Snapshots: Away and Home Again

Because the city I went to this past week is a hot one, the hotels there tend to have better rates in the summer. That is why I reserved a room at a much nicer hotel than I would usually stay at.

It had a particularly spectacular pool, which we could see from our window.

This hutch made me laugh. If they were trying to cultivate an intellectual environment by having books on it, they should have put more than one on each shelf.

Every room had a Keurig coffee machine, so I made my coffee when I got up early and then took it out to the lounge area to drink so as not to disturb the sleeping son. Well, any more than I did running a coffee machine five feet from his bed.

This hotel had actual ceramic coffee mugs, which I enjoyed very much.

I did try to read one of those books that were on the hutch--I no longer remember the title or author, but it was something about a very witty high-society private eye in Palm Beach--but one chapter was enough for me. It was pretty bad.

We stopped to see a friend on our way home the next night and stayed in a small town. Our lodgings there were a rather eccentric sort of bed and breakfast that A. has stayed in before. To get to our room, we had to climb a very steep and very curvy iron staircase outside.

Definitely not ADA compliant.

Our room was quite spacious and nice, although it's very clear from the decorative choices that an older man runs this place.

Lots of red curtains, and very unfortunate polyester bedding.

My coffee the next morning was courtesy of the bakery that's just a block away.

It's a Mexican bakery, so I also got an empanada de manzana--an apple turnover--for the boy who was still sleeping.

My walk back to the lodge took me on a street right next to the acequias that make this place so green.

Acequias are systems of water channels that were brought to New Mexico via the Spanish, who in turn learned the methods from the Moors. They are a very old method of irrigation here, and are (obviously) still used.

The drive home was a few hundred miles of this.

New Mexico really is a startlingly rural state.

Waiting for me at home were the many apples A. picked from Rafael's tree the day before I left.

Five gallons of apple slices in the freezer so far. Next up, canning.

Of course I must share with you this week's flowers.

This was actually last week's altar arrangement. All the flowers were pulled from my fair entry.

Straight sunflowers on the table.

A. brought me some down-the-hill flowers mid-week. It was almost bedtime when he got home, so I just stuck them in a jar on the table until I could get to them the next day.

Very dramatic, but a wee bit large for a table we eat at.

A more practical table arrangement.

Later supplemented by some flowers A. found in the pasture while he was chaperoning a horse ride.

And last, this week's altar arrangement, waiting for the altar.

A flower tower.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Raising Cane's On the Road

Friday 

Short version: Repurposed leftovers, cucumber

Long version: Second day of the county fair and also the second day of a nasty heat wave, which meant little motivation to get in the kitchen for me. Luckily, we had enough of the leftover ground beef/bean/rice skillet from the day before to use as burrito filling. So that is what I did. 

I even turned on a burner to make toasted burritos, which I thought was very brave of me. Ahem.

Saturday

Short version: Half-hearted pasta

Long version: Last day of the fair, and another hot one. This is always a long day, and I always bring a cooler of drinks and snacks for the long day sitting at the fair grounds. In the morning, I had made pasta using a quart of meat sauce I found in the freezer, plus grated asadero from the freezer.

I actually used the pasta pot at first to make pudding and then yogurt, because I had almost a gallon of milk to be used promptly.

First . . .

Second . . .

Third.

And all that before 7:30 a.m.

No one was very hungry when we got home, thanks to all the snacks and the heat, but some of them ate a little pasta before we left for the dance.

Sunday

Short version: Re-sauced pasta, green salad with vinaigrette, chocolate pudding with cream

Long version: The previous day's pasta really needed more sauce. There was a lot of it left, so I made more sauce for it using an entire 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, a couple cloves of garlic, the few collard greens and the parsley I brought home from my fair entries (blended in), and cream. 

Much better.

Monday

Short version: Fried bean tacos at home, Raising Cane's chicken on the road

Long version: I left this day to drive to a not-close city with one son, leaving A. with the other three children. He made his special tacos for them, which involves canned refried beans and cheese in corn tortillas that are then fried in lard.

