Santa Fe, Day 3

Today, we headed to Tesuque for breakfast at Tesuque Village Market. Happily, Tesuque Market is just as rag-tag and unassuming in appearance as it's ever been. I've been to Santa Fe 6 times and except for one visit that was just a daytrip, I've always made sure to drive the 10 minutes north of Santa Fe to Tesuque. The food is outstanding, and they sell freshly-baked pies and pastries.

CA and I both choose the Farmer's Breakfast--eggs scrambled with tomatoes, fresh spinach, roasted garlic, and goat cheese; served with crispy, oven-roasted red potatoes. Very good.

I'm not sure we've ever been able to squeeze in three meals/day during any vacation. We definitely can't here. Each meal is so good and satisfying, I haven't even been craving sweets or chocolate. Twice, I've actually been in the candy aisle and walked away. Surreal.

We spend the afternoon walking Canyon Road, appreciating the Santa Fe architecture and the full-on artistic vibe that is Canyon Road. Every step, every gallery, courtyard, and shop exudes artistic talent. Santa Fe artists are serious artisans. Many of these galleries and shops have been here forever. Many I recognize from my first visit 18 years ago.

We wander to St. Francis Cathedral and after spending some time inside admiring the lovely stained glass and icons, I decide to walk my first-ever Labyrinth. We've visited Chartes and Roen cathedrals, but for whatever reason I never walked the Labyrinth. 

It was amazing. Really. I was the only person doing so and I really let myself into the present moments. And, I walked away with some vital insights. Life mirrors the Labyrinth--forward/double-back/forward/across/back/way back/forward/double-back/forward... 

After a bit of rest at the casita, and discussion regarding dinner, we dine at Il Vicino for wood oven pizza. I think I've eaten there at least once every visit, sometimes twice. It's casual; you place your order at the front counter. If the weather were different we'd eat on the terrace, but tonight it's cozier in the dining room.

-source of these 2 photos-

CA orders the #10 (with chicken added)--fresh basil pesto, mozzarella, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, fresh basil. The crust is perfect; medium-thin, soft-centered, wood-oven baked. I ask for the #15, but as I'm deciding on a salad the counter guy points out that they offer a combo deal--small pizza of your choice along with a 1/2 entree salad, and beverage. Yep. That's for me.

My Fino pizza has chicken sausage, marinara, mozzarella, blended goat cheese, oven roasted tomatoes, and fresh oregano. A very delicious and appropriately-sized pizza leaves room for a frehly-prepared Isalata Cesare.

We cannot stop commenting on how good the pizza was. Memorable.

Tomorrow we drive back to Fort Collins for time again with family. We're going ice skating in Denver with JF, doing a bit of shopping, and preparing a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Lots of Fun Kids time. Great memory building.

Summer at Our House

Too much entertaining lately, but the off-shoot is that I'm deep into cooking again. 

There were leftovers to work through after our big vegan meal. With oven-roasted sweet potatoes on-hand, I was inspired to make a big late-morning breakfast for CA and me. 

Also, utilized the leftover steak from a very recent dinner at Outback. With a correctly-prepared "medium" steak, you can briefly reheat in the microwave without over-cooking. 

We still had great amounts of leftover vegetables and the clock was ticking toward our trip to Colorado. CA and I worked together and prepped the peppers and Vidalias for fajitas (JE's family were due to arrive soon.)

After the peppers and onions cooled a bit, we divided them into Ziplock bags and put them in the freezer. We had pork tenderloin fajitas on Saturday night, and having the veggies pre-made was huge. 

One of our favorite "pantry" meals is a marinara with tarragon, garlic, and finely-diced red onion. We enjoyed this batch with some Dececco linguine, crunchy bacon pieces, and great dollops of creamy goat cheese. 

On Sunday, 7/10, it was our turn to host Small Group, and I'd decided on a peanut butter-chocolate cheesecake with hot fudge and whipped cream. But, I wasn't sure that everyone coming liked peanut butter, so I also made a simple lemon tart. Used a prepared (Pillsbury) pie crust for convenience and 2 jars of Dickenson's Lemon Curd, because it's very tart and very good. 

The first photo is just after I removed the pie weights. The tart crust still needed a few more minutes in the oven to be fully browned. 

I wanted a deep cheesecake, so I used 4 packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and a cup of peanut butter for a 9"x3" outcome. Actually, I used 5 packages of cream cheese and 1-1/4 cups of PB as I planned to additionally make 4 small 4" cheesecakes to deliver to our elderly parents. 

The crusts were NutterButter cookies and a bit of melted butter. I learned the hard way that pre-baking the crust, as you sometimes do with a graham cracker crust, is not a good idea. Must be the high sugar-fat content of those NutterButters. 

I also added about 1 cup of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips to the filling mix. 

At serving, I warmed some Mrs. Richardson's Hot Fudge Sauce to drizzle over. And then, topped both the cheesecake slices and the lemon tart slices with freshly-whipped cream. 

On Tuesday we drove to Central Illinois for a quick visit with our parents. Not sure my almost 95-year old dad realized I'd made him cheesecakes as both his sight and hearing have deteriorated greatly this year. But, CA's 88-year old mom was very pleased and happy to share with some of her caregivers. 

By Friday, 7/15 our daughter's family had arrived. LC was turning 5-years on 7/20 so we had fun celebrating his birthday a bit early on Saturday. 

Who doesn't love a donut cake?!

I'm now ready to buckle-down and begin eating "right" again. Love the My Fitness Pal app for calorie counting, excersize recording, and nutrition monitoring. 

Breakfast at Silver Grill in Fort Collins, CO. 

A simple lunch. 

Last night we adapted a favorite salad. The beauty of using the My Fitness Pal app is that I can plan my daily food intake to accommodate a more caloric dinner, or a restaurant meal. 

For example, CA and I had a late breakfast today at The Farmhouse at Jessup Farms. I didn't even miss the potatoes or bacon, as green chiles and fresh fruit were available substitutes. 

My leftover green chiles prompted us to make chicken quesadillas and guacamole for dinner. Turns out carrots taste wonderful with guac--The Two Hot Tamales recipe. 

I warmed the green chiles and, just at serving time, stirred-in some sour cream. 

So... While we are in Colorado, our daughter and family are staying at our very unofficial Airbnb with friends from Cincinnati. Only right, as CA and I stayed at JE's home on our way to CO.

Unfortunately for them, an Opposum somehow made it into one of our covered window wells, then died. Thanks MA for doing the clean-up.

Mexican Quiche

QUICHE

1  Pillsbury crust, unbaked

2  Eggs, beaten

1/2 cup  Mayonnaise (I use low-fat)

1/2 cup  Milk

1 T.  Cornstarch

Salt and Pepper

1 to 1-1/2 cups  Cheese, grated. 

(I like to grate my own because they add cellulose to pre-grated cheese, so it gets oily.) (I used cheddar-Jack, but any flavor you choose works.)

1/2 to 3/4 cup Filling--meat, veggies, etc. 

1. Preheat oven to 350°. 

2. Press crust into pie plate or springform pan or quiche dish. 

3. Mix together beaten eggs, milk, mayonnaise, cornstarch. Set aside. 

4. Sprinkle filling over unbaked crust. 

5. Evenly spread grated cheese over filling. 

6. Pour egg mixture over filling and cheese. (I then use a fork to gently coach some egg into the crevices. Just a bit.)

7.  Salt lightly and pepper. 

8.  Place on rack just below center of oven. Bake 30-35 minutes at 350°.  

The filling I used was a leftover ground beef/black bean taco mixture, so the quantity below will make 3 quiches, or have tacos for dinner the night before you bake one quiche!

1 lb.  Ground beef, browned and drained of any fat. 

3 T.  Taco seasoning, dry 

*1/2 pkg.  Onion soup mix [optional]

1  6 oz. can  Tomato sauce (or less) (You can use salsa instead.)

1/2 cup   Water

1  can  Black beans

Hot sauce, if desired. 

Cilantro, chopped

1. Add all ingredients except black beans to browned ground beef. 

2. Bring to a high simmer; lower flame. Simmer until liquid is almost completely evaporated. 

3. Drain and rinse black beans with cold water. Stir into meat mixture. 

4. Add hot sauce, if desired. 

5. Sprinkle with freshly chopped cilantro. 

*We stopped adding the onion soup mixture due to it's very high sodium content. 

Cadged Another Week at the Beach

We decided there was no compelling reason to go home as CA was able to move his pre-surgery tests to Friday. Yea! 5 more beach days.

Saturday, 3/5
After breakfast at Pocahontas, we spend a good bit of Saturday cooling our heels in the 10th floor lounge at Oceanaire. Very comfortably. We check in at Beach Quarters just after 4:30pm, and walk just next door for an early dinner at Waterman's, a long-time beach staple.

Citrus-glazed salmon for CA; chicken-vegetable curry with cilantro-lime rice for me.

Sunday, 3/6

We walk from our condo at 5th Street to 11th Street Taphouse for brunch. They have a fantastic Bloody Mary bar on Saturdays and Sundays.

We decide to share plates. We order a Baby spinach-shallot-shredded carrot-cranberry salad and crab-artichoke dip for our brunch. Excellent.

For dinner, we opt to enjoy wine and cheeses in our condo, and settle in happily for an evening focused on the Downton Abbey finale.

Monday, 3/7

We walk just across the street for breakfast at the Sunnyside Café. CA loves his pecan pancakes, and I totally splurge (again) on a Belgian waffle. Excellent coffee and food. We spend quite a lot of time with our electronic devices before moving on with our day.

By 3:30 we're at I Fly for my sky diving adventure. A fantastic experience!

I come away just famished, so we go directly to Taste for an early dinner. I enjoyed a Northender: turkey-Havarti-bacon-avocado on a baguette; CA chooses a roast beef-provolone sandwich. Superb! We buy a pecan pie bar (CA) and a very fat 7-layer bar (Me!) to carry-out for an evening treat.

 

Tuesday, 3/8

Who knew! Super heroes (full-sized) at Harris Teeter.

Crepe Myrtle. Soon it will leaf-up, and then bloom gorgeously.

One last dinner at Mannino's. Unbelievable lasagna, and their bread is excellent.

At sunrise, there was a college baseball team working out just beneath our terrace. Lucky guys!

And, just a bit more shopping.

Wednesday, 3/9
Time to head home. Sigh...