Bolio

It's our bread store!

I was introduced to the BOLIO, when The Farmer and I were dating, and we would make trips to Mexico to see his family. A loaf of bread was something that you couldn't just go to the store and purchase. It was something that the Mom's in town spent good time each week making for their families. The BOLIO, a baguette type bread, is the common bread Mexico, everyone eats them. They are only second to the tortilla. Now, BOLIOS are not all the same. Each bakery or Panaderia, has their own version. I have eaten alot of BOLIOS, and La Guadalupana makes the best! I have stood in line to purchase them.

Just in the last few years, chain type stores entered our community. It is kind of like when a Walmart moves into a small community.....it is great in some ways and very damaging in others. The neighborhood tortilla shops and bread shops are being affected.

It is really sad to me!
This man is a Panadero, a man who has made a career out of making the BOLIO, and other Mexican sweet breads and cookies. He has been a Panadero for 25 years.

He didn't measure anything. He made wonderful doughs by touch. He knows just how each dough should feel. He worked the different doughs on the most fantastic large piece of wood, almost like an old door. It was seasoned like nothing I have ever seen. It has been used in this panaderia for atleast 50 years....maybe more.


The BOLIOS, and the other items found in the bakery, are all baked in this brick oven. Just lately they switched from actual fire for heat in the over.....to gas. They have little tricks to know when the perfect temperature has been reached in this oven. They don't use thermometer to gauge the heat.

This oven was built by the great-grandparents of the man who runs the bakery today.


This is an exterior view of the oven they use everyday!

In the bakery, you find several different types of cookies. Made from different types of doughs. They are not overly sweet, but they are tasty!

The Darlings, when they were small, loved a trip to the panaderia for one of these cookies, or a cookie called the cochinita, a dark molasses cookie cut in the shape of a pig.

Oh those are the best!

The Boy couldn't wait until we got home to eat one of the fresh BOLIOS, I think he actually at about 3-4 on the way. There is nothing like a fresh BOLIO from La Guadalupana!

Those BOLIOS make the best sandwiches ever....

like the one above, roasted turkey with all the fixins'.

We wouldn't even think of having a hamburger with a BOLIO!

I told The Darlings, that I have really watched life change in our little community through the years we have lived here. It was not uncommon to see mule/horse pulled carts up and down our streets. We don't see that anymore.....and it makes me sad. I hope that The Darlings will be able to take their children to La Guadalupana one day and share a BOLIO and a few memories, just as I did with The Boy!

"Eagle Powers"

In an effort to become more organized in our home....I purchased a label maker.

Had I known how much fun it would be.....I would have purchased it many years ago;)

Oh, we have been labeling EVERYTHING we can think of around our house.

I have been enjoying it sooooo much, and to be honest The Darlings were worried

that I had lost my mind......

UNTIL......

The Boy tried it himself....and he lost complete control!

He has put labels on himself.....my car.....and as you can see above....his bed.

And so, the next set of pictures will be called

"Eagle Powers"

(from our favorite...Nacho Libre)

In honor of The Boy...and the Label Maker~

(The pictures were taken last Friday is The Boy's Basketball game)

Let The Cooking Begin....

It's time again for church meetings...the kinds that EVERYONE attends.

And so it is time for me to begin preparing the food!

(picture courtsey of Rooster)

The menu is simple,

Spaghetti Casserole

Green Beans

Garlic Bread

Vegetable platter

and.....Cheesecake

Hopefully it will hit the spot!

I taught a class on time management last night. It was fun. I enjoyed hearing ideas and experiences from ladies that I really like;)

The Farmer thinks I have a problem with clocks....whatever!

He asked me to stand in the entry of our home and count the clocks in the family room and entry...I counted 11, that was including my wrist watch (which he added),

3 of them chime which I LOOOOOOOOVE!

I still don't see the problem!

I love a wall full of clocks! Have you seen one that you love?

Do I have issues with time???? I don't think so, I would just like a little more of it sometimes.


Ah................The Farmer.

He is always up to something! He has enlisted The Darlings now too.

I often find little notes around the house or in my car.

I currently have one on the steering wheel of my car from The Boy,

and now I have this on my new cookbook in the kitchen....

For some of you this will make sense.....

but this is what he calls me now.

Evil Skinner.

Oh, I do love him!

p.s. it is cold and rainy outside today, windy too.

The wood stove in the kitchen has a roaring fire in it.....I love that stove!

It is the perfect day to spend in the kitchen.

Memory Lane

a.k.a

LORDSBURG, NM.

The Boy had Basketball games, and we followed.

Not much there....just alot of memories for The Farmer.

