Calavacitas for Mandy

This is a little Mexican vegetable side dish in my part of the world.  The calabacita* is a type of squash, but you can also substitute zucchini if you can't find the real thing. Taste and texture, they are almost indistinguishable from each other.  Cook this very slowly. 

*I find the calabacita at Wal-Mart here, and I guess they will also be found in Mexican markets in the SW USA.

 

⅓ cup chopped onion

½ jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine (or green chilies of some other variety)

Smidge of olive oil (maybe 1 TB)

Calavacitas

1 calavacita squash, partially pared and diced

½ cup or so frozen or fresh corn

Salt/pepper/cilantro

⅛ cup milk

⅓ to ½ cup grated co-jack cheese

 

Sauté the onion and jalapeno in the oil for a few moments.  Add the squash.  Mix and cook, covered for a little while. Add the milk, corn, seasonings and herbs and cook a while longer. Add the cheese, and stirring constantly, heat until the cheese melts. Or just cover it, turn off the heat and let it sit for a little while. All in all, this should take 20-30 minutes.  It will be like a little squash "stew."  This will not be "hot" as prepared -- but you can notch up the heat by leaving in a few of the pepper's seeds, or adding some red pepper flakes, etc (or of course you just use the whole pepper).  If using fresh corn, add it earlier so it cooks completely - I used frozen tonight so it didn't need to cook as long. 

This will serve 4 as a side dish.  Tonight, it was a wonderful accompaniment for fish tacos.
 

Suzy Bogguss in Concert

Waiting for Suzy

So...  Suzy Bogguss in concert!  I had a seat very close to the stage.  She started on time and sang for almost two hours without a break, at the acoustically wonderful Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) auditorium in north Phoenix.

Her accompaniment was lead guitarist Paul Kramer and bassist Charlie Chadwick.  Suzy played rhythm guitar as I think most lead singers do.  She sang many songs I knew, from Aces mostly which is the one album I owned until now. She also included several traditional American folk songs that everyone knew all from her most recent album - in 2011. One she didn't play that I would have loved to hear was "Music on the Wind" from "Aces."

Her live performance "voice" is a bit more "clipped" than you get in the studio recordings -- her voice doesn't soar quite as much in live sets.  If you are familiar with the limitations of live performance I don't need to explain why.  But no matter -- it was wonderful and I loved every minute of it.  It was like having a great performance in your own living room and Suzy Boggus has one of the purest, sweetest singing voices you've ever heard. This lady can sing and her back-ups were top-notch.



At another show...

After the concert and the encore, she said she'd meet us "all" outside the theater -- she'd stay as long as we did.  To me, she's a "Big Star"  and I have NEVER seen any performer do that in my entire life.  She stayed until she shook the last hand, posed for the last photo, hugged the last kid.  I know, 'cause I watched.  One thing that surprised me was that the audience was a predominantly older group.  I guess it shouldn't, since she's been around for a while -- just like those of us who went to see and hear her last night.  I feel sorry for those who don't like this kind of music -- tuneful, country, sweet, folksy, and decidedly American.

What a warm human being and a class act.  I'm really kind of irritated though.  Now I have to buy a lot more of her music.  Just can't help it.