roofless

(sorry about the erratic spacing, Blogger won't let me correct it) Hubby's work squeeze play is coming up in a week, so he finagled a couple of days so we could get out of Dodge before he disappears into the commissioning of his project. He won't be up for air for a couple of weeks.

We headed out to the iconic Rio Grande, with a two day guided paddle through the Santa Elena canyon ahead, with Big Bend River Tours. Given that it was going to average 32 C, the temperature seemed perfect for tenting - since heat is still a novelty to us Canadians.

Gear was a bit of a problem - Hubby's new Transitions glasses we'd delayed leaving town to pick up blew a nose piece after an hour on the road. The new glasses straps we'd bought so we didn't lose the new ones in the drink frayed almost immediately. And the hook on my swimsuit top snapped as I was getting dressed the first morning. Hubby managed to jury rig it together.

But whatever. We were exhilarated to be heading into elevation - the Chihuahuan desert has the Chisos mountains, which have the spectacular addition, along with the river, of - wait for it - trees! Hubby, we're not in Odessa anymore!

We met our guide and drove out through Big Bend National Park to our put in spot, right on the doorway of the canyon. Yucca was in bloom, the brush was leafing out, and the spectacular height of the 1500' canyon walls dwarfed us as we loaded the canoes.

The Rio Grande is such a storied river it was astonishing to see it more of a creek. Our trip, in fact, consisted of an easy 3 mile paddle upstream on flat, shallow water day one and an even easier paddle downstream the next day. Coming from the ferocious white water of the Rockies, this took a shift of expectation.

I was devastated by the beauty. The silence seeped into us and we spent whole hours without speaking, heads turned up towards the layered walls, the sudden caves, the light. Our guide found us a shady gravel ledge and set out a wide sandwich bar. I hadn't had Oreos for a decade but in this setting -ambrosia.

Slow paddling, interspersed with portages where we towed the canoe up brief, shallow riffles, sun, shade, birdsong - up the long nave of stone to the sandbar where we'd set up camp. Initially disappointed that I'd left our current books behind, Hubby took to the chairs our guide set up to 'canyon tv' and we spent the rest of the late afternoon watching the sun move up the walls, talking, sipping wine as we waited for supper to be ready. He forgot about the books immediately.

Can I tell you how much I was enjoying not having planned the food, prepped the food or having made the food?

We had bacon wrapped steaks cooked to order, baked potatoes with all the toppings, crisp salad with homemade dressing, spicy garlic toast...and chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Hubby loves cheesecake, but not chocolate, so I happily ate off the chocolate glaze while feeding him the vanilla cake.

Canyon tv had aerial divebombing by white throated swifts, followed even before sunset with fluttering bats in the lower, shadowed canyon. Next came the light show and we watched each star slip into the pale sky, eventually following satelites and shooting stars in our narrow strip of view.

My neck was defeated by all the craning, so by flashlight we went to our tent where we could continue the show all night, since the mesh window on the tent went from ankle height right over our heads to the other side. I woke in the night to a new noise, a scruffling close to the tent, and lay awake for a while, staring up at those brilliant stars, until I felt sure we would not be invaded.

Morning brought the scent of frying breakfast sausage. Coffee in hand, we watched the sun slide down the steep walls, eventually eating pancakes with berries and bananas, whip cream, sausage and orange juice. Did I mention we weren't even expected to wash dishes?

A leisurely pack up pace and then the downstream trip, with almost no towing, and when there was, Hubby let me stay in the canoe.

It was idyllic. Only the occasional sound of ripples. Rooms of light illuminating stands of grass and reed into brilliant colours. A few turtles. Hubby would kiss me when he came for the painter at the front of the canoe.

All too soon, the canyon gateway loomed and we were passing daytrippers, and then hikers. Their voices carried to us from half a mile and Eden faded away. After hauling gear at take out, our guide set up lunch, and we looked out over the river at the sheer cliffs we'd come through. Hubby hugged me. "Thank you baby. That was amazing."

In the land of Texas bbq...Korean bulgogi

Where's the beef? Well, lots of it is home on the Texas range. And millions of pounds of brisket, sausage and steak are grilled and barbecued each year, with long lines of Texans chowing down on well-prepared cow. Or eating it seasoned and spicy Mexican style.

But I've had a hankering for Asian food. So I took those beautiful ribeyes and sliced them thinly, sprinkling on the requested sugar and then after they'd glazed a little, put the marinade on and let that beef get savoury.

