Political Ramblings

New Mexico's politics, like it's food, culture and weather, are a unusual and varied mix that is often hard to define easily in words.

There was a time when I followed politics in my home state very closely. Back then I did legislative advocacy on behalf of the company I worked for as well as the homeless vets we provided services for. Things changed, and I became more than a little soured by the way "things work", so I turned much of a blind eye to the whole process for the next few years. Shame on me, I know. Ignorance is not bliss.

The elections this year turned that around for me. I have been strongly opposed to seeing another four to eight years of Republican reign on any level, be it national or here locally. So I started paying attention, asked questions, and read more than I have read in years. (I am a voracious reader, so this is saying something.)

Having voted early I waited with bated breath and breathed a sigh of relief when Obama as well as the local politicians I had voted for all slid easily into the winning positions. I had barely registered the anxiety I was having until it eased away. Now that the elections are over, you'd think I'd lull back into my normal routine, but that has been impossible. The feeds I have subscribed to still come in the email, and I read them with increasing interest, the bloggers I keep an eye on remind me daily why I care, and I find myself unable to detach. This is a good thing.


So it is no surprise that when I heard that Val Kilmer may be running as our states New Governor I perked my eyes and ears. I have heard a great deal of negative feedback from other bloggers, and my first urge is to follow suit. However, he hasn't run yet, number one, and two, even should he run there's a lot more information out there I want to hear, not just from the grapevine.

Would I vote for him? I have no idea. Right now I don't have any candidate I am considering. But when I read Kilmer's comments: "It's been my home 25 years. I really love my state. Poor, hardworking, decent people - Native Americans, carpenters, artists, expats mixed in with hundreds of the world's smartest physicists at Los Alamos. I've always thought of myself as functioning as a candidate for them..." "...After I wrap this film, I'm off to LA to see my kids then home to New Mexico to talk to friends and see what they say. I know I'm not yet qualified for the job. It's not like I need fame. If that's what it's all about, I wouldn't live in New Mexico. But I don't want to be a train wreck. I have to see if people will put up the money for my run. I have to think about putting my acting on hold. Being famous as a movie actor is one thing, but they take no prisoners in politics. I have to think what this might do to my kids."

I have to admire someone who loves their home and considers giving service to it. It's easy to sit at home and shout about whats wrong with the politics from the couch, it's a whole new ballgame to get your feet wet and try to be part of the solution. And I have tons of respect for anyone who considers their family in that equation.

A New Twist on Gnocchi

I love to cook. I have always loved being in the kitchen, even when I was a little girl.

I can remember my mom letting me create stuff while she was cooking and I was only about eight years old, me on a short stool so I could reach the stove, a smaller version of her apron on, trying out what ingredients worked together with a little saucepan to one side while she cooked on the other. I imagine many of my recipes were probably unsavory, at best, back then. But my mother always was willing to take a bite and promptly proclaimed what a creative cook I was. Not lie, I suppose, and the reward was that I grew up to have a deep love for cooking.

Once upon a time I cooked for a wide variety of friends and family, trying unusual recipes often and stretching my creativity as far as possible as often as I could. I love unusual and different, wonderful blends of flavors, interesting textures, gorgeous arrangements on the plate.. Food is an excuse to celebrate for me and I indulge when I can.

My kids and fiance however are not very adventurous when it comes to food. Meat and potatoes are fine with them, green stuff is suspect in any form, and even an unusual name for the dish could create an air of unwillingness to sample what's in the pot. So I have found myself over the past few years cooking more meatloaf, more casseroles, more roasts, and being careful to keep it simple so that everyone could be happy. (At one time there were five kids and two adults, that's a lot of people to please).

But last month something snapped within me. I couldn't stand it anymore. I pulled out my cook books, did some shopping, and cooked somethings that I have wanted to eat but have avoided for years. I offered it to the family with the attitude of "Here it is, and if you want to eat, this is all you get."

They were, admittedly, apprehensive, but to my surprise they not only finished their plates, but went back for seconds and even thirds and left nothing behind in the kitchen except pleasant rumblings of what a good meal that had been.

Motivated, liberated, and ready to repeat this amazing performance, I went shopping again and again and have been trying some of my favorites, and over-all the reviews have been positive. dear Brian even went out and bought me a set of new pots and pans because he likes the efforts I have expended in the cooking portion of our lives.

