Smithy

Following up on this tip: I haven't made the roux (yet) but the tip helped me justify keeping the fat around until I could made the roux. Last week, when my sister was here, we had a fine festive dinner with most of the leftover rib meat from my Easter dinner; my favorite green bean salad; and potatoes cooked in some of that fat. And wine of course, lots of wine. I was thinking along the lines of Potatoes Anna or Potatoes Dauphinois, but I don't think the final product fit either of these. I liberally buttered the bottom of the square Corningware baker I'd bought at a Yuma yard sale. I used a mandoline to cut thin slices of a Russet potato she'd brought. I've had thinner slices, but this worked well. I layered them around in a "scallop" or "fishscale" pattern. Meanwhile, while the oven was heating, I heated 4? finely chopped garlic cloves in the melting beef tallow. When they had just started to sizzle and the tallow was quite warm and melty, I poured it all over the potato slices, covered it and loaded into a 425F oven. After about a half hour the potatoes were softening and absorbing the fat. I took the cover off, turned down the heat and put the beef ribs, still wrapped tightly in the foil in which I'd stored them, into the oven to warm up. I had intended to shred this cheese and put it atop the potatoes. This is one of the treats I brought from home. I tried some. Nope. Not compatible with the existing flavor profile. Neither was regular cheddar. I decided that the spuds didn't really need anything more. My sister agreed. And we luxuriated in dinner! Of course, the next morning there was this spectacle to be dealt with. Still no kitchen brownies!

Oh, very yes! I'm so pleased to know that someone else knows the word "mondagreen". I introduce it to friends and family whenever possible. I think one of my favorite examples from personal life comes from a few years ago, when I was reading a high-wind warning from the National Weather Service to my darling on a day like yesterday. The warning said that high winds might blow off "weakened roofs". He thought I'd read "nincompoops" and wondered why they'd be up on the roof in the first place!

Breakfast this morning, while I write a bit more and ponder what to do today. That's Meyer lemon from my L.A. friend's tree. I brought a dozen with me when I left a week ago. I'd like to have taken more (I don't think she's using them) but I didn't have specific uses for them so I restrained myself. Last night I had one of the chicken enchiladas from Wolfe's, and can write a bit more about what they're made of and how they taste. Here's the ingredient list, graciously written out by the staff member who prepared my order: I once again cooked it in the oven in one of the Corelle pie pans I'd picked up at a Yuma yard sale. That's a pretty good vessel for the purpose. I probably still don't have the right time and temperature, but it came out better last night than the last time, when a telephone call distracted me. I started at 350F, decided that wasn't hot enough, turned it up to 400 or so, then decided that was too hot. Probably turning the pan would have helped also. Still, it was very good. As with so many things, the quality of the ingredients is the key. The chicken breast chunks are a fairly good size, and very tender. The notes say they're baked with olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. I suspect the baking is a key factor. Here's the best money shot I could manage: This time, the flavor and texture of the corn tortillas was unmistakeable. I loved it. I'm glad I have more of these. All the time I was doing my evening thing, a storm was blowing in. Dust below me on Lake Owens, clouds and eventually a scattering of rain above me. The wind shook the trailer and I rearranged the pickup to make what windbreak I could (not much). Bishop, some 50 miles north, was reporting wind 28 gusting to 43. That's knots. In mph that came out to nearly 50 mph wind gusts, nearly broadside to the trailer. (In kph it sounds even more scary: 79 kilometers per hour!) I went to bed with the Beach Boys' Barbara Ann ringing in my head: you got me rockin' and a rollin', rockin' and a reelin' BoberAnn. This morning it was 43F. Still gusty wind. Classic post-cold-front weather. The wind is nowhere near as strong, but last time I looked there were still travel advisories for my intended route. There's a pilot's adage that it's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the sky, than the other way around. I'm in a similar position here. Maybe I'll move today, maybe not.

That makes a lot of sense regarding the grocery store. There are a couple of ag-supply stores here that I haven't explored, but it's clear that the agricultural community is strong here. I haven't ventured much farther north than Independence during this trip, but I haven't seen anything this good to the south. You can probably shed light on the restaurants and hotels/motels around here. I see there's a lot to offer -- both fast-food and seated, but as I've shown here there simply hasn't been time or reason to explore them. It would be lovely to coordinate a visit sometime, since you'd be overnighting here! However, I'm hoping to leave today or tomorrow, wind permitting. This is as good a time as any to show a little store landmark my sister and I noticed near the stop light in Lone Pine. Unless there was more than one such sign made, this used to be a Visalia storefront landmark when we were growing up, about 100 miles west of here and across the mountains. Merry-Go-Round was the children's (maybe girls' only?) clothing store on Main Street. Rather upscale for the time and area. It disappeared from Main Street as the town changed. Nice to see it here.

