Homemade Chorizo & Potato Tacos

Greetings from the West Coast! Approximately 1.2 trillion things have happened in our lives since our last post, so please forgive the unfocused oversharing in this post and the ones to come in the next few days. Since we've last posted:

• Will graduated from W&M for the second time, with his master's this go-round
• We spent three weeks in South Africa on a study abroad opportunity/vacation
• Will continued interviewing for jobs all over the country like the badass he is
• Will got offered a position at a university in Tacoma and accepted
• Will's boss sent Megan's resume around the school and Megan subsequently got interviewed/hired at the same university 
• We packed up our lives and left Virginia on July 1, taking a 10-day road trip across the country (with the cats) and stopped to see several friends along the way
• We moved in to our new apartment in Tacoma and have spent a week learning our way about and finding all sorts of cool things to do in our new city
• We have ogled Mount Rainier from afar on the days it unearths itself from the clouds
• And tomorrow we begin work at our new jobs

So as you can see, a lot has happened in two months. More on some of those later.

But seriously, so far we really like it here. Even the monsters (O&E if you haven't heard that reference before) have taken a liking to their new digs, especially now that we're all unpacked and "their" stuff is out. Emma's new favorite spot is on top of the cabinets over our refrigerator...which is not ideal. There's nothing we can do to stop her, though. Tacoma itself is charming in a lot of ways - it's got the perks of a bigger city and sprawling suburbs, but without being too noisy or overcrowded. We have been enjoying the week of settling in, learning where Target, grocery stores (so many good options) and banks are. We have made a bajillion trips to Goodwill to downsize our stuff into a smaller space. We have driven aimlessly both purposely and not-so-purposely. We even went for our first run in several months this morning and stumbled upon some sort of food truck/beer festival/music thing in the park that is two minutes away from our place. We are surviving a "hot" day here in Tacoma fairly pleasantly (it got around 90, ehmegherd) considering we don't have air conditioning. Yes, you read that right. No. Air. Conditioning. Because we don't need it. How strange is that? Super strange for two kids from the southern reaches of the United States. For the record, I'm wearing jeans. Long ones. Normal ones. And I feel perfectly fine, like it's mid-May in Virginia. We are going to walk down the street to get a Nutella milkshake in a bit. Life is good. 

Tomorrow we start work at our new university. I had not-so-secretly been hoping upon moving to wherever Will took a position, to have a month or so of true "funemployment" (not like the last time I was unemployed, which was NOT fun) to do things like catch up on the blog, search out a yoga studio, do some photo editing, play the clarinet, etc. But nope. I, like Will, start a new job tomorrow that I'm super-excited for and will have to fit those things in around the normal work-life time schedule. The beauty of moving, though, is that for the first few months, everything is new and exciting and you're still exploring and haven't committed to a million things (or at least, I haven't...yet), so I still have time for my "funemployment" activities while being gainfully employed. I'll call that a win-win.

But enough about Tacoma for now! I basically just wanted to blabber on to include more photos of these tacos and adorable taco trucks from our friend Elizabeth because are they not the best thing ever?!?! We know that for many of our friends and family back on the East Coast, this little blog will become a peek into our daily lives here in Tacoma. It's weird to think that this might  be one of the easiest ways to keep up with us, but it's probably the best. The food in our kitchen is likely the most exciting part of our lives anyways! 

Now, onto this recipe. It is the perfect one to start back with because it's super fun and exciting and totally new to us. It comes from a new cookbook, Tacolicious (also from Elizabeth) and involved making homemade chorizo, which sounds super duper complicated but is definitely not at all. This was the first "real" dinner we made in Tacoma and thus should be the first new recipe posted on the blog. It was spicy and wonderful in all of its glory and has been burning our mouths going on three days now. A delicious, chorizo-y burn, that is. And now that we know how to make homemade chorizo, don't be surprised if we do it again instead of buying it at the store! 

Alright, enough from me. If you'll excuse me, I have to go get a milkshake and paint my nails because that's what you do before the first day at a new job, amirite?!?!

Cooking Notes: We didn't make the full recipe of this yet still managed to get the same portions that the recipe called for. We pretty much just used less of everything, but kept the same original ingredients, all reflected below! 

Homemade Chorizo & Potato Tacos (adapted from Tacolicious; serves 6)

1/4 cup chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (use sauce too)

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

4 cloves garlic

1 1/2 sweet paprika

1/2 tbsp dried oregano

1/2 tbsp ground coriander

1/2 tbsp salt

1 lb. ground pork

2 tbsp veggie oil

1 russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4" cubes

Salt

Corn tortillas, warm, for serving

Pico de gallo, for serving

Begin by making the chorizo. Place the adobo chiles and their sauce, the vinegar, garlic, paprika, oregano, coriander and salt in a small food processor. Puree until a smooth paste forms. Place the pork in a medium mixing bowl then pour the chipotle paste into it. Using your hands, mix to coat the meat evenly, then set aside.

Heat a large sauce pan over medium-high heat and when hot, add the chorizo and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon. Continue to cook for about 12 minutes, until cooked through. 

Line a plate with paper towels in preparation. Heat the oil in a medium skillet (cast iron, if you can) over medium heat. Add the potato cubes and cook, tossing occasionally, for 8 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Salt lightly, then using a slotted spoon, transfer to the lined plate.

Once potatoes are done and drained and the chorizo has cooked for about 10-12 minutes, add the potatoes to the chorizo, tossing and stirring for 1-2 minutes more, until evenly mixed and heated through. Warm corn tortillas, then serve with pico de gallo on top. Enjoy!

Beep Beep goes the taco truck!