The son with me was very happy to see a Raising Cane's chicken restaurant near our hotel. I had never been there, or even heard of it, but it was pretty good. 

Tuesday

Short version: French toast at home, sushi and curry on the road

Long version: French toast is another of A.'s specialties, so that is what they had at home. Son and I stopped for the night in a small town to visit a friend and we went to a Thai restaurant somewhat nearby that had some sushi rolls. 

I do not eat sushi, so I got curry. I've never ordered curry in New Mexico, but I should have predicted it would be way too hot for me. Can it be otherwise in this Land of Chile? I ate some of it mixed with a lot of rice, but it definitely burned.

I also got a glass of red wine, but only because they didn't have any white wine.

Wednesday

Short version: Hamburger steaks with milk gravy, rice, tomato salad, ice cream

Long version: We returned from our trip around 1 p.m., after having stopped at the grocery store on the way, of course. There I had purchased one of those 10-pound rolls of ground beef, which is what I used to make the hamburger steaks. These are just highly seasoned ground beef in large, thick patties. I made gravy for them with cornstarch and milk.

I was most excited about the tomato salad. I came home to find quite a lot of ripe tomatoes, and I had just purchased asadero cheese--my mozzarella substitute--at the store. Those, along with basil from the garden, thinly sliced onion, and a vinaigrette, comprised the salad.

So good.

I also got the ice cream at the store. 

Thursday

Short version: Grilled pork chops and chicken, grilled bread, corn on the cob, ice cream

Long version: Yet another thing I bought at the store was starter fluid so I could finally use up the charcoal without building an actual fire. It was very hot this day--95 degrees--and it seemed like a good day to grill. I had only one package of sirloin pork chops, so I also took out a package of chicken breasts. These were way too big, however, and would have taken forever on the grill. Which is why I cut them in half both lengthwise and crosswise. 

I marinated both kinds of meat in a mustard vinaigrette. Marinating helps a lot with relatively bland meat like this. But I still served it with barbecue sauce.

Did I get the corn at the store the day before? Why yes, I did.

I had made chocolate chip cookies in the morning before it got hot, but the older boys had their first day of classes this day and informed me they got cookies at lunch. So I offered them ice cream, instead, which they were happy to accept.

Refrigerator check:

Messy, because I just threw everything in when I got home on Wednesday and haven't organized it yet.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

The View from the Bench

Right outside our porch door, we have a big wooden bench that A. made some years ago. If I can manage to sneak outside without anyone following me, I can enjoy some peace and the view from the bench*.

I particularly like sitting there as the sun is setting, or even after it has set. The light lingers almost an hour after sunset, because it's so flat here.

To the west (ish.)

And the other way.

There are some benefits to living a hundred miles from anywhere, and the bench is one of them.

* Not that I object to their company (usually), but anywhere my children are immediately becomes less peaceful.

Snapshots: Heading to the County Fair

I had a couple of errands in town that couldn't wait, and since I was going to the town with the (tiny) dinosaur museum that my two youngest children had been asking to visit again, I took them with me.

This is a giant ammonite. The green hand on the display indicates that you can touch it. The touchability of many of the displays is one reason my children like this museum.

Since my washing machine is still in being repaired--there were several machines waiting for repairs already, so I knew this was not going to be a fast turnaround--I took the opportunity to stop at the single laundromat in town to wash three baskets of clothing.

It was a surprisingly nice laundromat for what is admittedly often a kind of sketchy town.

The children were enthralled with the novelty of a laundromat, as they had never been in one before. I hadn't used one in years myself. We only used the washers, though, eschewing the dryers in favor of just bringing everything home wet and hanging it on the line at home.

We went to the grocery store, of course, before coming home, where the son with me was excited to see a kind of spicy Doritos he had tried before and liked. I told him he could buy them himself, and he did.

This is definitely not something I would ever bring home on my own.

