Smithy

The next morning, we fueled up and went inside the Mercantile. I needed a few pet supplies. We added junk food and chatted with the owners, who had recognized our rig (and dog) when they'd opened up in the morning. We admired and laughed at their sign. "We should sell copies of this," said one of the workers, "we'd make a fortune!" I guess everyone likes that sign. New Mexico has a peculiar attitude toward oversized truck loads. There's this beautiful Interstate Freeway (I-10) along the southern portion of the state, with multiple lanes and not much traffic. Do they allow oversized loads to use them? No. They insist, instead, that oversized loads use a state highway that's only 2 lanes, one each way, and the lanes are narrow at that. It was only 90 miles to our next campground: plenty of time to get off to a leisurely start, and still arrive before noon. That was actually way before check-in time, and the previous occupant hadn't checked out yet. However, it wasn't difficult to cool our heels until they left and we could set up camp. What WAS difficult was actually unloading everything and setting up camp. We've gotten so unused to stowing things in their proper locations, or unstowing them when the time comes, that getting everything set up was a real chore. We took time to do a bike ride anyway and enjoy the flowers, but thought we'd take the easy way out and finish our chili from the night before. Then I remembered the green beans. Two pounds of them. Already trimmed, but not cut. Bagged in a cellophane bag. Sitting in the refrigerator for over a week. Not gonna last much longer. I really must stop buying so much produce at once! Dinner last night was truly a triumph of will over won't. I really, really love the Cookie & Kate recipe for Green Bean Salad with Feta and Almonds...and once I'd done the grunt work of cutting the beans it wasn't much time before dinner was ready... ...and that was "all she wrote", as my family says, for the night.

On Easter Sunday, when most normal people would be sharing feasts with family and friends, we were moving on into New Mexico. There isn't much to say about the drive. The terrain and vegetation changed. The best part, for us, was that once we got past Tucson we were into what we consider more civilized roads: 2 (occasionally 3) lanes each way on the freeway, and few crazy lane changes or congested roadways. I don't seem to have taken any pictures of the Tucson freeways, but even on a Sunday morning there was plenty of traffic. They all seemed to depart southbound, toward the Mexican border, at a freeway split. One rest area has fascinating granite boulders and a beautiful view of the valley to the south (top of collage below). The bottom photos of that collage are of a tourist trap that I never have stopped to see and may never, based on my cynical age and what I've read. For dozens of miles leading up to every Bowlin'TM truck plaza there are signs advertising handmade Indian jewelry, pottery, knives, sarapes, and so on. I've been in them before; in fact, we were parked across from one the previous night. Their wares don't impress me and their fuel is quite expensive. This particular place, though, always intrigued me because of its unique signs. What is "The Thing?" they ask. Some signs show a sketch of an alien head, suggestive that Area 51 isn't the only place to find UFO wreckage. Others show other teasers. When I was a little girl and we drove past that place, I hounded my parents. "Please stop!" I begged. "I wanna see The Thing!" "Oh, honey," they'd reply, "it's a tourist trap." Besides, we were towing our boat and camping gear, headed for parts east (or for home). At last, thanks to Google, I found a description of the whole show. Google it if you're interested ("The Thing on Interstate 10" should do it). It reminds me of an old Twilight Zone episode. I've always wondered whether the writer of that episode had this Thing in mind. We arrived at our destination for the night some 240 miles later. It was just an overnight stop in the parking lot of a mercantile store in Animas, New Mexico. They were closed but have always been accommodating about letting us stay, for free; we always buy fuel and usually buy hardware or other goods from them before we leave. Commercial trucks were also parked there, awaiting permits to travel into Arizona with their loads. It was HOT that afternoon: up into the mid-80's, and with the sun shining right through our windows it was into the 90's inside. We napped until the heat let up a bit, then went for a walk, chatted with a trucker, and played some music. Our Easter dinner, such as it was, was chili. I tell you, prepared meals are the way to go on days like that. Sour cream in mine. No topper for his, but he used crackers. We each had half a container and called it a night.

I made an interesting discovery about the Englsh Coastal Cheddar from Costco that I've been enjoying. It's very flavorful, but also very crumbly. However, if I cut it finely enough it curls, more like cheese shavings. I'll have to put this to some good use, on pasta or a salad, before I finish it all.

