Living The Q Life

Sautéed Corn with Jalapenos – A Delicious Side Dish

Corn is a popular side dish wherever you go because it is so versatile and can be sweet or made to be savory. It is often boiled or grilled on the cob, but we chose to remove the kernels and sauté them with jalapeno and orange bell pepper. We seeded the jalapeno pepper and still found it to have plenty of heat, but if you really want more heat, you can certainly leave the seeds in. Sprinkling with cotija cheese adds a nice flavor to the dish, but you can leave it out or use parmesan or feta cheese if you can’t find cotija cheese. It is a great side dish to have with steak, pork, or fish. It could also be altered to become an actual entrée if you would prefer. For cutting the corn kernels off of the cob, we used a bunt pan to catch the kernels as they came off of the cob. It is a handy trick that works really well. We found it to be extremely delicious.

INGREDIENTS

4 Corn Cobs – cleaned and kernels removed
1 Orange Bell Pepper – seeded and diced
2 Jalapeno Peppers – seeded and diced
1/2 cup Cotija Cheese – crumbled by hand
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large, cast-iron skillet to medium-high heat. Add the corn, orange pepper, and jalapeno peppers to the skillet and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are soft and the corn is fully cooked and starting to brown. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with small crumbles of cotija cheese.

Sauté the Corn and Peppers in a Cast-Iron Skillet

The Finished Side Dish with Cotija Cheese

Oktoberfest Celebrations

Although the official Oktoberfest takes place in Munich, celebrations can be found all around the world. Any excuse to get gather, drink beer, eat food, and dance to traditional folk music will likely draw a large crowd. There are several places in Colorado where you can go to an Oktoberfest, most notably is in Breckenridge, but there is a very large one in Denver as well as one in Colorado Springs. We went to our first Oktoberfest back in 2015 and had an absolutely wonderful time.

We had a very nice Hefe-Weizen wheat beer as well as an excellent Marzen amber ale from Paulaner Brewer, who are from Munich. We needed the cold beers after literally kicking our heels up with the dance troupe, The Denver Kickers. We have a lot of respect for them, all of whom are family members, as they danced the entire day and evening, entertaining the crowd. That certainly can’t be easy, especially wearing lederhosen as warm as it was that day. In addition to the dancing, there was plenty of music by The Prime Time Band featuring Klaus.

Pete and Dona with the Dancers Enjoying Some Beer

If we had tried all of the different food that was offered, we would have probably put on ten pounds. The food that we did eat was delicious, especially the bratwurst with sauerkraut. In addition to brats, there was Weiner Schnitzel, giant pretzels, German chocolate cake, and a variety of sweets. Along with the beer, we definitely had our fill of good food.

It was a great day of dancing, drinking, eating, and people watching. Regardless of your heritage or where you live, going to Oktoberfest is well worth the time. It is a great event for families as well as for couples like us. We really had a lot fun, made some new friends, and even learned a new dance, all in all, a wonderful day.

The Book of Kells in the Old Library at Trinity College

When visiting Dublin, Ireland, one of the things that should definitely be on your itinerary is visiting Trinity College. We would definitely recommend getting tickets to see the Book of Kells exhibition at the Old Library, which displays two of the four books at all times. A popular myth is that there is a ceremony to turn the pages of the books daily, but that doesn’t actually occur. The Book of Kells contains the Four Gospels of the New Testament and was believed to have been written around the 8th century. The book gets its name from the Abby of Kells in Kells, Ireland where the book was kept for centuries. The illustrations in the Book of Kells are considered to be the most intricate, complex, and interesting of any version of the Gospels that have ever been created.

The Long Room in the Old Library at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland

The ticket to the Book of Kells exhibit also includes access to the Long Room in the Old Library. Seeing the hundreds of historic books on the bookshelves in the library is truly amazing. At the ends of each row of bookshelves are busts of famous literary geniuses. We found the Long Room to be as interesting as the Book of Kells itself. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photographs of the Book of Kells, but it is certainly worth seeing when visiting Dublin. Standing in the Long Room of the Old Library is almost overwhelming to think of how many historic books are located in a single place.