a taste of Havana: cigars & beans

If today was a country, it'd have been Cuba. While it is winter, it felt like spring. The sky was robin's egg blue like only Colorado can do, with a brilliant sun that warms right through your jacket, feeling as though you're wrapped in sheets that have just come out of the dryer. The sun on Cuban days like this, make one cross the street many times, chasing after the sunny side.

This Cuban day began with beans of all things. An old co-worker used to talk about Sundays spent 'making beans.' His grandmother would make us a huge crock pot of the most delicious ones ever for holiday potlucks. They seemed to be an art in his family, and over time, I was desperate to know the way too. A part of me didn't feel assimilated into Colorado culture without first conquering, 'the making of the beans.' The love affair with the idea began last year and it was just today that I finally took it on.

It's best to let you know that I have the heritage of a very white, Midwestern family. To me, that is defined by dinners of beef strogannoff and tuna noodle casserole. Side dishes were Jiffy cornbread and pillsbury cresent rolls (the ones that 'pop' out of the can) and certainly not beans. Well, unless they were in chili of course, which those beans came from a can. The point is, never before had I touched a dried bean...until today.

 My goal was to take the bag of dried beans I courageously bought last week and make them the centerpiece of dinner. If all went well, AMC would rave, saying as he usually does when rice and beans are on his plate, "I could eat this every day." Those are the magic words,  the ones you shoot for---success.

The Making of the Beans
here's  how it all went down for me.

Step 1: 8 a.m.   Soak the full bag beans in a bowl full of water for 8 hours.

*go out on errands
 *upon arriving home at 2, I noticed that the beans had doubled in size, almost overflowing their bowl. A transfer to a larger bowl was necessary. Note to self: next time, use a bigger bowl at the start.

* around evening time, AMC called and asked if I was up for a Palma's session. I was, and honestly, most days I would be. Palmas is a cigar and wine shop a few blocks away. The owner, Clay, travels to the Dominican Republic every 12 weeks to gather the tobacco leaves for the cigars that he hand rolls and sells. It's a fantastic little place that feels just like Cuba might, with dark turquoise walls that peel in just the right places, and vintage, brass light fixtures. His cigar rolling table is right up front, and his old fashioned 2 seat barber shop is in the back. How does a person decide to open up a barbershop/cigar store? I asked. (because I always have to.) He said that while growing up in the 50's, every other Saturday his mother would send he and his brother to the downtown barbershop, where the men would smoke cigars and chat while a black and white TV played the current ballgame. It was the epitome of cool to him, and it stuck... making Las Palmas what it is today. We told him that being there transports us to another country, on vacation. He said the decor of the place was inspired from a weekly calendar book of Cuba. He had the book there to show us, a Taschen, filled with fancy houses with courtyards and magnificent chandeliers. One particular photo showed an older, dark skinned woman talking on the telephone, leaning on the sill of her house window, smoking a full sized cigar. Cuba seems to have an off the beaten path sort of beauty, and Las Palmas certainly captured it too.

After a glass of Colorado red wine (who knew?) and a cigar shared, we headed home. And I got straight to the beans.

Step 2: Drain water from soaked beans and empty into a saucepan with chicken broth at boiling tempurature. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a pan, adding diced onion, jalapeno and tomato, cooking for 3 minutes. Add to beans mixture.

 Step 3: Boil for 1 hour. This is where the nuturing comes in. Add  fresh cilantro, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and coriander to taste. Also, stir often. You will notice the sauce getting nice and think over time.

Step 4: Viola! serve with rice and a salad.

It truly is that easy! Not to mention healthy and delicious!
A Cuban day well done.

p.s. check out the bonus spotted on the way home... shaggy dog. I bet he's Cuban.

dinner with Hemingway

michelleattala.com

I feel as though I had dinner with Ernest Hemingway the other night. Sunday night was AMC's old work's Christmas party. For the last two years now, they have chosen a delicious restaurant in Denver in which to dine and share a chat. But, this is no stuffy crowd, these are artists. That night it was a table mostly of nature photographers since John Fielder (Ernest Hemingway) is a landscape nature photographer, mostly of Colorado. It's a safe bet that at least one of two homes you visit in this Rocky Mountain state will have a John Fielder book on their coffee table or in their collection. Most likely it will be Colorado: 1870 to 2000, in which he took old photos from across the state shot in 1870 and in 2000 stood in the exact same spot as the original photograph and snapped a shot. It's amazing to see how the earth has changed, the size of towns and architecture has changed. Anyhow, that is the best selling book in Colorado history. He's a little bit famous, but not like GaGa or anything. Actually, that night we had to explain to him who Lady Gaga is and how she wore a meat dress. But, anyway.

