Barking with the Spuds

We arrived at our Maine (get it?) destination this week - the Augusta/Gardiner KOA. The folks are doing something called "workamping" here this year. We aren't sure what that is except they've been playing with leaves and branches for a few hours each day, and they came back with yellow polo shirts today, its the same shade of yellow that Blue put on Uncle John's sock and shoe.

The best part (some of us think) of this campground is that there's a big Fromm store just 3 miles down the road. They stock lots of duck and sweet potato vittles - perfect! Of course, Bentley thinks the best part is the lake or pond the campground is on. It's where he learned to swim 2 years ago.

The folks think the best part is that we're centrally located for all the things they like to do in Maine, like shopping in Freeport, touring and whale watching in Boothbay Harbor, several golf courses, lobster that they steam for you at the grocery store, and other great Maine things. They are also not too far from Rangeley so we can visit there several times this summer instead of just once. Another place for Bentley to swim and maybe we'll even get to taste Red Onion's pepperoni and pepperocini pizza this year.

The other night it got pretty cool and the winds picked up. The trees still haven't leafed out, so it's kind of like winter in Texas. It was so windy in fact that two trees in the park fell down, one missing our home on wheels by inches. Before the wind hit, Dad was able to set up the satellite dish and find a sweet spot between two trees, under a distant branch, over a mountain ridge and bingo we have Dish! The new setup was based on Mom's research and although trees fell in the wind the mobile tripod dish setup held its ground. All that excitement has made Bentley a tired boy today!

The cool weather put the folks in a soup mood, so Mom thawed and heated some Tortilla Soup for dinner. It's a recipe from the Houston Junior League Cookbook, Stop and Smell the Rosemary. We often stop to smell the rosemary at home and often for some strange reason we come in with out undercarriages smelling like rosemary. Anyway Mom wishes she had tried the recipe a long time ago - she says it's the best tortilla soup she's ever had (we wouldn't know, all we got were a few tortilla strip bits...)


Tortilla Soup

6 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I used 3)
8 corn tortillas, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1 Tablespoon chile powder (Penzey's medium hot is great)
3 bay leaves
6 cups chicken stock or broth
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 to 6 cooked chicken breast halves, shredded

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add tortillas, garlic, cilantro, and onion. Saute 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Bring to a boil and add cumin, chili powder, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Return to a boil. Reduce heat. Add salt and cayenne. Simmer 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves and stir in chicken. Reheat.

Garnish with shredded cheese, sliced or diced avocado, sour cream, and oven-crisped or fried tortilla strips

Servings: 6

Source: Stop and Smell the Rosemary

The day before yesterday we got to visit the folks' friends, John and Linda, in northern Virginia. We had to stay in the coach (something about us "exploring" where we shouldn't) so we didn't get to bounce on their furniture, but the folks had a great time catching up with their friends. One nice thing was the free range pooping, since they live in the country it was nice drop and go situation. We did get to meet and greet the human friends - they seemed to be very dog friendly. It wasn't Cocker Spaniel but maybe Cavalier King Charles that we detected on the pants legs?

And for some reason, there are 3 ginger heart dog cookies missing from our stash ....

We arrived in upstate NY yesterday evening, after what turned out to be a longer drive than the folks expected. Pennsylvania certainly is very bumpy! We are staying for a few days at Brook n Wood in Elizaville. This is the first time we've stayed here, but the folks checked it out last year after the challenge that the previous years campsite presented. This campground is much more big rig friendly. The sites are as wide as they are deep, even though they are basically part of a grass field.

The best part is that we are now in Carb Heaven! Last night Mom ordered a pizza from a place called Salvatore's (recommended by the camp host). She ordered a large and the thing was HUGE! Bigger than Blue's banana tail is long! We think it was at least 20' diameter. That meant lots of crust for us. And a huge box they let us check out.

Today we went to visit our cousins, the Corndogs. Cooper is recovering from surgery, so he spent a lot of time resting in his "house". He has what looks like a memory foam mattress in it, so Blue was jealous. So jealous, in fact, that he "expressed himself" on Uncle John's sock and shoe ... while he was still wearing both, that boy is just not right, perhaps the Pennsylvania roads jarred some brain cells loose.

