curry plate and open mic

> > > After 372 days of continuous operation, I suppose it should be time to begin a food blog. Preparing a new, fresh menu five times a week for fifty weeks has certainly integrated food into my life on a new level. Being co-owner has helped me face the trauma of kitchen culture, and take a new pride in my work. Here begin the confessions of a dishwasher.

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> > > A certain rhythm holds my life together. On Wednesday and Saturday, I go to Mill Market. On Tuesday, I sleep in and then I set up the café for the weekly open stage.

> > > Hosting the open mic on Jan 12 is violinist,  singer, keyboard player and dragon trainer: Ellen Van Laars:
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> > > She has brought many friends from across the river. There is apparently international interest in our weekly jam. Canadian, American, and Ojibwe bluesmen bend their tones and share their songs in the frosty night. Poets read in english and french. Gore Street is packed with cars, like many nights of winters past. The audience has spilled out of the café space into the laundromat, which is what often happens,

> > > but this could actually have been our biggest open mic yet, with 22 names on the sign-up sheet for stage time, banjo, violin, and guitar cases on the washing machines and laundromat tables. 

David Bowie passed away the day before, so I cobbled together a loose version of his song 'Candidate' and performed it to the ad hoc accompaniment of various percussionists, Mister Tahti, an open mic regular, on keys, and Jason, a newcomer, on violin. 

The menu for this week's open mic was potato, chickpea and squash curry, served on brown rice, topped with yogurt, shaved beets and carrots, green onions and rhubarb compote.
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> > potato, chickpea and squash curry

> >3 cups soaked (overnight)dry chickpeas

> > 1 medium onion, diced
> > 3 cloves garlic, minced
> > 4-6 medium potatoes,
> > 1 medium squash, peeled and cubed
> > 3 tablespoons curry powder
> > 1tablespoon cumin
> > 1teaspoon paprika
> > Salt and pepper
> > 1/2 lemon

> > Sautee onion and garlic in a larrge pot over medium heat. Add salt and pepper, curry powder, cumin, paprika
> Add cubed potatoes to pot,
stirring until potatoes are coated in spice and sautee slightly.
Salt and pepper.
Add cubed squash, sautee slightly.
Drain chickpeas, add to pot,
cover with water, and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer till chickpeas are cooked, approximately half an hour. Crush cooked potatoes to thicken sauce.  

Add lemon juice to finish,
salt and pepper to taste.