Bunco Night

They had a Relief Society Bunco activity at Jill Nelson's house tonight. Asked each person to bring something to munch on. I found a new appetizer recipe to try. Those attending: Jill Nelson, Nicole Black, Nicole Simmons, Kami Berezey, Angie Abrams, Kim Heath, Lydia Stewart, Kim Whalen & neighbor Sara, JaNae Freedland, Stephanie Dubois, Alyx Cleaver and myself. It was hard to concentrate on the game when everyone had brought something yummy to try! They had multiple tables set up so we could rotate for each round. Overall I usually stayed at the losing table and ended the night with a pretty low score compared to others, but I did have one round where I continually rolled 17 times since I kept getting at least one of the number we were rolling for. I even rolled #4 x fours one time. Fun evening! And would definitely make this recipe again. I really liked the spicy and sweet combination with the cream cheese. It was best with tortilla chips (rather than crackers). Do need to plan ahead so you have time to chill. Made the house smell divine while cooking : )

Cranberry Salsa Dip
12 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
4 and 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
8 ounce block cream cheese

Heat all ingredients except for cream cheese in saucepan over medium heat. Keep stirring as the cranberries pop and continue stirring until the cranberries are softened and the mixture has a salsa consistency (about 10 minutes). Cool the mixture and then pour over cream cheese. Serve with chips or crackers. Note: Make sure to store the cranberry mixture separate from the cream cheese as it will not store well. As long as not combined, both will store refrigerated for several days.

Church Christmas Breakfast

Saturday, 12/14 - While we were gone, our ward had a family Christmas Breakfast with the theme "Polar Express". Audrey was asked to assist with the lighting and sound system during the program. They served breakfast and hot chocolate with peppermint candy canes. We heard it was a wonderful event and extremely well attended. Audrey is pictured below as a train conductor - she is wearing Great-Grandpa Gramlow's wedding suit and Grandpa Gramlow's pocket watch.

Bro Date

John went to the movies with his older brothers, Steve and Ralph. They saw the latest Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire. He said they had a good time and the movie was great!

New Mexico: last day

Our flight left super early, so we did not have time to have breakfast at the inn. However, they packed us a to-go-breakfast and left it in our room fridge, included things like granola, fresh fruit and energy bars. (Note: The bars were local - Taos Mountain Energy Bars www.tmebars.com - and yummy!) That was nice! So we left the inn, returned the rental car and took the shuttle to the airport. We had another layover in Denver (had a snack at Woody Creek Bakery & Cafe) and arrived in Spokane. Audrey picked us up from the airport. It was good to get away - but great to be home. Three souvenir spoons from the trip: Sandia Peak, Route 66, and New Mexico state. And later, I had the miracle staircase from the Loretto Chapel mailed to me, making it 4 spoons.

New Mexico: Day #5

Today was my favorite breakfast menu! I would have enjoyed either choice. John ordered the Eggs Benedict (house made English muffins, sauteed vegetables, smoked ham and hollandaise) and I ordered the Cardamom Aebleskivers (danish pancakes served on house made apples preserves). One delicious item I had never tried was celery root, which happened to be one of the sauteed vegetables on John's plate. I need to find out how to prepare celery root. See the gorgeous breakfast room? That's where we got to enjoy gourmet breakfast each morning.  See the yummy homemade granola? Another recipe to find!  Los Poblanos Organic Farm - Our menus are rooted in what comes from our farm as well as our food shed. We call it Rio Grande Valley Cuisine and feature many ingredients from Los Poblanos. Among them are fresh eggs from our chickens, bacon and pork belly from our own pigs, honey from our honeybees, as well as, stone fruits, jujubees, figs, cardoons, and a variety of greens and vegetables. In the winter we harvest root vegetables from the fields and use microgreens from the 1934 Lord & Burhom greenhouse. 

Since John served his LDS mission here, we did need to locate an LDS chapel! We found it on our way out of town, right before fueling the rental car.

