November 24, 2011

Mr. B and I had such a fun day with Keith and Kelly. We started the morning with orange slices, cinnamon toast and vegetable strata that was very delicious. (In the photo the strata looks burnt on the top, but it wasn't.) After breakfast, and a stop at Starbucks, we headed toward Taos. Along the way we spotted an antique/restoration/collectible/museum shop/yard. If you've ever seen a show on television about "pickers" this is a place where they would stop. The owner had an incredible collection of gasoline and oil company memorabilia. I REALLY wanted this lighted glass "crown" that came off an old gasoline pump. It was in what the owner called his museum and he won't sell it, regardless of the price. I wanted the piece for the casita because it had a huge head of an Indian chief. It would have looked so cool in the casita! Kelly got some metal pieces for their rock garden in Houston and Keith found several metal treasures that he will weld into something wonderful!

The light on the breakfast strata makes it look burnt, but it
wasn't. Layer of wheat bread, followed with a mixture of
onions, red bell peppers and sweet potatoes, topped with
mixture of eggs and milk, and then goat cheese and parmesan.
Repeat layers and bake for 50 minutes (1.25 hours in high desert). 

In Taos, many of the shops in the old plaza area were open, so we strolled through them. Then we went to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which is about seven miles outside of Taos. I don't know how deep the gorge is from the bridge, but it makes some stomachs turn queasy to look down to the water. About two miles down the road from the bridge is an area called Earthship. These homes are made from old tires, stucco, mud, glass bottles and other sustainable materials. Very interesting, unusual designs. The average utility bill for these out-of-this-world looking homes is $100 a year. Incredible! We continued our drive down to Pilar, NM, which is at the bottom of the gorge where you can reach out and touch the Rio Grande river. Photo op! And finally we made it home to the casita.

Today I'm creating cosmos to have with dinner, which will be Mitzie's famous pasta with pine nuts, roasted red peppers, wilted spinach, garlic and pesto. I'm using cheese tortellini as the pasta. I'm also making a salad with mixed greens, cranberries and almond slivers. Then chocolate chip cookies. I'm not sure any clothes will fit by the time I get back to Houston! But we've had a wonderful day!