti using fresh beet puree for the coloring of this mix of white flour, wheat flour, buckwheat, and a bit of mesquite flour. We hand crank this stuff on our new analog low/no-tech pasta roller and cutter that almost attaches to the counter in such a way that this thing is easy to use.

Organic, fresh, hand-made, colorful, and yummy.

After making dinner this evening, we had no leftovers, hence no lunch for Caroline, so  I had to make tomorrow’s dinner as well.  I made dahl, a spiced legume dish that has been molded by three different friends who each have their own take on how to prepare this. Here is my take on this traditional Indian staple:

2 Cups Yellow Dahl

1 Tsp Turmeric

1 Tsp Salt

Boil dahl with turmeric and salt until soft but not dissolved. Be sure to keep dahl well covered with water.

2 Tbsp Oil

1 Tsp Black Mustard Seed

12 Curry Leaves (Optional)

1 Tsp Cumin Powder

1 Tsp Coriander Powder

½ Tsp Red Chili Powder

2 – 3 Cloves of Chopped Garlic

1-inch Grated Ginger

½ Chopped Red Onion

2 Chopped Roma Tomatoes

1 Tsp Sugar

1 Tsp Salt

1 Lime (Juiced)

½ Bunch of Chopped Cilantro (Optional)

In a medium frying pan over high heat, add oil and mustard seed; as the mustard seed begins to pop, add curry leaves, and stand back as they tend to sputter – splashing a good amount of oil in the process. Add cumin, coriander, chili, garlic, ginger, and onion, and fry for about 2 minutes. Add tomato, sugar, and salt, and cook until the tomato begins to dissolve.

You may either drain all, some, or none of the water from the dahl, add dahl to the frying pan reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes. Add lime juice and cilantro, cooking for two more minutes. Serve over rice.