Heaven on a Plate

It's been a while since I've posted, but that's because we're still here at Manzano, having a grand time.

Staying in one place has been a real delight, with revelations we never expected. One of the best parts of this journey has been making new friends, particularly the family that resides full time here at Manzano. This includes Harold (the official New Mexico State Park Ranger), his wife Holly and their three year old son Hunter (with whom we have developed an amazing bond, but that's another story).

Having had enough time to get to know these fine folks has been a true gift, and one that we appreciate daily. Both Harold and Holly are New Mexico natives and they have been very patient in teaching us the ways of New Mexico. I am constantly being reminded that the plural of chili is chili, NOT chilies!

Both Terry and I love chili rellenos and have been eating them all over New Mexico, with decidedly mixed results. While the rellenos at a small restaurant in Santa Rosa were beyond belief, most have resembled nothing so much as a soggy corn dog! My idea of a perfect relleno is a lovely green chili stuffed with cheese in a light batter, gently fried to a brown crisp.

When you bite into it, there should be an ideal marriage of batter, chili and cheese. Alas, this perfect concoction has been few and far between in our travels.

I was discussing this with Holly and she offered to teach me to make chili rellenos the authentic New Mexican way. Since she has been cooking chili in its' various forms since she was a girl (taught by her Mother and Grandmother) how could I refuse?

We started with two large bags of fresh chili, Big Jims for us and a hotter variety for Harold and Holly. We fired up the gas grill and began charring the chili so we could peel them. The smell of this process is pure heaven! After they were sufficiently blistered, we removed them to a large terry cloth towel where they were wrapped for several minutes so the chili meat could continue to steam and loosen the skins.

Next was the peeling. This part was kind of delicate. I had previously helped Holly to peel a gunny sack full of chili, and these had been tricky, but since these would be chopped up for freezing not a lot of precision was involved.

For our chili relleno, we had to be a lot more careful. Ideally, you want to keep the stem intact while managing to get the skin off the chili without breaking the meat of the chili itself. Klutz that I am, it took me a while to get the hang of it, but after a while we were peeling right along.

I found this whole process to be quite a joyful task. Sitting outside with my new friend, talking about girl things and her life growing up in New Mexico, it felt for me what old time quilting bees must have been for the pioneer women. A shared task, accomplished with pleasure and fellowship.

After getting some three dozen chili roasted and peeled, we next had to prepare the cheese. Holly swears by Velveeta for this and I of course bow to her superior culinary experience. We proceeded to cut the cheese into sticks, about half to two thirds the length of the chili.

Now comes the tricky part. You have to take the peeled chili (which has become somewhat slimy and sticky at the same time) and make a slice into one side into which you insert the cheese. Then you VERY gently do your best to seal the slit with the cheese safely tucked inside. This is an important step!

Now that we had all the chili stuffed and sealed, they went into the freezer to firm up for about an hour. We used this time to clean up the mess we'd previously created. Those chili peels were everywhere! When they dry out they take on a papery texture and seem to fly all over the place, fitting themselves into every nook and cranny.

Then we began the last step, which is the all important batter and frying. For oil, we used a simple vegetable oil heated to just below smoking in a cast iron pan. The wash is simply a few eggs and some milk. After thoroughly coating the chili, we dredged them in a mixture of half flour and half breadcrumbs (Holly says corn meal will also work). For seasoning, make sure to salt this mixture generously. Next, we put them into the oil and off they go! When browned to a nice golden color, we placed them in a gas grill (heat on very low). Before we knew it, they were all cooked.

And there we had it, Heaven on a Plate, guaranteed.

The joy of serving this to friends and family was an added reward, knowing we had prepared this completely from scratch. I recommend you try the combination of preparation, friendship and food, it just can't be beat.

Life is good.

More Pictures from Manzano

I've been so busy watching the hummingbirds that I haven't been posting. Consequently, have WAY too many photos, but I'm going to post them anyway.

This will be a time intensive blog since I suspect it will take a while to load, but hopefully you'll take the tie. As always, you can click on a photo for a larger version.

So here we go, in no particular order.

I know this isn't a perfect shot, but I liked the silhouette.

This is a shot of the Manzano Mountains, taken one day as we were returning from a trip to Albuquerque.

A close up of a broad tail hummingbird.

Another silhouette shot.

Another distance shot.

I know these are kind of repetitious, but I'm not a great editor!

Another shot of the Manzanos, aren't they gorgeous?

The sky really is this blue and the clouds this white, I love New Mexico!

One more

I liked the gate in this shot.

Back to the hummingbirds

This is why they're called Broad Tails

I really liked the detail of this one.

Look really close and you can see a little bird on the other side of the feeder

In this one I love the blending of the branches in the background

This is my favorite, all four birds sitting still at one time.
Don't they look like they're sitting at attention?
They really do congregate in the trees around Cholula.