A quick toss in a hot pan and I served up with pickled red onions, sesame oil tossed bean sprouts and butter lettuce to wrap it in. Mmm...almost as good as being at Bow Bulgogi in Calgary.

a la francaise

Before leaving Calgary, I received a lovely gift from CC. Her husband is an excellent woodworker and he has been experimenting with creating french rolling pins. I've been working solely with a tiny 6" Indian style rolling pin - hey, maybe I can blame the flop pie on the pin! - so this was a welcome gift.

("Is that a man-beating stick?" Hubby asked when he saw it. I just smiled.)

Here are Hubby's hands, making graham crumbs for low-effort, high reward microwave cheesecake. The pin worked well, and with Hubby working well...why would the pin be used for anything but rolling?

Microwave cheesecake - fast, easy and truly effective at sweet tooth appeasement. It's elsewhere on the web but here it is for those of you not trolling for hot new recipes.
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 Tbsp sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Combine the graham crumbs with melted butter and the 1 Tbsp sugar. Divide the crumbs between 4 one cup ramekins or small canning jars and press into the bottom.

Mix the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Divide evenly into jars or ramekins.

Place in microwave for 2 minutes. The top of the cheesecake should appear dry when cooked. If it doesn't look quite done, microwave at 30 second intervals until the tops appear dry. Chill in the fridge 1 hour. Garnish with berries or fruit compote and serve.

Lime flavour option: omit the vanilla, add the zest of 1 lime and 2 Tbsp lime juice.

Once my mom comes next week, I'll ask her to make pie crust with me and we'll give the pin a trial of its true purpose, seeing if that silky finish lives up to its promise. (sorry, we ate the cheesecake before I remembered to take a picture. Not for the first time.)

My kingdom for a good fish counter...

...oh wait, I have one of those, because I have H-E-B. Great fish in West Texas! Who knew?!

Of course I've checked out the local grocery stores. My first few experiences, Albertsons and Walmart, were not great. Limp produce, limited selection: was not feeling the love. But then I heard about H-E-B, which I've been pronouncing 'heb'; the commercials clarify that it's really H E B, short for "Here, everything's better". Ohhh, hokeyness. But then guess what: it was a rose in the desert, a Texas/Mexico-based freshness-and-local-focused food emporium. It has no atmosphere - it's not Whole Foods pretty- but the meat, produce and fish is largely Texas sourced and has been brought in within 24 hours.

Plus they're making tortillas all day long. Fresh, warm tortillas! When I see the catfish at the seafood counter, it gets my juices going...fish tacos, anyone? Hubby loves fish tacos. And here I've been in the south for 3 weeks and haven't had catfish yet!! As in, I have never had catfish. This must be rectified.

The ahi tuna I bought for New Year's Eve was good - there it is, marinating in olive oil - as have been the gulf shrimp. I intend to thoroughly check out the rest of the options in the fish case.

Then there was Lamb's stone ground cornmeal from Converse, TX. Could there be simpler packaging? Made some good grits with it, tarted up with the last of the Tomme d'Savoie from Janice Beaton.

All in all, I'm very relieved. Good groceries are just down the street.

A shocking absence of big hair

Hubby and I headed south in December. Someone asked where in Texas we were moving and when I replied, "unfortunately it's 'ugly Texas'", her response was "Oh, you're moving to Midland!", and indeed we are.

Or actually Odessa, the twin city next door to Midland. Not for a long time, but hopefully a good time. I paid the import duty for myself at the border: $6 US to bring one of me in. (processing fee for my companion visa)

In preparation for leaving our condo to our friends T&K, who would happily be able to housesit for us, I made a list of possibly mysterious homemade items in the fridge: sundried tomato tapenade, pickled red onions, preserved lemons, 3 kinds of herb butters, wine vinegar in the making, plus glace fruit from Paris...what a food geek. Thankfully, T is a foodie like me and will likely actually use these things.

The morning we drove out was full of hoar frost through southern Alberta. I had calculated that since Manuel Latruwe bakery opened at 7:30am, we would be able to stop by for some pain au chocolate and a baguette - a real, delicious, crisp crust baguette to eat with cheese and smoked buffalo for lunch. It's a Janice Beaton bag full of cheese in the photo of the back of the SUV; I doubt there will be Beaufort in Odessa. And unfortunately, I'm very sure there will not be good baguette - or possibly ANY baguette in West Texas.