Our 2-week maximum permitted stay at the campground came to an end. We packed up the outside kitchen on Friday, but because the grill basket rides in the bed of the pickup we could indulge in one more campfire in the grill. I am very glad I discovered the Kiolbasa brand of Polish sausage. Most Polish sausage to me is very one-noted: too much garlic, perhaps? Whatever it is, by the time I've finished one sausage that single flavor note is dominating everything else, like the whine of a dentist's drill during a symphony. Kiolbasa is nicely balanced. The flavors play well together, the texture is good. I hope I'll find more on the way home. The next day, we finished packing up and moved on. On such days I usually make sandwiches for the road. I also packed a couple of hard-boiled eggs. Many of the newer freeway overpasses and interchanges have decorative bridges and walls. They're all different, usually thematic. Nut orchards are starting to leaf out. The roadside vegetation continued to impress and please us. These mallows were waist high! By design, we didn't go far that day: only a hundred miles or so. We'd considered trying to get in at Tucson Mountain Park for a few days, and there was always a chance someone would be leaving on Easter Sunday. (It didn't happen, but it was worth asking.) We stayed at a wide spot across the road from a truck stop near Picacho Peak, about 50 miles west of Tucson. The beauty of the spot was that it is free, and there was plenty of room. The truck stops across the road also had space, but we decided we'd rather be next to the railroad than next to the freeway. And we were close to the tracks! We'd taken chili out of the freezer to thaw for dinner that night, but neither of us was very hungry. Instead, I decided to finish the cauliflower I'd already cut up some days before for this dinner. I gave the same treatment to some broccoli florets to see how well they'd hold up. The treatment this time: toss with tahini, Berbere spice, olive oil and lemon, then roast at 425ish until crunchy. The broccoli held up well. I dressed my roasted treats with yogurt and the last of some chopped parsley. He finished the last of his barbecued beans. As we were drifting off to sleep, I commented that it was lovely to hear a cardinal singing again. It's the first time this year. He replied, "Of course you're hearing a cardinal now. It's Easter weekend." 🙂

One more comment on the battered salmon, and then I'll move on to our moving on. I ate all the fish leftovers, over the space of a few days, and we were both happy with that action. Here's the last piece: small, but plenty big as a breakfast snack 2 days running. It seems I didn't take a picture of the interior. There was a chunk of salmon nestled inside this, of course. By the third day, when I finished the last half, I couldn't really taste the fish. But it made an excellent fried dough ball. Not as sweet as a donut or cruller, but not truly savory either. I'll be interested to see what modifications come up to make this a better fish batter, but the batter itself isn't half bad!

I continue to be amazed at your energy and appetite for breakfast! This looks excellent. No way would I want to face making it before, oh, 3 in the afternoon. 😅

It's nice to see someone else do that recipe, and apparently without the liberties I took with it. Did you have any trouble with burning the eggplant slices in the oven after you'd brushed them with oil, or are you attentive enough to avoid that particular problem? If you have a special tip (other than to pay closer attention) I'd love to hear it.

Okay, this is a good time to bring up our dear departed Fat Guy's story about rosemary: click.

That's fascinating! Thank you! I got a laugh out of this bit:

suzilightning would have gotten it for sure. We'll see if anyone else pops up with it. I think thinning the batter would be a good start...either with water or with more beer. Maybe the beer had too much fizz? Yes, please do let me know what you figure out.

One more comment, for now, on the "spätzle" (which is still more fun to say than "tenkasu"): On the left is the first batch, from the shrimp. On the right is the second batch, from the fish. The ingredients and proportions were the same, except that the shrimp batter contained vodka and ale, whereas the fish batch contained ale only. The other difference is that I thought the fish crunchy bits were pale at first, and I cooked them until they got darker. The darker ones are slightly harder, but we already know that the shrimp batter is more feathery. Is the difference in color only due to cooking time? I'll know after further experimentation.

Lunch today. Tenkasu: the new croutons!

Smoked salmon is (heh) another kettle of fish altogether. We can both eat that out of hand, on crackers, in pasta, in spreads, on bread with or without cream cheese...that's a favorite. But my favorite smoked salmon is still a couple thousand miles and at least a month away. My parent's best friends used to go on fishing trips in Alaska. I don't think he much cared which fish he got (assuming it was legal) but she always joked that she'd put a sign on her hook saying "Halibut only. Salmon need not apply." The upshot of that was that one glorious year when we were visiting, they gave us several packages of salmon they'd brought back and didn't want! My best friends also only like salmon one way. It's a grilled salmon recipe from the Alice Bay Cookbook (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), with a sauce that includes something like ketchup, ginger, soy sauce, some sort of oil, and seasonings I've forgotten. I shuddered at the idea of ketchup but it works in this particular recipe. What a shame that the poor fish isn't getting more love! OTOH I'm reading that the Pacific salmon fishery is in trouble this year, so maybe it's good that more people don't want it.

