BAGLES, BRUSCHETTA AND MUSHROOM SOUP

We had an early breakfast today at one of our favorite breakfast spots in Santa Fe, Baglemania.

The weather was so lovely that we decided to eat out on the patio. This is something that we can't do at home as it's way too hot and humid this time of year.

Then after church, we decided to make Potage Parmentier and have it on hand just in case we didn't want to go out for a meal. All this really is is Potato Leek soup and it's very easy to make and it's absolutely delicious. Frank changed his clothes, put on his handy dandy paper towel apron and started chopping up the leeks.

I asked him before we left Texas if I should bring one of my good knives along and he said no need. Well, let me tell you, he'll listen to me next time. It took him twice as long to chop these little suckers with one of the not very sharp knives in the condo than it would have at home. I won't ask next time and he'll be forever indebted to me for bringing a good knife along! If I played pool, I would never be without my cue stick, so why on earth as a cook would I ever be without a good knife???
Sunday night at Vanessi's is a tradition for us when we are in Santa Fe. We arrive there about 6:00 and have a light supper in the piano bar and listen to some great music. We know a lot of people there since we've been coming to Santa Fe for many years, so it's always like old home week. Rather like a scene from "Cheers" where everyone knows your name ;-) Shortly after we arrived our friends from Dallas, the Waldie's, arrived and joined us.

We listened to the music of Doug Montgomery at the piano as we sipped a glass of wine.

About an hour into the evening Doug asked a gentleman named Charlie Baca to come to the microphone and sing. He has a very pleasant voice and we always enjoy his singing.

Then out of the blue, Charlie invited Frank to join him in a song. I watched the color drain from Frank's face and he very quickly declined. Several years ago when we were at Vanessi's our cousin, P.C., was invited to sing.

A friend and I decided that he needed some help, so we went up to the microphone with him. The rest is history. We were dreadful! Once we started there was no way to stop, but fortunately the trumpet player got up and joined us and helped to drown out our voices.

Frank's cousin has a nice voice but I won't speak for mine and Sue's. I have never done this before and certainly won't ever make that mistake again! Funny how a little wine makes you think that you can sing like Barbara Streisand!
We had breakfast at home the next day and met some new friends for lunch. We are mutual friends with Darden McFarlin and he introduced us to each other via Email.

Darden, Jose and his wife Kay have homes in Austin. They are a delightful couple and we really enjoyed their company. This photograph doesn't do either of them justice as he is very handsome and she is a beautiful woman.
They introduced us to a new place for lunch (at least it was new to us). It's a salad bistro called Vinaigrette. It's sometimes very difficult to park in SF, so they picked us up.
We had a lovely table outside, but it was so chilly that we decided to move inside where it was warm. Not as much atmosphere as on the patio but much more comfortable.

I started with a wonderful mushroom soup which was filled with many varieties of fresh mushrooms and topped with a crusty piece of bread.

I then had the Cobb Salad with tomato, avocado, hard boiled egg, bacon, roast chicken and blue cheese chopped and tossed with fresh romaine and classic Cobb vinaigrette.

We topped the meal off with a lovely bottle of red wine.
After lunch we came home and took a nap. We're not used to having wine at lunch anymore. As good as it was, it made us quite sleepy.
We had reservations at The Old House in the El Dorado Hotel for dinner, but we decided to cancel and stay home, watch TV and eat our Potato/Leek soup and some bruschetta instead. It was a wise choice.

As Frank was interested in watching season one of The Tudors, it seemed like the perfect thing to do on a Monday night. I found this photograph to be very appropriate since Henry's wives heads are missing!

I have seen the entire series, but Frank has not, so I brought the DVD's of season one with us. I have purchased the first three seasons and am on the waiting list for the last season that has just aired. This series is an excellent addition to my DVD library. We hope to complete watching season one on this trip.
XOXO, Pcasso

BYE BYE BEARADISE, HELLO CITY DIFFERENT!

We said goodbye this morning to all of the Bearapharnalia at Bearadise and were in our way to Santa Fe. This little sculpture reminds me of Larry and Frank when they go fishing. Wonder who the baby bear is???

There are several well know landmarks that we pass on the road when we're on our way to our home away from home. One is called Starvation Peak.

As you wind your way on your journey along the Santa Fe Trail, to the south of the freeway you will see the tall but relatively small mesa called Starvation Peak. Legend has it that settlers were chased up the mountain and held there, surrounded by Indian warriors, until they succumbed to starvation. It was a prominent landmark and made for interesting stories around the campfire for Santa Fe Trail traders.
The drive from Raton to Santa Fe only takes a few hours and the scenery exceptionally beautiful. The closer you get to SF, you start to notice that the earth is beginning to turn red.

