The Conch Girl Project at Fort Collins

Recipe for Ken R’s Kitchen:
下酒菜 Side dish for beer (made with celery, carrots, cucumber, peanuts, and fried beans) and Egg fried rice 

• A kitchen located on the second floor of a house. Great open view. The windows are left open. Breeze comes and goes. It’s clean and organized. 
• Lots of plum jam. Freshly made two days ago. There are more in the fridge. There are also fresh plums. You wonder if these are from Ken’s favorite farm.
• Beer glasses in the cabinet, beer in the cabinet, beer in the fridge, a book named Beer on the shelf. Ken must be a beer fan. 
• And then you found this cabinet. Wow. 
• This corner is totally for Ken’s dog, whose name must be Bubba. No sign of Bubba in the house though.
• You found this in a hidden drawer near the sink. You have never seen this before. But it must be for cleaning. It looks like a wearable piece shining in the afternoon sun.
• The fridge contains: jars of pickles, leftover pasta in red sauce, takeaway rice, pizza slices, kinda fresh vegetables, and more beer. Sauces in the door pockets. Things tend to appear in flocks. Perhaps Ken knows what he likes. 
• A cabinet for spices, and a big container of dried herbs and chili. This reminds you of your parents’ freezer, always occupied by numerous dried and preserved ingredients for soup. You never saw them running low. You used to think that those can easily become family heirlooms. 
• Tempting set of red Le Creuset!
• Lots of wood, highlighted with stainless steel materials. This combo is visually muscular. You wonder if Ken lives alone. There are photography artworks here and there. Ken must be a kind supporter of the arts.
• You wonder if those containers on the top shelves are functional or decorational. Ken is tall but is that too tall??

• Ken let you in, guided you to the second floor, asked you when he should come back, and left the house. 
• You almost can’t decide where to take the self-portrait. You also have to admit that, at the sixth kitchen in Fort Collins, you are starting to get used to this feeling of not knowing what to do with abundance.
• With what you found in this kitchen. you decide to make a cold appetizer-like dish, meant to accompany beer. It’s called 下酒菜 xià jiǔ cài, meaning alcohol companion. You are not a drinker, but you know in China, people like to have something acidic, crunchy, and spicy with beer. And you are confident in the condiment collection in this kitchen. 
• Dicing time. Wait, which knife should you pick up?
• There are at least two jars that you fail to open. Ken has strong wrists. But this is not even a setback–– with the rich collection of spices here, you easily find alternatives.  
• You didn’t mean to, but you use three Le Creuset for this simple meal. You were dreaming of having one yourself two weeks ago. They are rather hefty.
• As you clean up, you wonder how much effort it takes to clean or to maintain such a house. 
• Ken comes back around 6pm, just the time you suggest, with Bubba. Bubba does not like you. He barks to the second floor immediately when he gets home. Perhaps it’s the fact that you were already in the house when Bubba arrived, that made you seem sneaky and threatening. Ken got you a treat. Bubba came and took it, but ate it on the ground, not out of your hand. Then Bubba keeps on barking at you. Alright. Maybe next time.