I had meant for the first post in this series to be one of my partners recipes and one of our stories. I wrote a draft that I was very excited about on my new tablet but when I saved it, well I am not really sure what happened to it. It appears to be gone. When that sort of thing happens to a piece of my writing I get a little pissy and refuse to rewrite it until the pissyness passes. So, I start with my dear friend Nicole and how she came back to the kitchen to rediscover her adventurous side in the kitchen and in life. Starting with none other than curry, of course.
I met Nicole in August of 2010 at our coordinator training for the Students’ Association of MacEwan University, fondly referred to as the SA. She was a second year SA veteran then. I noticed her right away. She has one of those welcoming personalities that draws people in and makes them feel welcomed and at home. Though we didn’t really become friends until the following summer. We were both just too busy and too wrapped up at our separate jobs at our separate satellite campuses, she at MacEwan South Campus and me at Centre for the Arts and Communications.
After our two weeks of training Nicole and I didn’t really see much of each other until the Christmas party. After the dinner a group of us decided to hit up Blues on Whyte, a local blues pub on our trendiest of avenues. Nicole had brought her boyfriend, at the time. Lets call him Bernie. Nicole and Bernie looked so in love. And they were. On the dance floor he seemed as if no one else in the world existed except her. Another friend and I made a guess that they would be announcing an engagement sooner than later.
Nicole and Bernie were very much in love. But Nicole, like many of us do including myself, was making compromise after compromise for this special person in her life. Her natural way of setting people at ease was being spent fast and costing her dear. She was loosing grip on the things she loves that make her who she is. For example, she loves to tinker and create in the kitchen. Before Bernie, she would try her hand at making foods from all over the world with exotic ingredients and spices. She was adventurous and excited to try anything. Bernie was not. Bernie was meat and plain potatoes kind of guy. In his mind, things like saffron and quinoa could make him catch the hipster.
It wasn’t just her culinary life that was being eroded of its zest. “Our relationship as a whole was a lot like our relationship in the kitchen, it was nourishing for him and I catered to his needs. But I was neglecting my own style of nourishment, which I needed. I was forced to sacrifice my sense of adventure, and ultimately halted my personal growth.” Eventually their fairytale love that we had gushed over at the Christmas party loosened at its seams. Bernie could not take the heat, so he left the kitchen.
By this time Nicole and I had started a new year of the SA coordinator life at the City Centre Campus. She took the break with Bernie a lot better than I expected. I sensed that she had grown tired of pleasing him and saw that she had forgotten that it was just as important to please herself. She was angry and hurt, as any of us would be, but she knew things were going to get better. And they did.
She rekindled a relationship with a past love, lets call him The Dude, because he is pretty damn cool. The Dude lives and works south of the boarder. He was, and still is I am sure, many of the things a woman wants in a husband. Attentive, supportive, providing and down-right fun. They had a blast together rekindling their fire and exploring new adventures, starting with food. (So far as I know, but lets keep this story G-rated.) They first thing they made together was a curry. She later made it for me and it is fantastic, and the recipe follows this story.
The Dude and Nicole broke off their romance for the second time. The distance was just too trying but they remain friends. (I secretly hope he moves back here, they get married and I get to help plan the wedding, but its not about me.) Their time together reminded Nicole of what she wants, deserves and is capable of creating for herself. “It felt very freeing to make this recipe and to try new things in the kitchen. I am now single again and loving my new found sense of adventure, not only in the kitchen but also in my life.”
People, especially naturally nurturing people like Nicole, often make too many accommodations and comprises for the people closest to them. Making them happy and comfortable begins to move from being rewarding to being costly on the old soul. By working to over please we loose the pieces of ourselves that not only made us who we are but the pieces that attract people to us; however, balance is not the easiest venture to conquer.
From Nicole I am reminded to give freely but always include myself in the list of people to give to.
