A French Girl Teaches Me to Play Tegan & Sara

White Sands, Blue Skies

Today we drove out to White Sands National Monument-- only 40 miles east. I bought Zips a gypsum "desert rose" at the farmer's & crafts market downtown last weekend, and now I have shoes and floorboards filled with white gyspum sand from frolicking and rolling down dunes all afternoon. The sand is light beige and coming from Indiana, it looks so much like snow. Plus it's rained recently, so snowplows (sandplows?) had been through recently to unearth the road through the dunes. The sand is cool to the touch (unlike normal beach sand). Now that we know it's so close, it's going to be a regular excursion. I think I'm going to get an annual pass!
Oh... and next up, I'll write about the "Weird New Mexico" art show that's currently on at the art gallery on campus!

An Unexpected & Pleasant Surprise

It's barely September, and at one of the local markets, I stumbled upon locally grown POMEGRANATES! I had no idea they were a) grown around here b) in season (?!) c) edible when they're green. They're very mild, a pale pink color rather than the deep burgundy they usually are. I'll be buying more and secretly shipping them to loved ones in Indiana.

Honestly, what's not to like?

okay, this is totally not one of my cats. But it could have been. Gabby used to go after every part of corn-- husks, cob, silk, kernels and everything. I wish we had a video of him like this. Of course, he'd probably look more like a scene with the raptors in Jurassic Park!

Hot, Cool, and Limey

This weekend, to get out of town a little, we went to the Chile Festival in Hatch, NM-- about a half hour away from here. I think we first heard of this on a food network show called Glutton for Punishment in which the host entered a hot chile-eating contest. The contest we saw was a speed-eating contest for 10 mild green chiles (the winner ate all 10 in 40 seconds). The hot chile contest was the next day, so we didn't see any grown men crying or retching. Maybe next year. Oh, and Zips eschewed the entire focus of the GREEN CHILE festival, and bought a 2lb. bag of jalapenos. We had a dwindling supply. This should last us-- a little while. I have grown enamored of ristras, though. Especially those that include green and yellow chiles along with the red ones. I think I'll use a photo of these for our holiday cards this year. Especially since I'll be gloating about enjoying warm weather during the coldest time of year. I still don't know if the ristras merely decorative, or if and how to consume the chiles. I'll also be finding out if the green and yellow ones eventually turn red or not. Zips bought the smallest ristra we could find-- at least until we figure out what we can make with them.
In our latest culinary adventures, having given up on local restaurants, at least until we have more jingle in our pockets, Zips and I have set about approximating favorite recipes. The best veggie tacos in town have now been reproduced in our top secret kitchens. Okay.. it wasn't that complicated. Just some heated up corn tortillas, a swipe of good homemade guacamole (and I've finally caved to the practice of including some chopped tomato, onion, and even cilantro in my guac-- instead of just lime and salt), some finely sliced lettuce, chopped tomato and cucumbers, your favorite pico de gallo, a little shredded cheese, and *alfalfa and/or spicy radish sprouts. The sprouts are the key!
I realize it may have little, if any food value, but everything's fresh, cool, crisp, crunchy

And to go with it, I've decoded my favorite beverage of the south-- aside from margaritas-- Sonic cherry limeades. Impoverished as we are now, we made off like bandits at a 7-up and Coke sale at our grocery store before we moved. So we have a tower of 12 packs. So I found a recipe for my favorite pink drink. It's basically the juice of one lime (I like to include pulp), maraschino cherry juice (yes, just pour it off tiny jar of cherries you have in the fridge for your banana splits), and a can of 7-up. Really. The recipe I found said use Sprite, but 7-up works too!
In a vain attempt to preserve the cherries shriveling in their jar, and ration out the remaining syrup, I found an alternative recipe online-- substituting grenadine for the cherry juice-- but the result, while entirely drinkable and even enjoyable, is more like a sophisticated, bartender's invention of Big Red (another southwestern fave, but this one requires moderation. Or I turn into the energizer bunny). Either way, bottoms up!

Maybe I'm not a poplar after all...

I admit. I'm a little disappointed. I re-entered my birthday and got a different tree and description each time. I have to say, this first one is the most like me (if I don't say so myself).

In lieu of my usual summertime recipe extravaganza (the house is still a mess, I am still falling over half-empty boxes and doo-dads everywhere) I have a couple of belated foodie related schpiels.

1. On our last trip to Chicago (*sob*), we tried not to revisit too much of our past haunts, refusing to think of it as the last time we go to Oysy Izagaya or Hey Sushi (mmmm....that enchanting and addicting orange (miso?) ginger salad dressing) we tried a mexican joint caled Mamacitas that boasted:

That's the *ahem* Best VEGETARIAN Mexican Food in Chicago. So we went for it. Why not? I stuck with the safest bet-- quesadillas, and Zips sprang for the veggie tacos, soft corn double tortillas festooned with shredded lettuce, carrots, broccoli (?!) and little else. The quesadillas were also stuffed with shredded carrots and broccoli along with the cheese. Both of us had some flavorless orange-ish rice and some runny refritos to accent our meals.Needless to say, I'm POSITIVE Chicago has something better. Someone should steal that sign and relocate it.

2. On a more positive note, one of the first places we ate here in NM together is in an old pony express stop in a charming little town square (Mesilla) called La Posta de Mesilla They're great. Often a little busy with tourists, but the food is excellent, and I can't wait until we start getting paid so I can try out one of their house margaritas. In any case, Zips got the vegetarian sampler that included (from top to bottom of pic) a chile relleno, a folded bean taco, some Mexican slaw, and one of their green chile enchiladas. I got a bean burrito smothered with queso and green chile sauce (I know, it looks more red than green). So far it's more or less the most appealing place for us to satisfy our mex tooth. There's another joint, called El Sombrero that has the BEST veggie tacos. I haven't had a chance to take a photo of them yet, they're always half-gone by the time I think to reach for a camera. Hopefully I'll be able to show you soon. Mexican-style slaw, by the way, seems innocent enough. But once you eat it two or three times, you start understanding that it would, in fact, go very well with nearly everything you eat. I was lucky enough to cobble together a recipe that tastes exactly like La Posta's!

Apparently I am a Poplar Tree

...according to the celtic horoscope.

You Are A Poplar Tree

People tend to look up to you, and it's a bit lonely at the top. Inside, you are not always self confident, but you show great courage. Mature and organized, you are reliable in any situation. You tend to have an artistic or philosophical outlook on life. You are very choosy in love and take partnership seriously.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?