One of my most favorite things is to ask people who have so obviously found "their work," how they found it. Here is the story of John Fielder. (this story is from my recollection, so don't burn me at the stake for, you know.) He was a businessman in marketing or accounting for a big department store here in Denver in the 70's, and photographed as a hobby. He was married and had a few young kids. One day he said to his wife (who has since passed away from Alzheimer's) "I want to be a nature photographer full-time." And then the key words, "I have a plan."

Now, from what I gather, no one was a full-time photographer in the 70's. It didn't exist really, at least not in a 'pay your bills' type of way. (what a rebel.) He probably looked a little bit cuckoo, which is usually a good sign in the long run, right? His wife said, "I'll give you a year. If it's not working, you'll go back to Marketing." (I never met her and I love her for saying that.) And John set off, and never looked back. Today he has a gallery (for which our very own AMC was the Gallery Director) is a key note speaker all the time, is friends with the Governor and other important people, does trips all over the world with people to teach photography....he's a busy very successful guy who in his older years, drives his corvette on shoots and doesn't sleep in a tent in freezing tempuratures like he used to. Been there, done that.

As I mentioned before, John's wife passed away something like 6 years ago now. To me, there is always a thin layer of sadness upon him, I think he naturally misses his wife. But, let me tell you, he certainly seems to be enjoying his position these days in a way too, especially with the women. I saw a photo of him in the 70's and he was no hot stuff (sad but true) Today though, with his confidence and success, plenty of women want to be his friend. He is very classy about it though, which I like. Plus, there is a woman who has just stolen his heart (that's my hypothesis) and she was at dinner. (! exciting)

Enter Michelle Attala. A blonde from Zambia, Africa. Oh that accent! And get this, she's a nature photographer....of Africa. We are talking stunning photos of elephants, African sunrises and native children. We are talking National Geographic. She's very intelligent. It's almost like she's the woman version of John Fielder! She's extremely spunky, and pokes lots of fun at John, which is good, because he needs a little bit of fun since he has the propensity to be somewhat (ok,very) serious. Last year, not long after meeting, John asked Michelle to take him on a photography expedition.... in Zambia. And so, together, they woke up before the sun and rode in Jeeps in the African bush, both snapping photos. (romantic? I'm sure!) No one knows what happened on that trip romantically, but, she was at dinner, sitting right next to him, teasing him the whole time and giving him hell for being "the John Fielder." Actually, she kept calling him JTF (his initials) which I loved since I also have a thing for 3 letter names (AMC).  Her sister and mother were also there, along with a table full of great people who work with and for John, as well as pursue their own photography. And so, it was a table of photographers, which is pretty cool it turns out, because as a young girl I said I wanted to be a National Geographic photographer. So, I got my moment of it on Sunday, in an extremely vicarious sorta way.

Now, for the Ernest Hemingway thing. It dawned on me when John asked down the table where AMC and  the new director went. I said outside to smoke a cigar and catch up on gallery business. John said he also smokes cigars and why wasn't he invited. (ha! The boss always thinks he should be invited!) I said that I also like cigars and so he asked if I'd ever smoked a Cuban. I have, we have. Just after we got engaged in Venice, AMC and I found a tiny little smoke shop that was selling Cubans for nothing. We bought all that were in the box and went to smoke two at the end of a dock, with our feet in the water, just where the canals open up and it's a big expanse of Meditterean water. Because he's John Fielder, of course he could top that. He said that while he was in Cuba he developed some kind of relationship with someone who would send him the same cigars that Fidel Castro smokes (smoked?) The reason he knows this is, at the tip of the cigars sent, there was a special way that the extra leaf end was rolled and cocked to the side, which apparently was the signature of Castro cigar. In short, JTF said, he has smoked with Castro. Only a Colorado Hemingway could say that. And I'll take it!

I took one photo of the party that night. Voila!

John is the one eating. Michelle is the blonde on his one side, talking to her sister at the end. Michelle's mother is nearest.