It was sort of a desperation measure. He almost always complains that salmon is dry. I think the only way I've prepared it that he genuinely likes is pecan-crusted, then pan fried and served with sauce. I like it too, but would like to find some additional way of cooking it that he'd like. Also, I wanted to try doing beer battered fish and this is what we had.

Last night it was fish and chips, using the @JAZ method of potato frying and @Dave the Cook's instructions. I used their sturdier beer batter, since I was doing fish. In case you don't want to look back, the difference is that the beer quantity is doubled and there's no hard liquor. To recap their methods and recipes: Here is the method for frying potatoes: Here is the recipe for their beer batter (I used the second recipe, this time, for the sturdier coating): Here is the tutorial, with instructions, for frying. I began with our last two pieces of Coho salmon. I forget how many ounces each weighed, but I cut them into 3 pieces each after skinning. I don't have any pictures of the batter or the fish-battering process. I think I needed to thin the batter just a bit with more beer than I used, because it didn't coat the fish evenly although it was well mixed. You'll see the clumped batter a few photos down in the finished fish. It was interesting to see that the bubbles and oil seemed more viscous than before. The bubbles had a glossy surface that was a lot of fun to watch while I cooked the fish, then the potatoes, then the remaining "spätlze" (okay, tenkasu but that isn't as much fun to say). It reminded me of a syrup at the boil, and I wonder whether the ale caused it. Further tests will be needed. All the while, the just-past-full moon was clearing the clouds/smog layer over Phoenix. Dinner. Finger food again, although we did use forks to cut into the fish. It was all delicious. We thought the fish batter had a delightful crunch but was a bit too thick; the interior seemed doughy as though it wasn't fully cooked. On the other hand, the fish itself was moist. I think this is the first time even that he hasn't complained about salmon being dry. This is a shot from this morning's breakfast. I really only needed to have cooked one of those filets, but I'm glad to have finished them, and we have two more cooked pieces remaining. I stored the uneaten fish overnight in an open, broad bowl in the refrigerator. It wasn't quite as crisp as last night, but it still has a bit of crunch. That's definitely the way to go, rather than enclosing it in plastic as I've usually done. There were a couple of casualties. Last night when I was stacking things to bring them inside, a plate slid off the stack of used equipment. No food was harmed, but the plate lost its argument with the concrete. I'm not crazy about plastic plates, but I rather liked this color and design from Target that I acquired when we bought our first Princessmobile. Oh, well. When the plate hit the concrete pad and broke, it added to the mess I'd already made on the pad. I must remember to put an old cereal box or other bit of cardboard down in the future. This morning, my darling did a doubletake: "what, did you smash a tarantula?" Then he got a better look. I actually have a spätlze maker at home that I bought at a cooking class in Duluth and have never used. Henceforth it will get good use!

My darling got a rude and amusing surprise with his last beer purchase. His preferred "cheap stuff" is Busch Light in cans. It's inexpensive, has relatively low alcohol and calories, and generates less waste than the bottles I prefer. The other day he couldn't find any at the little store we'd visited, so he picked up a case of his second choice: Bud Light. (It's all safe from me.) That night, when he opened it up, he couldn't believe the size of the bottles. "Who puts beer in a 7-oz bottle?" he exclaimed. He looked enviously at my Kilt Lifter. We hadn't noticed that it says "mini bottles". He'll get through them, but they won't last as well as the 12-oz cans and it's a lot of glass for that small amount of beer!

I still haven't heard back from Antonia and her friend, but a few links I checked out elsewhere on the internet said that peas, grated carrots and grated onions are characteristic of Slovakian potato salad. The unusual seasoning wasn't as evident in the leftovers, but I could detect mustard. It wasn't as sweet as many American potato salads, but it didn't have dill pickle either.

Living in large cities does have some advantages! When I followed your link, here's what popped up: The drive would have been a bit much.

