Beloved #2 (aka Dowger Empress Poo Lee Shah) and the remains of her clan are scheduled to go off to their next work post, Medan, Indonesia, on July 27. It will be a much reduced clan. 2.2 is continuing her studies in Spain. 2.3 will be starting his university studies at Xavier in Cincinnati in August. So it will only be 2B and 2.4 who will be going off this trip. We very much wanted to see them before they leave. However, with Wife still in her boot and with limited mobility due to her broken foot. It was just not practical for us to fly and see them. Despite all the stuff they have to do to get ready to depart, they made the decision to come visit us for the 4th of July weekend.
We were very glad they did and we had a really good time.
Put 2B and I in any given physical space and one can be sure there will be massive amounts of gastronomic activity. #2 wanted to be sure to get her NM Chile fix and bring certain things with her to Asia she can't get there. 2B also was on a NM food reminder kick. He also brought 4 bottles of wine with him for us to do a wine tasting.
I planned a major 4th of July feast with smoked ribs, three kinds of kebabs (lamb, pork, chicken) and four kinds of vegetable kebabs (yellow squash, eggplant, mushrooms, onions) with Syracuse salt potatoes, and a strawberry pie (made by #2) for dessert. That was followed by our watching the entire city of Albuquerque a glow with home delivered fireworks from the upper deck of the Man Tower.
A particular highlight of this trip for me was the time I spent with 2.4. As is the case with all of our grandchildren who have had their growing up years far away from us, it can be very difficult to develop a relationship. 2.4 is 11 and he has developed a real interest in cooking. This turned out to be a major opportunity for he and I to bond.
We started on Thursday. 2B & #2 really wanted to go out for NM food for lunch, there first real meal here. I suggested to 2.4 that he and I could go get a burger at local chain, Lottaburger, and then he could help me start prepping all the meat for the 4th. He jumped at the opportunity.
Me showing my pathetic selfie skills showing us at Lottaburger
This young man has seriously good knife skills for his age. He wanted to and I let him cube all the meats for kebabs. This was some 4+ pounds of meat. Then we got to work on the flavorings. I seasoned the lamb with classic French garlic, thyme, rosemary & red wine, the pork with a Georgian combination of grated onion, oregano, & pomegranate molasses, and the chicken with an Indonesian inspired Salt Soy Sauce, Sweet Soy Sauce, & Five Spice Powder.
2.4 showing some serious mortar and pestle skills pounding herbs taken with his own selfie video
Here are our meats ready to marinate overnight
While we were doing our Georgian Pork marinade, 2.4 said he had seen a way to avoid the onion eye burning by doing the grating under the stove exhaust hood. I decided to give it a try.
You can see what happened
The next morning on the 4th, he and I went out again to Lottaburger for their great breakfast burritos.
Slightly better selfie of us taken by me with local mountains and blue sky in the background.
That afternoon he cut up all the veggies for the kebab (there were a lot). Today, on Sunday, he helped with making brunch. I had a grilled veg frittata. He cracked and mixed all the eggs. I fried up potatoes. He cut all the potatoes.
Seriously, this young man was a GREAT help and saved me a lot of time...not to mention us having real quality time together.
