Three Little Words!

Anybody out there old enough to remember that song “Three Little Words”?    In the song the words are “I Love You”.

In my world its slightly different. My three are:

Hatch. Green. Chile.

Allow me to interject my undying THANK YOUS to Ryan and the gang at HyVEE for procuring Hatch Green Chile here in Iowa!  You guys rock!

You see, to a native born and raised New Mexican kid (that would be me),  a day without green chile is like a day without . . . oh, I don’t know . . . green chile.  We put it in darn near everything (ok, maybe not everything, Chicken Fried Steak perhaps is the exception).  I have chopped green chile in my scrambled eggs,  there’s green chile chicken enchiladas, green chile cornbread to go with the pinto beans and green chile stew.  Green chile posole.  And possibly the nectar of the Gods itself, GREEN CHILE CHEESEBURGERS!!!!!

Part of my upbringing every fall was the procurement, roasting, and freezing of Green Chile.

The smell of roasting chile takes me back to those sunday afternoons when Pops would fire up the grill and we’d have some steak and obligatory green chile.  The popping sound of the pepper pods blistering and steaming.

and then add in your favorite meat (it was burgers the other night when I was roasting 50 pounds of peppers)

With a frosty beverage in hand, in my favorite Cubs mug, life is very good.  Melt some cheese of choice over the top,

And VOILA!  Life is great!

Fortunately, I married SOOOOOOOOOOO wisely and nabbed a bride from Nuevo Mexico who appreciates my addiction as much as I do.  She usually does the packing and freezing of the peppers I roast and sweat.  TEAMWORK!

My kids, although born in NM, having spent more time in Iowa than their native lands, while appreciative, are not quite as fanatical as I am.

I blame myself and a glitch in their otherwise perfect upbringing.

But, hope springs eternal, and I also have made it my life’s mission to spread the Gospel of Green to all the heathen folk here in the midwest.

We’ve got the chile’s coming to Iowa  (thanks again Ryan!)

Now we’ve got to get the chilies INTO Iowans!

Hard work lies ahead.

Peace

TD