Food and Travel – October 2021

Even though I have been cooking a lot this month, I haven’t been able to stop to take pictures and post a new recipe. So I thought I would share some of the dishes I have made this month as well as a little trip we took into the mountains. As with most Octobers, it has been a busy month shutting down the garden and dealing with the rest of the garden produce; but, most importantly, celebrating my birthday.

At my age, a one day birthday celebration is not even close to being enough. A whole week is required. For the actual day of, I have a tradition of eating pizza. Growing up, our birthday present was to choose whatever we wanted for dinner. I always chose my mother’s homemade pizza and Cherry-O Cream Cheese pie. As an adult, I’ve dropped the pie, but the pizza is still a must. So for my birthday dinner, Bobby picked up the large Supreme pizza from our favorite pizza joint – Giavanni’s PIzzeria. A thin crust pizza loaded with pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, olives, peppers, and of course – green chile. It’s so yummy!!!!

A few days prior to my birthday, we went for a short trip to the Jemez Mountains, northwest of Albuquerque. The timing was perfect. Not only were the cottonwoods along the Jemez River in peak color, but so were the aspen trees at the higher elevations.

We rented a “little cabin in the woods” and enjoyed the colors, the quiet, and the rising of the Hunter’s Moon. One day we went for a drive through a portion of the Valle Grande of the Valles Caldera. It is a 13 mile wide circular depression created by a volcanic eruption 1.25 million years ago.

It’s breathtaking, but impossible to capture the size of it on camera or travel all over it in a day. The day we were there they had free admission, so we got to drive deep into areas we’ve never driven before. It’s an interesting and gorgeous place. Be sure to click on the above link to see more pictures and to learn more about this unique place.

During this trip I didn’t want to cook much, so I made a couple of dinner dishes beforehand to take with us:

Calabacitas Macaroni and Cheese

and

a Lemon Ginger Chicken Noodle Soup (A delicious soup I haven’t posted YET)

For breakfasts we made bacon and eggs and our usual cold weather breakfast – Grits and Green Chile.

For lunches we did a simple snack tray of apples, cheese, crackers and olives, and then this

Smoked Salmon appetizer to which I substituted the mayonnaise with about three times as much cream cheese in order to spread it on bagels.

Needless to say – the drives, the views, the food, the relaxation – it was a wonderful birthday week!

During the other weeks of the October, Bobby has been remodeling the bathroom and I’ve been keeping us fed. Here are a few of the other dishes we have enjoyed this month. Most of these dishes gave us at least two meals.

Grilled Flank Steak – This one steak gave us three meals:

• Flank Steak with Chimichurri served with sauteed squash with dill weed and a light sprinkle of Pecorino Romano.
• Brussels Sprouts and Flank Steak Stirfry from Lemons for Lulu. I’ve made this several times this year. The only changes I make are to break apart the Brussels Sprouts halves into smaller bites and add 1/2 cup sake to the sauce. Since I use leftover steak, I just cut it into thin slices, then bite-size lengths and add right before serving over wild rice.
• Philly Cheesesteak Sliders from This Skinny Chick Can Bake. I made these right after Liz posted the recipe and we loved them, so I had to make them again. However, since it’s just the two of us, instead of making several sliders, I make a couple of larger sandwiches.

Corn and Smoked Ham Chowder

Fried Green Tomatoes and Fried Mushrooms – This recipe from allrecipes.com is very close to my recipe. The main differences are that to the egg mixture, I use buttermilk instead of milk and add 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce. The cornmeal coating is just cornmeal, salt and pepper, and garlic powder (no bread crumbs). I used the same coatings for the mushrooms which I cut in half.

Cooking on the Ranch’s Zesty Grilled Ham Steaks with an Apple and Celery Salad (There is a good reason why these ham steaks are one of Lea Anne’s staples. They are delicious!)

Potatoes with Chard, Olives, and Cheese – This recipe by Nigel Slater’s is excellent and has become a vegetarian entree staple for us. The only changes I make to the recipe are to pan-fry the potatoes until crispy (rather than boil), and use 1/2 bunch of coarsely chopped chard. Sometimes I’ll use fingerling potatoes rather than Yukon gold (as shown in the picture).

Slow-cooked Red Beans with Chimichurri

Cervantes Pork Tamales smothered in red chile.

Kimchi Ramen Noodles – This has become one of our quick & easy standby meals. Cooked ramen noodles tossed with sauteed veggies (e.g., wilted greens, onion, bell peppers) and cabbage kimchi. We’ve become addicted to ramen noodles. They make such a great quick & easy meal using just about any vegetables or leftover protein you have in the refrigerator; therefore, I buy a three pack from Amazon so that I never run out.

Earlier this month I purchased a 25 pound box of apples from a local farmer. Along with eating at least one apple a day, I added them to salads, made apple juice, and then made these sweeter dishes for breakfast and dessert.

Spiced Apples Breakfast

Apple Pecan Buttermilk Pancakes

The Pioneer Woman’s Apple Crisp – Bobby thought it was the best crisp he had ever had. For me, it was good, but too sweet. Next time I would cut way back on the sugar.

Other breakfasts this month included fried eggs with chimichurri, a couple of southwestern pileups (one with green and one with red), steel cuts with apple, fruit and cereal, and of course, more grits and green chile.

Our lunches were mostly leftovers, but at one point I did splurge and bought some Black Forrest Ham and freshly baked rye bread from which we had several different sandwiches.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from our little trip and that you find some recipes that you just have to try. All of the recipes listed have been made several times; therefore, they are “tried and true”.

See you next month with some new recipes!