M and I headed down to Fort Davis and Alpine for a quick overnighter on our 3-day weekend. We had planned to camp out in the aspens near Ruidoso but then we found out that Labor Day weekend was a favorite of the 3-wheeling ATV crowd. yuck! Soooo we headed south instead.
We drove through some fantastic mountains (yes, Texas has multiple mountains....).
highway running through Davis Mountains State Park
Looking down onto Fort Davis National Historic Site
First we hit Fort Davis National Historic Site, which was crowded and boiling hot. I was hoping it'd be a bit cooler but what can you expect in west Texas in August!
M and I poured over all of Fort Davis's newly upgraded exhibits. You can take the park ranger out of the park, but you can't take the park out of the ranger! My favorite part of the visit was the porch swing. Its been a very long time since I've relaxed on a porch swing. I spent my childhood on the porch swing of our beach house. The sound of the chains creaking, along with the seagulls and the drone of I-10, always lulled me into bliss. M could make me ultimately blissful if he could manage a porch swing at the house.
Fort Davis's most awesome porch swing
blissfully enjoying the swing
weird repetitive view of the officers quarters
My OTHER favorite part of Fort Davis was the hospital. Getting to view all the horrid torturous medical equipment that was "state of the art" in the mid-1800s is fascinating to me, and nauseating to most other people.
After Fort Davis and a quick scenic drive up to Davis Mountains State Park, we drove down to Alpine to check into the cheapest motel Alpine has to offer. I've stayed in some amazingly cheap places, so my standards are pretty low. (There was the place that advertised "Meat Burgers", with "meat" meaning whatever they found along the road; the place where we barricaded the door at night to sleep because the locks didn't work well; and then there was the I-10 truck stop that dad insisted we could get a good nights' sleep in the van) This motel wasn't too bad. It had the basics... the 'ice machine' was an igloo in the check in area that the owner filled each morning with ice from the gas station across the street, the pool had been filled in with concrete and fenced off years before, etc...
M and I went looking for a place to have dinner before hitting the bar for some live music. We tried 3 places that said they were open only to find them closed... I Yelped them properly. The 4th place didn't have any vegan options and was too expensive to have a sub-par meal. We even tried a diner that Yelp warned was constantly out of regular menu items. And yes, they were out of the only thing I could eat... salad. So we finally found ourselves, hungry and grumpy, at McDonald's ordering salads behind some fairly vicious people who were lamenting the broken soda machine.
After a fantastic dinner of McD's salad, we headed to the Railroad Blues for some live music. Talk about a small town - the first person we saw when we walked in recognized M as "Copperhead Guy". M studied snakes in grad school, and worked closely with locals. The band, the Lonesome Heros, was fantastic and very friendly. We're now Facebook friends. :-)
We had a great time and I had too many apricot beers (Shout-out to Corree!).
The next morning we tried our hand with eating in Alpine one last time and hit the no-salad diner. Their waffles completely make up for the lack of any type of vegetable.
We took a different scenic route back up to Carlsbad....
Border Patrol Blimp... who knew?! M says they keep it tethered to the ground. It floats a few hundred feet up in the
air, light up at night for all the illegals and smugs to see.... yay for tax dollars!
Of course we had to hit the Marfa Prada! It was actually crowded with
motorcyclists and other on-lookers
All in all, it was a fun quick getaway.... we'll hit the aspen slopes of Ruidoso next time.
ps - Fort Davis's gardener must be amazing...
I have Rosemary envy... look at the size of this monster!!!
Today I am thankful for the long hard road that has led me to my first completely compassionate Thanksgiving Day. I am thankful for my friends and family who may not always agree or understand but are supportive nonetheless. I am thankful for a fantastic boyfriend who loves me as much for our differences as for our similarities. I am thankful for the Vegetarian Society of El Paso, a group of people who I never expected to meet and never expected to have such an impact in my life.
There are many other things in this world I'm thankful for, like sunlight soaking into my skin or the smell of the air in a pine forest or for my grandma Joy and all her undying support of me throughout my life. But, for today, I'll stick with the short list above. The rest are just for me.