Can't beat that for praise :)

One of the new additions to our menu had been an old favorite from back when I lived in Sicily, Gnocchi. Wonderful little Italian potatoes dumplings served with anything from oil and garlic to whatever sauce suits your fancy. My favorite is a Florentine inspired Spinach and Cream sauce I once had the luck to taste in Syracuse. But in the spirit of the Southwest I decided to try something new with my gnocchi, and find a southwestern version, and it was lovely! Fresh gnocchi topped with a New Mexican twist of Enchilada Suiza Sauce.

GNOCCHI

* 8 Potatoes
* 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
* 2 Eggs (One egg if you want the gnocchi less stiff)

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and the dice into large pieces for faster cooking. Drop in potatoes and cook until tender but still firm. Drain, cool slightly. Mash potatoes with fork, masher or in ricer. (I personally used a mixer, but this isn't recommended, but the potatoes need to be very smooth!) Place in large bowl and make a well in the center. Put the olive oil in well. When mashed potatoes have cooled, knead in enough of the flour to make a soft dough. Dough should be stuff enough to handle without sticking to much to your fingers).

2. Divide dough into fist-sized portions. On a floured surface, roll each portion into a long rope. Cut the ropes into one-inch pieces. Roll each piece with a fork for a distinctive texture. (If dough sticks to fork, clean it as you go and then dip in flour for easier rolling.)

3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until they float to the top; drain and set aside.

ENCHILADA SUIZA SAUCE (New Mexican Version)

8 large tomatoes
1½ tbsp oil
1½ Hatch green chili, roasted and chopped
3 tsp chopped cilantro
1 large white onion, quartered
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup water
1 cup crema media ácida or American sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

In large skill, heat oil and cook tomatoes until blackened and softened, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare green chili. (If you buy the chili's fresh see below for roasting method. If your chili's are already roasted and frozen- you may need to defrost, peel and drain off excess waters, if you buy ready to use chili, just defrost, chop and drain.) In food processor, blend together tomatoes, chile's, onion, garlic, water and crema or sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour into a large saucepan. Heat thoroughly.

Add gnocchi to sauce and toss lightly but thoroughly, serve with a fresh salad, warm bread and a light white wine!

ROASTING HATCH GREEN CHILI AT HOME

1. Rub your hands well with cooking oil before you work on the chili's and they won't become saturated with the capsaicin that causes the burning reaction for some people. Also, don't rub your hands, eyes, or any other part of your face while in this process. Place your chile's on a cookie sheet.
   
2. Set the oven temperature to broil and use the center rack.
   
3. Broil until chile's turn brown on top - then turn them over to brown other side. When the chili's are brown and skins start to swell, remove chili's and fill plastic freer bags with chili's. (I tend to use small baggies so I can later only defrost as much as I will use in one recipe).
   
4. Let the hot roasted peppers sweat in the sealed plastic baggie for 30 minutes. Put them right into the freezer or refrigerator until ready to use.
   
5. Peel the peppers before cooking; skins should come right off after sweating in plastic.

It's Really Almost Winter Now...

Get Your Fix!

I sign up and become a member of a large number of websites on a weekly basis. Often I get through the sign-up process and then never return. Don't ask me why, the explanation would take far more space than you want me to fill with such pointless rambling.

However, I recently joined a local community site called Duke City Fix, and I can't say enough about the site.

Well put together, full of some great personalities, information, groups, and more, it is a fantastic resource not only for those living in the Burque, but for those who have had past roots, or intend to make the area their home.

Words won't do enough to explain, go see it yourself. You'll love it :)

Golden Days

It's Autumn here in the Land of Enchantment.

While that may not herald the riot of colors you might see in Vermont, it is still possible to see beautiful landscapes and scenery as 2008 ushers in a new season.

I wish I had more time to get out and photograph some of this, but I am swamped. When I do get time, it'll be too late, of course.

So... here's what I have. With it I'll throw in some advice I won't listen to myself.

Get off the internet and enjoy some nature while you can :)

Back to the Blog

I haven't been posting here much, because it has been a busy year, and finding time to do everything I'd like to do in even a single day often becomes overwhelming. I have considered giving up this blog, I know I don't have a following here anymore, and that this is in part because of my sporadic postings, but the truth is, I love this state I live in, and when I want to say something about it, it is here I want to leave the history of it.

