Phoenix Rising

Phoenix is an enormous city. I’m also including in this statement the ‘Greater Phoenix Area’ of Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Sun City, and all the other burbs and townships indistinguishable to me from one another. I’m sure to the trained eye of a local there are clear delineations but I just don’t see them.

Another exciting and obvious fact is that Phoenix is in the Desert. Grass is rare and the medians, road sides and many front lawns sport so called desertscapes complete with Cacti and sandy pink gravel. It’s hot as well. Here I am in October with temperatures at home in the 40s and Phoenix is starting to cool off into the 80s. Don’t let them tell you it is a dry heat either because it is still just plain hot.

It is beautiful however. Clear blue skies hang over the aforementioned desertscapes as well as golf courses and mountains plopped down in the midst of the urban sprawl with seeming abandon. These mountains (hills really I guess) provide many scenic views to those willing to scale them. Near to the hotel I am staying in, a city park has been established amongst a few of these hills/mountains. I went out one early morning for a quick hike and brought my camera along. I have attached pictures below.

Get 'em Hot

In the South, along almost every road and byway you will see humble stands or shacks proclaiming to have Hot Boiled Peanuts. The spellings vary widely and nothing adheres to conventional laws such as building or food handling codes. Business is cash only and receipts rare but everyone walks away happy.

Pronounced somewhere between Bowled and Bold, these luscious legumes are a integral taste of the south from the Carolinas to Florida to Louisiana. More of an outside or picnic delicacy, the best method of consumption is to give the end a small bite to split the seam and slurp any juice out, crack the rest of the shell off and gobble the soft nuts. Sometimes the nuts stay together and sometimes they split with the shell but as long as you don’t drop them, they both taste good.

Living in Indiana, I have been missing these for some time until I finally decided to give it a try. Recipe wise it cannot get any easier. You need a large pot, water, peanuts and salt. Peanuts are properly boiled in brine which means a pretty good bit of salt. I would also suggest some kind of non-iodized salt given the amount used. I didn’t measure how much salt I used but if I had to guess, it was probably about 3/4 cup of salt to a gallon of water. Nothing scientific about it, just make it salty. The peanuts I got were called ‘Raw’ which is a slight variation from how this is normally done. Generally, the peanut vendors buy them in what is called ‘green’ state. Unlike other vegetables, ‘green’ peanuts are already ripe but remain somewhat unwashed (these are in the ground remember) and retain some of the root tendrils. For them, the process starts with washing the nuts and picking out the roots and chaff. For me, that had already been done but the snag was that they were dryer than I had anticipated. Given the choice, I probably would have opted for ‘green’ for authenticity but my choices here in the North are limited. I had the perfect pot though; I had decided to use my turkey fryer setup which turned out to be a champion idea. Turn the gas on, light it and set it to boil. As dry as the nuts where, they floated at first so I took a straining basket that fit the pot and weighted it with a relatively clean rock to press them into the water. I don’t know if this really helped but it made me feel better. Fast forward 5 – 6 hours and they seemed to be about right. They were still kind of al-dente but it worked for us on a first attempt.

The smell and taste is a flood of memories of football games, days at the springs and road trips to the stereo sound of slurping. Boiled peanuts can be enjoyed alone but are much better with company. I had also cooked some cabbage which goes nicely with it and invited some people over. For the full on Floridian treatment, I should have had swamp cabbage (heart of palm prepared like regular cabbage) but it was still a great time.

I think next time I’ll soak the peanuts overnight like dried beans and then add the salt and boil. I imagine it will take less boil time. I might get ambitious and add some spices like garlic or some chili peppers but that isn’t for everyone. Caution, consumption of boiled peanuts may result in speaking in a southern drawl and a desire to sit for a spell on the front porch watching the trucks go by.

Get Fit

My birthday was this Wednesday and as a gift, I got the Wii Fit Plus. The term feature rich was coined for a device such as this. I feel like an infomercial guru every time I start talking about it. I’ve only scratched the surface of all the variations of games/exercise/yoga posses it has. In short order, all of the family including the cat were registered. Unfortunately, the cat cannot exercise with the Wii. I would have loved to see the cat on the ski jump, they land on all fours don’t they?

The rest of us slobs were told our ‘real’ age. I have to say that I think the science behind ‘real’ age is suspect. Height/Weight charts are bad enough but telling someone they are older or younger based on health parameters is kind of like saying that everyone, EVERYONE, should drop dead on their 95th birthday like some kind of cable service cutoff date. So on my 36th birthday apparently I am ‘really’ 39. Not bad considering that Cheryl is very put out that her ‘real’ age is 41. Abby was confirmed to be a practically perfect 4 but the other kids were told that they could drive and pay taxes.

The big thing the Fit stresses is balance. At the risk of sounding prideful, I have pretty good balance. I’m not a tight rope walker (mostly it’s the height thing) but I can keep from falling off a slow moving skateboard. So far I am the champion ski jumper and Segway racer but I’m sure the rest will catch up.

This isn’t really a game review so suffice it to say we are having fun with it. Otherwise the birthday went well with family phone calls and a meal including Brats, Kraut, Carrot cake and Root Jack, a pirate themed orange flavored root beer. I found a place locally that stocks it and have been fighting temptation ever since.

The weather has turned cold and remains soggy so I don’t know how much longer I can keep running outside. Cheryl will be doing a half marathon Tomorrow but I’m just not on that level yet so will be home with the kids. It will be down in Indy so maybe a little warmer weather. I guess I prefer the cold to the hot summer days.