The Kritzler clan of Texas, Ohio, and a bit of Canada (c. 2009)
The Hines clan of Texas and Iowa (c.2006)
What are you thankful for today? (Please don't say Black Friday Sales or I will Punch You in Your Throat!)
Last month I went back to Houston for a friend's wedding and to visit my family. While I was there, mom and I decided to try tamale-making for a second time. I've been perfecting the art of tamales here in El P with my best friend A. Mom has only made tamales one other time and we deemed it a 'learning experience".
Now I wanted to try some new recipes because I've been asked to give a cooking class for the Vegetarian Society of El Paso focusing on vegan tamales. Some of you might be thinking "what the F--- are vegan tamales!?" while others may be wondering "what the F are tamales?!" Tamales are amazing Latin American comfort foods! Anything you desire can be mixed with cornmeal and wrapped in a corn husk (recycling!) for steaming. I didn't truly understand the desire for tamales until I was almost 30, but for the last 4 years I've been a tamale-eating machine. I've even bought tamales out of the trunk of an old Mexican lady's car in a supermarket parking lot in Joshua Tree, CA. True Story...
This is my chosen tamale-making guide. I love it!
So I decided that I should document the process along the way to help me with my cooking class this coming spring... and if I can kill 2 birds by also blogging about it, rock on!
First you need to let the cornhusks soak for a bit, say 30 minutes. Don't buy cornhusks from your local English-speaking grocery. Head over to the nearest Spanish-speaking market and pick up all your ingredients.
Cooking our ingredients...
Roasting some green chiles...
Most recipes will call for lard but I'm using Crisco to keep these guys vegan. Ask me sometime about my mother dropping this huge heavy Crisco can on my little girl toes. Only one nail came off and I forgave her once I was able to walk without a limp again. I relive this moment every time I pick up a Crisco can. :-) Hi mom!
Now I forgot to take a picture of the masa we were using. Masa is the cornmeal used for all tamales. Again, Spanish-speaking grocery (la tienda), not English-speaking grocery. I guess you could make your masa from scratch but really... what decade is this?! I'm cool with store-bought masa.
Mix the veggies and chopped green
chiles, simmer and let cool
Whipped shortening looks like
whipped cream but tastes terrible!
You'll also need a large steamer for steaming - in El P we use A's big turkey roaster. It is perfect! Alas, in Houston we had to create our own thing. Introducing the recycled tamale steamer! We needed to make a space between the water at the bottom of the pan and our little roaster thing (not seen).
Nothing says "Texas" like a football
Dr Pepper can... and nothing says "Kristi"
like a Pepsi can.
Alright, now we assemble the tamales...
Spreading masa onto open corn husk. I use a spatula
because they're bendy.
Cheese or vegan cheese - it goes on top of your veggies
There are many ways to roll but I chose this one for my
vegan tamales. Even added a little bow to hold the thing closed.
And if a bow doesn't work, say Fuck It! and
use ye ole traditional rubber bands.
Here's mom rolling her tamales. Did I mention that this
is a group activity? Making tamales solo would require way
too much wine and boredom. Get some friends or relatives
and have a tamale-making day!
Except for grandma.. grandmas doesn't do
tamales. She's never even had a tamale. In her
defense, she's German. I bet there's a
saurkraut tamale out there somewhere.
Stand the tamales upright in the steamer
so they don't spill out...
The cans are doing their job!
We also decided to try some dessert tamales... I've got dark chocolate tamales in my freezer right now and they are amazing! However, on this day we tried pineapple for my dad who loves all things tropical.
We followed the recipe but the filling was very soupy.
On the bright side, it was pretty good to eat out of the bowl!
We decided to pour the tamale soup into a pie dish and bake
it like cornbread. It was super tasty! Even grandma tried it.
Once your tamales are out of the steamer (1 hr-ish), bag them up in freezer bags and freeze them overnight. They will last a very long time in the freezer and are great for work lunches. Just be sure to label the bags as frozen tamales offer no secrets to their contents.
Labeling is important!
FYI - Did you know that Tamale is also a town in Ghana? The internet is amazing!