Hubby started drawling before we even hit the lone star state, and at the same stop in New Mexico I was ma'amed for the first time. We were definitely not in our Kansas, anymore.

The drive - besides being LONG - was uneventful for us, although we passed half a dozen semi's on their sides in the ditch, blown over from ferocious wind in the pass above Pueblo, Colorado.

The best meal of the trip was in Hereford, Texas - yes, many businesses were named 'Whiteface', and Hubby's cattle side enjoyed this immensely - where we ate at K-Bob's, having the steak, of course. I ordered green beans on the side, craving something vegetal: they came southernized, I think. I'm still learning about this but they were what I would normally say were overdone, except that they also were in a smoky kind of sauce, so I think it was planned. Unless they burned them to the bottom of the pan. I'll continue to research this and let you know.

It was a relief to have used the last gas station bathroom. The sunset was spectacular but we really just wanted to get out of the truck and start making home out of our rented condo. The simple pasta I made that night wasn't fabulous, but it was real food and it tasted good. Plus, it had collard greens in it - collard greens! There they were, just sitting on the shelf in the produce section, along with mustard and turnip greens. I had to try them. The flavour is slightly bitter and although the leaf doesn't look or feel that dense, they take longer than expected to wilt in the pan. I'm looking forward to exploring the rest of the local grocery stores.

In the heat of the bite

Spurred by an invitation to an international potluck brunch, I dug out this recipe. Even those who resist Indian food - I'm looking at you, Dad! - seem to warm up to 'meatloaf'. I doubled the recipe so I would have extra to serve as the starter for a couple of suppers we're hosting this week and at each event, it's resulted in an empty plate and requests for the recipe.

So in the interest of great tasting food that a few smart purchases from Superstore makes so much easier, may I introduce Dam Ke Kebab, adapted from 'Classic Indian Cuisine'. Plus it sounds so fun to say, especially three times fast with a hint of an accent.

1 pound ground beef

1 tsp fresh, ground ginger (I use the bottled crushed ginger from SS)

3 cloves of crushed garlic

1 tsp dried chilies (or to taste)

2 tsps curry powder or garam masala

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp chili powder

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 onion, sliced thin and fried until crisp (I use the crisp fried onions from the spice section in SS)

salt, at least a teaspoon or to taste

Juice of 1 lemon, divided in half

Mix everything together, with half of the lemon juice. Press into a greased 8x8" pan and brush with oil. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes; then turn the oven down to 300 degrees for another 20 minutes, or until the meat has shrunk and turned slightly golden. Remove to a cutting board and drizzle with the second half of the lemon juice. Cut in small squares.

Serve with this Indianesque mint yogurt dip that I faked up.

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tsp mint chutney (I use Aki's brand from you-know-where)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

The quantities are approximate - combine enough of each to make it taste good.

I'm Saltine, and I follow food fads

I succumbed to a novelty, and for our delayed Thanksgiving feast, made my family eat turducken. There. Admitting the problem is the first step, right?

It's ridiculous - a chicken, inside a duck, inside a turkey, all boneless, and in this case, stuffed with sausage. Tarbucket, turdbucken - I'm sure all the nicknames my family gave the beast were covering a deep unease but never let that stop you! It needed a honest try to know if it was frankenturkey or sliced bread's successor. After all, the juicy chicken, the rich duck, wrapped in the turkey - there's a lot of potential there.

The shape was impressively deceptive: aside from some fearful stitches on the side (look away, look away!) it was as smooth and shapely as any Butterball. The wings and drumsticks are still attached, so tucking it into my roaster, it was easy to believe that it was a regular turkey, although I don't usually sprinkle spicy-looking seasoning on mine.

Cooking is literally an all-day process - 6 hours at 220 degrees until the thermometer registered 165. The package gives a two hour window for completion - two hours! - which is insane, because who knows when to start the potatoes, how many appetizers will be required, how to coordinate all the sides when there's that much leeway. Indeed, climbing the last few degrees took a surprising amount of time.

Carving, however, is a cinch. Whack it in half, slice the halves. Even carving-impaired Hubby could do it.

The slices were heavy on turkey and sausage, light on chicken and duck. Flavour - hmmm - there was some, yup there really was - but wow, so not remarkable. The turkey tasted turkeyish, the sausage was a fine paste of acceptable edibility but no. Won't be going there again.

So thanks, turkducken, for your mad scientist hybridization that gave a enjoyable frisson of danger to our dinner - but we'll stick with the original.