Wow. I've usually been buying the Bota Box Pinot Grigio at about the price listed in your link. That's what cost me $24 today. I do expect higher prices in small stores in remote towns, but not as much elevation as Elsie apparently experiences.

Thanks for that perspective!

I've been off running errands and exploring this amazing terrain, and am now having a tide-me-over snack of a few bites of Wolfe's Red Potato and Bacon salad. It's thickly creamy, not soupy, of course not sweet. I didn't think to ask them the ingredients, but I can identify the red potatoes and bacon; also dried dill and something creamy...I suspect sour cream as well as mayonnaise. Maybe a touch of Dijon mustard but there isn't much of a mustardy kick. I'm sure there are other spices too. My darling never liked this stuff, which of course left more for me. Oh, the drama of this area! There's a 20% chance of rain today, and the wind is picking up. (I'll stay another day if necessary, to avoid driving in rain or strong wind.) The scenery itself is amazing and the clouds are building over the mountains. It's raining atop the next range over. Maybe it will here also. The area is dramatic in more ways than one. The improbable scenery has been the site of many a movie and television show. There's a History of Western Film museum here that talks about local filming and film stars, and if you look around you can find some of the markers. Gettting back to food: I've been in the local grocery store twice now. For such a small town it has an amazing selection of goods, no doubt because it serves locals and tourists and is on a major US highway with not many crossroads. (This is a jumping-off point for many backpacking and climbing areas, including Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous 48 states.) There's a lot of fresh produce that I didn't photograph, although my sister and I bought some a few days ago. Their meat counter is wonderful and tempting. I thought hard about getting some of their ready-to-grill dinners, but I already had things planned and knew we weren't likely to get to these. I left them alone. The prices on the meat are surprisingly good. The cold storage case has an amazing variety. Alas, prices aren't necessarily good on these. I stretched my supply of half-and-half and restocked yesterday at Trader Joe's when I visited the L.A. Basin again. I did, today, cave and buy another box of Pinot Grigio that I didn't get yesterday, and probably spent about 25% more than I would have: $24 here, $16 to $20 there if I'd found what I wanted. I had bought bottled wine at TJ's but wanted something rather less expensive for my trip home. I also, against all practicality, caved and bought some chicken thighs. No, I don't know when I'll cook them. No, I don't need them for the trip home. But these are beautiful, fat chicken thighs at a good price, and I wanted them. So there.

Lunch today is a leftover from yesterday's visit. My friend had a selection of foods, all intended to be quick and easy, and altogether too much for one sitting. We ate Philly Beef Sandwiches, probably from Trader Joe's, and fruit. I came home with a spinach, Swiss cheese and turkey wrap set; some of the fruit; and this TJ's Vegetable Roll set. Given the "use by" date of today I decided I'd follow the suggestion. It's all pretty good. My sister gave me a darling little ceramic bowl that's purrfect for the purpose of a dipping bowl, and I had the chance to try it out. The wasabi paste had its usual sinus-clearing benefits. My sinuses didn't need clearing, but I like the flavor. On another note: the inflatable bed deflated beautifully, rolled up beautifully, and is now in its new home under the now-folded sofa. I hope I don't forget it's there. If anyone's interested, it's this one (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) although we paid considerably less for it when we bought it in 2019. I'd forgotten all about it, and only discovered it in storage during my frantic packing last January. Based on the date, we had to have ordered it for the last Princessmobile, then never had guests to use it.

Yesterday, after my sister headed home for Reno, I drove back down to the L.A. Basin sans trailer to pick up a gift from my dear departed friend's daughter, and visit with her briefly. It's a long drive: supposed 3-1/2 hours, but a little over 4 for me on the way down and more like 5 on the way back due to traffic accidents clogging the freeways. Still, it was nice to see her and it gave me a chance to visit Wolfe's Market yet one more (final, really?) time. I called ahead, stocked up on their delicious chicken enchiladas and potato salad, had a couple of sandwiches made from their "Prairie Bread", still locally known as "Squaw Bread" but they're working to change their linguistic habits, and managed to get more information about both the bread and the enchiladas. I think they need to come up with another name than "Prairie Bread" since that's already taken for breads that don't resemble this at all, but the bakery is doing its best. Maybe they'll come up with another distinctive name. Southwest Heritage Bread? Los Angeles Brown Bread? What would you suggest? Here's the basic loaf: I've broken it into groups of several slices each, wrapped them tightly without crushing, bagged them again, and put them in the freezer. Perhaps half the loaf is sitting in its original wrapper at this point, for my use in the next few days. A closeup of the ingredient list: The bread itself: (Hmm, I didn't notice the hair until after I'd shot this picture.) You can see just how brown it is. They list molasses, but it isn't as sweet as many brown breads so I don't think it has proportionally much molasses in it.