I always become very excited when we see this change because I know that our destination is very near.
When we arrived in town, we went straight to La Choza for lunch where we met Teresa and Gary, our niece and nephew. They had driven up from Albuquerque to see us.

We needed a chili fix, so we had our standard Enchilada Christmas style. For those of you unfamiliar with NM native cuisine, that's with both red and green chili. YUM! We started off with chips and salsa and a cerveza, the perfect way to begin a meal!

I've always admired this painting that has adorned the walls there for years and one of these days I may attempt to paint my very own rendition of it. It's so very Santa Fe.

After lunch, the kids were on their way and we went to our condo to get unpacked for the next couple of weeks.

We decided that we needed to make a quick grocery run and of all things, we ran into our friends, the Ellis' at Albertson's!

This seems to be a regular event since the town is not that big, but we run into this particular couple at the grocery store a lot. What makes it really odd is that she doesn't even cook! I suppose they were window shopping ;-)
As we had eaten a late lunch, we decided to go to a small local place for a light supper. Soup and a sandwich sounded divine. It's called Del Charro. It's located in the Inn of the Governors.

It's a cozy little place with good food, fast service and it's very inexpensive. It reminds me a little of the Hog's Breath Inn in Carmel since it's basically outside but it's covered and you can eat there year round. The only thing that was missing was Clint Eastwood. It would have been very nice if he had shown up!
I had asked Frank when we left the house if he thought we needed to take the cell phone and we both decided there was no need as the restaurant was only a few blocks away and we would not be gone long. Well ..... BIG mistake!
When we returned Frank realized that the key to the condo was missing. I had left my key just inside the locked door sitting beside my phone! There was no way to get to either of them.

He went back to the restaurant thinking that the key must have slipped out to his pocket when he paid the bill. No luck. He even looked all along the street where we had parked but found nothing, not even a few lost coins.

He then came back to the condo where I was waiting patiently on the porch and noticed that the people in the next condo had just arrived from their dinner. He asked if he could use their phone to call the manager since he had lost our key and they said they had found it. However ... they had dropped it into the night slot on the office door and the office was closed for the weekend. UGH! We kept calling and calling and finally, we got in touch with the office manager and were able to get in as she came and unlocked our door.
There was a lesson well learned there. Always hide an extra key somewhere in case of an emergency. Thank goodness for good neighbors!
Who knows what adventures are around the next corner!
XOXO, Pcasso

WHERE THE DEER BUT NO ANTELOPE PLAY!

Today was an uneventful day for us. We met Bev and Larry for lunch at The Sweet Shop in Raton. When we lived there in the 50's, it was located downtown and was primarily a candy shop that served a few sandwiches at the counter as well as making all their own candy if I remember correctly. Well ... they should have stuck to making candy. I had a chicken salad sandwich which seemed like a safe bet, and when it arrived, it was toasted which was certainly not expected.The most that I can say is that it was very different.

The Stolarczyk's left for Santa Fe right after lunch and then they would be on their way in the morning to Las Cruces for Lisa's graduation. I'm sorry that we could not have been there for this special event since we have know Lisa since she was about 2 years old. She's a terrific young woman and has done quite well for herself. I'm sure that her folks are very proud of her. We certainly are!

After lunch we went back home and just took it easy the rest of the day. Frank had to run to the Super Save in the afternoon and he decided that we would not try our luck at any more local places and have fried chicken at home tonight. Seemed like a good plan to me!

We brought our take-outie food in and watched the elimination program of So You Think You Can Dance. We love that show and it was a very good episode. Those young kids are SOO talented!

We had one more day in Raton, so the next morning we decided to drive to Angel Fire, NM for lunch. If you haven't already figured this out, this entire trip will be focused on food. We love to eat and Santa Fe has some delicious restaurants, so we keep going back on a regular basis with many interesting stops along the way.
To get to Angel Fire, you have to go through Cimarron Canyon and then on to Eagle Nest. The drive through the canyon is beautiful and you pass by an area which is called the Palisades.
The rock cliffs are spectacular.

Once you've left the canyon, you descend into a little town called Eagle Nest which is situated on a small lake.

When Frank and I were engaged, I went to New Mexico to meet his folks, and we ended up having to spend the night in Eagle Nest with the entire family which was huge. As it happened, there was no bed for me to sleep in, so I ended up sleeping in a sleeping bag on the kitchen floor in front of the refrigerator. What one will do when she's in love. Today I think the Holiday Inn is roughing it!
Once we left Eagle Nest, we left the main highway and headed for Angel Fire. There is a mountain on the way to Angel Fire named "Old Baldy" (all of the mountains seem to have names in New Mexico) If you look closely, you can probably figure out why it got that name.

