Happy Valentine's Day 2012!

Surprise your valentine with a "hot Mexican breakfast" in bed this year!  Kokopelli's Kitchen has found some great recipes for Huevos Rancheros. The recipes we found in are from "Arizona Cookbook". Permission to reprint the recipes has been granted by Golden West Publishers in Phoenix, Arizona.

Huevos Rancheros (Mexican Eggs)

1 cup GREEN CHILI SALSA (recipe below)
4 oz. Longhorn CHEESE
4 corn TORTILLAS
4 EGGS
OIL and BUTTER for frying

Dip tortillas in heated oil and remove quickly. Set tortillas on baking pan to keep warm. In a frying pan, panfry eggs in butter until the whites are set but the yolks still soft. Put a fried egg on each tortilla. Heat salsa and spoon over each egg. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Slip baking pan under broiler until cheese melts. (Variation: try adding heated refried beans on the tortillas, before topping with eggs, salsa and cheese.)

Green Chili Salsa

1 tablespoon OIL
1 chopped ONION
1 small can chopped GREEN CHILI
1 clove chopped GARLIC
2 cups whole TOMATOES
SALT

Heat oil, add onion, and simmer for three minutes in small saucepan. Add chili and simmer for an additional three minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes. Simmer five to ten minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and chill.

Valentine's Day Quotations
Authors, poets and playwrights have been trying to capture love in words for thousands of years. Their work speaks to the enduring power of love across the ages of human history. Check out this collection of quotes about love from some of the world's most famous romantics.


Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
- Aristotle

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
- Lao Tzu

My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable.
- Henry Ward Beecher

Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.
- Anais Nin

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires; To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
- Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.
-Helen Keller

Love does not dominate; it cultivates.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.
- Zora Neale Hurston

Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love.
- Leo Tolstoy

Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it, and it darts away.
- Dorothy Parker

I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.
- Alice Walker

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I does not exist nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.
- Pablo Neruda, "Love Sonnet XVII"

(Source: The History Channel. Retrieved February 4, 2012.)

Happy New Year 2012 from Kokopelli's Kitchen!

Civilizations around the world have been celebrating the start of each new year for at least four millennia. Today, most New Year’s festivities begin on December 31 (New Year’s Eve), the last day of the Gregorian calendar, and continue into the early hours of January 1 (New Year’s Day). Common traditions include attending parties, eating special New Year’s foods, making resolutions for the new year and watching fireworks displays.


Early New Year's Celebrations
The earliest recorded festivities in honor of a new year’s arrival date back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon. For the Babylonians, the first new moon following the vernal equinox—the day in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness—heralded the start of a new year. They marked the occasion with a massive religious festival called Akitu (derived from the Sumerian word for barley, which was cut in the spring) that involved a different ritual on each of its 11 days. In addition to the new year, Atiku celebrated the mythical victory of the Babylonian sky god Marduk over the evil sea goddess Tiamat and served an important political purpose: It was during this time that a new king was crowned or that the current ruler’s divine mandate was symbolically renewed.

Throughout antiquity, civilizations around the world developed increasingly sophisticated calendars, typically pinning the first day of the year to an agricultural or astronomical event. In Egypt, for instance, the year began with the annual flooding of the Nile, which coincided with the rising of the star Sirius. The first day of the Chinese new year, meanwhile, occurred with the second new moon after the winter solstice.


January 1 Becomes New Year's Day
The early Roman calendar consisted of 10 months and 304 days, with each new year beginning at the vernal equinox; according to tradition, it was created by Romulus, the founder of Rome, in the eighth century B.C. A later king, Numa Pompilius, is credited with adding the months of Januarius and Februarius. Over the centuries, the calendar fell out of sync with the sun, and in 46 B.C. the emperor Julius Caesar decided to solve the problem by consulting with the most prominent astronomers and mathematicians of his time. He introduced the Julian calendar, which closely resembles the more modern Gregorian calendar that most countries around the world use today.