To see Colorado at it's most beautiful, or to view photos of the Africa expedition he and Michelle went on visit http://www.johnfielder.com. 
Michelle's work can be found at www.michelleattala.com

 Just for fun, I did a Google image search and found these:

Michelle's work via: http://www.fine-art-printing.co.za/our-artists/item/521/asInline.html

John and Michelle in Africa via http://www.artdistrictonsantafe.com/events/john-michelles-excellent-africa-adventure

Cheers to Hot Toddy's!

A snowstorm day and the day after are some of the wonders of Colorado that I like most. The day with snow falling naturally beckons everyone to take a little break. To go only where is needed or really sought after, eliminating unnecessary activity. We seem to have more time. It's feels to me as though thoughts and ideas are whizzing all around with the snowflakes, and by slowing down we have a chance to be aware of them.

The day after the snow storm, the sky is as clear blue as can be imagined. Things are refreshed and clean. Getting out and about, around town is something exciting again because we remember that yesterday it wasn't exactly an option.

On a late morning walk to the bank today I started thinking about the weekend plans, and how I'd like to go to the Botanic Gardens trail of lights. During the season, they string lights through what seems every living thing in the garden. You and your companions walk along the paths that are lit up so beautifully, just like a winter wonderland.

The guy in the bank just happened to say he was going to the opening night of the trail of lights on Saturday, and that he'd be making hot toddy's to bring in a thermos. And that sounded fun, except I wasn't exactly sure what ingredients were in a hot toddy in the first place. So, after doing a little research, here is what I found. This is the recipe I'll be using to try this season:

photo found at marthastewartliving.com via pinterest

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 fluid ounces boiling water
• 1 1/2 fluid ounces whiskey
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 slice lemon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions 

Pour the honey, boiling water, and whiskey into a mug. Spice it with the cloves and cinnamon, and put in the slice of lemon. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes so the flavors can mingle, then sprinkle with a pinch of nutmeg before serving.

There are many recipes out there to try, and unlimited ways to serve them too. Cheers!

                                                                              

                                                                                  Source: google.com via Alice on Pinterest

                                                                  Source: versesfrommykitchen.blogspot.com via bringingupboys on Pinterest

                                                                                Source: thekitchn.com via Annie on Pinterest

Extreme living

We drove up the mountain this weekend. Drove high enough above the ocean blue sea level that my ears popped like they do in a plane. We drove to Vail, to visit my grandparents at the condo they’ve had all my life that has housed many a sleepy skier. Before I lived in Colorado full-time, Vail was my ski town. Boots, ski’s, poles =’ed Vail. It was my quintessential wintery place where accents, languages and people from all over the world shared town buses and waited together in lines at Haagen Dazs. Where you knew what time it was when you woke up in the morning based on how much clunking of ski boots you could hear from outside.

This weekend, I experienced one of my favorite travel loves. Going to a familiar place, yet discovering in it, another layer. Being there for the golden aspen “changing of the leaves,” we enjoyed the last farmers market of the season. Now, one of the things almost missing were the farmers…. Only 1 booth sold produce. I mean, this is Vail, so $260 Christmas stockings are sold next to gluten free dog biscuits (something for everybody?) But, what the coolest part of the market and being in town before the ski season was getting into the groove of the local scene. If only for a few hours, we got a peak into the lives of what a Vail resident does the whole year through in their town. And what I came up with is, they do “extreme.”

Here is my theory on mountain town dwellers: They are totally into living. No one was ever born in a ski/mountain town (hardly). None of them were born into this kind of thing, this action sport atmosphere, most of them are marching to the beat of their own drum, they are totally into the sports they love and chose a lifestyle and town that allows them to do what they are passionate about on a daily basis. Which means, ski when it’s snowing, and bike, hike and climb on the mountains when the snow melts and they wait for it to come again.


These residents have gear too. bikes that tread, backpacks that hold houses practically, water bottles that never break, ropes, clips, swiss army knives- these people have the gear that will keep them alive on the mountain if need be, and help them play on the mountain most importantly. And, I think every Vail resident has a canine, every single one. Those Vail residents inspired me this weekend, to live it up in my life as a city girl. To strive to do what I am passionate about every stinking day, and to keep searching and exploring.

Very "the hills are alive" esque

"Dog parking" outside a resturant with polka dot awnings

my grandparents and Dante, the most popular dog on the sidewalk

even carrots are unique in the mountains, they looked like potatoes!

you must dismount your bike before going down the stairs... extreme!

golden gandola ride to the top of the mountain

below us people were hiking and biking on the slopes

backddrop