An action shot, these are hard to capture!

I can't seem to resist a closeup.

I really like the next two shots.
They were taken one after the other.
It's been a real chore to get good shots of the hummers wings.

Make sure to enlarge this one.

I liked the shot of this hummers head as he bends to drink

This little guy sat for the longest time.
It really felt like he was posing for me.

The Rufous are getting scarcer every day,
but This female is still hanging around.

A close up of a male Rufous

So far this is the best shot I've been able to get
of the intricate coloring of a hummingbirds back

I like the shots of lots of birds,
even thought they're never as sharp as I would like

I thought I'd throw in a shot of one of the parks Abert Squirrels,
drinking from a small pond we have at the Visitors Center

In this shot, I liked the light coming through the wings and the tail.

I finally got a good shot of the fuchsia gorget of this broad tail male.
Did you know that the feathers on a hummingbirds gorget only show their amazing colors at certain angles?

I particularly liked the burnt orange on this Rufous.

And last but not least,
this is the Abert Squirrel who eats right outside
our dining room window several times a day.

So this blog is mostly pictures, hope you enjoyed them!

Our life is so good . . .

At Last-Hummingbirds!

I surely do wish that I had a reason for not posting, but, what can I say??

We have been having a wonderful time. We love it here at Manzano Mountains State Park and have made a slew of new friends. It seems that one day just flows into another and I find it's been weeks since I posted!

One of the things that occupies my days is our hummingbirds. It's no exaggeration to say the we have more than two dozen hummers visiting us on a daily basis. I wake in the morning and watch them from my bedroom window and the time just gets away from me.

Every day I go outside, intending to read but find I am mesmerized by our birds. They seem to accept us totally. We stand within inches of the feeders and they just buzz around, creating a variety of breezes that literally seem to kiss your face.

Can you tell I'm enchanted?

As always, you can click on the shots for a larger version.

These shots are random shots and pretty much speak for themselves. In this one, I loved the movement.

This little fellow on the left is a Rufous Hummingbird. They are here in New Mexico on their way south.

A shot of three hummingbirds sharing a snack.

Here's a close up of the Rufous. In the direct sun, their breast is a vibrant burnt orange.

This is a Calliope Hummingbird. The stripes at his neck are puffed up and ruffled when he is trying to attract a mate.

A female Rufous.

I loved this shot. It's so rare you see one just sitting still!

Another shot of them sharing a snack.

Another close up of a Calliope.

More movement.

While this Rufous is pretty blurry, I enjoy the illusion of movement.

This shot intrigues me. While the bird is quite dark, I love the transparency of the tail against the feeder.

So now do you sort of understand why I've been so lax in posting?

I guess when my life is so good, I just get lazy!

Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

I woke up early and watched our hummingbirds for about an hour. Our herd has multiplied to eight, often all at one time! They are now drinking over four cups of nectar a day! It makes me wonder who is pollinating all the flowers?

And Mimi, or anyone who is reading this, could you please send me some hints on photographing these little beauties. Just FYI, I have a Panasonic Lumix FZ30 with a 12X optical zoom, and I've tried everything to get sharp pictures (including hundreds of pictures in burst mode) but none come out to my satisfaction. Any assistance is appreciated.

The weather has been lovely, warm in the mid day but cool in the mornings and evenings, often accompanied by a nice breeze.

The campground here at Manzano Mountains is surprisingly empty, we expected a full park for the holiday, but have decided that the quiet is a special gift just for us on this holiday.

I've spent the morning putting together a playlist for the Fourth of July and am now loading it into the iPod so we can have some appropriate tunes for the day.

It's been our tradition that if we don't watch fireworks on the Fourth of July we try to watch either 1776 or Yankee Doodle Dandy, so that's probably what we'll be doing this evening.

If you haven't seen these films, I highly recommend both. Yankee Doodle Dandy is a wonderful mix of Hollywood hokum, infectious music and the unending charm of James Cagney at his singing and dancing best (he was Oscared for Best Actor for this role). Directed by the amazing Michael Curtiz in the same year he made Casablanca, it also features a fresh and lovely Joan Leslie (only 17 at the time!), Walter Huston (father of John and Grandfather of Angelica and Danny) as wells as James Cagney's real life sister Jeanne.

It's a delight all the way around.

1776 is a unique film, a musical which chronicles the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Written by Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards, (a history teacher with a flair for bringing the past to life) this will forever change your view of the founding fathers. It stars a young William Daniels, all fiery as John Adams, Howard Da Silva,(I guarantee you'll never think of Ben Franklin in the same way after seeing this performance) Ken Howard, as a strong and virile Thomas Jefferson and the amazing Blythe Danner as a bright and fetching Martha Jefferson.