We've been at the county fair for the past three days*. I always enter several things in the open class contests at the fair. Basically whatever I find in the garden, plus something baked and something canned. I don't grow or can anything specifically for the fair; I just enter whatever I have.

This year, that was cucumbers, tomatoes, collard greens, mint, parsley, carrots, green tomato chutney, currant jelly, and a Bonnie Butter cake.

I also had the idea for a very large wildflower arrangement that came to me while I was circling the village during my trudgery. I went out the morning the fair started and gathered all the likely-looking plants I found.

The raw materials.

The hot weather had finished off most of the more colorful flowers, so I was limited to white and yellow. Also, the liner in my container kept leaking and I had to keep taking everything out and re-lining the outer container with other things, which meant I rearranged it at least three times.

I was still pretty happy with how it turned out, though.

And it won Grand Champion in the Floriculture division.

One son won Grand Champion in the Arts and Crafts division with this chair he made.

He didn't even use a plan for it, instead just making it up out of his head and some two-by-fours.

Another son did a really cool stone shaping and chiseling project. It turned out very well, although they had some trouble figuring out how to categorize it. I think it ended up in the "carved sculpture" category. And of course, there were Poppy's brownies. Both of those things got first place ribbons, so our family was well-represented at the fair this year.

The last fair event is always the community dance on Saturday night. 

All ages, all two-stepping in the livestock pavilion.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

* And every time we go to the fairgrounds, I have to put this song on in the car.  

Friday Food: First Snickerdoodles

Friday 

Short version: Leftover meats, porky rice, pinto beans, raw tomatoes or leftover vegetables, almond cookies, fresh bread and butter

Long version: I had leftover grilled steak, barbecue ribs, and tuna patties that I apportioned out based on preference. 

It was fairly cool this day, so I had also decided to cook the half bag of pinto beans that had been in the pantry for awhile. To flavor the beans, I fried pickled onions and garlic in the lard that had rendered out of the ribs I had made the day before, and then simmered the beans with that for a bit. 

The rice was cooked in the liquid from the ribs.

The tomatoes were mostly from Poppy's plants in the garden. She generously shared with her brothers, and then A. and I had leftover sauerkraut, carrots, and peas.

The cookies I had made the day before, substituting finely ground almonds for some of the flour.

And bread and butter because I had baked bread in the afternoon and fresh bread is hard to resist.

Saturday

Short version: Green chile bacon cheeseburgers, roasted potatoes, peaches and cream

Long version: I had made hamburger buns the day before when I was baking bread. I made the bacon very last-minute when the rest of the meal was almost done, but it of course was the best part of the meal for my family.

All the males in the family had their cheeseburgers with pureed green chile on top, along with raw onion. Poppy and I declined.

Sunday

Short version: Oven-fried chicken, biscuits, carrot sticks with curry dip, brownies with ice cream

Long version: I hadn't made oven-fried chicken in a very long time, but everyone likes it, so I did. It involves marinating the chicken--I used three breasts and a package of thighs--in yogurt and spices, then coating it in masa and spices before baking on a buttered sheet pan.

Because I had the oven on for that, I made biscuits too. They were just plain baking powder biscuits, and they weren't my best effort. The butter was a little warm when I made them. Oh well. They were still all eaten.

Chicken and biscuits.

Poppy made the brownies to practice one more time before she bakes some for the fair. Unfortunately, I was not paying close attention while she was putting them together and I was making dinner, and she read a half cup as one and a half cups. She hasn't gotten to fractions yet in school.

So they ended up more like a cake. Still eaten, though.

The chicken was kind of underseasoned, too, and didn't get as crispy as I would have liked. All in all, a slightly underwhelming meal that made far too many dishes. That's how it goes sometimes.

Monday

Short version: Pasta with chicken, pesto, and bacon; green salad with vinaigrette

Long version: The chicken breasts I had used the night before were huge, and also on the bone. I cut them off the bone and then cut them in half so they would cook in the same amount of time as the thighs. Half of the halves I cut into smaller chunks, though, and saved for this meal.

