Looking for a unique experience when visiting the Colorado Springs area, consider taking a ride on the Royal Gorge Railroad. Located about an hour outside of Colorado Springs in Canon City, there are a variety of train rides available. We did the Murder Mystery Train several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. In addition to the food and entertainment, the scenery during the train ride is absolutely stunning. The mysteries change on a regular basis, so even if you’ve done it before, you can enjoy a different experience if you happen to do it again.
View from the TrainOne of the Actors at a TableThe Mystery Begins as Dinner Options are Considered
We have done a variety of murder mystery dinners over the years, including one in a mansion in Manchester, England, with varying degrees of enjoyment. The train ride definitely makes this one very different and the food and views would have been good enough on their own. The actors walk amongst the tables providing clues and answering questions as each table tries to solve the mystery. We didn’t find the mystery particularly difficult to solve, but that didn’t detract from our enjoyment.
Could She be the Murderer?Getting Ready to BoardInteractive Entertainment
Guacamole is a wonderful accompaniment to southwestern and Mexican food. It is also a wonderful dip on its own and can even be used as a spread on sandwiches as well. It isn’t complicated to make and you can make it spicy or not depending upon your taste. One of the things that makes it delicious is the use of fresh ingredients. We go to Mexico almost every year and we enjoy getting guacamole every time that we do and enjoy the large portions that we get.
INGREDIENTS
2 Avocados – diced
1 Medium Tomato – finely diced
1 Jalapeno – finely diced (seeds removed if you don’t want it spicy)
1 Garlic Clove – minced
1 tbsp Red or Yellow Onion – finely diced
Juice of 1 Lime
Salt and Pepper to taste
Ingredients in Bowl
INSTRUCTIONS
Cut the avocados in half, using your knife to carve around the large seed. Twist the avocado to separate the two halves, the seed will remain in one of the halves. Using a knife, carefully chop into the seed so that the knife is slightly embedded. Twist the knife to remove the seed and carefully remove the seed from the knife blade. Use a spoon to separate the flesh of the avocado from the skin by tracing the spoon along the inside of the skin and place the flesh into a medium bowl. You can dice the avocado prior to removing it from the skin or after it is in the bowl. Add the rest of ingredients and mix thoroughly. If you prefer a creamy guacamole, you can mash the avocado dices as you stir, or leave some of the dices whole if you prefer a chunkier guacamole. Serve with chips.
Remove the SeedDiced AvocadoMince GarlicGuacamole Dip with Chips
When we were in Sante Fe, New Mexico, we had a very tasty grilled corn and chipotle soup. We asked the restaurant for the recipe and they were nice enough to print it out and give it to us. Since corn is in season right now, we decided to recreate this recipe, but we changed it up to suit our tastes. We really liked the way that our version turned out, it had just the right amount of spice. One of the nice things about a recipe like this is that you can control the amount of heat that you add so that it can be more or less spicy depending upon your taste. Also, the combination of the fresh corn and frozen corn makes for a mix of crunchy and soft that makes the texture of the soup very pleasurable. We served ours with a nice toasted baguette bread, but a fried tortilla like the restaurant used would also be good. We also garnished ours with a couple of slices of jalapeno that had been deseeded, but clearly it isn’t necessary. This recipe serves two, but it could easily be adjusted to serve more. We hope that you enjoy it!
Cooking the Corn and Red Onion
INGREDIENTS
5 Ears of Fresh Corn
8 oz of Frozen Corn
1/3 can of Chipotle Peppers with Sauce – finely chopped
1/4 cup Red Onion – chopped
3 cups Heavy Cream
1/2 tsp White Pepper
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Butter
Salt to Taste – generous amount
Black Pepper to Taste
Stirring in the Chipotle PeppersGrilled Corn and Chipotle Soup
INSTRUCTIONS
Remove the corn kernels from the husks of fresh corn and sauté them in a cast-iron skillet heated over medium-high heat with the oil and butter. If you prefer, you could grill the corn whole on a grill and then remove the kernels, but we chose to cook them in the skillet. Salt and pepper the corn and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, and then add the red onion to the corn. Cook for another 5 minutes and then remove from heat. In a medium sauce pan, add the cream, corn and onions, frozen corn, white pepper, cumin, garlic, and salt. Add about a third of the chipotle peppers with sauce and start heating the soup over medium heat. You want to just bring the soup to a slight simmer and avoid bringing to a full boil. Taste the soup and continue to slowly add chipotle peppers with sauce until it is as spicy as you would like.
Corn in the Cast-Iron SkilletBuilding the SoupOur Finished Soup
