Wrath of the Gods

on the third full day I spent here, I was able to spend a little bit more time doing creative things. 

Modern Market for lunch with two friends who were also visiting from my hometown of York Pa, and whom then spent much of the day with me. We drove to Aurora to see the Century 16 that was attacked, snapped a photo, and immediately fled for Colorado Springs.

My friends Shae and Caryn took me down to Co. Springs. The drive was gorgeous.

Garden of the Gods was an Ute Reservation until 1860 when pioneers came in. it was renovated by a plethora of people before becoming public domain in 1909. to this day, it is constantly added to and spans 1370 acres. Pike's pea, named after Zebulon Pike, never made it to the top of the 14,000 foot mountain. The view from the top of this mountain inspired Katharine Lee Bates to pen America the Beautiful on a 1895. Alot of the original formations that the Red Rock indians inhabited 3400 years ago still remain today. And so, I decided to meander out into the park.

And here I learned, in the Midwest, if you see a cloud, you RUN.

I then got trapped in a monster hailstorm underneath a rock in the center of the park. I eventually said screw.it and bolted towards the visitor center, getting bombarded and gashed open in the process. I made it to a parking lot, where I found a pleasant Hungarian woman and her family waiting out the storm. Out of the kindness in their heart, they gave me a ride back up to the guest center, where I hailed an Uber to reunite me with my friends.

Wherever you are, Hungarian Family, Köszönöm!

My 20 minute uber ride took me through Old Colorado City, capital pf Colorado for 5 days. people come from all over just to race there and in Pike's Peak. I came back up to my friend's apartment, changed clothes, and got ready for the rest of the evening.

I ended up having the same Uber to go to and from the next two locations. he was a very nice guy from Ethiopia who moved to Colorado about 8 years prior. my first destination was to be Columbine High School, to see the current state of affairs after the horrible massacre 20 years prior. it was easily the most sobering part of my trip to Colorado, and I'm very fortunate that I got to pay my respects to it.

The hillside by the school was extremely placid.

Dinner that night was at Casa Bonita, a beautiful addition to downtown Denver, and a definite tourist spot. They had all you could eat meat enchiladas for $16, but being vegetarian, I had to get a special order (which cost more). They had a gift shop in this Spanish Caballero-themed place, as well as an arcade and a diving show.

Holy House!

Visit Denver sometime - just avoid the hail.

Healthy Vegetarian Soup!

Growing up, I was a huge fan of Legend of Zelda. I remember buying the GameCube specifically to play The Legend of Zelda the Windwaker. I was so excited to get this game, and then when I discovered the elixir so the Grandma makes halfway through the game, I nearly fell in love. So, after drawing some inspiration from the internet, I absolutely had to make my own version of the recipe.

I can't guarantee that this soup will overcharge your master sword with Godly energy, or that it will completely restore your health in Magic points, but it will definitely restore your ability to focus and give you a very healthy serving of vegetables.

and so without further Ado, here's how I make it!

The Finished Product!

You will need:

One tablespoon olive oil

Two tbsp. liquid aminos

Three cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 of a large yellow onion, diced

One teaspoon each of basil and Thyme

1/2 teaspoon of Ginger paste, or 1tsp freshly ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Two ribs of celery, chopped

Two large carrots, chopped

One medium sized turnip, peeled and chopped

One medium sized sweet potato, dice

One medium sized red potato, diced

One small yellow squash, chopped

One small green squash, chopped

Two parsnips, chopped*

Two teaspoons turmeric

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds

About 4-5 cups vegetable stock, enough to cover the vegetables

One cup water

One bay leaf

Chives and parsley, to garnish

How it’s done:

1) In a large pot, add olive oil and bring to medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger, basil, thyme, and carrot, and sautéed until vegetables start to soften.

2) Add the celery, turnip, parsnips, cayenne, and liquid amino acids, and sauté over medium-high heat until the turnips start to soften and change color.

3) Add potatoes and squash, and then the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, for about 2 minutes. Add the turmeric, bay leaf, and pumpkin seeds.

4) Bring to a simmer for about 30 minutes or until all of the vegetables have become soft and tender.

5) When your soup cool for about 30 minutes, and then freaked out the food processor. This soup is traditionally pureed, so nix the bay leaf and puree the soup until it has a creamy consistency.

6) Put into a container to store for later, or divide your soup into bowls and apply the garnishes of parsley and chives.

And now, you're hearty and healthy soup is ready to enjoy! The nice thing about this soup is that you can either drink it out of a cup or you can enjoy it in a bowl. You could, in theory, enjoy it cold like gazpacho, or heat it up over stove top or in the microwave. Either way around, enjoy your soup and Revitalize yourself!

*the biggest thing to mention here is that you want a fairly equal representation of each vegetable in the soup. So if you see that there is more of one vegetable than the other one is all chopped up and ready to throw in the pot, remove some of that vegetable. Save it for later use.