Mexican grocery shopping

One of bloggers that I like to read, Judy Laquidera of  Patchwork Times ,  has suggested on her blog, that she and any of her readers that are interested, will set aside a day and all make tamales on that day.

We would all be able to communicate through her blog, and ask questions if we have any trouble...and we'll all post photos of our finished tamales.  Tamales are usually made in huge batches since there are a lot of steps to making them...you don't want to spend all that time for one meal's worth of tamales.

It sounds like fun to me and I have been wanting to try tamale making. So I am getting my ingredients together.

One thing I couldn't find was the corn husks to wrap them in...so I searched out a Mexican Grocery.
This looks pretty authentic...there's even a car parked halfway on the side walk!

Mi Preferida Supermercado (My Favorite Supermarket). There was a restaurant in  the rear but I didn't look in  there.

There were a lot of items in there that I wasn't able to identify and wouldn't have any idea what to do with.

Those packages on the bottom are some evil looking dried peppers!

Lot's of produce I am unfamiliar with....

These must be a sort of cactus, they are covered with short spines!

A wall of small packages of spices and powders.  Should I be buying some of this for tamales?

I did recognize the corn husks when I found them, and also a bag of masa harina...the corn flour I will need for the tamales.

I also picked up a couple of cans of tomatillos that I use when making a different Mexican dish (tomatillo pork), and a package of pre-made corn tortillas just to have on hand.

It was a nice store...clean, well stocked, polite employees. They even had a butcher shop/ meat counter  there. 

Now, I need to keep looking at recipes...and maybe watch a few YouTube videos to see tamale rolling techniques.

And I might have to buy a steamer basket.

riding around with the paper boy

My husband volunteers at church to help distribute the church newspapers.  It's not delivering individual copies to homes, but delivering to businesses where people can pick up a free paper from a rack.

The church puts out their paper once a week. Lonnie can usually get his picked up from the church and delivered all in one day...but yesterday we were running errands in the area, so he decided to go ahead and get his papers loaded a day ahead.

He delivers to grocery stores, doctor's waiting rooms, hair salons, several fire stations, a tire shop, a couple of restaurants...places like that.

Some places get ninety papers on a rack. others might just get two or three in a waiting area.

he makes 37 stops on delivery day.

Here he is all loaded for the next day!

I just sat and did some stitching instead of helping out!  Lazy me!  He works so fast, I would have just been in the way, though.

The good thing about this volunteer work is that the delivery days are a little bit flexible (within 3 days), and they can always find a replacement if there is a week when he has to go out of town.

He enjoys getting out and about and away from his desk for the day.

all ready for Christmas

That little Christmas fabric table topper that I started on in class at the Bees meeting is now quilted and bound.  I wanted to get it finished up and put away so I can concentrate on making progress on the big quilt I am working on.

Hmmm, this probably won't be where I will put it at Christmas. It's just here for the photo shoot. I even dug out some holiday dishes that are kind of matchy.

I had the hardest time quilting this. I kept wondering what was wrong. I just couldn't get a smooth rhythm going.

When I was finished, I found out why.  When I had changed the setting on my machine for quilting - it was supposed to be set on the black line below...that's for the feed dogs to be completely lowered so the quilt can slide around smoothly as you are stitching.

I had accidentally set it on the red line.  That is for silky slippery fabrics and triggers a small pin to come up with the feed dogs to prevent the fabric from sliding around.

Well, no wonder I was having such a problem. My machine was set to do the exact opposite of what I was trying to do.

Live and learn, I guess...at least it wasn't a big quilt!

annual fish fry

My parents had their annual Fish Fry yesterday. They have been doing it at least sixteen years...maybe seventeen or eighteen!

This time it fell on my mothers birthday!  Happy Birthday to you!!!

We always used to eat in the back yard, but they had a big shade tree removed, so now we eat in the garage..much cooler down there!

The fryer is just outside the garage doors so the fish is hot from the fryer!

Look at this nice spread...fish, hush puppies, potato salad, corn cobettes, broccoli salad, coleslaw, sausage baked beans, and deviled eggs...also sliced garden tomatoes and potato chips.

Then it's dessert time!