It is now October, and we are smack-dab in the middle of the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. Just in the past couple of months we've had the State Fair, Zazobra, the Wine Festival, the Go-arts Festival, and more. Coming up there is so much to do in the coming months in makes my head spin trying to figure out how to fit it all in.

So, I'll go, I'll take pictures, and I'll share it with you, along with all those lovely new cafes I've been eating at (did I mention I love food?) and the pretty little out if the way places I have found to just hang out.

So, come along, I'll be around more, I promise. :) If you notice a post you like, let me know so I know I am going in the right direction.

And always, always, be enchanted. ;)

The Quarai Ruins

The sky was corn blue, and fluffy white clouds dotted the pretty sky and horizon. An occasional breeze swept past, cooling the back of my neck where sweat was beginning to run down in rivulets because of the heat. Yet it was cooler here, in this part of New Mexico, where my mother and I had decided to visit this hot June day.

We stepped from the car, walking the dirt and stone trail that led to the ruins, which we could see over the surprisingly green vegetation. The red adobe brick stood out brightly, and drew us
in, I could feel myself brimming with excitement. After all, this is part of why I am so proud to be a New Mexican, this wonderful history which surrounds me at every turn.



We had decided to come here to the Quarai Ruins (pronounced Kwai- Rye) partially because is was an easy drive from Albuquerque, and partly because the road home would lead us through the Manzano Mountains, which we wanted to photograph. Located in Punta del Agua, Quarai is part of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.

In 1628 Quarai was a thriving community of American Indian trade when the Spaniard Franciscans arrived in an effort to convert the natives and establish a self-sufficient community. Artifacts from todays ruins suggest the original inhabitants had been living there almost 400 years before the arrival of the Spanish. A large stone Mission, or church, was built and much of it still remains today to be viewed by lucky tourists like myself.



There were few people visiting the ruins when we came by. It was peaceful and lovely, bringing images to mind of what it must have been like as a bustling community so many years ago.




What remains of the ruins are low walls (high enough to stand over your head, but no longer with roofs on them as they once may have had) and trails, an occasional window and the high walls of the mission.



This made me want to go home and do something like this in my garden, bustling with wildflowers and sage it would be lovely.


Natural vegetation creates a feeling of paradise at Quarai.





Can't you image what this place once looked like with the locals living here hundreds of years ago?





If I were to to this again, I would bring a sack or picnic lunch, and more cool drinks, as there were no cafes or snack stands. We became rather hungry all of the sudden and had to leave to find refreshments, though we would have enjoyed a longer stay. However, it was a wonderful afternoon, full of sights and history, good memories and more. Well worth repeating.

You Know You're From New Mexico If...

If you're from New Mexico you've probably seen this list floating around for years. If not you may find some of these items on the list enlightening. :) I find some of them very true for myself, and know many people who would agree with them all.


1. You can correctly pronounce words like Tesuque, Cerrillos, and Pojoaque.

2. You have been told by at least one out-of-state vendor that they are going to charge you extra for international shipping.

3. You know what "T or C" stands for, and where it got that name.

4. You can order your Big Mac with green chile.

5. You buy salsa by the half-gallon.

6. You know what it means when they say it's from Hatch.

7. Your Christmas decorations include "red Chiles, a half-ton of sand and 200 paper bags."

8. Most restaurants you go to begin with "El" or "Los."

9. You price shop for tortillas.

10. You have an extra freezer just for green Chile.

11. You can't control your car on wet pavement.

12. You've had the skull of some kind of animal in your yard or garden as a decoration.

13. You think the biggest perk to running for state legislature is that you could speed legally.

14. You iron your jeans to "dress up".

15. You see boots and a cowboy hat as something totally appropriate to wear to a formal occasion.

16. Your swamp cooler got knocked off your roof by a Dust Devil.

17. Someone from out of state is surprised that you speak English so well.

18. You can actually hear the Taos hum.

19. All your out-of-state friends and relatives ask if they can drink the water when they come to visit.

20. When someone says "Las Vegas" you think of a small New Mexico town in the northeastern part of the state.

21. You iron your jeans to "dress up."

22. Tumbleweeds and various cacti in your yard are not weeds. They are your lawn.

23. Your other vehicle is also a pick-up truck.

24. Your city cousins from out of state come and visit you and don't get it when "going to do something" to you means to go hunting, fishing, hiking and theirs is hanging out at the mall.

