A Jeanne in the Kitchen

My pelicans are back for the season, and they are having so much fun. Lately they have really been preforming and putting on a show every time they are around. Sometimes there is just one or two, and other times, there are quite a few.

And as with any good show, they invited some of their friends to join them as well. Here Mr. Mallard is swimming with the big birds.

An egret is making his cameo as well.

The show was spectacular right up to the finish. It ended in style, with the pelicans performing some of the aerial acrobatics.

The grand finale.

Have a great day everyone.

I grew up in Southern California where there is a very large Hispanic population and my mother was from South East Texas, where there is also a very large Hispanic population. So I am very familiar with a lot of the customs and traditions of Mexico and as well as the Mexican culture. And I LOVE good Mexican food.

As with the United States, Mexico is a large country with a lot of regions and regional cooking. In Southern California, the most popular type of Mexican food is Sonoran, or the Northern styles. In Texas, the traditional Mexican styles are mostly from the Gulf region. There are actually seven regions in Mexico that are known for their great cuisines. We go to Mexico a lot, mainly for diving, and we have been fortunate enough to try many of these different styles of cooking. We are very familiar with the foods from The South and especially Quintana Roo, since that is where we spend the bulk of our time when we visit Mexico. We are also very familiar with a lot of the Mayan and Yucatan foods, which are completely different again. I love all the different styles of cooking in Mexico.

• The North, which includes Baja, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas
• The North Pacific Coast, which includes Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco and Colima
• The Bajio or Michoacán, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi and Queretaro
• The South Pacific Coast, which includes Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas
• The South or Campeche, Yucatan & Quintana Roo
• The Gulf or Tabasco & Veracruz
• Central Mexico or Mexico, Puebla, Morelos, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo and Distrito Federal (Federal District / Mexico City)

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, or the 5th of May. Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. While it is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations. Just like on St. Patrick’s Day when everyone is Irish for the day, everyone becomes Mexican on Cinco de Mayo, even if only for the day. I honored the day by cooking Mexican food too, although I prepared something more from the Central part of Mexico, in the Oaxacan style. I made a mole sauce from apples, peanuts, chilies, onions and tomatoes to go over my chicken. I served it with arroz verde, or green rice, and maize or corn and topped it with avocates, or avocados. !Este mui delicioso!

Moles are traditional Mexican sauces that are found all over the country. There are many different kinds and many different flavors, as well as many different colors. The name mole comes from the Ancient Nahuat’l word molli, which means “a bunch of ingredients ground up”. Moles are most typically made from a combination of chilies, spices, herbs, tomatoes or tomatillos, chocolate and seeds. The combinations are usually determined by the region where they originate. They can be thick or soupy, and can range in color from yellow, to vibrant green, to deep red and midnight black. Moles when made at home came use up to about 22 different ingredients and can take hours to fully cook and blend together. The task of making moles can seem a bit daunting at first, but really it is just roasting and grilling the vegetables and herbs and spices first, and then once that is done, it is just blending them all together to make the sauce. And like so many foods, they are often better the day after they are made, so all the flavors can fully mix together. The magic about mole sauces is that all of the ingredients used combine together in such a way that they surrender their individual identities and mesh together to create a whole new flavor that is unique to the sauce.

The mole I made this time was made from apples, chilies, peppers, tomatoes, onions and Mexican chocolate. In English, the name is Pasilla and apple mole. In Spanish, it is Mole de Manzana con Pasilla. It sounds so much more exotic in Spanish. This was a simple mole, and only needed a few ingredients, rather than 22 that many other styles require, and I even added a few of my own ingredients as well.

Mole de Manzana con Pasilla

3 1/2 oz pasilla chilies, seeded – if you cannot find pasilla chilies, try something different

1 white onion, quartered

3 tomatoes, split at the top

2 TBSP olive oil

1 lb sweet apples, sliced thin – I used Galas

1/2 cup peanuts, preferably raw

1 1/2 -2 TBSP garlic

1 tsp cumin

4-6 whole cloves

1 tsp cinnamon or Mexican canela (cinnamon sticks)

salt to taste

6-7 cups chicken stock

2 TBSP apple cider or apple cider vinegar

2 TBSP sugar

1/3 cup Mexican cocoa powder, or regular cocoa powder

red pepper flakes to taste

1 TBSP oregano

1-2 tsp chili powder or your choice – I used Ancho chili powder

1/4 cup cilantro

Roast the peppers and tomatoes until charred and grill the onion quarters until charred. Then sweat for a bit and remove the skins and the seeds from the peppers and rinse.

