What I Won't Do For Fresh Cilantro

Okay, there's a lot I won't do for fresh cilantro. 

But, what I would do is walk through knee-high snow for several blocks just to get it. And, by golly, I did.

It all started with this recipe I downloaded off the Betty Crocker Web site. It was for Moroccan Chicken with Olives. It just sounded so darned tasty, and I wanted a reason to cook couscous, which is all part of my "eat healthier" obsession. No, obsession is way too negative a term. How about "determined decision." Much better.

Anyway, the recipe called for a couple of things that even a rabid spice collector such as myself doesn't have on hand at any given moment, which happened to be cumin and fresh cilantro. Well, if I couldn't get fresh from the local grocery, I could certainly get dried, and that was better than nothing. Who cares if the whole county is in the middle of a severe winter storm watch, that there's two-foot snowbanks and three inches of ice on every sidewalk (if you can see the sidewalks) and this place has hills that rival San Francisco. And, who cares if I'm just about the most accident-prone female in the state? Danger be damned, I had to get fresh cilantro!

Both the Jeep and truck are pretty well tucked in with ice and snow, so walking was the best mode of transportation in my estimation. Besides, me driving in the snow is like a duck walking on an oil slick.

Now, I'm wearing long underwear, jeans, two pair of socks, snow boots, two shirts and a jacket. Oh yeah, and two pair of gloves. I couldn't feel a rifle bullet if it hit me. I wobble out the door, drop the keys (several times) and finally head down the road along the safest route (the least hills). It's longer, but it's got less chances for me to tumble down something slick and into the road, where someone would invariably hit me and dent their car.

The walk was a lot simpler than I thought it would be. It was actually pretty nice out, and although most of the sidewalks were totally buried. The city snowplows had really piled up huge banks of snow along the road curb, so it was almost impossible to walk on the roadside safely. So, I stomped through the sidewalk snow, and made it back home with my fresh cilantro in hand.

The recipe, in case you're wondering, turned out pretty good. I, of course, forgot the cumin, and my supply of kalamata olives was in short supply so I used a jar of black olive tampanade I had for those emergency olive cravings. But, everything else went like clockwork.

As much as I complain about not having a really good grocery nearby, I'm lucky that they carry my organic 2% milk and...of all things, fresh cilantro. A small miracle in this tiny town.