We’re lucky enough to be forming a partnership with TOCA, the Tohono O’odham Community Action group to develop a desert foods menu in the Ventana Room and the Flying V Bar & Grill.

Last week we took a trip to Sells, AZ, the capitol of the Tohono O’odham Nation, to meet with the TOCA board of directors and to learn more about the Tohono O’odham culture, history and modern way of life.

Our first stop was the TOCA office, where I had lunch with co-director Terrol Johnson and TOCA project coordinator Mary Paganelli. Mary is a chef and an expert in recreating native dishes. That day we had a wonderful tepary bean soup, cowboy tortillas made with ground whole wheat and cooked over a fire, and steamed cholla buds. These are the types of ingredients the chefs in the Ventana Room are trying to incorporate into the new menu, both for their cultural and historical connection to the area and for their health benefits.

After lunch, Mary and I visited the Tohono O’odham Cultural Center and Museum, a $15.2 Million state-of-the-art museum that opened last May. In the museum we saw historical baskets woven by the Tohono O’odham people and how the basket colors changed by the varying trees and water levels over time. We also learned about the history of agriculture, which included growing tepary beans and using monsoon season floods to water crops.

On the trip we were going to go out to harvest cholla buds, but it was too windy. You don’t want those little prickly needles to be dislodged in the wind! That could be painful!

We’re planning to go out and harvest cholla buds next week here around the resort. We’ll have photos and a full report for you then!

Phoenix is going to Mars!

Not the city of Phoenix, but the University of Arizona’s Phoenix lander, which is named after the mythical bird the Phoenix that rose from the ashes.

This mission is the first Mars mission led by a public university. The UA’s very own Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator and once the Phoenix lands on Mars, all the data it collects will come to Tucson, where University of Arizona scientists and engineers will receive and analyze it.

The Mission lands on May 25, 2008.

Just what are they looking for?
The history of water and the habitability potential of the planet.

What’s the Phoenix look like?
Really its not a whole lot bigger than your dining room table, with a robotic arm that stretches out and takes tiny, teaspoon-sized soil samples.

How can I celebrate?
You can come to a Mars Party, Saturday, May 24th, on the eve of the mission landing, at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.
The list of activities includes:
• Viewing Mars from a telescope
• Build Your Own “Dirty Ice” Martian Snow Cone
• Mars match game that compares Mars to Earth
• Robotic Arm Challenge—Test your skill with the remote controlled robotic arm to demonstrate the difficulty of running robotic missions on other planets
• Engineering a mission to Mars - A look inside the PIT (Payload
• Interoperability Testbed) by Rob Bovill
• Animations showing launch and landing of the spacecraft

The Event is 7:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 24th on the Kiva Patio at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive.