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Chimayo Tortilla Stack, Birdeye

Thursday, August 30, 2012


I loved getting a shot of one of the ladies...we're all waiting
on Hurricane Isaac to bring much needed rain.  But I hear
that the farmers don't need a rain right now....
Wednesday, August 29, 2012

I don't think I'll ever get tired of Fresh, Lake Austin Spa Cookbook, by Terry Conlan.  I had to wait until I had a butternut squash available to make this one.  And lemme tell you how AWESOME and easy and FRESH this one is!  And makes for excellent left overs too as I had tonight... while Jackie watches Vanderbilt Football.  He's a genius that Terry Conlan, a genius!

1 C. diced butternut squash, cooked
1 C. red beans, canned, cooked and drained
1/2 C. each frozen Lima beans, cooked and frozen corn, cooked  (I used black beans, I didn't have Limas)
2 T. pimentos, I skipped this
1/2 C. reduced fat cheddar cheese, I used regular
2 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, I used 4 oz. because I was outta goat cheese
2 oz. reduced fat goat cheese
12 corn tortillas

Combine the squash, beans, corn and pimentos in a ball.  Mix the cheeses in a separate bowl.  Spread cheese mixture on her of 6 tortillas.  Top the tortillas with the vegetable mixture and cover with tortillas.  Arrange tortillas on a baking sheet and cover with foil (I didn't do this, so it made them crispy which is fine).  Bake at 350 degrees just until the cheese melts.  Serve with Red Chile Sauce and scoop of light sour cream.

The Red Chile New Mexico Sauce

6 dried New Mexico Chiles, I used a bag variety from Hay's of Guadalajara chiles and they did fine
1 small onion, thickly sliced, I used 8 green onions instead
4 Roma tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 t. ground cumin
1 t. oregano leaves
1/4 C. tomato juice, I used tomato sauce
2 T. masa harina de maiz
2 C. vegetable stock, I used chicken stock
1/2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped, I used nestle chocolate chips
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. salt

Lightly toast the childes in a dry skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, turning often (I kinda didn't turn so much and kinda burnt mine so be careful).  Remove and discard the stem and place in a bowl and cover with hot water, set aside for 30 minutes.  Drain and reserve.  Spray the onion, tomato and garlic lightly with cooking spray and arrange on a baking sheet and roast at 375 for 20 minutes.  Toast the cumin and oregano in a dry skillet for 30 seconds.  Combine the reserved chiles, onion, tomato, cumin and oregano in a blender and puree.  Combine the puree, tomato juice, flour, stock, chocolate in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until thickened and smooth, stirring constantly.  Strain and keep warm (I didn't strain and didn't need to either).  Yield: 6 servings.

Nutrition facts per serving: 323 cal, 14 gr protein, 53 gr carbohydrate, 8 grams fat (more since I didn't used reduced fat cheese) Sodium 510 mg.

This is Gumball's brother Max, who lives down the street...
Chloe's been dog sitting now for a while, she gets $10 a day!


Tu Jague, the near 14 year old, is still hanging
on even though he is in early stage kidney failure

Biscuit is banned from the bar stools and look where I found him....
The squash is fabulous in this recipe
The delicious Red Chile puree before the chocolate and
cinnamon....it was awesome and I froze the extra for another
round down the road....
Guadalajara Chiles

Before going into the oven...



Delicious I tell ya!

2012 Drought....Birdeye

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Look who came through this week....Wendy and Eran were
on their way to Hot Springs to celebrate her birfday and they
stopped here from Chicago.  Maytal, on the right, starts Kindergarten
this year and Ayelet will start right behind her!  Just so you
know, they come here every summer and love gettin in Chloe's
closet (cause she's the BIG girl), they have on dresses that we
sent on with them....these two LOVE fashion!  Look at Ayelet's
ring, necklace and headband!  Chloe's the opposite!

This Magnolia tree is TOTALLY stressing out...
see my sprinkler on this morning to try and
save her....

Gumball is from the Birdeye Store....one in a litter of 9 dogs...
Chloe loves this little guy and THANKFULLY we don't
have any fosters right now...this summer almost killed us!
(and our chickens...)

I'm not sure Winnie Bob could handle the
drought this year...it reminds me of last year's
flood that I don't think she could have handled either!
This is near the daffodil plot that hosts about 10
different varieties of the flower that I so love...
I hope they're going to make it....this photo looks
like it's fall but fall doesn't start until Sept. 20....

This is what our grass looks like today!

Because of a July NPR radio show, I planted
a late group of tomato plants, pepper plants and
some cucumbers....you see I need to weed out there!

I also planted a row of arugula and spinach but these
look like baby mushrooms...I wonder if I got the wrong seeds..

We got 7 tenths this morning....if only we could
get this every day for a month!
Saturday, August 25, 2012

I am amazed at the weather here this year!  We haven't gotten more than an inch of rain this whole month but got some today!  And thank the lord as my water bill was over $125 last month trying to save all the trees that Winnie Bob planted in this yard.  I don't think Jackie's mowed more than 4 times this WHOLE SUMMER!  Yes, digest that piece of information!  Cross County is in Exceptional Drought this year which is worse than Extreme.  Let's all pray that this ordeal will end soon.  Not only do the trees need rain but also the crops and wildlife.

1st Day of Junior High, Birdeye

Chloe's first day of 6th grade...We take a photo
here every year, I'll have to find some old shots
of her in this same spot!  It would be fun to compare!

Kara and I take a photo at the beginning of every year over
at her house...Stella started Kindergarten!  Look at August,
I think he wants to go to class too...:)

Last Saturday, Maggie Miller, Chloe and Chloe Thornhill
at our kids triathlon at the country club....they all had a good
time, we had 50 people show up from all over the state!

We added trophies this year...Chloe had a great time at the tri!
School starts Monday!

The week before the kids tri and school starting, Dana, a
roommate and fellow Kappa Kappa Gamma, came to Arkansas
to see her dad before her kids started school.  Terry Sherwood
built the most beautiful house on Greers Ferry Lake, it was
amazing!  This is Aidan and Sydney Holroyd with Coco

We never go to the lake, unlike me at this age,
we would go to Ft. Cobb Lake in Western
Oklahoma all summer long to water ski, we never
tubed much but mainly skied.  Here's Chloe out
on the tube....it was fun! 

Thankfully Dana and I had a chance
to catch up while Chloe made yet another
movie....You'll have to find me on YouTube
(keelismith) to see her videos, they are a
ton of fun to watch!
Saturday, August 25, 2012

I cannot believe my precious gift is going to Junior High!  Time has flown by!  I know I'm not alone in saying this.  After a scare about going to the junior high building last May, Chloe's spent most of her summer saying things like, "we need to live life to the fullest, school will start" and "please stop saying school starts in August, mom".

So, drum roll please, when we got home Monday night Chloe and I were going through the backpack and we get to the PE/Health folder and she told me that she llloooovvveeeesss Coach Amber because she's so sweet and that she told everyone to wear deodorant because "she said we'll stink if we don't use it...".  Alrighty then!  Then Jackie on Tuesday morning asked her how it was going and she says good and puts on a fleece, long sleeved jacket.  I say, "Chloe good lord, it's gonna be 100 degrees today, you don't need that jacket" and she replies, "well the teachers said to wear a jacket so we don't freeze in the afternoons because they turn the a/c down because they don't wear deodorant and they'll stink if it gets too hot." A second alrighty then, we got  a good laugh in that morning, she totally cracks us up on a daily basis.

Look what I found!!  Chloe's First Grade Photo
She had Lynne Turner, we loved her!

And this is first day of 2nd grade....
We had Misty Holbrook and had another
great year!

