For dinner:
Boneless rib roast, cooked medium rare
Mashed potatoes with roasted garlic
Glazed carrots
Green bean casserole
Sauteed mushrooms and onions
For dessert, pumpkin and pecan pies.
I told Mark we are having four meals today: breakfast, shrimp dip, dinner and pie.
Aside: I wonder if it’s true that potatoes ferment in your stomach and turn to vodka, which is what makes you tired on Thanksgiving after eating. Because now that dinner is over, I am SO ready for my Thanksgiving day nap.
I wrote this food post on Sunday night on my way home, but the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was write a blog post. I have no excuse for Monday. No prize for me.
I didn’t get a chance to eat lunch before I left the resort today, so I ate at “La Hacienda Express” at the Albuquerque airport. Rather than go with one of their numbered combos (burrito, tacos, enchiladas, yawn) I selected one of their daily specials - a bowl of posole with a tortilla. But first, I questioned the young man taking my order.
“Explain to me what posole is.”
“It’s pork with oregano and onion and chilis.”
“Is it like a stew?”
“Yes.”
“A” tortilla?
“It’s a really big tortilla.”
So I ordered it. I put about 2/3 of the stew in my very large tortilla and wrapped it up like a burrito to eat. What wonderful flavor! I like spicy foods; this had a distinct chili taste, but it was more highly seasoned and “warm” than hothothot. It was also loaded with hominy, which gave the stew some heft that was different from what potatoes add to similar dishes. I was pretty full after eating just the burrito, but I finished the rest of the stew anyway. It’s a gift.
When I eat a dish out that I enjoy, especially if it’s something new, I always try to find a recipe so I can replicate it. The internet says this is a popular Christmas Eve dish in Mexico, served with garnishes like shredded cabbage, onion, cilantro, and/or lime wedges. There are many different recipes; I think this one, at Urban Farm Girl, and this one, at The Reluctant Gourmet, look especially good. The closest thing I can find to a crock pot recipe that might appeal to me is this one at about.com. Several of the recipes I’ve seen call for canned enchilada sauce, which I just don’t get at all. Why on earth would anyone put canned enchilada souce in a recipe like this?
Vincent and I work together. Larry is his partner. This evening I went to one of the restaurants here at the resort to get some dinner. I had decided to heck with the daily meal allowance and to get the prime rib buffet. Larry and Vincent arrived shortly afterI did, and after some consideration of their other options (including a more casual place here) they decided to join me.
The food was good, but that wasn’t what I liked best about the evening. The company was wonderful. Both men are so kind, and so friendly and so warm and accepting. I always feel like I’m in the company of brothers when I spend time with them. But that’s not what I liked the best, either. Every time I came back to the table after stepping away to the buffet, Larry stood up. How charming is that! Something about being treated with such gallantry really brought out my best manners too, I think. Being in the company of gentlemen makes me act more like a lady.
Tonight I am in Albuquerque at my company’s annual user conference. I was very excited about being here for real New Mexican food. I still am, but it’ll probably be tomorrow before I have any. I had very little time between arrival and the beginning of the conference, so I had to settle for a roast beef sandwich. It was tasty enough, but not exactly authentic New Mexican cuisine.
Flying all day is draining. I’m glad to be going to bed now.
Bowl of gumbo - $5.95
Vanilla bean creme brulee with fresh strawberries and orange shortbread - $5.95
Meeting someone you’ve known for over six years for the first time in Real Life - Priceless.
I’m going to have to keep track of all the food ideas I come up with writing about. They just pop out of nowhere from seemingly unrelated things I see and do. Maybe everything is about food, it’s just a matter of finding the angle.
For example, today’s Google logo had Big Bird legs. The hover text reminded me that today was the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. That immediately brought to mind a food topic. Immediately, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
It’s a restaurant. My parents love this place. They’ve been coming here for over twenty years, I think. It used to be they would be the youngest people around. Now, not so much. Though I think I was one of the younger folk in the place.
Nothing fancy. It’s kind of small, with a nautical theme of sorts. Lots of dark paneling. It’s quiet, you can hear yourself think and others talk. Dad always gets the open face steak sandwich with fries. Mom always gets a mall order of ribs with fries and coleslaw. I had a small slab of ribs with redskin potatoes and a tossed salad.
It was a nice dinner. I didn’t have lunch today (unless you count two Pop Tarts from the vending machine as lunch) so I was really hungry. I’m also woefully undercaffeinated, so I’ll be glad to go to bed early tonight.
Tonight I met my friends Dave and Vilo for ice cream at Jeni’s Ice Cream in Dublin, Ohio. Jeni’s is rich and intensely flavored ice creams and sorbets in interesting flavors. They have a combination of four half scoops they call a “study.” I had heirloom pumpkin 5-spice, thai chili, dark chocolate, and gravel road. It was AMAZING. It is always amazing. It’s a good thing I don’t live hear because it is so not good for you (all-organic ingredients notwithstanding). I’m sure the sorbets and yogurts are lower in sugar and fat, and they are also wonderfully flavored, but I just can’t bring myself to forgo the peanut butter, coconut milk, toasted coconut and cayenne pepper flavors in the thai chili ice cream.
Today is November 1st, the first day of NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month. Participants are committed to writing a blog post every day. This is not as easy as it sounds. I’ve done OK in past years, missing only a day or so here or there, but since I’m so thoroughly out of the habit of regular posting, it sounds like quite a challenge to get back in.
I can’t write about food every day. I don’t have that much to say about food. Do I have enough to say about anything to write something every day? If not, I’ll make something up. I have some overachieving online acquaintances who are again taking up the challenge of NaBloPoMo’s big sister, NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. Maybe I’ll be up for that next year. Maybe.
I am in Ohio for the week. I leave Friday morning for Albuquerque, NM, for my employer’s annual user conference. I’m looking forward to the trip. I’ll be teaching four sessions, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. Nineteen of us from the company will be there, and about 300 customers. Friday night keynote and shindig after is always fun, and the resort looks lovely. I think it will be a good time.
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