I threw my stuff in the car, headed up to the Rockies

Again, after a decent amount of silence, I’m back with another random post. As of this week, we are Denver residents, where my daily commute consists of staring at the snow-capped Rockies as I drive to the hospital. 

I guess I should recap our last month in Houston, reading back we did actually do quite a few things before we left. We, of course, continued to try many of the restaurants on our list. But we also made it outside a few more times before it got cold. 

On a long stretch off we headed over to Austin and San Antonio, hitting some other Texas tourist sites, touring the Alamo and the like. Both were different but fun! We found a beautiful natural pool in Austin, from a Buzzfeed top 20 list of all places, that was awesome. And we hit up Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives #14: Taco Taco in San Antonio. So delicious and probably on my top 5 DDD list. 

Leaving Houston was bittersweet. I’m not sold on big city living by any means, my patience in traffic at any time of the day is minimal. However, I really enjoyed the people we worked with and the job itself, which were a huge part of it.

As far as cooking, I stuck to some easy comforts as we were wrapping up and trying to use up ingredients in the refrigerator. To use up some ground turkey I had, I made Mediterranean Turkey Burgers that I enjoyed more than I expected! The recipe will follow, after an update on our first few days in CO.

The drive was long. There’s not much in Kansas but windmills. Thankfully, my engineering brother could answer all my curious questions about them as we drove past miles and miles of them. Who owns them? Why are they not all in a row? How much electricity do they generate? Do they spin by the wind alone or do the magnets help propel them? Ok, maybe I’m the only curious one. He probably could have made up every answer just to stop the questions. I will never know.

There was not much in east Colorado either, but as soon as we got outside of Denver, there they were. Huge and giant and rocky. You can see them even though they are miles away, the land in between is flat. Hoping to get out there and explore them soon! First I need to buy a real winter coat….

After we got all moved in and unpacked, we had dinner with a bunch of Mercy Ships friends. It was just surreal (weird/awesome/really?) for all 5 of us, nurses who met in the Congo, to be sitting in a Mediterranean restaurant in Denver eating chicken schwarma, which was a frequent meal both on the ship and out in town. But so good. To have been in a city less than 48hrs and connected with people we know. Like I’ve said before, ship friends are a different kind of friends, in the best way possible. Looking forward to a couple months filled with those friendships and real Denver tour guides!

I think that catches us up! Hopefully it won’t be June before I get back on here. One of the goals in Denver is to cook a bit more, our list of restaurants to try is pretty long already though!

Mediterranean Turkey Burgers

recipe courtesy Food Network

- 1 (7 oz) container 2% plain Greek yogurt (about 3/4 cup)
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 2 ounces)
- 1 cucumber, grated
- 2 Tbs chopped fresh mint
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/4 lbs ground turkey
- 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 buns, split and toasted
Lettuce and tomato slices, for topping

1. Combine the yogurt, feta, cucumber, mint, half of the garlic, 1 Tbs water, 1/2 tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

2. Combine the turkey, the remaining garlic, 1 tsp salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Form four 1/2-inch-thick patties. 

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, then add the patties and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

4. Spread the yogurt sauce on the buns. Sandwich with the burgers; top with lettuce and tomato. 


"Telluride" - Josh Gracin