As part of his reform, Caesar instituted January 1 as the first day of the year, partly to honor the month’s namesake: Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past and forward into the future. Romans celebrated by offering sacrifices to Janus, exchanging gifts with one another, decorating their homes with laurel branches and attending raucous parties. In medieval Europe, Christian leaders temporarily replaced January 1 as the first of the year with days carrying more religious significance, such as December 25 (the anniversary of Jesus’ birth) and March 25 (the Feast of the Annunciation); Pope Gregory XIII reestablished January 1 as New Year’s Day in 1582.

New Year's Traditions
In many countries, New Year’s celebrations begin on the evening of December 31—New Year’s Eve—and continue into the early hours of January 1. Revelers often enjoy meals and snacks thought to bestow good luck for the coming year. In Spain and several other Spanish-speaking countries, people bolt down a dozen grapes-symbolizing their hopes for the months ahead-right before midnight. In many parts of the world, traditional New Year’s dishes feature legumes, which are thought to resemble coins and herald future financial success; examples include lentils in Italy and black-eyed peas in the southern United States. Because pigs represent progress and prosperity in some cultures, pork appears on the New Year’s Eve table in Cuba, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and other countries. Ring-shaped cakes and pastries, a sign that the year has come full circle, round out the feast in the Netherlands, Mexico, Greece and elsewhere. In Sweden and Norway, meanwhile, rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is served on New Year’s Eve; it is said that whoever finds the nut can expect 12 months of good fortune.

Other customs that are common worldwide include watching fireworks and singing songs to welcome the new year, including the ever-popular "Auld Lang Syne" in many English-speaking countries. The practice of making resolutions for the new year is thought to have first caught on among the ancient Babylonians, who made promises in order to earn the favor of the gods and start the year off on the right foot. (They would reportedly vow to pay off debts and return borrowed farm equipment.)

In the United States, the most iconic New Year’s tradition is the dropping of a giant ball in New York City's Times Square at the stroke of midnight. Millions of people around the world watch the event, which has taken place almost every year since 1907. Over time, the ball itself has ballooned from a 700-pound iron-and-wood orb to a brightly patterned sphere 12 feet in diameter and weighing in at nearly 12,000 pounds. Various towns and cities across America have developed their own versions of the Times Square ritual, organizing public drops of items ranging from pickles (Dillsburg, Pennsylvania) to possums (Tallapoosa, Georgia) at midnight on New Year’s Eve.  (Source: The History Channel. Retrieved January 4, 2012.)




BLUE RIBBON RECIPE FOR PINTO BEANS: Want to add a taste of the southwest to your table this year? Then, check out this contest winning recipe we found in "From the Queen's Kitchen Cookbook". Permission to reprint the recipe has been granted by Adobe Milling in Dove Creek, Colorado.

SOUTHWEST PINTOS (Blue Ribbon 1991)

½ lb. GROUND BEEF

10 slices BACON, chopped

½ cup ONION, chopped

⅓ cup BROWN SUGAR

⅓ cup GRANULATED SUGAR

¼ cup KETCHUP

¼ cup BARBEQUE SAUCE

2 Tbsp. PREPARED MUSTARD

2 Tbsp. MOLASSES

½ tsp. SALT

½ tsp. CHILI POWDER

½ tsp. BLACK PEPPER

1 (16 oz) can PORK AND BEANS

32 oz. PINTO BEANS, cooked

Brown meats and drain. Add onion and cook until tender. Add the next 9 ingredients. Mix well. Add beans. Pour into 3 quart casserole. Bake in 350° oven for 1 hour. Serves 6 to 8.

Lana Laker

Southwest Baked Delights for the Holidays

Southwest Baked Delights for the Holidays

Happy Holidays from Kokopelli's Kitchen! For those that would like to give a special gift, we just posted recipes for delightful holiday treats to consider. The recipes are from "Christmas in New Mexico" by Lynn Nusom; permission to reprint the recipes has been granted by Golden West Publishers here in Phoenix, Arizona. 