Preheat the oven to 500* F or 270* C.

To roast the tomatoes, remove the core and score the top of the tomatoes. Place them on a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet and roast for about 20-30 minutes or until charred.

While the tomatoes are roasting, saute the apples in the olive oil, along with the herbs and spices until soft, or for about 6-10 minutes.

You can either add the peanuts at the same time or you can do them separately. This time, I did them separately, in the remaining juice from the apples, along with the apple cider. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Once everything is cooked and charred, the hard parts and time consuming parts are finished. Now all that is left to do is to blend it all together and add the remaining ingredients in either a blender or a food processor to turn it all into a sauce. You might have to make it in batches, depending on the size of your blender or food processor.

This sauce is smoky, sweet and spicy all at the same time. The flavors were so smooth, and literally like nothing else you’ve ever tasted. It is Mexican velvet. I used this sauce over chicken. I still had some of our latest Costco rotisserie chicken left that needed to be used. This sauce will also go very well with pork or shrimp too though. !Desfruitas! !Esta mui delicioso!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo a todos. Stay happy, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Our Blue-Winged Teals are back. This time, I got lucky and saw both Mr. and Mrs. Teal swimming side by side. A family that swims together stays together. I keep looking for babies, for all my water birds, but so I haven’t seen any. I know they are around, yesterday, I saw some broken egg shells, but I haven’t seen the babies yet. Soon, though.

Mr. Teal.

Mrs. Teal.

Have a great day Everyone.

We are all familiar with shrimp scampi. It is a succulent shrimp dish with lots of garlic and butter that is served either over rice or pasta. As with any dish, particularly those that are widespread and have been around for a long time, there are many variations. These variations are part of what makes cooking so much fun. You can always start with the basics or classics and add your own personality to them to make them your own.

I was making some shrimp scampi and saw a recipe for shrimp rampi instead. As usual, I used the recipe as more of a guide and did my own thing. In all honesty, I had never heard of ramps before now. So, see, I learn new things all the time too. Ramps are wild leaks that are foraged from shady wooded areas all over North America. They have a pungent garlic and onion flavor and can be used in lieu of green onions. Ramps (which are sometimes called wild leeks or spring onions, adding to the confusion) look like scallions, but they’re smaller and slightly more delicate, and have one or two flat, broad leaves. Who knew? Now we all do.

For my rampy scampi, I did not use either leeks or ramps. I used spinach instead. You can also use mixed or collard greens as well. The dish was a big hit and it was a perfect spring meal.

Rampi Scampi

olive oil for cooking

lemon olive oil, optional

1 1/2 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined

6 oz of your choice, ramps, leeks, spinach or greens, chopped rough

1 1/2 TBSP garlic

1 tsp red pepper flakes or to taste

1 shallot, sliced very thin

1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in 1/2

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 TBSP butter

salt & pepper to taste

1-2 TBSP lemon juice

Get a skillet nice and hot and add your oil(s). Then add the shrimp and the red pepper flakes and cook until the shrimp are done and are nice and pink all around, about 7-8 minutes. Then add the wine and continue to cook for about 2-3 more minutes, or until the liquid is reduced to about half.

Add the garlic, shallots, spinach or greens and tomatoes and cook just long enough for the spinach to get wilted. to make it even more springy, I used a combination of tomatoes. I like the variety and color that they add.

Add the butter right at the end and fully incorporate into the mix. Then serve it all up over either cooked rice or pasta.

This time I served it over rice, with some herbed cheese bread on the side, and of course I completed the meal with some cool, crisp buttery chardonnay as well. Delicious!

Be bold and be creative. Don’t be afraid to think outside o the box. If fact, throw away the box. At the very least, you’ll have a good time, and more so than not, you’ll also have a delicious meal.