25. You spent your 4 years of High School saying you were leaving this hell hole and never coming back; and when you left, you realized that there's no place like New Mexico, and will probably decide to retire back home.

26. You're relieved when the pavement ends because the dirt road has fewer potholes.

27. You see nothing odd when, in the conversations of the people in line around you at the grocery store, every other word of each sentence alternates between Spanish and English.

28. You've seen the bat flight at Carlsbad Caverns and have a t-shirt that says "Bats need friends, too!"

29. You could totally win on Survivor, because you've been doing all that hunting, fishing, hiking survival technique stuff since you were 5 out in your own back yard.

30. You've had Forts out in the desert or forest, which is also your back yard, so to speak.

31. You know what the night sky looks like full of stars and not pollution.

32. You've swam in an arroyo or an acequia..as a child or an ADULT!! LOL!

33. You love the smell of rain in the desert.

34. You know what a horny toad is.

35. You can identify a quail, peacock, coyote, roadrunner, cricket, etc...by the sound they make.

36. You've been to Mexico just to party.

37. Your Walmart sells snow sleds in the summer for the White Sands...but you can hardly find them in the winter.

38. You know that Christmas and weddings would not be the same without biscochitos.

39. You know what bartering is, and how to do it in at least 2 different languages.

40. You've had enchiladas for breakfast.

41. You know they don't skate at the Ice House and the Newsstand doesn't sell newspapers.

42. You expect to pay more if your house is made of mud.

43. A rattlesnake is an occasional hiking hazard. No need to freak out.

44. You think six tons of crushed rock makes a beautiful front lawn.

45. You own or have owned at least one piece of jewelry with turquoise in it.

From the Old to the New

My history means a lot to me. Unlike many people who have a background related to their race or country of origin, and therefore a plethora of cultural traditions and definable ancestors they can trace back and celebrate, my family has so many disappearing ties and broken legacies that what I have is dear to me.

I know some of my family is German, from my mothers maiden name, Snyder, as well as some Irish from the the family member, surname Reid, whom we've traced from County Clair Ireland on her side , and the bit of Mexican we have which is Martinez. On my father's side we have the surnames Couch and Allen, and photos of a great great grandmother who was undoubtedly full Native American.

When I lived in Sicily I was asked what nationality my family was. (American doesn't count to them, they know we are mostly immigrants unless we are Native American.) When I told them I didn't have a definite background, just "a little of this, and little of that" they were all horrified.

I do have stories from both sides of my family, my great grandmother came to the southwest in a covered wagon, and taught in a one room school house when she was young. My father has stories of our family during the civil war. It's all bits and pieces, but I collect them like tiny souvenirs to keep close. Proof of who I am and where I came from.

When I was a young girl in Albuquerque I was friends with a boy named Donny, the son of Lois Duncan who later wrote "I Know What You Did Last Summer". I thought she was the most amazing person I had ever met, and I still find myself sometimes looking back at her in the throes of hero-worship. The one major thing that stuck out for me was that she told me once that every year she had her children make a recording on a cassette talking about who they were and what they wanted to be when they grew up. (This is paraphrasing, it's been a long time since she told me this story.) She planned on giving them the tapes when they grew up so they could see who they'd been as kids, and how they'd changed. I thought that was the most amazing idea ever. A voice- time capsule. Brilliant. I wish I had something like that for myself. I wish I'd made something like that for my children.

Who you are has a great deal of where you came from, and who you've been.

The same can be said for any place. If New Mexico was a person, like me she would have a vast family tree with a ton of family names, cultural influences, great stories and dusty skeletons in the closet. Who we are as a state today is much of who we've been in the past. We are a large, unconventional family with a fantastic history to celebrate. This New Year is more than just a new beginning, it's our 96th birthday in just a few more days. We're growing up and growing older.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the older I get, the more I want to celebrate my past. Whether it is my personal past or the past around me in the place I live. Might be a good time to do some research. ;)