Lordsburg is located along the I-10, on what once was Route 66. It was a road he traveled as a child, on the way to his Grandmother's house.

Many years ago, The Farmer's Father purchased a cattle ranch a little less than an hour from Lordsburg. So again during the years many trips were made to the now quiet town.

Some of the old un-occupied buildings have beautiful tile work on them.

The colors still vibrant.

One of The Farmer's best memories of this town was of

EL CHARRO CAFE



Home of the most greasy tacos that you might ever eat. They were pretty good.

He remembers eating those tacos and that he really liked them.

Not much has changed in the El Charro

Not the food. Not the owners (still in the same family). Not the tables or chairs.

Not the country music playing on the radio. Not the kitchen. Not the old organ that

stands in the corner of what used to be the bar.

Not much has changed.
Can I just say that those pancakes were darn yummy....I think they must have been deep fried...

Wow....

It was fun to watch The Boy's basketball games.

The team is such a great group of young men that we have grown to love.

We had some great laughs, The Boy played well. The Farmer shared some fond memories

from his childhood. It was a lovely weekend in,

LORDSBURG, NM.

My Today And Some Randomness...

I got to work from home today,

I like it when that happens.

Actually I spent the day in the kitchen making tomaillo salsas. Several of them.

And very unrelated....a chocolate cake for Rooster to take to church tonight.

It is a great day for me when I get to spend it at home....and in the kitchen.

So....a little information about the,

TOMATILLO..
I
A tomatillo looks like a small green tomato. It is not a small green tomato. We are big fans of the "fried green tomato" around here, and once when my garden was not producing tomatoes, I thought that I would use tomatillos in place of the green tomato....no it did not taste the same.

Tomatillos are commonly used in the Mexican home kitchen. They are used for salsas mostly but sometimes are found in green enchiladas. When they are fresh they come encased in a husk and when removed the outer skin is very sticky. They have a very acidic taste and are quite good when mixed with onion, jalapeno, garlic and cilantro.

YUM!


I just recieved my first blog book! It is very simple, but so much fun!

I was worried about getting my blog into a more physical form, in case something ever happened to it online. Anyway, it has been so fun to read and re-read. The Darlings have enjoyed reading it too! It has now motivated me to make other books....on specific topics.

So much fun!!!

The Boy has taken on the accent of Nacho, in Nacho Libre.

Like....all the time!

He is really good at it and it is perfectly hilarious! It comes quite naturally to him;)

We Love, Love, Love Nacho Libre! It has to be the best movie EVER!

And how much do I love it you ask?????

Those copies above...are mine all mine!

All 3 of them!

"It is the Bessssst."

Neither......Here....Nor.....There......

If you were wondering....

This is the border between the United Stated and Mexico.

A simple metal fence.

It goes on for miles and miles and miles......

This is The Rooster,

Neither in the United States, nor Mexico.

It was interesting to see up close.

But,

It didn't seem that hard to climb over.

I guess that is another topic all in itself, now isn't it.

I commented to The Farmer, that it is amazing how things change from

one side to the other. Only a few steps, but a world of difference.

Oh, and yes......

the Border Patrol did show up to wish us a lovely afternoon.

An Alarm......Who Knew???

We've been on a road trip....again....it is just part of our life right now.

I don't necessarily like it....BUT....it is, what it is.

If it isn't basketball games with The Boy,

basketball games with PreShie....

then it is parts, or business meetings.

This time it is business meetings in one of my most favorite cities

ALBUQUERQUE....

and basketball games with PreShie.

Are you wondering about the photo above?????

Well, it is the HGTV Dream Home of 2010! Did you already know that?

I hope not!;)

Turns out....that this house is located in......

ALBUQUERQUE!

I know what you are thinking....and yes....I did it!

After a lengthy meeting Thursday...I went looking for it, I NEEDED to see it.

We had no idea where it was, just the area of town,

BUT, my firends.....where there is a will, there is a way!

We found it....it was fenced...(not my idea of a fence, more like a chain across the dirveway)

it was a little distance from the main road, and it was nearly dark.

We took off walking up the long driveway, just for a little look.

Nothing more.

Wow, was it fun!

and then the security company showed up....why I am not sure....

we were just looking!

Turns out, there was a sign that said....there was an alarm, guess it got set off.

They didn't say anything, they just made sure we left the subdivision;)

But it was soooooo worth it! The area is beautiful and the house....

what we could see....

was fantastic too!

Oh the other thing.....We had dinner with friends the other night and we

ate Indian food....I am not a fan....sorry !

I sure slept well that night....in fact I couldn't wake up the next morning and I have decided

that I was in an Indian food coma....really!

It was very strange!