Today we headed to Santa Fe and met with John's brother, Duane, and his family. They live in Farmington, New Mexico, which is about 200 miles from Santa Fe. We only had to go about 65 miles from Albuquerque, so we ended up getting to Santa Fe before they did.

We walked by the Loretto Chapel and decided to take a tour of the miraculous staircase. Below is the picture of a model that makes it easier to show what they describe regarding the physics of the actual staircase. When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Experts at the time felt a ladder was the only solution. Legend has it that after the sisters prayed, a man appeared at the chapel looking for work. He completed the elegant circular staircase, and then disappeared.

At the end of the Old Santa Fe Trail stands the Loretto Chapel. Inside the Gothic structure is the staircase referred to as miraculous, inexplicable, marvelous and is sometimes called St. Joseph's Staircase. The stairway confounds architects, engineers and master craftsmen. It makes over two complete 360-degree turns, stands 20' tall and has no center support. It rests solely on its base and against the choir loft. The risers of the 33 steps are all of the same height. Made of an apparently extinct wood species, it was constructed with only square wooden pegs without glue or nails."

About the time we were done with that tour, we were able to meet Duane, Anngela, Zach, Blake, Gabi and Eva at the Cathedral Basillica of Saint Francis of Assisi. We toured the Cathedral and checked out some of the shops in the plaza. At Duane's suggestion we went to the Blue Corn Cafe for lunch. Fabulous suggestion! Everything that we ordered was great - would go here again if I had the opportunity.

After our meal we headed toward the Santa Fe railway station where they had a Santa Village. Activities included reindeer games, miniature train rides and pictures with Santa! It was a neat opportunity to see the kids play since we live so far from them!

Thank you Anngela & Duane for bringing your family so far to spend the day with us. We had an absolutely wonderful time!!

We headed on the road...quick note about the "cute" Fiat? Cute - - but gutless. It really did not care for the mountain terrain we drove today - I was missing my Zoom-Zoom car as we had to stay to the right for everyone else to pass : )

For dinner we went to the Flying Star Cafe when we got back into town. It was the place we were going to have breakfast a few days ago, but it was too busy (flyingstarcafe.com). Ended up not being quite as busy when we got there tonight. I ordered the fish tacos (seasoned, grilled wild Atlantic haddock, avocado, crisp slaw, pickled vegetables, chipotle sauce on 3 little tortillas corn or flour). Tasty, but they definitely had a peppy-kick to them that I was not expecting. John went mellow and just ordered a chocolate shake.

New Mexico: Day #4

We again had breakfast at the inn. The first choice today was Blue Corn Polenta with two eggs any style and sourdough toast - John ordered that. The other choice was Breakfast BLT served open faced on sourdough toast, lettuce, aioli, tomato, and eggs any style. And that's what I ordered. They also served a quick bread each day - today was an olive oil cake with lemon zest. I must try to find that recipe! Ate it before I took a photo : )

Today we visited Albuquerque's historic Old Town (www.AlbuquerqueOldTown.com). "Experience the grace & charm of Old Town Albuquerque! The focal point of community life, founded in 1706, by Governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdez. Old Town follows the traditional Spanish pattern of a central plaza and church surrounded by homes and businesses. Many of the historic homes are still standing and some have been renovated into shops, galleries and restaurants." 

Old Town is located between Mountain Rd and Route 66 just east of Rio Grande Blvd. We had fun exploring the plaza and the shops. See photo below - John said hi to the Hulk and Leonard from the Big Bang Theory (hah). The tree? Completely made up of empty plastic water bottles and lit with miniature lights at night!  The church near the central plaza was San Felipe de Neri Catholic church, but there also was a smaller chapel down one of the brick paths called Capilla de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. We checked out t-shirt and souvenir stores, jewelry stores, art galleries, basket & rug shops, antique markets and cafes.

New Mexico's official state cookie is the biscochito, a spicy, anise-flavored, crisp cookie. They were first introduced to Mexico by Spanish settlers who brought the recipe from Spain. They are a holiday cookie staple in New Mexico. We had to try them!