While this is an often overlooked film, it's a true gem. The music is great and the story really does bring history to life. Highly Recommended!

So these are our plans for the day, relaxing with friends and contemplating the wonders of this beautiful country and the events and people who have brought us to this place in life.

We are truly thankful to live in this lovely (though often troubled) country and hope all of you will have a wonderful and happy Fourth of July.

Life is Good.

07.01.07

Boy has it been a long time since I posted!

I have several blog entries I've been working on, but I have to admit my motivation is kind of low.

I think it must have something to do with being in one place for so long.

I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this Camp Hosting business. On one hand, I really enjoy it. I like meeting all these new people, and I certainly like having folks in Lazy Daze come to visit. The work is not hard at all, mostly social, which I enjoy a lot, but I feel a kind of ennui setting in that has me puzzled.

I believe that it stems from several places, one being that we are under the trees. Manzano Mountains State Park is lovely, small and pleasant, but I miss the wonderful open skies that I've grown to love so much. One of our duties here is to lock the gate at 8:00pm and when we drive out to the gate, every time I see that open sky, it's like my heart opens up.

Also, I think it's got a lot to do with being settled in one spot, a kind of lethargy sets in.

Lest you think that I am unhappy here, let me tell you a bit about what I love.

The wildlife here is varied and amusing. We have a little lizard who lives in our fire pit. He's quite fat and happy and seems to like us as well as we like him, so we have named him Jack.

A breed of squirrels know as Abert Squirrels are all over the park. They are quite unusual, with exceptionally full tails and high tufted ears. Their back legs are quite large and sort of resemble those of a jack rabbit making them quite agile. Using their powerful legs, they have the ability to jump from tree to tree, often going great distances without touching the ground. They could almost be confused with flying squirrels, but they have no arm flaps, and really just jump but they're quite a site.

We have put a bird feeder outside our living room window and the squirrels seem to like it as much (if not more) than the birds. Manzano is directly in the migration path, so we have lots of birds for short periods of time. Except for the hummingbirds and the Stellar Jays, most come for a week or so then move on.

About the hummingbirds . . .

They are pretty amazing. We have a suction cup feeder on one window and it's great to watch them come right up to feed. We recently added two more feeders on our "patio" and we often have four or more at one time. They're quite noisy but so beautiful. We have one little white female who is quite fearless and buzzes us almost every day. They're also pretty pushy when the feeder runs out (which seems to be every other day or so.

We've been trying to get good pictures of the squirrels and the hummers, but unlike Jack the lizard, they just refuse to stay still, so the pictures aren't close to the reality.

Well, that's it for now, hopefully I'll get on the move and finish some of the posts about the amazing pueblos of the Salinas Basin.

Okay, I'm Back

So much and so little has been happening, but I've decided it's time to get back to blogging. I thought I'd start out with one of the many glorious sunsets we've been experiencing.

As a quick catch up, we are currently at Manzano Mountains State Park. This is a little jewel of a park located about sixty miles south of Albuquerque. We came here sort of by accident but have enjoyed it so much that when the offer was tendered, we decided to try Camp Hosting!

So for now, it looks like we'll stay put for at least a couple of months.

The park is quite different from other areas we've visited in New Mexico, but we are loving it as much as the rest of the state. It sits at 7200 feet elevation, so we're in the forest, but quite different from the forests we've enjoyed in California. We have a variety of ponderosa pines, Gambel's oaks and alligator junipers, all spread wide apart allowing for lots of light. Since the pines (by far the tallest trees) are self pruning, the greenery is high above us in a soft green canopy. The music the winds make as they rustle through the treetops really has to be heard to be fully appreciated.

We have been busy exploring this area, and like so many other places we've found in New Mexico, it's a treasure trove of history, geology and geography.

Just to whet your appetite a bit, here's a photo of the Gran Quivera Pueblo, an incredible site that I'll be detailing in a future entry.

Many of my future blogs will detail the many sites like this in this amazing area, so stay tuned.

Back to Blogging

At this point, I'm not sure if anyone is still reading the blog, what can I say?

I am just so undisciplined. My intentions are the very best but lately I just find it hard to sit down and write. Then one day stretches into another and before I know it, it seems like a lost cause.

That said, lots has been going on, I'm involved and happy and am going to do my best to get back into the habit of writing on a regular basis.

So if anybody is still out there, stay tuned, hopefully more to come soon.

Been Busy . . .

I've gotten several emails asking what's going on, so just a quick note here.

We've been very social lately, meeting tons of wonderful people and visiting with lots of friends, old and new.

We expect to move next week and I will get busy and post piuctures and notes on what we've been doing,but know we are fine and dandy and having a great time.

More later.