Frank's family owns a gold mine near there at the foot of the mountain. The only problem is that no one has been able to find it! We have the deed, but back when his family staked their claim there many years ago, all the description said was that is was so many feet past a certain marker and then turn either east or west until you come to a pile of rocks. No one has ever been able to find it, but we can still say that we own a gold mine!
We arrived at Angel Fire just in time for lunch.

They have torn down the old clubhouse and built a new one that is wonderful. It has a restaurant, gym, spa and there is a great golf course. We used to own acerage there but we gave it to the church.

We were both a little weary from driving and soaking in all the beautiful scenery, so we decided to have a beer and a burger on hte terrace outside of the pro shop as the main dining room was not open for lunch.

The weather was perfect, but as we finished our lunch, the skies clouded over and we decided that we had better head for cover and start for home. As threatening as they look, stormy New Mexico skies are beautiful.

The storm didn't last long, so on the way back through the canyon we stopped at the Old Log for a drink of crystal clear mountain water. When we lived there, we would take Sunday drives and bring some of that great tasting pure water home. It was always a treat for our children to stop at the old log. It made us feel like pioneers.

As we came back through the town of Cimarron, we decided to stop at the St. James Hotel. It's a pretty famous local hangout.
Many well-known people stayed there over the years. Wyatt Earp, his brother Morgan, and their wives spent three nights at the St. James on their way to Tombstone, Arizona. Jesse James stayed there several times, always in room 14, signing the registry with his alias, R.H. Howard. Jesse James’ nemesis and would be killer, Bob Ford, also stayed at the St. James.
Buffalo Bill Cody, who was a goat ranch manager for Lucien Maxwell for a short time, met Annie Oakley at the hotel and began to plan and rehearse their Wild West Show. When Henry’s son Fred was born, Buffalo Bill nicknamed him "Cyclone Dick” because he was born during a blustery snow storm, and he was soon asked to be Fred’s godfather.
When Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley left Cimarron to take their show on the road, they took an entire village of Indians from the Cimarron area with them.
Other notables who have stayed at the historic inn include Bat Masterson, train robber Black Jack Tom Ketchum, General Sheridan, Kit Carson, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid, Clay Allison, Pat Garret, artist Fredrick Remington, Governor Lew Wallace, and writer Zane Grey. The Hotel was later renamed the St. James and continues to cater to travelers today.
They have recently renovated the place and have restored it to it's original beauty. I forgot to mention that it's also supposed to be haunted, so that adds to the attraction of the place.

We stopped to look around and ran across these bikers in the bar. They looked as if they had just stepped off of the set of "The Milagro Beanfield War", so we decided that we should join them in a little libation ourselves, so I had a Vodka Tonic and Papa had a Margarita.

We watched them drive out into the almost sunset and then we took a quick tour of the place.

We used to drive to Cimarron to eat in the restaurant in the St. James on Sundays after church and sometimes on Saturday night when we could find a sitter. It was a nice drive and the food was really good. The place needed a "face lift" and the new owners did a super job restoring it. I'd like to have MY face lifted, but I couldn't stand the pain!

When we left Cimarron we drove through Philmont Scout Ranch which is the National Headquarters for the Boy Scouts of America. It was there that we saw this herd of buffalo.

Little did we know that when we saw the buffalo, we would soon see the deer playing (but no antelope today!)

They were in the velvet and were beautiful. In the wink of an eye, they were over the fence running past the buffalo and then they disappeared. I'm certainly glad that I was ready for that Kodak moment.

We then drove past headquarters. It's a lovely old home. We went to a dinner party there in the early 60's and had buffalo steaks. That was before it was the fashionable food of the month and I felt like a woman in a Wild West movie !

The scouts don't stay in such comfortable quarters, but they seem to always have a great time.

When my honey was a young man, he used to go to Philmont in the summer. I later found out that he was really a girl scout rather than a boy scout since he and his buddies would sneak out at night and visit the girls at Cimarroncita which was an exclusive girls camp right down the road. Most of the girls that attended this camp were from Texas. I suppose he was scouting for me at the time but didn't know it ;-) With those kind of antics it's a miracle that he ever made Eagle Scout!
We arrived at Bearadise just before dinner and were ready to call it a night (or day)!

We wanted to get an early start tomorrow as we would be on our way to Santa Fe, so we had a light supper, watched a little TV and went to bed. In the words of Miss Scarlet, "Tomorrow is another day!"
XOXO, Pcasso