My sister has gone home, and if the weather weren't too blustery for me to want to move the trailer I'd be on my way home as well. As it is, I have a day to clear the wreckage, get the trailer ready to move, and catch up on a few posts as well as some neglected business. There isn't actual wreckage, of course, but things have to be stowed and restored for travel. For instance, this is what happened to the back half of the trailer, aka the "living room" while she was here: The couch that folds out to a Queen-sized sleeper bed turns out to be rock-hard. Fortunately, I've brought along an inflatable mattress that worked very well. It has a built-in pump for inflating and deflating. This was a first use for the mattress. I hope getting it folded back up, with the help of the deflation pump, will stuff the genie back into the bottle. I've already stowed the cookbooks she brought me. There's a funny story behind that. A cousin who was a consummate cook and collector of cookbooks died last year. While my sister was helping clear out the house, she called me and read off titles to see what I might like that hadn't been claimed by either of our cousin's sons. (Our grandmother's cookbooks, for instance, went with them.) By the time this telephone conversation had finished, there were way too many books to consider shipping. We weeded the collection down. There were still too many books to consider shipping. So she's been keeping them until we could meet in person. I'll have to show all the cookbooks some other time, probably in the "Show us your latest cookbook" topic, since most of these are put away under the bed already. Two cookbooks are out for easy grabbing in my sparsely-filled book cupboard: But in truth, I've stocked up on so much prepared food thanks to a trip yesterday that I probably won't be consulting any cookbooks before I get home. I also still have a few leftovers from our meals together. I'll tell more about those in other posts.

Aha. @Duvel, note the correction here. i was mistaken about the meaning! Thanks, @Tropicalsenior and @Margaret Pilgrim!

Oh, that gave me a good morning laugh! But in case your question is genuine: here it means "flat" as opposed to "fat" or "puffy" or "round". These little filets were indeed quite flattened, and so delicate that the contents fell apart as I was spooning out the amount I wanted. I used about half the tin's worth. I'll show it when I make the next batch of this stuff. Edited to add, much much later: I was mistaken about the meaning. Please read on.

It is always, always, always drier downwind of a mountain range than upwind, where "downwind" indicates the usual wind patterns. At our latitudes the winds are "prevailing westerlies" so the western sides of mountain ranges are wetter than the eastern sides. The mountains wring moisture out of the atmosphere as the wind blows up and over the mountains. Death Valley is especially dry because it's separated from (and downwind of) the Pacific Ocean by at least 3 large mountain ranges. Eastern Washington and Oregon are much drier than their western sides for the same reason. The drier region downwind of the mountain range is its rain shadow. Since you're coming up this highway, I very much hope you take time to stop and visit Manzanar if you haven't done so before. We've been touring, and I'm learning that I can do at most 2 of these 3 things at once: cook, visit, write. We've been doing a lot of touring and cooking (and eating), but the writing about it will have to wait. I will say, however, that I finally got around to my first attempt at duplicating the Celestial Sauce from Cafe Luna. Pretty good stuff. I'll write more about it later. The ingredients -- well, most of them anyway: And the final sauce: Texture about right. Flavor quite good. We kept wondering what could be done to improve it, and coming up blank while we kept dipping our bread into it. The fireplace burgers afterward were anticlimactic.

That's how it has seemed to me: dry, dry, barren, even for an area that is normally dry. Thanks for this excellent description!

The dog rides in the truck with me. The cats stay in the trailer, but they generally ride up in the bedroom so they weren't in any danger from breakage. Once I discovered the damage I was careful to clean and clear it all away...counters mopped, floor mopped, stove grills removed so the stove could be mopped. I must say, the floor hasn't been that clean in weeks! Last night I made a celebratory "welcome" dinner for my sister: mushrooms, garlic and red bell peppers sweated, then barely-cooked noodles added to make an alfredo sauce around them. Smoked salmon from home mixed in at the end. It was wonderful, and I'm quite pleased with it. It's one of my hip-pocket recipes: give me the ingredients and I don't need to consult any notes. Still, sometimes it comes out better than others, and I suspect the slightly narrower no-yolk egg noodles she brought has something to do with it. Sorry, but I don't have any photos! She arrived after dark and needed to be guided up to the spot, and then we were too busy gabbing and eating. Maybe I'll show you leftovers later.