Kate

Observatories, Solar and Lunar

We had a great day today.

One of the things we really enjoy about our style of camping is that we really get a feel for an area. Instead of just moving in for a few days, we usually stay three to four weeks, giving us a chance to talk with the locals and find all he hidden attractions in a particular area. Since we tow the Tracker, this gives us the best of both worlds, we get to stay in beautiful rural areas, yet we can scoot around and visit wherever we want.

Last night we decided that today, we would visit the National Solar Observatory up at Sacramento Peak.

The funny thing is that if you look at a map, the observatory looks to be about seven miles from where we're camped here at Oliver Lee; however to get there, we had to travel some forty plus miles, so off we went. It was a lovely day, blue skies, a few high puffy clouds. We drove up through Cloudcroft into the mountains, where there are numerous birch, pines and huge rolling open meadows. Quite different from the redwoods we're used to at home.

Finally, we reached the National Solar Observatory, located on Sacramento Peak in Sunspot, New Mexico. While they tell you it's located in Sunspot, there isn't actually a town there, just the observatory.

Our first introduction was this beautiful mosaic. I embarrassed to say I didn't get the information on the artist (and remember to click on the photo for an enlarged image).

We went into the visitor center and got the information for our self guided tour. It was a lovely day and the grounds are quite beautiful so we were happy to set off on foot.

Our first stop was the Evans Solar Facility. This building was completed in 1952 and is still in use.

We went inside and got to look at the telescope through a window, but no one was there, so we didn't spend a lot of time here.

This next imposing structure is the Dunn Solar Telescope. The building stands 136 feet high and situated in this serene setting, it makes quite an impression.

When you enter the lobby, there's a door that goes into the telescope room, which is quite beautiful. It's a huge domed area, lit by a series of white globes about six feet across. This design is so appropriate for an observatory, they look like planets floating in among the angles and corners. It all looks very futuristic and vintage at the same time, sort of like a combination of Metropolis and Blade Runner.

I'm including two pictures because I couldn't decide which one to post!

Off to one side is where all the work is done.

We were lucky enough to meet up with the gentleman who works the telescope and he spent a good amount of time explaining the whole layout to us. Unfortunately, the telescope had been operating up until about ten minutes before we arrived, at which time turbulence had moved into the upper atmosphere and the pictures were becoming cloudy.

This is a shot of a sun spot that we got to observe. While not sharp and clear, we still felt lucky to get such personal attention.

After the Dunn Solar Telescope, we were free to continue our walking tour, but there were no more building open to visitors.

We did get to go up on an observation lookout and get a stupendous view of the Tularosa Basin. The white line in the distance, while it looks like clouds is actually White Sands National Monument.

This is a shot of White Sands using my twelve times zoom. While not entirely clear, I just couldn't believe that this wasn't a picture of clouds.

As we continued on our tour, we saw this old Quonset hut. It looked to us like it had been here since the complex opened in 1947! We particularly liked the AstroTurf in the side yard. We could just imagine all the astronomers using this putting green!.

This last shot is of the Grain Bin Dome. It was the home of the first telescope at this facility. The building was ordered by mail from Sears Roebuck and retrofitted for a telescope. Pretty cool, huh?

At the end of the walking tour is a small museum, which we enjoyed immensely. Our favorite part was the infrared camera. We were having such a good time, I finally decided to go out to the car to get the tripod so we could take some pictures.

Here's a shot of Terry, who was wearing his glasses, which blocked the infrared rays and turned him into Joe Cool.

And here's a shot of both of us. It certainly can't be said that we aren't easily amused!

The hostess at the museum told us that we should make sure and visit the Apache Point Observatory. It's just a few miles up the road and even though it isn't officially open to the public, you can go and visit the grounds, She said we didn't want to miss the view, so off we went.

This is one more shot of the Tularosa Basin, taken from a height of 9,200 feet.

After taking in the sights, we saw this strange building. Upon further exploration, we realized that while the building hangs over the mountain, the building itself is on rollers and seems to move away from the edge of the mountain.

As we were looking, we heard a loud noise and were afraid that we were somewhere we shouldn't be, but it turned out to be a gentleman who works on the telescope was just leaving the building. This large moving building is actually the housing for the large telescope here at Apache Peak. The telescope itself was built on a huge concrete and steel column that was sunk into the mountain, then the building was built around it. The building never actually touches the telescope as the vibration would interfere with the use of the telescope. When they want to use the telescope, they push a button and the building slides back to reveal the telescope.

This gent was such a delight. He obviously loved his work and took a lot of time explaining everything to us.

We are so lucky, it seems that everywhere we go, we find people who are open and willing to share their stories and experiences with us. This is absolutely the most wonderful part of traveling as we do, the people are just the best.

Our life is good.