Dorowot

I was resisting the colder temperatures by creating a tropical-looking drink. (It's actually a red wine spritzer with a sprig of rosemary in a pretty glass.)

Dorowot or doro wot is an Ethiopian chicken stew in a spicy tomato sauce. To get the flavors just right, you really need to use berbere, an Ethiopian spice blend, and nit'r qibe, Ethiopian spiced butter. I might purchase some berbere online to have on hand in the future, but this time, I wasn't able to find it in any local markets.

Instead, I used the 365 Days recipe (see link below) because I'm still infatuated with my crockpot. (I know. I'm a late convert to this trend.) I added carrots during the last hour--so they didn't completely break down--as an homage to Buraka's yummerly version. (Buraka also gets a nod for introducing me to dorowot.) I also tossed in a few handfuls of spinach for a little green. 365 Days' spice blend left a little to be desired, so I used the Saveur berbere recipe as a guideline. I didn't, however, go through the whole process of toasting the spices and grinding them into a powder. I just tossed them into the crockpot, using fresh ginger instead of powdered. Oh, and I omitted the hard-boiled egg because that combo doesn't appeal to me--and because I didn't feel like boiling eggs.

I used this recipe from 365 Days of Slow Cooking and this one from Saveur.

The Brussels sprouts were sauteed in olive oil and granulated garlic. Slivers of prosciutto were added at the end because I didn't want the prosciutto to get tough from overcooking.

Yoga al Fresco, Flashlight Tour at DBG, Lola's, the Suns, Bats, and Postino

Today for my last lunch in Phoenix, we tried the Blue Nile Cafe, which is an Ethiopian restaurant in Tempe. I had the kik alitcha, kik misir watt, and inguday over injera, and M. had the meat lover's combo. Afterward, we trolled around Sunset Clothing Exchange and Buffalo Exchange for a little shopping. The latter has a great program: In exchange for not taking a bag for your purchase, you can donate five cents to different causes.

Last night, I went to a free outdoor yoga class in Old Town. The class was a marvelous workout and great stress (you know, all of that dreadful vacation stress ;)) reliever. The 1.25- to 1.5-hour asana was followed by a luxurious half-hour of savasana, and afterward, there were treats (little bites and roasted apricot sorbet) from Crudo. We ended the night with sushi at Kyoto.

On Tuesday night, we went to Postino for bruschetta and wine. On Monday and Tuesday nights, you can get four different kinds of bruschetta and a bottle of wine for $20. We had the brie and apples with fig spread, prosciutto with figs and mascarpone, warm artichoke spread, and albacore tuna with gaeta olives and a bottle of Damilano Nebbiolo.

On Wednesday night, we watched a bat colony that roosts in a tunnel at 40th and Camelback leave for their evening insect hunt. Just after sunset, several thousand Mexican free-tailed bats and western pipistrelle bats emerged. Although not as dramatic as I'd expected (I imaged an Indian Jones-style blanket of screeching bats), it was cool to see their wacky, erratic flight patterns. (I suppose that's a result of echolocation.)

Last week, we did a flashlight tour at the Desert Botanical Gardens. We'd been to the DBG before, but never at night. Stations throughout the garden taught us about tarantulas and scorpions, snakes, mesquite, geckos and lizards, saguaro, frogs and toads, agave, birds and bats, and tortoises. Afterward, we met K. + J. for tapas (house marinated olives, tortilla de patatas, garbanzos con espinacas a la Andaluza, and the paella of the day), delicious sangria, and tres leches cake at Lola's.

What else? On Saturday, we went to a barbeque at F. + S.'s house and then onto R.'s house to watch the Suns game (or, in our case, to pretend to watch the Sun's game). Most people left after the game was over, but the few of us remaining played Trivial Pursuit.

On Sunday, we saw Metalhead play at Martini Ranch. Normally, this is a hoot, but the holiday weekend made it way too crowded. It was like being repeatedly mauled for 2 hours. And on Monday, people came over to hang out by the pool and shove food in their faces. (Holiday weekend!)

Okay, enough sitting in front of the computer. It's my last day here, so I'm going to enjoy the pool for a bit before we go to the First Friday Art Walk tonight.