Roswell Adventures

After I moved to Roswell, Chuck and I started looking for things we could experience together. That first December we learned about Christmas on the Pecos in Carlsbad, NM and, after a bit of investigating, we learned that the weekend we planned to go coincided with a new event - the Carlsbad Winter Wine Festival. Thus was born a new almost-Christmas tradition that occurs on the first weekend in December. It starts at 3:30 on Friday, when we bug out of work just as quick as we can, drive home to change and load the car and head down the road to Carlsbad. Our first stop is the Trinity Hotel, where we check in for the night prior to driving over for Christmas on the Pecos...which will be explained in pictures shortly. After the adventure on the river we head back to the Trinity for a fabulous dinner. The Trinity is absolutely amazing - and not just because of the fabulous food. The building used to house the bank and the water office where Pat Garrett held office. It was on its way to

Acorn squash is fairly new to us, but when a friend gave us one from his garden, we gave it a shot. It was delicious, but I didn't like how long it took to cook. For us to enjoy it during the week, I would have to come straight home and start to work on dinner...not one of my favorite ways to unwind from work. So, this delectable squash was relegated to weekend meals. Then I learned I could cook it in the slow cooker. I was totally sold!    A nice acorn squash, a little butter, a little brown sugar, and a little cinnamon, and this is what you get!     Doesn't this look delicious! Plus it gave me an opportunity to try some of my new cinnamon from Penzey's in Tucson :)   It went really well with the leftover ham, and since it is so easy - and since I can set it up in the morning and use a timer so it is ready at dinner time - this is going to be a regular at our dinner table. I made sure to save the seeds to plant in some of our dozens of bales next year.

Since we are living so far away from Heather & Matt, it was a special treat to be able to share Christmas Eve dinner with them... ...and with Heather's special guy, James. When visiting Tucson, we stay in a casita at a friend's house and fortunately there is a full kitchen. So, I was ready to cook :) After thinking through a variety of options and discarding many for a various reasons, I came up with this rather simple dinner: Rouladen Mashed Sweet Potatoes Brussels Sprouts Hash Cole Slaw Rolls Dinner was a hit, with requests for recipes, so I figured the easiest way to go about it was to write it up here. ROULADEN For the Rouladen,  I turned to my dad for input. Originally I had asked for information about using a flank steak, but I decided to go the easier route and visit my local butcher to order some round steak sliced for rouladen. Excerpts from his guiding comments (with my notes in parentheses) are: "Working from long side of meat sm

So, a couple of weeks back Bountiful Baskets had a couple of add-ons I couldn't resist - honey crisp apples and cranberries. I had visions of creating and canning all manner of holiday-style deliciousness. And then reality set in. Yes, I did make several batches of applesauce - and even canned two batches (keeping a mind, each of these batches was 3 or 4 jars). I also have made several varieties of cranberry sauce - and canned some of that, as well.  Upon launching ourselves into our Thanksgiving trip, I snagged a dozen or so apples and 4 bags of cranberries to complement whatever else we decided to have for our meal. I haven't made a pie in ages...if it has been that recent. In fact, I'm having a difficult time recalling the last time I rolled out a pie crust. After all, if God had intended for us to make our own pie crusts, he never would have created frozen pie crusts! Right? Well, with gluten-free ready-made pie crusts being only sl

I love cabbage, and I have eaten and cabbage rolls other people have made. But, shoot, I don't even roll enchiladas! I am not going to spend time rolling cabbage. So, here is my alternative - Cabbage Unrolled :) Crackers make the perfect accompaniment. We decided a sprinkle of Parmesan would make it complete! I love easy, throw-together meals...especially those that taste better the next day and give you a few meals of leftovers :) I was kind of a slacker and missed out on early pictures. When I first added the cabbage, it filled my Dutch oven, and my first thought was "Holy cats! Is this going to work?" It cooked down very nicely, though. When I took the lid off, it looked really soupy. Then I stirred it, and I realized the consistency was actually just right. So I added the cheese and put the lid back on for a few minutes.  I actually had a little less than a cup, but it had already been shredded, and I didn't feel like shr

I first learned about Harvard beets from Chuck, and I started looking for recipes. He told me the ones he enjoyed years earlier had orange in them, so when I found a recipe that seemed close, I went with that and changed some ingredients...OK, most ingredients were altered at least a bit. This is the results:   Not my best food photos, but dinner was ready! Next time I'll take some time to stage it better and wipe the inside of the bowl down...maybe ;)   OK - let's get started!  Start off by peeling and slicing your beets. Then put them into a steamer.   Next make your sauce. I like to make mine in my big cast iron skillet. That gives the beets lots of room.  Once the beets are fork-tender, add them to the sauce. Stir to coat then turn to low (or shut the burner off for a while if you are using cast iron, because that keeps them plenty warm).  Let them sit in the sauce for at least 30 minutes (OK, I admit, I often do a shorte