  Blueberry cheesecake, frosted fudge brownies and apple crumb pie.  It's hard to make a decision so we have to stay there long enough to eat another desert later!

We don't have a huge family...only twelve of us there...but we have interesting conversations about many different subjects...gardening, travel, automobiles, tv shows, pets, cooking and canning, wine making, quilting, hiking, biking, airplanes, camping....a variety of interests and hobbies.

A nice family gathering! 

  

baby turkeys are growing

Last month I showed some photos of a wild turkey family that passes through the back yard fairly regularly.
At that time there were lots of baby turkeys...at least sixteen.

There aren't as many now, but the ones that remain are really growing fast!

I couldn't get a good count on them, some would disappear into the woods while others were still coming from behind  the shed.

Now the mama is walking across the driveway. 

Hey, now they are out front!

"Oh no...looks like they've got us surrounded, Paw!"

"And they're closing in on us, Maw!"

Then they moseyed on...

Crow and Bunny watched them disappear into the sunset.

Actually, I think crow was trying to figure out if Bunny was selfishly eating something good over there.

It was just sort of funny to see them so close together.

I really like living here -  where I see so many birds and wild animals.

chicken and wild rice soup

Surprise!!

No - that's not the recipe- but it is the inspiration.  It's one of Campbell's best soups. It's my husband's favorite.  

This is my second try at duplicating it.  The first time I was out of celery, which adds a lot of flavor. 

This time, I think it tastes very close to Campbell's, but fresher and homemade.

Darla's Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

4 stalks celery,diced

1 onion,diced

1 1/2 cup diced carrots

1 to 2 cups cooked chicken, diced

chicken broth (about a quart)

1 cup white rice (long grain, jasmine, or basmati)

1 small box wild rice ( I believe this was a 3 or 4 oz. package)

bay leaf

parsley

salt

pepper

The wild rice takes a long time to cook, so I began cooking it separately, using the package directions, before I started dicing the veggies.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in your soup pot and saute diced veggies until tender. 

Add diced chicken, chicken broth,and spices.  Go easy on the salt for now...you can always add more later.

Bring to a boil and stir in uncooked white rice. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is tender.

Add cooked wild rice, and more broth if needed. (The white rice will have absorbed a lot of broth)

Simmer another 10 minutes or so.  Taste and add salt if necessary.  Maybe a couple of splashes of hot sauce.  

My broth was a bit fatty as you can see by the shine.  I used broth that I had in the freezer from cooking a turkey breast.  Ordinarily, I would have used chicken soup base paste.

My husband really liked it. It's a filling soup - but not too heavy.  

This makes a big batch but should be okay to freeze some for later.

textiles booth at the fair

It's State Fair time!   Every year, my quilting group, the Mt Washington Quilting Bees, volunteers to spend a day in the textiles area, demonstrating quilting and other needlework to interested fair goers.

We get started soon after the gates open so there are still some closer parking spaces available. The food booths are getting ready for business and it's hard to walk past them with all those good smells coming from within.

Here is my partial selfie with "Freddy Farm Bureau".  There is a live person somewhere, who does his voice. They can see and hear whoever is standing in front of Freddy.    You feel sort of weird talking to him...but it seems rude not to.

Here is where we sit...at the textiles demonstration area 

My friend, Shirley was doing something a little different. She was showing how she makes winter caps on a circular loom.  She always had a crowd around her asking questions. 

More of the group here...showing English paper piecing and handing out little kits.

We were all so busy talking to visitors and sewing...the time passed really fast.

There were also a couple of "hookers" at the tables with us.   Well...Rug Hookers  - their craft is called rug hooking!  That's what the lady in pink on the left, with a wooden frame in front of her, is doing.

When our shift was over I took a quick look through the rows and rows of quilts on display.

 So much talent and skill... I don't see how they can pick the winners.

These miniature ones are so cute!

Below is what I was working on in the textiles booth.  Hand sewing these "Tumbling Blocks".  

When I got home I sewed up a few more while sitting outside on the back porch...enjoying the perfect weather! 

These aren't pressed or sewn to together in rows yet....just laid out to see that dimensional effect.   This will be a good take-a-long project to work on over time.