This was Sept. 2009, 3rd grade we had
Ms. McCay and this was the year Chloe
had the swine flu, high fever for 5 days straight,
we had entered the Big Dam Bridge bike ride and
had to cancel our Fayetteville trip so we had a
living room hog watch party!  How time flies!
With her AP classes this year and continuing soccer and piano, it proves to be another busy fall!  We just need some rain people!  :)

Woody Creek Tavern, Aspen, Co

Monday, August 20, 2012

We were all glad to get to lunch for a rest stop!
Woody Creek Tavern was empty when we got
there but had a waiting list when we left...mainly
the place was full of cyclists....

Chloe having ice cream before the final 9 miles to go to Aspen

Woody Creek's cat Bif

Chloe found a shade spot to rest near Aspen with a spring
Thursday, July 27, 2012

Elise Barry and LaRand Thomas, otherwise known as my Wynne mother, both recommended Woody Creek Tavern to us because it was literally on the way to Aspen along the Rio Grande Trail about 5 miles from Basalt and only 9 or so to Aspen.  Jackie and I timed it that we would arrive early in the day so we wouldn't have to deal with the heat and length of the trail like we had the day before getting to Basalt.  So we arrived at 11:30 am, the place was empty but when we left 1 hour later, she was PACKED!  Anyway, we loved the service and the food.  Both of us had enchiladas and Chloe was in a bit of a low point but ordered the fish and chips.  We all loved the food and the way the waitresses "man" the waiting line for tables.  When Chloe and I made a trip to the ladies room, we saw some kids sitting at an 8 top table inside and a waitress "outted" them and told them to stand in line like everyone else.  The dad realized they'd been busted and waited outside very impatiently.  So our BBC (Birdeye Bicycling Club) advice is to get there early, plan on waiting and plan on a very, very good meal with great service.  And look for the house cat Bif while on the patio...

Woody Creek Tavern, 2858 Upper River Road, Woody Creek, Co, 970-923-4585, check out the website: http://www.woodycreektavern.com/

White House Pizza, Carbondale, CO

This place was so stinking awesome!

My veggie pizza....delicious! 

Yes, that girl is related to me...I feel the same about dessert...

The trail down by the river
Wednesday, July 26, 2012

We absolutely loved this lunch place right in the middle of Carbondale, Colorado.  The nice folks at Ajax Bike and Sport fitted Chloe for a new helmet and padded shorts sent us to this legendary restaurant voted best Carbondale restaurant 6 times.  We were thrilled that we could park and lock up our bikes in the shade outside near the spacious patio.  We didn't get there until after 1:30 but the place was still hopping from its lunch crowd.  We had a great waitress that kept the water coming, which we all needed, we had just road 18 miles from outside of Glenwood Springs to Carbondale.  Knowing we had another 10 to get to Basalt, pizza was the perfect fuel for me!  I had the veggie pizza with pesto that I totally loved, Jackie had some kind of sandwich he kept telling me to try (you realize it's been a month since we were there...:)) and Chloe loved the chicken tenders and french fries.  You can tell by that photo that she LOVES a dessert and she really loved White House Pizza's warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie topped with ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a cherry.  Holy Smokes we had a great fueling lunch there.  And I can report the ladies room was in tip top shape!  White House Pizza also grows its own mint for mint mojitos...we loved that!  When you're in Carbondale, you gotta go to White House Pizza! Tell them the Birdeye (Arkansas) Bicycling Club recommended it!  :)

White House Pizza, celebrating 15 years, 801 Main Court, Carbondale, CO, 970-704-9400
Check out this website:
http://www.whitehousepizza.com/

Colorado Trip

Friday, August 17, 2012


Friday, August 17, 2012

I cannot believe Chloe will start Junior High on Monday!  I thought I'd let all of you know how busy we are and the reason I haven't posted recently.  Chloe's made a slew of youtube videos that I'll put on here so you can see what she's been up to!  I have 3 posts to publish next week!!  It's been a wonderful, busy, hot and dry summer!  And we have a triathlon tomorrow that I hope to get some quality footage of tomorrow...