Biscochitos (bis-co-CHEE-toe)

1.5 cups lard (can substitute butter, but will not be as crisp or moist)
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 eggs
2 teaspoons anise seeds
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
About 3 tablespoons apple juice or milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat lard and 1 cup sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and anise seeds, beat until very light. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cream mixture along with the apple juice. Mix thoroughly to make a stiff dough. Place dough on one end of a long piece waxed paper (3 feet). Fold wax paper in half (so dough is between) and press to about one inch thickness. Refrigerate until chilled. Roll out dough between waxed paper to just under 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with flour dusted cutters into 3-inch rounds or the traditional Fleur de lis shape. Combine the 3 remaining tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon in a shallow bowl. dip unbaked cookies into the sugar-cinnamon mixture on one side. Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until tops of cookies are just firm. Cook on wire racks. Makes 4 dozen.

The Christmas Shop was a fun 2-level store with any ornament you could imagine. In addition, they had a Nativity gallery. I thought this was especially cool - with 9 separate pieces intricately carved.

Next up? Route 66! We just walked the portion of Route 66 that is in downtown Albuquerque, along Central Avenue.

"Route 66 in New Mexico is a special place. New Mexico is indeed the Land of Enchantment. For many people traveling the old Mother Road during its hey-day, New Mexico presented the first glimpse of the exotic cultures of the southwest. For the Route 66 traveler coming from back east it was as if they had entered another country. The fascinating Native American and Spanish cultures encountered along New Mexico's Route 66 presented the adventure of discovery - from the old Indian Pueblos dating back to days before European colonization to the old town plazas of Santa Fe and Albuquerque."

Route 66 was first commissioned in 1926 (utilizing existing roads when possible) with the first route alignment running north-south through Albuquerque, part of a giant S-curve. This original section was 506 miles of mostly unpaved road. They pushed for a straighter route, and in 1931 with federal money, it was realigned to a more east-west direction. By 1937, the entire route from Chicago to California was paved.

"Route 66 was fixed in the memory of many by John Steinbeck's novel, "The Grapes of Wrath" and Bobby Troup's lyric "Get Your Kicks on Route 66" as well as CBS Tv's "Route 66". Today I-40 runs over much of the original roadbed, but many parts of the old highway can be seen today just beside I-40."

See Photo Below:

• Top picture is Route 66 pop - we saw this display and had to take a picture for our pop-addict Audrey!!
• Buildings - Middle row, left to right: Bliss Building (now Lindy's) circa 1929 Art Deco style, J.A. Skinner Building (now Villa di Capo Ristoranto Italian) circa 1931 Art Deco style. 
• Buildings - Bottom row, left to right:  People's Flowers circa 1944. KiMo Theater circa 1927 Pueblo Deco style. Maisel's Indian Trading Post and Brigg's Drug store and Soda Fountain (now Nick's Crossroads Cafe) circa 1909 Victorian style.

The KiMo Theater was built in 1927 as an extravagant Art Deco / Pueblo-styled showplace for movies and shows. For decades it delighted both travelers on Route 66 and local audiences, but by 1977 it was in such disrepair it was scheduled to be torn down. Thankfully the city bought it and restored it to its former glory.

We stopped at the Standard Diner (320 Central Ave SE) since it was on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (February 2009). I had not seen that particular episode, but thought the traditional diner classics on the menu would be good for our Route 66 afternoon.  They are billed as classics with a modern flair, so we were intrigued. John ordered the Diner Burger (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle) and I ordered the Meatloaf Sandwich (bacon-wrapped, aioli, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, bun). We both got the side-salad, but we could have ordered the "soup of the moment" (changes daily)!

New Mexico: Day #3

We were going to try a restaurant for breakfast that would be on our way to our destination, however, it was very crowded so we ended up eating at Village Inn. So even though we have one left in Spokane... we never eat there, so I don't think we've broken the "eat in different restaurants while on vacation" rule? We took advantage of their VIB deal (you get 4 different items, your choice from the list of 2 eggs, a meat, a side, and then a pancake / waffle / crepe / french toast).