For what it's worth, I find that most cilantro stems chop up beautifully and add bulk and flavor. I wouldn't do that with parsley, but cilantro seems to whizz right up, stem and all. I learned that trick from a chef who made a delicious salad dressing using an entire bunch of cilantro, stems and all.

Thanks. I've tried pinotage a few times, and even brought home a bottle or two from a South African winery some years ago. I've decided I don't like it. I know that I can get a refund through Naked Wines if I don't like a wine, but it feels abusive (to them, not to me) to try something I almost certainly won't like. However! Have you ever tried Arabella's shiraz/voignier blend? Now there's a combination I'd never have expected to try, much less like. It was one of those mystery gifts. I like it very much.

This bread is dark, not particularly sweet, with an even crumb to make it a good sandwich bread. They actually call it Squaw Bread in house, as they've always done, but when I asked what term they now use in public he said they're calling Prairie Bread. The recipes for Prairie Bread that I could find easily online don't match; they're loaded with nuts and seeds. This recipe for Squaw Bread looks more nearly like the right thing, but I don't detect the molasses sweetness that this recipe calls for although the unsweetened cocoa may blunt the sweetness. My copy of the Los Angeles Times Cookbook lists the ingredients as whole wheat flour, rye flour, all-purpose flour, nonfat milk, brown sugar, honey, raisins and the usual yeast/water/salt additions. *Shudder* I promise you this bread didn't have raisins. It doesn't have any inclusions, in fact. It's just a good, smooth, very brown bread. It was a favorite of my dear departed friend because of its healthful ingredients. I've written Wolfe's and asked if they're willing to share the ingredients, and maybe even baker's percentages.

It took me two days of driving to get here whereas I'd hoped for only one, but I had to spend time horsing around with equipment issues: jump-starting the pickup because the trailer had drained batteries in the cold and gloom of L.A. stormy weather, and later having to dig out the air compressor (twice!) because of low tire pressure. Still, here I am in yet another very quiet, very beautiful spot. It's clear that there's been more rain here than there was in the lower desert, even though I'm in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada. How lovely to see flowers! I saw beautiful blooms along the road also, but couldn't stop for any photos. That sandwich I showed you from Wolfe's served me well for two road-stop lunches. Here, I'll show it to you again. 🙂 Prairie bread with roast beef, mayo, mustard, tomatoes, sprouts, pepperoncini, pepper jack cheese. One half was enough for each day. I had also purchased two chicken enchiladas there. I had one of them on my overnight stop along the way, in a truck stop. I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to cook it, and settled for cooking it in the oven at about 350F on a steel baking sheet. It was an economical way to cook the enchilada, but I should have put it on something like parchment paper. The sheet had to soak overnight before I could clean it. Let me tell you, these enchiladas are the thing of my dreams. The chicken is cooked well enough to be tender, but still has some chew. There's a something tart (tomatillo salsa?) and something that gives a little bit of heat. The tortillas are corn tortillas, amazingly tender for corn, and the masa flavor adds beautifully. I'm not sure what-all else is in there, but I think I've spotted guacamole. I think I tried for a money shot but couldn't get one properly. I was ecstatic, though: the dinner was excellent, and I had another still in abeyance! The next morning I hit the road, found a campground, and learned not to trust either Google Maps or my GPS when they try to take me The Short Way. I don't know whether that was what caused the mystery damage, but when I opened out I discovered that the microwave oven had somehow opened itself, dropped the turntable disk onto the hard counter, then closed itself again. Glass all over the counters and floor! No photo. We had one of those jack-in-the-box spillages from the freezer some years back, but that didn't result in nearly as much damage. The scenery really is marvelous here! Last night I had the other enchilada. This time I was smarter about the cooking vessel, and used on of the Corelle pie plates I'd picked up at a garage sale in Yuma. First time using one! It worked well. It would have worked better if I hadn't been distracted by a long, drawn-out phone conversation with a friend who calls roughly once a year. The texture suffered badly from overcooking, but the flavors didn't. Breakfast this morning: some of that great kalamata sourdough bread I bought in San Diego, with a mashup of lebneh (cheese) balls I brought from home. I keep forgetting I have them. This morning they hit the spot.