CAKE DE FRUTAS
This is a very simple, light fruit cake -- easy to make and delicious.

1 tsp. BAKING SODA
1 cup WATER
1/3 cup BUTTER
1 cup SUGAR
1 EGG, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
1 APPLE, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup PECANS, chopped
1 cup GOLDEN RAISINS
1/2 cup candied ORANGE PEEL
1/4 cup candied LEMON PEEL
1 tsp. ALLSPICE
1 tsp. CINNAMON
1/2 tsp. GINGER
1/2 tsp. ground CLOVES
1/2 tsp. MACE
1/2 tsp. ground NUTMEG
1/2 cup LIGHT RUM

Mix baking soda and water together. Whip butter into sugar, then beat in egg. Stir soda water into sugar mixture. Stir in flour, apple, pecans, raisins, citrus peel, and spices. Spoon batter into a lightly buttered and floured loaf pan and bake in a 325° oven for 1 hour or until tests done. Remove from oven  and let cool on a wire rack for an hour. Turn out onto rack and let cool totally. Pour rum over cake, wrap in wax paper and aluminum foil and store in the refrigerator, adding more rum occasionally if desired, until ready to serve.


CHOCOLATE FUDGE
What would Christmas be without some good homemade fudge?

2 cups SUGAR
2 squares UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE
1 cup . EVAPORATED MILK
2 Tbsp. WHITE CORN SYRUP
2 Tbsp. BUTTER or MARGARINE
1 tsp. VANILLA
1/2 tsp. SALT
1 cup PECANS, chopped

Combine sugar , chocolate, evaporated milk and corn syrup in heavy saucepan over low heat , stirring constantly until it begins to boil. Cook to the soft ball stage (238° F).  Remove from heat and cool for about 10 minutes. Add butter, vanilla and salt and beat until mixture loses its sheen. Add the pecans and continue to beat for about 2 minutes.

Working quickly, spread out in well-buttered square pan until smooth. Cool and cut into squares.

Yield:  About 16 squares.

Thanksgiving: Fact or Fiction

"The reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving is that it is an invented tradition. It doesn't originate in any one event. It is based on the New England puritan Thanksgiving, which is a religious Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas like commemorating the pilgrims. All of these have been gathered together and transformed into something different from the original parts."
–James W. Baker, Senior Historian at Plimoth Plantation

1. Fact or Fiction: Thanksgiving is held on the final Thursday of November each year.

Fiction. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln designated the last Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. However, in 1939, after a request from the National Retail Dry Goods Association, President Franklin Roosevelt decreed that the holiday should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month (and never the occasional fifth, as occurred in 1939) in order to extend the holiday shopping season by a week. The decision sparked great controversy, and was still unresolved two years later, when the House of Representatives passed a resolution making the last Thursday in November a legal national holiday. The Senate amended the resolution, setting the date as the fourth Thursday, and the House eventually agreed.

2. Fact or Fiction: One of America's Founding Fathers thought the turkey should be the national bird of the United States.

Fact. In a letter to his daughter sent in 1784, Benjamin Franklin suggested that the wild turkey would be a more appropriate national symbol for the newly independent United States than the bald eagle (which had earlier been chosen by the Continental Congress). He argued that the turkey was "a much more respectable Bird," "a true original Native of America," and "though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage."

3. Fact or Fiction: In 1863, Abraham Lincoln became the first American president to proclaim a national day of thanksgiving.

Fiction. George Washington, John Adams and James Madison all issued proclamations urging Americans to observe days of thanksgiving, both for general good fortune and for particularly momentous events (the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, in Washington's case; the end of the War of 1812, in Madison's).

4. Fact or Fiction: Macy's was the first American department store to sponsor a parade in celebration of Thanksgiving.

Fiction. The Philadelphia department store Gimbel's had sponsored a parade in 1920, but the Macy's parade, launched four years later, soon became a Thanksgiving tradition and the standard kickoff to the holiday shopping season. The parade became ever more well-known after it featured prominently in the hit film Miracle on 34th Street (1947), which shows actual footage of the 1946 parade. In addition to its famous giant balloons and floats, the Macy's parade features live music and other performances, including by the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes and cast members of well-known Broadway shows.