All-Clad is having a 2-day factory seconds "VIP" sale. I haven't scoped it out this time, but all my beloved All-Clad has come from the factory seconds sales and I've always been pleased with my purchase. All-Clad VIP Factory Event (ends April 9)

Thanks. I hadn't noticed the proper spelling until you noted it.

How much would you expect to pay for 750 ml of the "cheap stuff"? (And thanks for the compliments!)

My favorite brand, when I can get it, is the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Hand Harvested Wood Parched Natural Wild Rice. The link goes to Bemidji Woolen Mills as a supply source, but I usually buy it at the grocery store when I'm in the town of Cass Lake, MN. I also have enjoyed the Singing Pines Hand Harvested Wood Parched Minnesota Wild Rice, and have some with me in the Princessmobile, but to me the Leech Lake stuff is just a bit nuttier and more full-tasting. I haven't had much luck with the cultivated wild rice; it never seems to cook and fluff up as thoroughly, but maybe that was my technique. The parching is a requirement for my tastes. I've never tried Bineshi. The suppliers certainly are proud of it, based on their prices! What do you especially like about it?

Cooler weather is moving in, despite the forecasts, and it's more humid than it has been. Whenever I see contrails like this I think of Joni Mitchell mentioning hexagrams in the sky, in her song "Amelia". Some of the contrails looked like fine tatting, with little loops hanging from below the trail at regular intervals. Too bad it didn't come out better in this photo. We HAD to go to a grocery store yesterday, and based on the mayhem of driving to Casa Grande (about 30 miles away) to go to the Fry's there, we drove to Maricopa (20 miles in the other direction) to their Fry's. It too was a madhouse: way too many shoppers, way too few checkout clerks, way too little help at the self-serve lines. We have lost our tolerance for traffic and big cities. We're too close to Phoenix for our liking. We didn't buy this, because we really didn't want or need any meat. It caught my eye, though. I took pictures as another example to show how their digital app and their Loyalty program can produce some really good deals. Just before our campground neighbors left for their next destination, we became friends and discovered a mutual love of food and cooking. What inconvenient timing! They're from Slovakia, and bestowed upon us a pork schnitzel and chicken schnitzel, ready to cook. Antonia sent me a video tutorial on how much oil to use and how to know when it was ready. They also gave us some Slovakian style potato salad. I sent them off with a package of last year's crop of hand-harvested, hand-parched wild rice from Northern Minnesota. The good stuff. I'm not sure what makes the potato salad Slovakian style, and have written to ask. It seems to have peas, maybe grated carrots and grated onions, and a seasoning we can't identify. It's good. It cannot be confused with any potato salad we purchase commercially here in this country. If anyone here knows the secret, let me know. If I hear back from Antonia, I'll let you know. I posted more detail on the schnitzels here, in the eG Cook-Off devoted to the topic. In this topic, I'll simply celebrate our dinner. Crisp outside, tender inside. Delicious! We toasted our new friends, and hope to see them along the way again.

*bump* Some campground neighbors who became friends gave us a couple of schnitzels -- pounded, breaded and ready to cook -- with instructions. Their instructions on how to cook them were not terribly different from what we've seen uptopic here, but it gave me a chance to try again. It's been a while since I cooked schnitzel. They gave us one chicken and one pork schnitzel. These had been pounded quite thin, then dusted with flour and coated with what they referred to as panko crumbs although they described getting a bread roll or baguette, toasting it to make it stale, then grating it on a box grater. Homemade panko. As far as we could tell, there was no other seasoning. Look how thin these were! Antonia also sent me a nice (although slightly blurry) video tutorial on cooking them. The instructions pretty much match the instructions described in this topic. Put enough oil into the pan to come up about halfway on the schnitzel, and heat over medium heat until a very small piece of the coating (sacrificed for the purpose) will sizzle in the oil. That funny little star thingie in the picture below is the sacrificial sizzling. Put the schnitzels into the oil. Leave them alone for a few minutes, then check on the bottom. When they're browned, turn them gently to finish. (This is a difference between instructions given earlier in this topic; there was no discussion about washing the hot oil over the top of the schnitzel.) Serve and enjoy. We didn't make a sauce for these. We had no leftovers for the morning, more's the pity. I'll have to revisit this procedure on my own. Here's a reminder to the rest of you: Cook-Offs never die!

I received two schnitzels, ready to cook (one pork, one chicken) and some Slovakian-style potato salad today. I'll post more about it later, but right now have to cook it!