The next day I moved on into the L.A. Basin to stay one last time at the house of the dear friend whose birthday we've always celebrated at Midwinter. She died last January at age 104, and this weekend was the Celebration of Life for her. I chose my travel time carefully, being leery of L.A. traffic at the best of times. I chose well, and only had a few incidents of needing to overcome what the Victorians would have called The Vapors. (There's no hitting a "Pause" button when things get tight! I just have to keep breathing, stick to my job, and hope all the other drivers do theirs.) My friend's daughter made me welcome, but I slept outside in the trailer in order not to contribute to the household's chaos; her two best friends from college were also staying with her and had the guest rooms occupied. I made an interesting discovery that first morning: with the kitchen glide in, because I was parked on the street, the kitchen island is an impediment! Fortunately, I could reach the stove to make my morning coffee. The morning and evening walks were beautiful. I loved seeing so many flowers in bloom. It's a beautiful, quiet neighborhood with well-tended yards. The night I arrived, my friend made a stellar dinner for the four of us. Meltingly tender salmon, crisp asparagus, rice, steamed carrots, excellent baguette and cheese. Chocolate chip mini-baguettes for dessert. She knocked herself out. It was a brilliant dinner. There's a citrus-butter sauce atop the salmon and rice, but it doesn't show well here. I don't have any other photos of food we ate there. The next day was the Celebration of Life, with hors d'ouvres at a reception afterward. When we decamped for the night back to her house, we sat up till all hours talking and drinking wine. The next morning I visited the local Trader Joe's and the wonderful one-off Wolfe's Market nearby. They've struggled to stay open during these changing times, and their prices have shot up dramatically, but their deli is still excellent. I bought a sandwich for the road, some potato salad, salad dressing, and chicken enchiladas that I'll show in another post. I miss Wolfe's. They used to have a market also, but now it's just a deli and catering. Still a treasure.

It's been a busy week. In a few hours my sister will arrive to visit for a few days, and we'll be busy touring and visiting. I'll use some of my quiet time to update this story. I moved out of Yuma and back to our beloved boondocking spot for one night. It was absolutely marvelous to have dead silence outside: a little unnerving to not even hear any night birds, but blessed not to have traffic or barking dogs. If I worked at it I could hear highway noise a mile away, sometimes. It was also hot. Much, much, much too hot for comfort and I didn't want to start the generator so I could have air conditioning. It was also much, much, much too hot that evening to be interested in building a campfire although I'd intended to do so in honor of my sorely-missed darling. So the campfire structure remained pristine. I did go for walks, first in the afternoon heat and next in the morning. If anything I missed him more there than I had in Yuma. Yuma wouldn't have been his speed. This was, heat and all. I so wanted to show him my discoveries. I have never seen ironwood trees in bloom before. On the highway I thought I was seeing lavender-colored trees. "No, it can't be," I said to myself. But since I was driving, I couldn't stop or take photos. When I got set up and started walking, I found that they are, indeed, lavender when they're blooming. They're a member of the pea family, and they have the classic pea flowers for blossoms. I'm not sure what I ate that night. Probably my first attempt at a wrap, using the lavash I'd purchased in San Diego. I don't think I realized what I was in for! I used about half of one sheet, loaded it with hummus and tabbouli, and ate it. That wrap will need more. Maybe filling it with more interesting and varied stuffings, then grilling it as a proper wrap from Babylon Market in Tucson would do it. The next morning was so pleasantly cool that I considered staying one more day, but I was on a schedule. I admired the sunrise... Made a sandwich for the road... and headed off to the Salton Sea, only a couple of hours away. It was hot there too, and not quite as quiet, but beautiful anyway. I was glad to have moved on. That night I reheated some of the pork dish I'd made. Again I didn't want to mess with the generator, so I heated it on the stovetop in a pan. Not bad! And that's a good thing, because I have yet one more helping of it that I'm about to go have for lunch.

I'm so sorry that happened, and I'm very surprised that neither of you could detect the freezer burn after it was thawed! What a shame!

Wow! I wish I could justify ordering that. When I click on the link you give, it lists the Staub as $149.99. In addition, there's a 15% off offer for new email subscribers. I must not. I must not. I must not...

This is something I hadn't heard of before, so I can't comment on whether they work well. I will note, however, the potential for a neat piece of equipment that will become difficult or impossible, or at least terribly expensive, to repair or replace when necessary. I've managed to ruin one vacuum sealer already (countertop variety) because I wasn't careful enough to keep liquid out of the pump. If that had been built into my oven drawer it might have been a nightmare. As it is, I could easily replace it.

This bit really made me laugh! But I feel your pain on the space issue. We began with a pickup-mounted camper, and after a summer of trips here and there, and a week solid on the road, we agreed we needed more space. I turned out some pretty good dinners, but quickly ran out of space if I tried anything like what I'd do at home...or here. Kudos to your husband for finding just exactly the right size cutting board for the stove top!