Stay happy, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

I am seeing more and more birds around all the time and I love it. Maybe they are just getting more comfortable with me and my camera these days too. Lately, all the birds are letting me get some really good shots of them. In fact, it’s almost like they are posing, just waiting to be discovered and captured with my lens. No matter what the reasons are behind it, I love each and every moment of it. 🙂

Today, I had some more Common Grackles that wanted my attention. They are so beautiful and multi-colored, and their colors were really on display too.

Yes, I do love my birds, a lot. But in reality, I just love taking pictures of all kinds. I just happen to come across a lot of birds. I will take pictures of anything and everything that tickles my fancy. 🙂

Blackberries are one of my favorite fruits and are definitely my favorite berry. I often eat them straight out of the container and eat them all until the container is empty. But this time I decided to share them with everyone else and used them for a blackberry coffee cake instead of gobbling them all up by myself.

Blackberry Coffee Cake

The coffee cake recipe is just a basic recipe and then I incorporated blackberries into the mix. I like making my coffee cakes in a bundt pan, although I also make them in a 9×13 baking pan as well. You can use either sour cream or yogurt in the mix. I use whatever one I have on hand at them time. Both are good and they substitute well for each other. This time, I used yogurt.

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180*

Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.

2/3 cup +1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

3 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup or 1 stick of softened butter

3 eggs

16 oz of either yogurt or sour cream

2 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup of blackberries

Toss the blackberries in a little flour to prevent from bleeding and set aside.

Combine 2/3 cup of sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.

In a mixer, mix the butter and 1 3/4 cups of sugar together until creamy, then add the eggs 1 at a time, and mix in between each addition. Then add the yogurt or sour cream and vanilla and mix again until well blended.

Add the flour mixture 1/2 at a time, mixing in between each addition. DO NOT overmix or the batter will be tough.

Once the batter is ready, gently fold the berries into the mix and spoon into the prepared bundt pan.

You can add the sugar mixture in two ways, using whatever method you prefer. You can spoon 1/2 of the batter into the pan and then sprinkle 1/2 of the sugar mixture around and then repeat or you can use it all on top. I do both, but this time, I used it all on top of the cake before putting into the oven. it really just depends on what I eel like at the time. Both ways are good, just different.

Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until it is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.

Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan and slicing it up. It is sweet and tart and moist and delicious all at the same time. This is a guaranteed hit with everyone.

You guessed it. This was on this week’s coffee cart, along with some donut holes and lemon bites. Yet again, I came home with a pretty empty platter, and that is exactly the result I am always hoping for too. 🙂

Sweeten up all your days by doing the things that make you happy. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Lately I am seeing more robins than I ever remember seeing in the past. I see them in the trees, on my roof, in the grassy areas, on the streets. I see them everywhere, all around. And that is perfectly OK. They are so beautiful. They are welcomed anytime.

Take in all the beauty you can and share it with everyone. It will brighten everyone’s days. beauty is all around, just waiting to be noticed.

It’s no secret I love my wines. I am always wine tasting somewhere, and I will try all the different wines that I can, everywhere I can. This time, I was tasting the wines of Nederland at Augustina’s.

What better way to describe Augustina’s than in her own words. Augustina’s Winery is a one-woman winery and was the first winery in Boulder County, Colorado. Started in 1997 by owner and winemaker, Gussie Walter, and making wine for the folks who like to have adventures, then laugh about them later on while having a glass of easy drinkin’ local wine. I use only Colorado grown grapes to make wines that go with backpacking, blues music, books, and gingersnaps. 

We had a fun time at Augustina’s. There was another couple visiting from Niagara Falls, and we had a fun time visiting with them too. While we were tasting and chatting, our mistress of the wine, Rebecca’s husband came in, and he is the one who told us that Rebecca is the artist who paints all the animals on the Carousel of Happiness. A Trip To Nederland – Part 1 – The Carousel of Happiness She does an amazing job at both serving up the local wines as well as keeping the animals looking gorgeous around the carousel. Meeting new people and hearing their stories is part of the fun of wine tasting, not to mention, trying all the new wines. 🙂

Rebecca, the Mistress of the Wines and Carousel Painter.