We headed on the historic Turquoise Trail, picking up Hwy 14 at Tijeras, going through Cedar Crest and turning onto NM 536 at Sandia Park, headed toward Sandia Crest and through part of the Cibola National Forest. We passed Tinkertown Museum (closed for the season) and then continued to the "High Point on the Turquoise Trail" - Sandia Crest (10,678 feet). This was also the Sandia Peak Ski area (closed until later in December) and the exact opposite side of the mountain where we would be visiting later. It was a nice drive and the car got muddy - but it was red mud, not brown. Appeared to be some type of red clay.

Next we went to the Sandia Peak Tramway (sandiapeak.com). "Sandia Peak Tramway was manufactured by Bell Engineering of Lucerne, Switzerland and constructed between 1964-1966 at a cost of 2 million dollars. This is a Double Reversible Passenger Aerial Tramway. Five thousand helicopter trips were made during construction of Tower 2 and the cable installation. New Tram cars were installed on the Tram's 20th anniversary in May of 1986." 

We purchased our tram tickets and ended up getting the car to ourselves - just John and I and our Tram tour guide Daniel. He was awesome. Full of fun stories on how the tram was completed and lots of interesting facts. Elevation of upper terminal - 10,378 feet.

"Although the Tram is an engineering marvel, visitors come mainly for the spectacular view - 11,000 square miles of the Land of Enchantment. Passengers ascend 4,000 feet in about 15 minutes, gliding along the western face of the rugged Sandia Mountains. No matter what time of day, the view is unparalleled." 

"The Sandia Peak Tram is 2.7 miles in diagonal length and is a bi-cable double reversible aerial passenger tramway. Both tramcars are attached to the hauling cables and the weight of the downhill tramcar helps to pull the uphill tramcar to the top. When the tramcars pass at midway, they are almost 1,000 feet above the ground. Top speed of the tramway is 24 feet per second, averaging 12 mph. The main drive is a 600 horse power dc electric winch motor."

What a fun excursion on the "World's Longest Aerial Tramway"!!

Next we visited the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuguerque International Balloon Museum, named in honor of balloonist and Tramway co-founder Ben Abruzzo. The Balloon Museum contains one of the world's finest collections of historic balloons and ballooning artifacts reflecting the history, science and culture of lighter-than-air flight. (balloonmuseum.com)

"Since the first balloon flights in 1783, there have been many feats recorded in the story of Balloon flight. Hot air and gas balloons have been used for adventure, scientific experiments, the arts, warfare, espionage, and the exploration of space." 

The displays were divided into these sections: How and Why Balloons Fly; Science; Recreational; Balloons in War. It was interesting to learn more about the history of hot air balloons and to see various uses. Interesting fact: The Montgolfier brothers, who owned a paper factory in France (1700's), became intrigued by a piece of paper that flew up a chimney under a roaring hearth one day. They began to experiment by filling a small silk bag with smoke and were thrilled as it floated to the ceiling.  The first balloon flight took place at Versailles on September 18, 1783 and launched with only a duck, a rooster, and a sheep in a basket. Since we were in New Mexico, we seriously looked into taking a hot air balloon ride - sounds terribly romantic, doesn't it? It was a splurge ($300 with others or $500 exclusive) and quite frankly, I like soil...

We went to Cracker Barrel for a very late lunch. Originally I was going to order comfort food, but ended up wanting something a little healthier so ordered the Country Chef Salad. Came with turkey breast, ham, bacon, cucumber, tomatoes, Colby cheese, deviled eggs (yes deviled) and sourdough croutons. Hah, not sure it was healthy, but it was good! John ordered the lunch special which included turkey, dressing and veggies. We had to check out the Country Store after we finished our meal. It's a fun aspect of Cracker Barrels - restaurant and store-in-one.

Headed back to the inn and then later that evening when we were hungry again, we ran to Smith's grocery store and picked up some snacks and then stopped to get a donut at Dunkin' Donuts.