hlf30

My dh recently found out he'll be traveling to New Mexico for work
(about 5 days). Neither of us have ever been in that part of the
country. Unfortunately, the kids and I can't go because of money and
social committments. :( I know Sandra is from N.M. as are others on
this list. Could you give us any info on what to expect? What to do?
He'll be flying in to El Paso, TX and driving up to the White Sands
Missile Base.

I know this isn't about unschooling. Send me an email if that's more
appropriate.

Thanks,
Heather

Sandra Dodd

-=-Could you give us any info on what to expect? What to do?
He'll be flying in to El Paso, TX and driving up to the White Sands
Missile Base.-=-

Katy Jennings lives in Alamogordo. (Katy..., help!)

Keith grew up in Alamogordo and his dad worked at White Sands. He
was the missile controller for a long time.

Keith asked if your husband is staying in El Paso. He says though
it's a temptation to visit Juarez, he recommends against it.

Maybe just the scenery of the drive and a visit to White Sands will
be enough. Maybe co-workers could take him to a restaurant in
Alamogordo or wherever. The Rocket Museum/Space Cube in Alamogordo
is good, but might be closed when he's not working. It's easy to get
to. You can see it up on the hill to the right/east, when you're in
Alamogordo, and you go on the highway until you come to the New
Mexico School for the Blind, turn right and go until you're there.
Indian Wells is the road. There's a light. http://
www.nmspacemuseum.org/

If he likes model trains, there's a small model trains museum in
Alamogordo, on the main highway on the left/west, past the zoo.

Tell him to drink lots of water (or whatever liquids he prefers).
He'll be evaporating all the time even when he doesn't think so.

If, in a restaurant he's asked "red or green?" they're talking about
chile. Red is dried and ground up and made into a sauce. Green is
the vegetable, the chile, roasted and sliced or chopped or made into
a sauce. Same plant, two preparations. Both hot. Use the bread
(tortilla or sopaipilla [so pah PEE ya) to defend from the heat.
Honey can help. Sweet drinks can help. Water or hot coffee don't
help at all. Some people say "Christmas" meaning red and green
together, but I think that's a waste; you miss the good taste of
either. Kinda like which wine to use with which food, too, here's a
common thing: pork/red, beef/red, chicken/green Breakfast/eggs,
either. "Huevos Rancheros" is red chile by default, but you can ask
for green chile with just about anything, even a burger at McDonald's.

As to hamburgers, though, Blake's LotaBurger (a New Mexico chain) is
great. Their fries are wonderful. There's one in Alamogordo and a
couple or three in Las Cruces.



Sandra




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Vicki Dennis

About the hot stuff..........
Dairy helps. Don't just swallow straight down....let it swirl your mouth to
provide a little protection and also to cool if your membranes are flaming.
. Butter on the tortilla or sour cream or just plain sweet milk (although I
suppose buttermilk would work as well).
I grew up on Tex-Mex but over the years have been exposed to El Paso style
and New Mexico style as all types of cuisine spread from local. The entrees
and even the beans he encounters may vary by locale but I think he'll find
that dairy protection will work on anything!

vicki



On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 11:59 PM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:

> If, in a restaurant he's asked "red or green?" they're talking about
> chile. Red is dried and ground up and made into a sauce. Green is
> the vegetable, the chile, roasted and sliced or chopped or made into
> a sauce. Same plant, two preparations. Both hot. Use the bread
> (tortilla or sopaipilla [so pah PEE ya) to defend from the heat.
> Honey can help. Sweet drinks can help. Water or hot coffee don't
> help at all. Some people say "Christmas" meaning red and green
> together, but I think that's a waste; you miss the good taste of
> either. Kinda like which wine to use with which food, too, here's a
> common thing: pork/red, beef/red, chicken/green Breakfast/eggs,
> either. "Huevos Rancheros" is red chile by default, but you can ask
> for green chile with just about anything, even a burger at McDonald's.
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-Dairy helps. Don't just swallow straight down....let it swirl your
mouth to
provide a little protection and also to cool if your membranes are
flaming.
. Butter on the tortilla or sour cream or just plain sweet milk-=-



Oh! Good point. I always think of honey, because they usually have
it on the table. Sometimes if an enchilada or salsa is too hot, you
can just put honey in it/on it. But sour cream DEFINITELY helps,
and if you're a milk-drinking person, yes. That too. <g>



At Blake's or Mac's Steak-in-the-Rough (I don't think they have one
of those in Alamogordo, though) or other burger places where milk
shakes are available, that's another good possibility.



Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Katy

<<<<He'll be flying in to El Paso, TX and driving up to the White Sands Missile Base.>>>>

About Southern New Mexico/El Paso:

Water and sunglasses, water and sunglasses! <g>

It is dry and windy right now, and fire season is in full swing. If he is a smoker make sure that he knows that it is NEVER ok to just throw a cigarette butt. We have a big fire less than an hour away that is just now, after a week, getting under control, and a worse one up north. Many of our devastating fires are caused by cigarettes.

White Sands is crazy when it is windy. Bring a light jacket or windbreaker. The sand blows and can really pelt you. It also gets all over everything. He will see a layer of what looks like dust after only one day, it is most likely from White Sands. (Not sand, by the way, it is Gypsum, a crystal formed at Lake Lucero (by the mountain) when the water evaporates.) Sandra mentioned a drive through tour, if he has time it is worth it. No place like it in the world. It is illegal to take the sand, but it gets in your shoes and everywhere, I am sure that if he got out and walked in it a little would come home to the kids whether he likes it or not. <g> It is easy to get disoriented in the dunes though, so be careful about walking too far from vehicles.

If he is going to be out at night, he may want a sweatshirt or a jacket. It really does get cold in the desert at night especially if it is hot and clear during the day. My son goes out to our local dirt race track (cars) on Friday nights, and I send him with a long-sleeve t-shirt under a regular t-shirt, a warm hat, and a warm coat. Layering is good.

Tell him that it is important to always have with him water and sunglasses, and a hat if he is going to be outside at all. The sunglasses are important, your eyes really can get burned, especially if you are not used to it. And if he is going to be working outside, sunscreen! Really, water and sunglasses.

Is he staying in El Paso or on base? I don't know much about the facilities on the base, I am sure that there are restaurants. El Paso isn't bad, I would get a map or check out mapquest and stay near the highways. I don't know where you are from, but we consider it a big city, and it has all of the big city stuff that we expect. I would ask at the hotel about a good mexican restaurant nearby to try. Tell him to be careful if he seems to be heading into Juarez, watch the highway signs. Once you get going that direction there is really only one turnaround and lines to come back are LOOONG! If he really wants to see it he can drive along the river on our side and look across. Makes me feel thankful for all that I have.

If he makes it to Alamogordo, Margo's is a good mexican restaurant right off of the main road (highway turns into White Sands Blvd.), it is on First Street right in front of Wal-Mart. Si Senor is pretty good too, it is on White Sands Blvd further north towards our little tiny mall, as is Blakes Lotaburger, which Sandra mentioned. Both are just south of the School for the Blind, which you cannot miss, it is a huge green campus. If he is a burger eater the green chile cheeseburger at Blakes is a must-try.

As was mentioned, if the chile is too hot sour cream is really a big help! And tortillas. You can also usually ask to have your chile on the side. By the way, chile is not the same as chili! Chile is a vegetable, chili is a spicy meat or meat and beans dish. In many places the red chile will be hotter than the green, but that is not always true! They have very different tastes, some love both, some are very particular about having one or the other. I like both, but tend to lean towards green. Huevos Rancheros is usually red, and is an awesome breakfast. A trip to the southwest really isn't complete without at least trying the local cuisine.

There is a little rocket museum on the base at White Sands, one in Las Cruces (right on highway 70), and our bigger one in Alamogordo that Sandra mentioned. If he is into that it is really worth a trip. Then there is the little train museum on White Sands Blvd, a little petroglyph site about 30 minutes away, Friday night car racing, lots of nearby mountain activities, lots of places to hike, we have a new nice movie theater... let me know if he will have time on his hands and I will send a longer list.

One more thing, driving in New Mexico is different than a lot of places. We have long, deserted spaces between towns. Make sure that he has extra water in the car, a fullish tank of gas, and we always take along a blanket. It is only an hour from El Paso to Alamogordo, then less than a half hour to White Sands, but that is an hour plus of almost empty desert! The highway is nice now though.

Let me know if there are any questions that he has, I am kind of rambling! I can give you/him my number too if you want.

Oh, and water and sunglasses! Really! By the time you notice that you are getting dehydrated you are REALLY dehydrated! And a headache in the desert is a sure sign of dehydration. Start drinking water early.

