The No Credit, Fun College of the Rockies. Or can I sell you some water front property in the Sahara?

~ chefjeffatx
One of the most entertaining things I witnessed during Aspen’s happy-go-lucky years of the 1970s was Aspen State Teachers College, a tongue-in-cheek and very fake college founded by Marc Demmon and Al Pendorf. The college treated the whole town as its campus and taught classes such as Garaging 210 (how to put on a Garage Sale), Elementary Reading 102 (how to read the newspaper classifieds), Real World History 323 (how to adjust to the real world after Aspen), and Auto Mechanics 202 (how to start a 1949 Jeep in the winter).  The town, being so full of rebellious youth, really did have the feel of a college campus. Every Thanksgiving a brand-new batch of young, naive kids poured into town, much like freshman but entering into the lifestyle and world of ski bums, an education for sure, just not the kind parents endorse.  One creative local had his father send him a monthly allotment of money to help offset living and school expenses.  Little did his father know his money probably ended up in the cash register of a local tavern where said student was becoming “educated”.

Trust fund babies were in abundance in Aspen and it was not unusual for many of the locals to possess platinum American Express cards.  They never saw their monthly statements as that went straight into Dad’s mailbox and they were completely out of touch with reality, so if you were hanging out in the right place at the right time with the right card holder, life could be surprisingly extravagant.  It was not out of the ordinary to be in a bar and to have a local at the bar draped in an expensive fur coat to buy several rounds of shots for the entire house.  It gives you a foggy sense of reality and in fact one of the sayings by the administration of Aspen State Teachers college was “if you were here in the 70’s you may not remember much” it was a unique, drug induced time in Aspen.  Dr Hunter S. Thompson ran for sheriff, Andy Williams (Moon River) moved into town to support his wife, however they were separated, Claudine Longet who had shot and killed Spider Sabich nationally known skier and Claudine’s boyfriend during a cocaine fueled fight that ended in gunfire.  Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac was a local resident at the time and she wrote “Landslide” while residing in Aspen, which was inspired by the instability in the area, some geological some emotional. Mass murderer Ted Bundy escaped from the Aspen jail twice.  Star Wars 1st episode came out in 1977 and just prior to the movies premiere, Twentieth Century Fox bought the Aspen Ski Corporation. The Hollywood prop and costume rooms in the newly acquired Aspen Ski Corporation frequently got raided and the costumes in the Halloween party scene became ever so elaborate…light sabers were everywhere.  As you can tell Aspen State Teachers College was a perfect fit with all its zaniness.  One of the founders worked at a print shop and needless to say, Aspen State Teacher’s College took full advantage of the print shop and they printed glossy newsletters, football schedules, course listings, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, the list goes on.  Old time locals drove beat up 4-wheel pickup trucks with equally beat up brooms sticking up and out of the back of their truck beds, always ready to sweep some snow, so Aspen State Teachers College founders named their football team the Aspen State Teacher’s College Brooms and made the broom their mascot and the school newsletter was called “The Clean Sweep”.  The newspaper headlines read “ASTC sweeps over Alabama”, the first line of the story read “it’s like they were not there”.  It was then reported that Notre Dame conceded their game for an easy win for the Brooms.  The ASTC Brooms went undefeated so you can understand when there was outrage when the Brooms got snubbed from bowl bids.  All done tongue in cheek and silliness and great fun for all.  

My favorite newsletter said on the cover “Wild game gets even” with an accompanying picture of a hunter tied to the hood of a pickup with a deer in the driver seat. 

The courses available always made me laugh and I especially got a chuckle out of fluid mechanics 101, how to speak Texan 101, or sex education 069.  Aspen Mine Company served as the headquarters where you could get a college ID, you could buy a class ring, a mug, an ashtray, etc.  When going to purchase an EU rail pass in Europe they honored the ID and several passes were bought at a student discount rate.  FYI, you can still purchase shirts and sweatshirts at prepsportsware.com with the Aspen State Teacher’s College Brooms’ logo proudly displayed, but sadly they do not still offer Student ID’s.  ASTC had a marching band which only marched on the 4th of July, you know since there weren’t any real football games.  I suspect that someone took the look of the ASTC Marching Band and this is where the Stanford band got the idea for their unique look.  

The founders were always a source of laughter and I often thought they were destined to become writers for Saturday Night Live.  Only in Aspen of the 70’s would an idea this silly be taken seriously. 

This recipe for green tomato relish came from Jay Moore, Hudson’s first real chef.  I think it came from his mother who probably got it from her mother. I used my recipe rule “change 3 things and the recipe is yours” and added diced cactus pads to the recipe to make it more southwestern and more Hudson-y.  It was taught at cooking school. It’s great served under grilled chicken or fish 🎣 or stuff it in a pork tenderloin.  Serve it hot or cold.  It tastes so good you can enjoy it on a spoon. Yum.  If you leave the cactus pads out just add more green tomatoes. 

GREEN TOMATO SALSA

Ingredients

1 sweet onion (Texas 10-15) ¼” dice

1½ lbs. green tomatoes, quartered

½ lb. nopalitos (cactus pads) they are best in the spring

3 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons mustard seed

1 cup rice vinegar (any mild vinegar)

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 tablespoon sea salt

3 tablespoons minced jalapeño peppers.

1 tablespoon Cholula hot sauce

3 limes, zested and juiced

3 tablespoons cornstarch (made into a slurry with 3 tablespoons of water)

1 poblano pepper, 1/4” dice

1 red bell pepper, 1/4” dice

1 yellow bell pepper, ¼” dice

I cup of fresh corn kernels

 

Method

Combine onions, tomatoes, cactus, garlic, mustard seed and vinegar in a sauce pot. 

Cover with a lid. 

Over medium heat simmer until tomatoes are cooked but firm.

Transfer to a food processor to pulse.  Chop not puréed.

Return to heat and add sugar, salt & pepper and lime juice

Bring to a simmer and cook 10 minutes

Thicken with cornstarch while salsa is simmering

Fold in the lime zest, corn and peppers 🌶

Cool & enjoy!  It will hold in your refrigerator for 2 weeks.