The girls really liked the headbands I took them last October, so I made more. They Facetimed me one day & I pulled out all sorts of random fabric & they just chose what they wanted. A pretty fun & easy project. Finished them in a couple of hours & shipped them on their way!
Green Chile Week! I took three trips to New Mexico last year & told Danny we’d have a Green Chile week sometime to try some new recipes. Some recipes I got from a New Mexico cookbook, some from a New Mexico magazine & other just random internet searches. It was definitely a success, pretty fun to try a new dish every day, but a lot of cooking. My freezer is filled with the leftovers!
Green Chile Mac & Cheese, roasted veggies & Hatch Chile Margarita; Green Chile Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, & Green Chile Moscow mules
Green Chile week happened to coincide with Thanksgiving week (Danny’s brilliant idea). I was super stoked about this since this is my least favorite holiday & I’ve made a traditional Thanksgiving meal for the past hundred years. But…this year I had Green Chile Cranberry sauce over goat cheese along with some cranberry cheddar cheese for an appetizer & a super delicious Hatch Green Chile shrimp with coconut rice, Green Chile salad & dessert was pumpkin shortcake with apples & maple cream & a Chimayo cocktail to drink.
Green Chile Posole (this was sooo good!); Green Chile smashburgers & Negro Modelo
Brats with Green Chiles, slaw & radishes & NM Bosque Brewing ; Sara’s recipe for Green Chile Frittata & Tequila Sunrise.
We finished the week off with Green Chile & Pecan sundaes…OMG so good! Theres a place in Las Cruces called Caliches Frozen Custard that serves these. When I was there last spring, I had one & it was sooo great. So, I found sort of a knock off recipe, made it then we ate these…YUM! A wonderful ending to our Green Chile Week.
We did our traditional Black Friday beer shopping picking up a couple cases of Bourbon County Stout & Wilitized…super yummy beer!
One of my favorite Lawrence Christmas traditions is SantaCon. I get to meet up with my old friends from Bike & Beer Wednesday & dress up in costume! This year I took an old Elf costume & revamped it into one I like much better. It’s always a fun time & while Danny won’t dress up & participate, he always drops me off then meets up with me at the last bar we go to. Love these people! (But it was freezing-ass cold today!)
We invited a friend over for an evening I put together my first charcuterie board. I loved it! I’d watched a youtube video & bought most of the ingredients at Aldi. It was super fun to put together & yummy for us all. I just put it in the center of the table & while the three of us chatted the night away, we munched on all these goodies. It would turn out I’d make a smaller one a few days later just for me & Danny. We both think this will also be great to do while camping.
Since we went nowhere for Christmas (I had suggested Louisville for the Kentucky Bourbon trail)…the weather was horrid, nasty, dangerous, miserable (about every winter adjective you can come up with), we stayed home. Danny got to relax, which is great, but I was freakin crazy bored! But, since we weren’t on any fun Bourbon trail, we created our own. On two separate nights, we had Bourbon tastings….it was fun, interesting & definitive. Most of all we know we both like Bourbon…a lot!
I set a goal this year to read 100 books & I ended the year with 112. I love reading & still feel so grateful for libraries, authors, illustrators, etc. I never take reading for granted! I now have more books on my “want to read” list than I probably have time for in my life! So many creative, imaginative & amazing writers in our world…it’s such a joy for me to pick up a book & dive in!
I walk the trails as much as possible & don’t know what I’d do without these wonderful women I walk with! (Missing Lesa in the photo). Our New Years Day walk!
Since I’ve been trapped inside because of the weather so much & home for a long period of time, I’ve spent time trying to be a good cat mom. Our kitties are growing older & I am continually worried about them. So, here’s some cute cat photos….they are so sweet! Sammy hangs with me more than Bob, so I have more photos of her.
Sammy’s favorite thing to do is to plop down in the middle of whatever you are doing…she's excellent at this!
Bob is a bit a of a loner until Danny gets home, then he becomes Danny’s shadow. No cat was ever loved more than Bob by Danny & vice versa.
As I write this, my Camper is packed up for my first trip of 2023. This trip will only be a week or so…I’m really trying to avoid driving on ice & camping in freezing temperatures, but I’m stoked to be visiting someplace new, trying out some new trails & eating & drinking my way though some new towns.
Winter makes me feel trapped & I can’t seem to embrace it as I get older…I just want to escape the crap weather for warmer places. I’ve got some upcoming trips on the books & I’m am so happy about that!
And, Sammy found her way into my duffle…as usual.