Katy


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Vicki Dennis

Is Migas for breakfast readily available in New Mexico or is that more a
Tex-Mex thing? Definitely need to have Heuvos Rancheros at least once if
you like eggs.

Beans will probably be offered with most entrees. Try the different
varieties. Refried is easier for spreading on tortillas (or feeding
babies!), black have a different taste that some prefer, borracho can vary
from mild to extremely hot as can the amount and intensity of the liquid. In
fact, "pot liquor" is not restricted to cooking greens! :-).

vicki





On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 7:08 PM, Katy <kjennings95@...> wrote:

> . Huevos Rancheros is usually red, and is an awesome breakfast. A trip
> to the southwest really isn't complete without at least trying the local
> cuisine.
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-Is Migas for breakfast readily available in New Mexico -=-

I'm guessing no. I don't know what it is.

-=-Beans will probably be offered with most entrees. Try the different
varieties. -=-

Probably there will be no variety. A formal table-cloth-restaurant
will have whole pinto beans and other places (and some of the formal
ones) will have "refried" beans--traditionally the mushed-up leftover
beans, but now the preferred form.



-=-borracho can vary from mild to extremely hot as can the amount and
intensity of the liquid. In fact, "pot liquor" is not restricted to
cooking greens! :-).-=-

This is foreign to me. I know borracho means drunken, but I don't
know anything about "pot liquor."

Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Katy

<<<<-=-Is Migas for breakfast readily available in New Mexico -=-

I'm guessing no. I don't know what it is.>>>>

No. Probably not in El Paso either. I googled it, porridge type breakfast made of left over tortillas.

<<<<borracho can vary from mild to extremely hot as can the amount and
intensity of the liquid. In fact, "pot liquor" is not restricted to
cooking greens>>>>

I have had borracho beans, but not in New Mexico! I had them at at restaurant in Colorado, and once in Las Vegas, NV. Never seen them in New Mexico or El Paso. Never heard of pot liquor, wikipedia says it is the liquid left over after cooking collard greens. You definitely won't find those around here.

You are not likely to find much Tex-Mex around here, even in El Paso. Or Spanish food for that matter. Lots of Mexican food though, there is a difference!

The beans will almost exclusively be Pinto. Whole or refried, most likely refried. They (and the rice) are great for cutting the hotness of the chile on the entrée.

El Paso is a weird little piece of Texas, not like Houston or Dallas. It is a little more "southwestern," probably because it is a border town. There are towns in New Mexico that are more "Texas" than El Paso is. That is not to say that it doesn't have its Texas like traits, but it is different from most of the rest of Texas.

Katy


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Vicki Dennis

On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 12:52 PM, Katy <kjennings95@...> wrote:

> <<<<-=-Is Migas for breakfast readily available in New Mexico -=-
>
>
> No. Probably not in El Paso either. I googled it, porridge type breakfast
> made of left over tortillas.
>







********The Migas I was talking about is the form made with eggs and
leftover crispy corn tortillas (sometimes with soft corn tortillas cut in
strips).
I did not grow up with it and only learned about it after moving to central
Texas because a few friends prefer breakfast at whatever restaurants we have
found that have migas...............usually "hole in the wall" places. My
introduction to migas came about after the last time I visited New Mexico so
my question was idle curiosity. I decided to google too figuring it is
another of those very much "varies by region" thing. The migas I know
about (sometimes called huevos con tortilla) is a northern Mexico item,
whereas the porridge type is more central Mexico. Even talked about a
Portuguese version using bread rather than any type tortilla. I imagine some
of the tex-mex versions will add chorizo or ground beef and more vegies and
cheese..................just like there are upscale versions of the lowly
but wonderful bread pudding or rice pudding that used to be a "leftover"
item.


>
> <<<<borracho can vary from mild to extremely hot as can the amount and
> intensity of the liquid. In fact, "pot liquor" is not restricted to
> cooking greens>>>>
>
> I have had borracho beans, but not in New Mexico! I had them at at
> restaurant in Colorado, and once in Las Vegas, NV. Never seen them in New
> Mexico or El Paso. Never heard of pot liquor, wikipedia says it is the
> liquid left over after cooking collard greens. You definitely won't find
> those around here.
>










********Around here (central and south Texas, especially Austin/San Antonio
region) borracho beans refers to the pinto beans cooked with lots of liquid
and sometimes added peppers,onions with or without beer added to the
liquid. Used generically to distinguish between the smooth, pasty, drier
refried beans and the pintos that do better in a cup/bowl than on a plate
(unless served via slotted spoon) or any type of tortilla for eating out of
hand. Supposedly the addition of beer is as much to aid flatulence reduction
as for flavor but that may have no scientific basis :-).