To the pasta--small elbows--I added bacon, the chicken, extra garlic, about a cup of pesto I managed to make from the small basil plants, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, and balsamic vinegar.

Basil and tomatoes. The tomatoes went in the salad.

Tuesday

Short version: Ram chops, leftover rice or fried potatoes, radishes, snickerdoodles, bread and cheese

Long version: Oddly, the part of this meal that was most enthusiastically received was the leftover rice. This was the rice that I had cooked in pork juices. I added more butter to it, and on A.'s rice, the juices in the pan from cooking the chops. I guess three kinds of fat is the secret to good rice.

This was a potato plate. No triple-fat rice for him.

I have never in my life even eaten snickerdoodles--it's a cookie, in case you haven't, either--but have always meant to try making them. So I did.

They're an odd cookie. The cookie itself has shortbread ingredients, but with a leavener, so they come out cakey. Each cookie is rolled in cinnamon and sugar, which is the main flavoring.

About half the family loved them. I thought they were bland and boring, so I'm not too enthused about making them regularly, but maybe every once in awhile for those who were such fans.

The bread and cheese was for the boys who were roaming around after dinner complaining of still being hungry. A second course, I guess. 

Wednesday

Short version: Leftover pasta, scrambled eggs, Sunday sandwich, corn on the cob, cherries

Long version; Totally random meal. I had been planning on the pasta, because I went to town this day, which always saps my will to cook dinner. I had thought I would get a rotisserie chicken at the store to supplement the pasta, but the chickens at this store were the smallest I'd ever seen. They looked like quail. Definintely would not have been enough for all of us, and also a total rip-off.

So instead I cooked the last few pieces of bacon, plus a bunch of scrambled eggs. I used the eggs and bacon to make a Sunday sandwich for A., which is these two things with cheese, then toasted. The MiL used to make these for A. and his brother if they went to church.

A. goes to church every Sunday now, so he can have his Sunday sandwich early. 

The kids had the pasta and some eggs.

The corn was from the store. It was the first corn I had seen this season that didn't look very sad and dry. Kind of a starchy meal in the end, but everyone was happy to have corn.

Thursday

Short version: Pork/beans/rice skillet, blue-ribbon brownies

Long version: This was the first day of the county fair. The fair is always incredibly tiring, since it's always brutally hot and we spend hours there. I would typically prepare at least some part of dinner in the morning before we left, but this morning I was busy gathering wildflowers and arranging them to enter into the floriculture contest, and helping Poppy bake the brownies she entered, as well as the cake I entered. 

We got home at 3 p.m. I pulled a small bag of cooked pork shoulder from the freezer and made some rice. Then I fried the diced pork in bacon fat. To that I added frozen corn, a can of black beans, salsa, pureed red chile from the freezer, taco spices, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream.

I counted the salsa and corn as our vegetables.

The brownies were the ones left from the pan Poppy baked. Before we left the fair, we saw that she got a first place ribbon on her brownies. They were very good brownies.

Refrigerator check:

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

Summer Reading, and a Minor Announcement

The bigger boys start school this week, and everyone will be in school in two more weeks, so now's a good time to tell you all about the many books I bought this summer, right? Right.

Most of them were for Poppy, who has definitely become a reader.

Many books.

All the Ralph S. Mouse books

All the Ramona Quimby books

All The Borrowers books

All the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books (except the farm one) in a treasury format

Bed Knob and Broomstick (not as good as the movie, I'm told)

An Episode of Sparrows (I read this--it was fairly good, but not what I was expecting)

Poppy's absolute favorite was the complete Pippi Longstocking collection--three books--although that didn't make it into the photo.

Also not pictured, but for Poppy, I got The Little House Cookbook. 

A couple of books by William Durbin, including Dead Man's Rapids, that were mostly for the youngest boy.

The next Horatio Hornblower book for the middle boy, although he informed me it was in no way as good as the first one so I shouldn't get the rest.

We Live in the Arctic, mostly for the older two boys.