The folks and Uncle John and Aunt Sue then had some more carbs, bagels to be exact. We remember them from last year - except this time no one shared. It might be time for more "expression" if things don't pick up. Later in the day Dad and Uncle John went to the local RC airfield and did some flying, well John did, Dad needs some more time on the simulator if you know what I mean.

Aunt Sue gave Mom a recipe for shrubbery that Dad would actually eat, too. He doesn't like cooked broccoli, but this was a salad with bacon (pork fat rules) in it, and he ate seconds. Here's Mom's version (which she says it's perfect for a pot luck):



Broccoli-Cranberry Salad

8 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup finely chopped or diced red onion
1/3 cup dried cranberries
8 slices cooked, crumbled center cut or turkey bacon (or 1/3 cup Hormel low fat real bacon crumbles)

Dressing

1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup fat free or lowfat plain yogurt or light sour cream
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar

Combine salad in a large bowl.
Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

Add the dressing to the salad and toss until evenly coated. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let flavors blend.

The RV Season is here! The RV Season is here!

We are on the road again for more than just a service visit to Foretravel in Nacogdoches, Texas (land of two suns, no shade to be found anywhere!) or to McKinney, Texas to help the folks (mostly Dad) install new day/night blinds in the coach.

It's our second day on the road, and we find ourselves at the Buffalo KOA in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Just an overnight stop on our way to Maine. We're enjoying the newly-recovered sofa, although I tasted it today and it does NOT taste like "salsa", which Mom says is the color. I think it tastes like pleather which I did not like, so now I'm not sure how I will pass the hours on the road without my trust old couch, aka the salt lick.

Bentley was worried that the folks would forget him, so he packed himself in the new "bling box". That's where the folks keep the fragile, decorative items while the coach is moving.

One of the other improvements to the "home on the road" is the tiled kitchen backsplash which Mom is quite pleased with. She got to admire it up close and personal today while making some homemade flour tortillas that she said look like amoebas but taste much better (we didn't get any so have to take her word on that). She made them because of the quick dinner choice for the evening, Dad chose a package of carnitas we had in the freezer.

Carnitas means "crispy bits of little meat" and it's something Mom makes lots of in the slow cooker, then freezes the extra portions. Here's her recipe that she found on the Cooking Light board and modified to use the roasted Hatch chiles she keeps in the freezer:


Crock Pot Carnitas

For the carnitas:

6 to 9 lb pork butt roast
oil for browning
1 very large or 2 medium yellow onions, sliced into rings
6 to 8 garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1 Tablespoom ground cumin
6-8 roasted Hatch green chiles, chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, leaves only
12 ounces beer, preferably Mexican like Bohemia or Dos Equis
salt and pepper

To serve:

2 onions, sliced and sauteed until golden brown
flour tortillas
various toppings such as shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, etc.

1. Insert garlic cloves in roast
2. Season with salt and pepper and brown on all sides in a stovetop pan with olive oil
3. Place in slow cooker with onions, herbs, chile peppers, and cilantro. Pour in beer. Cook on high 4 to 6 hours until fork tender.
4. Shred meat and remove any bone and visible pieces of fat. Season to taste with more salt and pepper if needed. You can turn the slow cooker up to high to evaporate off some liquid or transfer some of the contents to a skillet to brown further, if desired.
   
5. Serve with warm tortillas, caramelized onions, shreddded cheese, sour cream (especially Crema Mexicana Agria) guacamole, salsa, etc.

Ree

We're back at the Ranch in Texas, Mom and Dad decided to follow the same plan back that they did heading out to NM, 3 shorter days instead of 2 long ones.

We stayed at the exact same campgrounds and in the exact same sites as we did on the way out, it was Cactus RV Park in Tucumcari, NM the first night. This is a seriously no-frills park, but with our Passport America membership it was quite the frugal overnight stop. It did take the folks a while to settle in, there was a bit of wind that caused various things to make noise outside the coach, and they couldn't "leave it" when told, back to manners school for them.

The following day was a drive back to the Ole Towne Cotton Gin RV Park. This is a really convenient park if you don't want to drive all the way to Amarillo or the Metroplex, and the owner really seemed to think of everything for the overnight RVer when she completely renovated the old gin property. Best of all, the low-cost continental breakfast includes "bag with pancakes", which is right up there with "bag with squeaker".