For more info on tamales, or to really mess with some facts, visit their Wikipedia page
So "green" has been around for more than a decade now. I really think there is no excuse for not developing your environmental ethics. (um, before we go further, let's address the fact that I drive an SUV. Yes, I do drive an SUV. I also spent 7 years walking to work every day, carpooling to town/trailheads on weekends, plus I'm a park ranger. It doesn't get any greener than that.)
Let us begin...
1. Solar Mio The sun is free... until some capitalist pig figures out how to charge you for it. It'll happen...
So I don't ski... but I did share my free solar juice with
an Incan shaman who only spoke Quechua but had an iPod.
Small world....
This is a most awesome device. A portable solar panel that is lightweight enough to strap to my backpack as I trekked across the Inca Trail. I needed some power for my iPod and this was the perfect thing! Its also the perfect thing to keep a GPS juiced up all day in the desert as you hike along. I figure if I'm living in "Sun City" I may as well take advantage of all the free power.
2. The Solar Mio is awesome and lightweight but wouldn't charge my smartphone. So my dad presented me with the Fuse from Voltaic. This solar charger doesn't fuck around. It can charge my iPhone, GPS, iPod, some can even charge my computer (with an adapter). Its kinda large so I wouldn't take it backpacking, but it does travel with me frequently on car camping trips.
Let the sun shine...
Both solar chargers are permanently set out on my porch so they are always ready to go.
3. Another awesome thing about living in the desert besides free sun? Free laundry drying! As long as there isn't a dust storm, a clothes drying rack is the way to go for laundry day.
Not only can you buy one at almost any grocery or big box store, but they are cheap! In El Paso's arid environment, I can have dry clothes (unshrunk) in an hour. There's no electricity cost and no heat build-up that my air conditioner needs to fight against. Perfect!
If you don't wanna buy one, get creative. I once strung climbing rope between two trees in the backyard - using what I had on hand.
4. Freecycle.... you've heard of Craigslist and you've heard of recycling. Freecycle is the bad-ass bastard child of the two! People post their random crap (and non-crap) that they want to get rid of. Someone else reads that post and says "Hey! I could use that crap!" and off they go. I've given away christmas decorations and cds. I've gotten old VHS tapes and those big glass pickle jars.
Basically if you have a pile of buttons, wine corks, or carpet pieces - someone wants those. Its better than it ending up in the trash. You can find some seriously good stuff. Lots of freecycling baby clothes, unopened cans of food, furniture, etc. It rocks and you will rock if you sign up.
5. Yard sales, tag sales, garage sales.... call it what you want, I call it cheap and recycling! I've sold lots of stuff at these sales and I think all of my clothes as a baby and child came from someone's yard sale in Galveston.. Go mom!
6. Thrift stores - corporate garage sales. They rock and you can find the most amazing stuff at them. Instead of sporting that shirt that everyone can buy at their local Target or Neiman Marcus, go for a truly one-of-a-kind item. After all, you are one-of-a-kind!
7. Eat less meat and animal products. Seriously. The factory farming of animals not only uses up food crops that we could be eating but it also uses petroleum products in the shipping and maintaining of all of these animals... millions of tons of animals are shipped each week. (Suddenly my SUV isn't so bad, now is it?) I won't even mention cow farts and methane gas....
8. Grow your own food. Gardening is great for your health, your stress levels, your wallet, and the environment. Start with something small, like a windowsill Chia Herb Garden. My mom had one of these and they grew easily and abundantly.
Now, dear internet, its your turn. I want to hear about your easy, cheap, or DIY green ideas and actions. We can all learn from each other.
I only need about 10 minutes of Justified-watching before my southern accent comes on thicker than cold molasses.
Speaking of Timothy Olyphant, can we all just agree that he should only ever wear a wife-beater (look it up!) or appear shirtless?
If I were a water-molecule on a highway, I'd prefer to be run-over by an AquaTread tire.... the idea of shooting down the middle tread like a flume sounds fun.
I've been named the VOOP... the official Voice-Of-Organ-Pipe. Call Organ Pipe Cactus NM and listen to the voice on the phone tree. That's me!