And then later in the summer, one son was remarking that he was thinking of writing an encyclopedia of monsters, which led to us investigating if there is one. We found several, but most of them are either actual encyclopedias for adults that are trying to establish the existence of Big Foot or whatever, or ones geared toward small children.

I did end up getting a DK book about mythical creatures.

The plant book was an impulse purchase.

Because it's a DK book, it's good. Poppy enjoyed this one.

I also got another DK book--bad day for impulse buys--called History Year by Year: The History of the World from the Stone Age to the Digital Age. This was very popular with all three younger children. DK wins again.

And for me . . .

A collection of short stories by Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen, including "Babette's Feast." Similar to Bed Knob and Broomstick, the movie was better, but the stories were okay.

I did not enjoy Surprised by Joy, by C.S. Lewis. Extreme navel gazing, mostly.

I did enjoy Gilead, though I'm trying to decide if I liked it enough to read the sequels.

Not pictured, I got a collection of Erma Bombeck books, too.

For the eldest, I got the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. This is dystopian fiction, which I have no interest in, so I didn't read it, but he requested it and said it was good.

Also requested and enjoyed by the eldest, though I can't vouch for it myself, was Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds.

And now for the minor announcement: I did not renew my contract at the school for this year, which means that while the children are going back to school, and A. will be going back to driving the school bus, I will not be going back. Well, except as a substitute. I did tell them I could continue doing that.

This means I will shortly have more time for reading! Do you have any recommendations for me? Or for the children?

Snapshots: Home Improvement

Poppy likes to go through my shoes and was delighted to find that I still have the white sandals I wore when I got married 22 years ago. She informed me I should wear them on our anniversary. That was on a Saturday, however, and I do not generally go around in high heels at home. I told her I would wear them to church the next day, though. 

This is the main aisle at our church. It is bare wood. All of my heels are SO LOUD when I have to walk up and down this aisle, which is several times when I'm mayordoma. 

A. finished installing the tub and shower in the children's bathroom. The tub juuuust barely fit.

Like, to the centimeter.

A. has spent his entire life hating cheap bathroom fixtures, so instead of buying the shower plumbing, faucets, etc., at a local store, he ordered this crazy copper set-up from Morocco. Directly from a Moroccan company, I mean.

That giant circular thing in the 8-inch shower head.

It came in an actual wooden box they built for it, with Fragile stamped on it. It was the modern equivalent of A Christmas Story. 

A. actually used a hammer to open this.

The end result is I'm sure not what anyone is going to expect in our old trailer in the middle of nowhere.

Welcome to the Moroccan baths.

A. made sure to mount the shower head so there is plenty of clearance for the over-six-foot-tall people in our house, which at the moment stands at two of them but will probably include all the males in our household in a few years.

The family is delighted with their extra-deep tub and extra-high shower. I am delighted that it no longer smells like a swamp when anyone bathes. Satisfaction all around.

It has also proved useful as our laundry facility for a couple of weeks while my washing machine is gone for repairs.

Poppy was delighted to stomp clothes for me. I was delighted to let her.

For my part, after we made the younger boys' bunk bed into two twin beds, I got them each a clothes rack to take the place of the closet they do not have in their bedroom. The box for each of these racks, which I lifted out of the outer box with one hand, was pretty funny.

"Super Heavy" and TEAM LIFT. Okay, then.

Despite the impressive feat of lifting this all by myself, I was more impressed that I actually assembled them myself.

Flat-pack furniture and I don't really get along.

Check out this impressive bug I found on my collard greens.

Yikes.

The son who is on the FFA entomology team identified this for me as an assassin bug. I can only hope it's assassinating the grasshoppers.

Lastly, this week's flowers, courtesy of sunflower season and A. going down the hill to do some rock work*.

Table flowers.

And the church (and bookcase) flowers.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

* The younger boys went with him and were holding all the flowers in the truck on the way home. They informed me that ants were on the flowers and they kept getting bitten on the drive home. This is how I know they love me.