Mom made one last recipe for us, actually a combination of 3 she "investigated" based on our tour of eastern New Mexico. The day they visited Los Alamos' Bradbury Science Museum, they ate lunch at the Hill Cafe, where Mom had something called a "tortilla burger". She said it was quite tasty, and even though she brought some back in a white box, we never got a sample.

Tortilla burgers take a freshly-grilled burger (Mom used buffalo ones purchased at the Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage in Santa Fe), wrap it in a flour tortilla with some cheese, then pour chile sauce over (red or green, your choice), and top with melted cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and a little sour cream (or Greek yogurt), if desired.

Since she'd made homemade flour tortillas twice in the coach, she used those for the wrap. She also had just found a good recipe for Hatch Green Chile Sauce, one of the two answers to "Red or Green?" in New Mexico (ok, there are three answers if you include "Christmas", which is a little of each).

---

The recipe Mom used for the tortillas was

Homemade Flour Tortillas

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 to 2 tsp. salt
4-8 Tbsp. vegetable shortening (or half shortening, half butter). Mom found 6 tablespoons of fat worked well, better than 4
about 1 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Add vegetable shortening (and butter if using). Use your hands to mix, rubbing shortening into flour.

Add warm water a little at a time until your dough is soft and not sticky.

Knead the dough for a few minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.

Divide into pieces of dough to form 16 dough balls. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes, longer if you like, up to 20 minutes.

Heat a cast iron skillet or comal or griddle or your Cuisinart Griddler to somewhere around 450F. This is about medium high and with the Griddler this means as high as it goes.

Dust each ball with a little flour just before you roll them out. Roll from the center, turning often, and try to get as thin a round as you can (early attempts will definitely resemble amoebas - not to worry, you'll get better with practice.) Work fast and roll one while the previous one cooks. If you aren't a fast roller, bug a friend to help you.

Lay the tortilla on the pan or Griddler. It takes just a few seconds to cook, watch for puffy areas and light browning. This will take 30-60 seconds. Flip to the other side. When they are done it should have lots of nice brown speckles. Tuck inside a folded clean towel as they are done.They are ready at this point or let them cool completely in the towel then put in a gallon zipper bag and refrigerate.


The recipe for the Hatch Green Chile Sauce was

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 -3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
>1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
1 cup roasted, peeled, chopped Hatch green chiles

In a medium sauce pan, saute the onion and garlic in the oil over medium-high heat, until tender (about 3 minutes).

Stir in the flour, cumin, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Stir in the stock and simmer until thick and smooth.

Stir in the chiles and heat through. You can add a little ground coriander and/or Mexican oregano to taste if you'd like.

Use immediately or refrigerate and use within a few days.


To make a Green Chile Tortilla burger

Season 1/3-1/2 lb. burgers with salt, pepper, Dizzy Pig Cow Lick, etc. Grill until done

Warm flour tortillas so they're nice and pliable.

Put a small handful (a few tablespoons) grated cheddar, monterey jack, or a mix onto the center of a warm tortilla, top with a cooked burger, then carefully fold and pleat the tortilla to encase the burger. Flip over (so loose tortilla ends are under burger) onto a microwave-safe plate.

Top with Green Chile Sauce (you can also use a New Mexico Red Chile Sauce if you prefer), enough to coat the tortilla and run down the sides a little. Top with another small handful of grated cheese. Microwave for 1 minute to melt cheese and heat sauce.

Serve with shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and a little dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt (Mom uses the yogurt to save calories). A little guacamole might be nice, too.


Dad ate two. We got nuthin'.


Recipes we forgot to post:

Mom isn't always the sharpest knife in the drawer, and didn't initially realize we were at high altitude for baking when we were in Albuquerque. She didn't know you aren't supposed to be able to bake popovers at altitude. She *did* know/believe/was convinced they weren't supposed to work unless you had a metal popover pan or muffin tin.

With blatant disregard for the rules, Mom made popovers using ceramic ramekins in the RV at elevation and they came out FANTASTIC!!! Of course we say this because we each got a taste, with a little of Aunt Dulcie's homemade Maine wild BLUEberry jam, but she changed nothing except for making only 1/3 of the following recipe and baking it in a total of 4 ramekins which were set on her Doughmakers pizza pan:

Popovers