My toes are double-jointed..... freaked out my parents when I was young.
I love those gross late-night surgery shows that are on Discovery Health.
I guess you've already read how I have an odd belief that bodies are going to float up beneath me when I'm sitting in a body of water. No? Read it here....
The first bottle of wine I ever opened was tough to get into but I managed to work the corkscrew. Upon showing my parents the fruits of my labor, they laughed and pointed out that it was a screw-top bottle....
I love period-films but anything involving amputation scenes is unacceptable.
Severe Roach Phobia
I enjoy crosswords mainly because it involves placing letters in tiny neatly arranged boxes
I can't stand to watch, or be watched, people brushing their teeth. The beginning of Stranger Than Fiction was tough for me.
If I ever have a child, I want it to be a girl so I can name her after my grandma. Little baby Evelyn... I'm sure I'll regret my desire as soon as she hits her pre-teens.
One year for Christmas I gave my father a box of bat-shit... he's a gardener.
And then one birthday, I received my father's ponytail in the mail.
I was a twirler... and was offered a scholarship for it.
I'm the first born in my family
my 1st birthday
My favorite time of the year is Fall. I love the changing colors on the trees and plants; I love the crisp fall air; I love baking fall treats.
I broke my foot but demanded a walking cast only because I was planning to visit Big Bend NP and wanted to be able to hike.
I've recently discovered that most of my travels are to the same places as my grandparents. Very odd...
I took, and taught, photography in college.
I busted my tooth on my swingset in elementary school
see the pull-up bar on the left...
it will forever have a dent from my tooth!
I love architecture!
I've been vegetarian for many years and am embarking on veganism.
I was the last of 4 grandchildren to get a tattoo.
I was pretty terrified of everything as a child. Sometime in high school that all changed and my life of adventure began.
I've taken road trips my entire life; with my family as a child and with friends, or alone, as an adult.
I've used the excuse "but I'm from out of town" several times after driving the wrong way down a one-way road.
I'm named after my mother's maiden name, and I share my middle name with her.
There are 2 people in my family with my exact name - first and last - and spelled exactly the same.
I have never mowed a lawn... and i hope that will remain true forever.
I have eaten lichen.
I've also eaten guinea pig, snails, and frog legs.
I developed a pork allergy from a tick in the Appalachian Mountains. True story.
I wish someone would invent some type of garbage disposal for the shower drain. Someone with long hair - go! Invent! Become a millionaire!
My favorite movie is 50 First Dates.... followed closely by Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I think its partly because Hawaii is so relaxing, and partly because I'm a mushy romantic at heart.
This'll be a really short post. Just wanted to tell you internet folk about the time that C and I went in search of wild asparagus.
I guess it started my first year of working at Capitol Reef, when we got so very used to picking our own fruit off the freaking amazing orchards. This park likes to keep it a bit quiet but growing among the canyon walls are acres of apples, peaches, pears, quinces, mulberries, cherries, and apricots.
How easy the ranger makes it look!
We had so much fruit we had potlucks with all-fruit themes. So much fruit the deer were fat and happy. So much fruit that the orchard furrows literally run with apricot brandy (fermented apricot juice). So much fruit that the campground raccoons spent their nights rolling around the grounds, drunk on apricot brandy, drunkenly running into traffic!
So, the second season we were there, I guess we got a little cocky and went in search of the non-NPS sanctioned wild asparagus. A co-worker told us what area to look in, and with the advice "you'll know asparagus when you see asparagus", off we went.
We walked a mile or so to the alleged asparagus location. It was an impromptu walk so I was in flip flops with no water, in the desert, in May. (Read: hot, uncomfortable, and a bit buggy). C and I wandered into an orchard that we'd never explored and split up, stalking for stalks.
Bolstered by our desire for amazing fresh (free) asparagus for dinner, we combed every inch of the weedy furrowed landscape. After 30 minutes or so, C found what she thought was the asparagus and called me over to consult. Since we should have known it when we saw it, I thought we should keep looking since we didn't know what this was and only the wildest guessing was taking place. However, an hour later, seeing no other asparagus-esque foliage, we headed back to the original suspect and began the harvest.