5. Fact or Fiction: Turkeys are slow-moving birds that lack the ability to fly.

Fiction (kind of). Domesticated turkeys (the type eaten on Thanksgiving) cannot fly, and their pace is limited to a slow walk. Female domestic turkeys, which are typically smaller and lighter than males, can move somewhat faster. Wild turkeys, on the other hand, are much smaller and more agile. They can reach speeds of up to 20-25 miles per hour on the ground and fly for short distances at speeds approaching 55 miles per hour. They also have better eyesight and hearing than their domestic counterparts.

6. Fact or Fiction: Native Americans used cranberries, now a staple of many Thanksgiving dinners, for cooking as well as medicinal purposes.

Fact. According to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association, one of the country's oldest farmers' organizations, Native Americans used cranberries in a variety of foods, including "pemmican" (a nourishing, high-protein combination of crushed berries, dried deer meat and melted fat). They also used it as a medicine to treat arrow punctures and other wounds and as a dye for fabric. The Pilgrims adopted these uses for the fruit and gave it a name—"craneberry"—because its drooping pink blossoms in the spring reminded them of a crane.

7. Fact or Fiction: The movement of the turkey inspired a ballroom dance.

Fact. The turkey trot, modeled on that bird's characteristic short, jerky steps, was one of a number of popular dance styles that emerged during the late 19th and early 20th century in the United States. The two-step, a simple dance that required little to no instruction, was quickly followed by such dances as the one-step, the turkey trot, the fox trot and the bunny hug, which could all be performed to the ragtime and jazz music popular at the time. The popularity of such dances spread like wildfire, helped along by the teachings and performances of exhibition dancers like the famous husband-and-wife team Vernon and Irene Castle.

8. Fact or Fiction: On Thanksgiving Day in 2007, two turkeys earned a trip to Disney World.

Fact. On November 20, 2007, President George W. Bush granted a "pardon" to two turkeys, named May and Flower, at the 60th annual National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation, held in the Rose Garden at the White House. The two turkeys were flown to Orlando, Florida, where they served as honorary grand marshals for the Disney World Thanksgiving Parade. The current tradition of presidential turkey pardons began in 1947, under Harry Truman, but the practice is said to have informally begun with Abraham Lincoln, who granted a pardon to his son Tad's pet turkey.

9. Fact or Fiction: Turkey contains an amino acid that makes you sleepy.

Fact. Turkey does contain the essential amino acid tryptophan, which is a natural sedative, but so do a lot of other foods, including chicken, beef, pork, beans and cheese. Though many people believe turkey's tryptophan content is what makes many people feel sleepy after a big Thanksgiving meal, it is more likely the combination of fats and carbohydrates most people eat with the turkey, as well as the large amount of food (not to mention alcohol, in some cases) consumed, that makes most people feel like following their meal up with a nap.

10. Fact or Fiction: The tradition of playing or watching football on Thanksgiving started with the first National Football League game on the holiday in 1934.

Fiction. The American tradition of college football on Thanksgiving is pretty much as old as the sport itself. The newly formed American Intercollegiate Football Association held its first championship game on Thanksgiving Day in 1876. At the time, the sport resembled something between rugby and what we think of as football today. By the 1890s, more than 5,000 club, college and high school football games were taking place on Thanksgiving, and championship match-ups between schools like Princeton and Yale could draw up to 40,000 fans. The NFL took up the tradition in 1934, when the Detroit Lions (recently arrived in the city and renamed) played the Chicago Bears at the University of Detroit stadium in front of 26,000 fans. Since then, the Lions game on Thanksgiving has become an annual event, taking place every year except during the World War II years (1939–1944).    (Source: The History Channel website. Retrieved November 20, 2011).