8
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
Cooking,
kind of
Corn Chowder
With Max George
Layout Editor
I woke up mid-afternoon
to a cold, damp Sunday in
late March. I was hung-over
and my homework inbox
was overflowing. I had slept
through lunch, not that my
waking condition was con
ducive to the consumption of
food anyway.
After a couple hours of
Internet tangency (YouTube
+ Wikipedia = expanded
worldly knowledge & in
creased possession of random
factoids for deployment to
impress and persuade in fu
ture settings), 1 decided that
if I was going to be awake
on this dreary Sunday after
noon, I had better get some
work done.
So, I took a nap. Dilemma
resolved.
When 1 woke up around 7
p.m., 1 began to think about
sustenance. Another glance
out the window had me con
sidering a very specific set of
dinner choices: the rainy day
foods. Unmotivated to at
tempt any overly ambitious
dish and still in possession of
a very large pot, which I bor
rowed to cook pasta earlier in
the week, I decided on cook
ing a soup of some kind.
In honor of the Red Sox
opening the 2008 season with
a win in Tokyo, I proposed
we try our hands at New
England Clam Chowder. My
suggestion was shot down
in seconds, as Ana was not
excited about the clams, a
seemingly essential ingredi
ent. She would, however,
love to make corn chowder,
she confessed.
Now we're talking the
complete opposite region of
the country, the southwest. I
don't know much about how
they do things down there,
but I did recently hear Ari
zona doesn't recognize Day
light Savings Time, which
is marginally bodacious of
them. And I was hungry.
And it was promised to me
that com chowder is easy to
make.
I called my dad for his
recipe and discovered that,
indeed, corn chowder is a
pretty simple deal. My mom
suggested adding jalapenos
to the soup. "Be careful not
to touch your eyes after cut
ting them," she warned.
Apparently she forgot I am
in college and an Iron Chef.
Thanks, Mom. One unchar
acteristically painless trip to
'Teeter later and I was stand
ing over the aforementioned
large pot, ready to dominate,
as per usual.
The process was quick
and effortless. Com
chowder is one of those
chop-it-up-and-throw-it-
in-the-pot-to-simmer-for-a-
while-until-the-potatoes-are-
soft-and-the-broth-has-thickened
deals. Classic.
Com chowder's merits
go beyond it's easiness in the
Utchen. I didn't pay any at
tention to proportions (see
process, above), but it still,
came out fine. I don't know
if it was the weather or the
hangover, but the chowder
tasted like I knew what I was
doing, like I had made some
intuitive decisions in the
kitchen and added just the
right amount of something
that really made the soup.
Plus, it was only, like, 13
bucks for everything, includ
ing two baguettes to go with
it. And with such a large pot,
it is great to share. Everyone
acted like I had done some
great service to the world,
thanking me . again and
again.
*rhe meal's best quality,
though, is the atmosphere
in which it is eaten. With
the effects of global warm
ing raging outside, we all sat
together and talked and ate,
passing the baguettes around
and keeping warm together.
It was a lovely Sunday din
ner, shared with friends.
And then it was back to
sleep for this busy bee.
Corn Chowder
! onion '
2 potatoes
I jalapeno (optional)
some butter
I can of cream com
I bag of frozen corn
I carton of half-n-half
I carton of broth
Chop onions and sautee
with butter in bottom of pot
Chop up the jalapenos and po- J
tatoes, add to pot
Pour in cream corn, frozen
corn, halfn-half, and broth. Sim
mer, stirring occasionally until
potatoes are soft m
Serve with good bread.
F E ATU RE S
OBAMA IN GREENSBORO
Jack Sinclair/Guilfordian
2,000 people showed up to support Barack Obama at his town hall meeting March 26.
Barack Obama campaigns at War Memorial Auditorium
Continued from page I
came politically aware. I know a lot
of friends of mine whose reactions
in this election cycle was to support
extreme candidates. I think that's in
dicative of their want for a fresh, new,
unorthodox, different kind of candi
date."
Ten Guilford students, including
Ericson and junior Eddie Guimont,
volunteered at the rally. Guimont
previously volunteered with both
the Howard Dean and John Kerry
presidential campaigns and said
that Obama's "campaign seems a lot
larger and more organized than those
did." He says part of Obama's suc
cess comes from his ability to make
"people think he's the candidate for
all the people."
By one o'clock, the audience had
packed into the auditorium after
waiting for hours and surviving the
five local, state and national law en
forcement agencies, their intense
security screenings and their large
German shepherds. While the pre
tentious national press and anxious
audience members struggled to find
the best angles for a picture, Obama
walked calmly onto the stage and
took his place at the podium. 55 lucky
Greensboro residents sat just behind
him under a large banner reading
"Change We Can Believe In" with
American and North Carolina flags
hanging on each side.
Obama covered several issues in
the nearly two hours he spent in the
auditorium and the overflow room at
the Coliseum, most which were well
received by the audience.
"He cracked me up when he was
talking about no child left behind,"
Assefa said about Obama's quip that
"on no child left behind we left the
money behind."
Other issues were more contro
versial, including a question from a
Southern Baptist high school student
about Obama's religious beliefs.
According to Carter, the most im
portant questions in American politics
tend to be about "religion and your
sex life, the two things that Europe
cares absolutely nothing about."
Because of the "Jeremiah Wright
(Obama's former preacher) contro
versy, and (questions) in some ex
treme right wing blogs about wheth
er Obama's even Christian or not, it's
a crucial element to this campaign,"
Carter said. "His response to me was
absolutely brilliant. First off he used
the key terms an evangelical Chris
tian would be looking for ... Then
Obama went on to say that, and this
is what warmed the cockles of my
little Quaker heart, it's not just what
restitution from illegal immigrants.
"But I understand that at the end of
the day he's a politician."
"The section on immigration I
didn't like that much because he
had very strict views," Assefa said.
"I think (the process) needs to be
changed before he can be strict. He
didn't answer it wrong, it was just
different from what I believe."
Carter said Obama would find it
difficult to force illegal aliens, some
who have worked for less than mini
mum wage for more than 15 years,
to pay upwards of $50,000 dollars in
back taxes. It could have "enormous
financial ramifications," he said.
"Compared to other candidates he
I was most impressed by Obama's ability to gear his
speech toward Greensboro's college crowd, both young
and old.
you believe but how you live."
"That question really drove me up
the wall," Ericson, a Christian, said.
"There were all these other questions
that could have been asked that were
pushed aside."
Carter disagreed, saying, "I would
pick at the Guilford students (who
disapproved of this) for not being
aware of the theological complexities
and the political ramifications of that
question."
Several members of the Guil
ford community also thought that
Obama's immigration policies, which
he said he wants to be effective and
not "a political football," became just
that.
"The one cringe-worthy moment
was when he said that illegal immi
grants have broken the law," senior
Chelsea Simpson said about Obama's
plan for seeking economic and legal
certainly has a more acceptable poli
cy," Carter said. "Td like to see some
more wrestling with the ramifications
of that like he did with the faith ques
tion."
As for me, I was most impressed
by Obama's ability to gear his speech
toward Greensboro's college crowd,
both young and old. Aware of the
city's large college community, he
delved into his policy to provide a
$4,000 "lifelong learning credit" to
"upgrade skills" and provide edu
cation and training for people of all
ages, incomes and education levels in
exchange for community service.
Obama also wants to "work with
colleges and universities to reduce
tuition" and said that "universities
need to work themselves to keep
costs down." !
"That textbook," he said, "didn't
cost 100 dollars to make."