We probably should have guessed that since it was 3 feet tall and brushy, it was a few years old. But, cocky and hungry, we tugged the thing out of the ground and walked home.
yummmmy, just like store-bought asparagus
After rinsing sand and grit off our crop, C "prepared" the stalks, which included sawing, yes sawing, the things down so they'd fit into the stock pot. Another clue that things weren't right in asparagus-hunting world. Some of the asparagus was simply too tough to saw so we resorted to chewing it, and to general shenanigans. (Famous for our shenanigans, see our 70s party, or stay tuned for our international adventures)
All good asparagus needs to be gnawed on, right?
We managed to get a few measily stalks into our pot, steam them, and sit down for a lovely toddler-tall asparagus dinner. Perfect... yeah right. What really happened was we steamed the crap outta them hoping they'd soften up and after an hour, we were so invested in making this work that we vowed to eat them any damn way we could.
Here's the mental image I want you to create: C and I sitting at the kitchen table, gnawing on brushy tough steamed asparagus lightly seared with garlic and olive oil. We sucked as much asparagus-ness out of each stem before spitting the husks (they can only be described as "husks") into the trash can. We spent the meal laughing at how ridiculous we, and the situation, were.
It was not a very filling meal, but it was free and we did it all by ourselves.
The next day we learned that our asparagus was possibly several years old, nobody could believe that we'd messed it up that bad, and the good week-old asparagus was in the DITCH next to the orchard. Thank you, coworkers, for leaving out that tidbit....
I road-tripped back to Houston to see my family, and to meet some new people who'll be entering my friend-family soon. Four days, lots of home-cooked vegetarian food, dinner at my favorite Indian place, and tons of love later...
Merry Christmas from the H household!
This year my family really stepped up to my Green Christmas dream! I'm so happy they did. It was fun and everyone got a little crafty, even my bro (who knew!)
PSA: My mother would like everyone to know that she reuses her fake tree every year and all of her ornaments are reused. She takes pride, well-deserved pride, in the fact that many of the ornaments on her tree are 30 years old and hand-picked for their sentimental value.
The following is a montage of awesome wrapping craftiness courtesy of the family!
Guess which presents are mine...
mom made bows from
leftover yarn
My bro accidently made a bow from
a Nazi article. This
immediately sparked a
political debate!
Kuddos for reusing newspaper but try
to pay attention to the articles. Mom
accidently used the Obituaries. Hah!
Dad, the original crafter, used
a horrible pic of me and turned
me into an angel with cottonballs.
i'm keeping this one.
What to do with all those
address labels...
I took some packaging paper that World Market shipped to me with my order and repurposed it into wrapping paper.
This one got the paper grocery bag treatment as
well as a hand-made paper flower. I teach
kids to make these flowers at work.
We also used a lot of reusable bags....
This bag has been mine since I was born.
Mom doesn't even change the nametag. I see it every year.
It is as much a holiday tradition in this house
as anything else we do.
This bag just appeared but my grandmother
made it for me when I was little. Good
things come in small packages.
I got reusable bags on sale at OFFICE DEPOT.
I looked everywhere and couldn't find any. Luckily,
mom knew where to go. They were $2 or so each.
Go forth and stock up for next year!
Some of my gifts were even green Christmas gifts. My cousin got me a calendar made from recycled products with beautiful tree images all over it. The parents got me bamboo shades to lower my electric bills :-) My bro got me the gift of gardening....
Ah yes... one more hand-made Chrismas decoration to show you...
Handmade by grandma K 30+ years ago.
Everyone has one but this one is mine.
And last but not least, how to make your fake reused tree smell fresh and natural?
dad added his own "decoration" to our tree
Happy Holidays and have a safe reflective New Years Eve. See you guys after my lovely cuddle-filled 3-day weekend I have coming up.
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Most recipes will call for lard but I'm using Crisco to keep these guys vegan. Ask me sometime about my mother dropping this huge heavy Crisco can on my little girl toes. Only one nail came off and I forgave her once I was able to walk without a limp again. I relive this moment every time I pick up a Crisco can. :-) Hi mom!
