It's Been A Long Time Coming

You’ll never guess where I am…

Fine. You win.

This time, I am accompanied by grande cups of Tazo peppermint tea, as Ryan so graciously keeps them coming to comfort his sniffling wife. I was honestly expecting to get sick, because I nannied for two runny-nosed, congested, and coughing little boys on Thursday. Even though I washed my hands thoroughly every time they simply looked at me, the effort was not enough to keep me well. I always get sick after such encounters (yes, this has happened multiple times at my job—usually over holiday weekends where I would love to stay sick in bed), but I was feeling generally hopeful all morning because I still felt pretty good. I called my adorable twin late this afternoon to giggle over silly stuff and catch up on her life, and as soon as I got off the phone — BAM — it hit. Suddenly, my nose was running and so stuffy at the same time that I lost all ability to say my ‘m’ and ‘n’ words I am so fond of. [Side note: I’m not exactly sure which words these are… you can use your imagination to come up with any fun words that involve either a ‘m’ or ‘n’].

Anyways, as I went to the bathroom to blow my nose for the fourth time tonight, I was struck by a desperate longing for some TLC in the form of one of my comfort foods… Gru. [Side note #2: to fully encompass the greatness of ‘Gru,’ you must pronounce it with a heavy grunt—even if you are reading this in your head… just do it.] I sincerely think it should replace chicken noodle soup as the healing remedy for the common cold.

I was first, and only, introduced to Gru by my father-in-law Paul. Apparently, as the stories go, Gru began its remarkable heritage as a simple ‘Campfire Stew’. Paul has a very strong opinion about what belongs in this dish, and rightly so because it is incredibly addictive. All I know is that green chile, potatoes, browned pork, green chile, some kind of broth, possibly diced tomatoes, and more green chile go into this stew. There are, of course, other ingredients… but I fail to remember them as my focus is primarily on the green chile involved. My poor Papa Paul naturally gets teased about the inordinate amounts of hatch chile he includes while cooking, but I am convinced that this is the secret ingredient to his success. I love it!

With time, and possibly assorted beverages, ‘Campfire Stew’ changed to ‘Campfire Gruel’ (possibly to accentuate the hearty and filling nature of the stew), and eventually was just shortened to ‘Gruel’ when we decided to cook it over coals in the side garden instead of an actual campfire (yes, you guessed correctly… this intoxicating concoction reaches its full potential in a dutch-oven). For some reason unbeknownst to me, ‘Gruel’ was suddenly dropped like a burning piece of pork fat and the shorter, more enticing name ‘Gru’ was adopted. So was the grunt.

That leads us to the present, where I sit in a Starbucks comfy chair… my head filled with snot and Gru Grunts. I have had this delectable dish twice in the past while sick and it has cleared my sinuses remarkably well. Maybe because of all the hot chile? Maybe because it is, indeed, a stew? Maybe because all the care that goes into making it cannot but help come out? For whatever reason, it is the only food I am craving right now and I am hoping someone who reads this will possibly get me the recipe. While I do not have a dutch oven, hopefully the green chile in my freezer will help the Gru make its debut in Texas.