The pot liquor reference I just made up.........visualize what one can do
with the liquid from any cooking. "Pot Liquor" is a traditional southern
term....including Appalachia and parts of lower East Coast. In my
childhood it came more often from turnip greens than collards but I have
encountered it referenced even from cooking field peas. My uncles liked
their greens in a pile on their plate with the pot liquor in a separate bowl
for sopping with cornbread and then drinking what was left. I was always
told that the vitamins and nutrients from the greens leached into the pot
liquor so it shouldn't be thrown away. I guess I was too quick to assume
just how much blending of culinary terms has occurred with population
mobility and the proliferation of small eating establishments "everywhere".
Probably got led astray when I heard a reference to "Tex-Mex" in a
television soap set in Hartford, Connecticut! (Although when I called a
Hartford friend to ask about it, she said that indeed the term was
used....mostly for taco places.... but that I would probably not be
satisfied with any of the food obtained under that name).

I figure if one gets pot liquor cooking fresh crowder peas with a few green
hulls thrown in, or even from green beans or pole beans, that it isn't a
far stretch to call the liquid from pintos (especially if drunk from a cup)
the same thing :-).

vicki
P.S.: I still elicit chuckles or frank stares from acquaintances when I ask
for "light bread" or "sweet milk" or "real" ice cream or butter. And we
won't even mention what "regular" coffee means. Or "barbecue"
:-)..........now there is a topic for variety in seasoning, texture, cut of
meat!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-The migas I know
about (sometimes called huevos con tortilla) is a northern Mexico item,
whereas the porridge type is more central Mexico. -=-

Never heard of it.

Someone here said "Mexican food," and there are more and more actual
Mexican restaruants in Albuquerque, but the local cuisine is "New
Mexican" food, and has a lot of northern-Pueblo influence/cross-over
(around the lots-of-corn, and the red chile and pork stews).



-=-I figure if one gets pot liquor cooking fresh crowder peas with a
few green

hulls thrown in, or even from green beans or pole beans, that it isn't a
far stretch to call the liquid from pintos (especially if drunk from
a cup)
the same thing :-).-=-

We usually cook it all gone, but I do like "bean juice."

-=-I still elicit chuckles or frank stares from acquaintances when I
ask for "light bread" or "sweet milk" or "real" ice cream or butter.-=-



I know "sweet milk" and "sweet corn" from my mom, who grew up in
Texas mostly (and that part of New Mexico that's more like Texas than
El Paso <g>). Is "light bread" yeast bread? Not-biscuits, not-
cornbread?



Sandra



Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 5/9/2008 4:53:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
Sandra@... writes:

"sweet corn" from my mom, who grew up in
Texas mostly


We call it sweet corn up here in Ohio, too-and we grow lots of it, too. :~)

Peace,
De



**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
favorites at AOL Food.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Vicki Dennis

On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 3:52 PM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:

> -
> k Is "light bread" yeast bread? Not-biscuits, not-
> cornbread?
>
> Sandra
>










Mostly to distinguish from cornbread I think although I guess specific
details could vary depending on who is talking in what environment.
It's a good question. In my extended family light bread usually meant
storebought sliced white bread. Definitely not biscuits although it was
ok to substitute stale light bread for biscuits in the cornbread dressing
(I never heard of "stuffing" until I went up north). I think that
dinner rolls or especially yeast rolls "could" be called light bread but we
typically would say "hot rolls". Storebought sliced wheat or whole wheat
bread was "brown bread".

Oh, and "pancakes" was something I never had until IHOP came around after I
was in high school. I grew up on "hot cakes" even when we went to a
diner. I had forgotten about "sweet corn" as opposed to field corn.
My paternal grandmother made the most wonderful creamed corn that she
started by slicing kernels from the cobs. I've never tasted anything like
it since she passed away. Nor been able to duplicate her fried apricot
pies. I liked my mother's corn bread (cooked in a cast iron skillet on
stovetop and never put in oven at all) better than my aunts or
grandmother's. Even after I inherited her skillet and heavy lid (with the
handle long gone) I never could duplicate that cornbread :-(. My cousins
quest with me trying to figure out the secret!

vicki---getting hungry as well as nostalgic!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-Oh, and "pancakes" was something I never had until IHOP came
around after I
was in high school. I grew up on "hot cakes" even when we went to a
diner. -=-

"Flapjacks," my granny called pancakes. (Texas, not New Mexico.)

