Rites of Late Summer

Labor Day - not the real last day of summer but for most people the last lazy day before the Autumn start the fourth quarter work wise/change of seasons/school start/etc, etc, etc.

For me August was a very tiring month with lots of business travel and a much effort to get my business income going again after the enforced slow down from the operation. I really needed the three day weekend and made good use of it doing things that well are pretty traditional for the season.

I suppose hiking really doesn't really qualify since I hike all year round. But it was a really nice day for it on Saturday with the temperature starting to cool off. I know most of you live in the northern climes but the that whole thing about 'dry heat' is a bunch of hooey. Go out and do physical exertion in 80 degree plus/under 10% humidity/totally sunny weather, and you become dehydrated and exhausted in no time. So we we really enjoyed the break in the weather.

We went on my old friend, the Embudo Trail, and I was accompanied by Wild Bill (previously starred in such hiking hits as "I didn't think there would be any snow up here this late" and "Wow this was a lot harder than I thought" and "I thought we'd be done by now but evidently we've got two more miles to go") and new hiking buddy, Cabinet Lady.

I'm happy to say that I did the hike well within my pre-operation time though as a result of the effort I was a vegetable for the rest of the afternoon.

Wild Bill expounding on something that must have been very interesting

You folks who don't live in New Mexico (our mottoes - "Just like Old Mexico but further North" and "Carpe Manana) have no idea that it is chile time - and spell it correctly with an 'e'. One of our few claims to fame other than having lots of land, very few people, and lot's of atomic weapons is we have the perfect climate for growing chile. At this time of year people by sacks of it (I mean 10 and 20 pound sacks), have it roasted, then prepare it and freeze it for the rest of the year. We even have an official state question, "Red or Green?" meaning do you want red or green chile sauce on your food - seriously

As expats here we do this on a minor scale. Mrs. de-I has found chile to be one of the better things that grow in the garden. So we just pick them from there and process them.

The Chile is broiled until it chars, then enclosed in something (foil in this case) until the skin loosens
On the left you see a chile with the skin on, in the center the skin off, and then being de-seeded

No three day weekend would be complete without our traveling East up the hill to the Visigoth compound (Children and Grandchildren) to pay our regular tribute. Since I had the Chile I thought I'd whip up some Chile Con Queso.

Yes folks that is a bottle of Cheez Whiz - I was tired and if Jacques Pepin uses prepared food so can I

It's been a very tiring and stressful August for the Visigoths what with this being the plundering and raiding season so none of us were up to our usual cooking and culinary best - heck we didn't even finish two bottles of wine! But one of our better dishes was Jumbo Shrimp over the grill

Small pieces of scallion inside, marinated in a little soy and mirin, wrapped in bacon and grilled
Awesome

Most of the little Goths were tired too but not middle Goth J. I managed to get a picture of her not going like crazy.

I hate to say this but as J is a bit of a terror and she has red hair and the only person in her blood line with red hair is Mrs. de-I - draw your own conclusions.

Finally, as all you gardeners know, an ultimate glory of late summer are your fresh tomatoes.

(Terri - forgot to answer your question - MR's big heirloom tomato was interesting in flavor, sort of mild, neither too acidic or too sweet).

Wife has been fighting real battles with the pests this year including some virus that originates from tobacco (you know who you are!). And while she had to rip out a number of plants to save the others, those that remain have been producing wonderfully delicious fruit. One of my favorite ways was something I picked out of Saveur magazine a couple of years ago. Just a slice of really good bread, a little mayo, slices of tomatoes literally minutes from the garden, salt and pepper.

Goes really well with the plates too :)