Larry was driving and is not the wine drinker, so it was just me doing the tasting. I took a flight and got to taste 5 different wines. I tried 2 whites and 3 reds. All of the wines were good. I think my favorite for the day was the Cab Franc, aka the Boulder Backpacking Wine. One of the other reds I tried and liked a lot was made from a “St. Vincent” grape. I never knew there was such a grape, but of course I had to try that one, because that is Vinnie’s real name. His full name is St. Vincent Billinger.

Colorado doesn’t have all the wines and selections that California does, but we do make some very good wines, and a good portion of the grapes used in Colorado wines are home grown, on the Western Slopes around the Palisade area. Believe it or not though, Colorado is home to more than 150 wineries. Our grand Valley, in Palisades, is ranked in the Top 10 of best wine regions in the country. Colorado’s wine industry generates $3.2 billion in economic impact per year, according to a 2017 study prepared for WineAmerica, the national association of American wineries. It employs 15,630 people directly, is responsible for $480 million in wages and generates 267,648 visits a year to its various wine regions, including the Grand Valley. Watch out California, here we come. 🙂

So next time you are up in Nederland, stop in at Augustina’s for a flight or a glass, or both. You will definitely be in a for a treat with our homegrown Colorado wines. You will also get served with our local, homegrown hospitality too. Augustina’s is located at 20 Lakeview Drive, #103, Nederland, CO. You can visit online at augustinaswinery@gmail.com or give them a call at (303) 520-4871, or better yet, just stop on in and enjoy the wines. Their hours are Thursday-Sunday 1:00pm-6:00pm.

Stay happy and healthy Everyone and drink some wine. ‘Til next time.

Normally the phrase “April showers brings May flowers” is correct, however, this April we had ZERO rain or precipitation. None! Not one drop. However, today is now the 2nd of May, and it is supposed to rain all day. I even saw a couple of snowflakes fall from the skies as well. Fortunately however, we had a lot of moisture previously, and all the trees are blooming and look very colorful.

Right now, we have the pinks and the whites in bloom. Not only are they beautifully and brightly colored, but they are also very fragrant as well.

And there are even a few of the yellows starting to come out as well.

Color your world in as many beautiful and bright colors as you can find. Color your world beautiful.

Today, I am taking you back to our Nederland adventure, A Trip To Nederland – Part 1 – The Carousel of Happiness, but this time I am going to talk about our fabulous lunch at Tres Gringos.

Tres Gringos is an untraditional Mexican eatery, adding a little spice to Nederland, Colorado’s little mountain food scene. Everything is made fresh and from scratch everyday. It’s all made in small batches to ensure the freshness in every bite. They are “known for their delicious, non-traditional Mexican-style vittles and hand pressed tortillas, small batch salsas, [and] mule-kick margaritas”.

The walls are creatively decorated in the Dios de las Muertos designs of a local artist. The food is every bit as creative and fun as are the walls and the decorations.

Tres Gringos offers a full bar, or cantina, but it is known for their homemade traditional styled, mule-kick margaritas.

Of course I had to try one, and it was very tasty and refreshing indeed. I enjoyed it with our lunch. We split a couple of dishes, as we normally do, especially when trying some place new. We started out with the loaded patas bravas, or loaded Spanish potatoes. There were quite a few options on how you wanted to load them up, and we chose to load them with carnitas.

The different variety of tacos are the house specialty of Tres Gringos, so of course we sampled a couple of different kinds and split them in half too. We followed the recommendations of our fabulously fun server, Stephanie. We had one pesacdo taco and one chicken adobo taco. Both were mui deliciosio! They went very well with the patatas bravas. It was a perfectly delicious lunch and we ordered just the right amount; not to much and not to little.

Our server Stephanie was an absolute delight. She was very friendly and very helpful and had a rockin’ personality. She is a treasure.

When you are up in the Nederland neighborhood, it is definitely worth a visit to stop in try some of the fabulous, fresh made foods at Tres Gringos. You can’t miss them. They are in the main part of town, with access from both up the stairs of the main parking lot in town, or from the front entrance from the street. Their address is 20 Lakeview Drive, #207, Nederland, Co 80466. You can reach them online at tresgringos2020@icloud.com or by phone at (303) 2583170. They are open Thursday-Monday from 12-8.

We are always up for new adventures. New adventures are what make life fun and interesting. Never settle for boring and the same old, same old. Break the molds every now and then and try something new.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.