Australian visitors once told me that what we call silver-dollar
pancakes, Australians call pancakes. <g> They don't make big
pancakes, I was told.



Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Vicki Dennis

On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 10:45 PM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:

>
> "Flapjacks," my granny called pancakes. (Texas, not New Mexico.)
>



I read in books about "flapjacks" but never knew "real" people to say that
:-)

>
>
> Australian visitors once told me that what we call silver-dollar
> pancakes, Australians call pancakes. <g> They don't make big
> pancakes, I was told.
>






Big is another of those variable terms. Our hot cakes were the size that
could cook 3 at a time in a large skillet (or for a few years we had a stove
with a built in griddle between the burners). When I was 7 or 8 I made my
first foray out of state.........staying at Platte National Park in
Oklahoma. Somewhere along the way, not sure if it was on Oklahoma side or
Texas side, we stopped at a diner for breakfast. I didn't believe the
waitress when she said probably no one would want more than a "short stack"
because they were "big". When they arrived, MY opinion was that they
"should" have offered a single instead of even a short stack. These were
gigantic.........went all the way to the edge of full sized dinner plates
and were probably 3/4 inch thick. I prefer smaller and thinner and maybe
even a little "crusty".

We used Karo syrup or sometimes sorghum ("real" maple syrup was a delicacy I
didn't taste until college) and the grownups sometimes used cane syrup but I
never developed a taste for that. A friend who grew up outside Ft. Worth
has fond memories of her grandma making "golden sugar syrup" without
scorching it and without it becoming brittle. I'm thinking that may be
similar to the sauce on flan and keep meaning to try it. "Melting" sugar
still seems magical to me!

vicki

>
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 5/9/2008 3:26:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
vicki@... writes:

"real" ice cream or butter.


I ask for real butter and get those looks, too. What is "real ice cream"?
Maybe hard icecream as opposed to soft serve?

Peace,
De



**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
favorites at AOL Food.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Vicki Dennis

In my childhood what made it "real" was having a base of higher butterfat
milk and at least some actual cream. That was in the days of "mellorine"
or "ice milk" or tubs of economy ice cream, which my parents bought for
economic reasons. My aunt would refer to a few specific brands as being
real ice cream.........those are probably forerunners to what is considered
premium ice cream today. More natural ingredients, more cream. She made
pretty nice homemade ice cream too and that was certainly "real" :-).

Soft serve ice cream? Reminds me of an old joke about the list of
ingredients on Banquet coconut cream pie....................no coconut, no
cream, just pie.

vicki

On Sat, May 10, 2008 at 12:34 AM, <Sanguinegirl83@...> wrote:

>
> In a message dated 5/9/2008 3:26:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> vicki@... <vicki%40merfer.net> writes:
>
> "real" ice cream or butter.
>
> I ask for real butter and get those looks, too. What is "real ice cream"?
> Maybe hard icecream as opposed to soft serve?
>
> Peace,
> De
>
> **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
>
> favorites at AOL Food.
> (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Schuyler

Flapjacks in the UK are an oatbar. It really confused me the first time someone offered them to me. Pancakes here are more like crepes than like the fluffy pancakes I make.

Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com

----- Original Message ----
From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, 10 May, 2008 4:45:45 AM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Traveling to New Mexico

-=-Oh, and "pancakes" was something I never had until IHOP came
around after I
was in high school. I grew up on "hot cakes" even when we went to a
diner. -=-

"Flapjacks," my granny called pancakes. (Texas, not New Mexico.)

Australian visitors once told me that what we call silver-dollar
pancakes, Australians call pancakes. <g> They don't make big
pancakes, I was told.



Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links








[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

-=-Flapjacks in the UK are an oatbar. It really confused me the first
time someone offered them to me. Pancakes here are more like crepes
than like the fluffy pancakes I make.

Schuyler-=-



OH! My friend Helena went to a campout of several families when she
was living in England (she's from New Mexico) and for breakfast she
made pancakes. She said everyone around got really excited about it
so she made more and they were surprised she would cook something
like that outside.

Maybe they were surprised she would cook something like that at all! <g>



Sandra

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]