Goddess Curry
Ingredients:
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 3 tablespoons curry powder
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
* 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
* salt to taste
* 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 1 cup plain yogurt
* 3/4 cup coconut milk
* 1/2 lemon, juiced
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Remove bay leaf, and stir in lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes.
Serve over rice and/or with nann bread.
I met Nicole in August of 2010 at our coordinator training for the Students’ Association of MacEwan University, fondly referred to as the SA. She was a second year SA veteran then. I noticed her right away. She has one of those welcoming personalities that draws people in and makes them feel welcomed and at home. Though we didn’t really become friends until the following summer. We were both just too busy and too wrapped up at our separate jobs at our separate satellite campuses, she at MacEwan South Campus and me at Centre for the Arts and Communications.
After our two weeks of training Nicole and I didn’t really see much of each other until the Christmas party. After the dinner a group of us decided to hit up Blues on Whyte, a local blues pub on our trendiest of avenues. Nicole had brought her boyfriend, at the time. Lets call him Bernie. Nicole and Bernie looked so in love. And they were. On the dance floor he seemed as if no one else in the world existed except her. Another friend and I made a guess that they would be announcing an engagement sooner than later.
Nicole and Bernie were very much in love. But Nicole, like many of us do including myself, was making compromise after compromise for this special person in her life. Her natural way of setting people at ease was being spent fast and costing her dear. She was loosing grip on the things she loves that make her who she is. For example, she loves to tinker and create in the kitchen. Before Bernie, she would try her hand at making foods from all over the world with exotic ingredients and spices. She was adventurous and excited to try anything. Bernie was not. Bernie was meat and plain potatoes kind of guy. In his mind, things like saffron and quinoa could make him catch the hipster.
It wasn’t just her culinary life that was being eroded of its zest. “Our relationship as a whole was a lot like our relationship in the kitchen, it was nourishing for him and I catered to his needs. But I was neglecting my own style of nourishment, which I needed. I was forced to sacrifice my sense of adventure, and ultimately halted my personal growth.” Eventually their fairytale love that we had gushed over at the Christmas party loosened at its seams. Bernie could not take the heat, so he left the kitchen.
By this time Nicole and I had started a new year of the SA coordinator life at the City Centre Campus. She took the break with Bernie a lot better than I expected. I sensed that she had grown tired of pleasing him and saw that she had forgotten that it was just as important to please herself. She was angry and hurt, as any of us would be, but she knew things were going to get better. And they did.
She rekindled a relationship with a past love, lets call him The Dude, because he is pretty damn cool. The Dude lives and works south of the boarder. He was, and still is I am sure, many of the things a woman wants in a husband. Attentive, supportive, providing and down-right fun. They had a blast together rekindling their fire and exploring new adventures, starting with food. (So far as I know, but lets keep this story G-rated.) They first thing they made together was a curry. She later made it for me and it is fantastic, and the recipe follows this story.
The Dude and Nicole broke off their romance for the second time. The distance was just too trying but they remain friends. (I secretly hope he moves back here, they get married and I get to help plan the wedding, but its not about me.) Their time together reminded Nicole of what she wants, deserves and is capable of creating for herself. “It felt very freeing to make this recipe and to try new things in the kitchen. I am now single again and loving my new found sense of adventure, not only in the kitchen but also in my life.”
People, especially naturally nurturing people like Nicole, often make too many accommodations and comprises for the people closest to them. Making them happy and comfortable begins to move from being rewarding to being costly on the old soul. By working to over please we loose the pieces of ourselves that not only made us who we are but the pieces that attract people to us; however, balance is not the easiest venture to conquer.
From Nicole I am reminded to give freely but always include myself in the list of people to give to.
Goddess Curry
Ingredients:
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 3 tablespoons curry powder
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
* 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
* salt to taste
* 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 1 cup plain yogurt
* 3/4 cup coconut milk
* 1/2 lemon, juiced
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Remove bay leaf, and stir in lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes.
Serve over rice and/or with nann bread.
