Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

Cinco de Mayo

Native to the southernmost border of the USA, chile ristras are hung to bring good health and good luck. Realistically, they are hung to dry for cooking and eating later. Photo courtesy of National Park Service.

Sunday, May 5th is the annual celebration of Cinco de Mayo — a celebration of the Mexican way of life and its importance to the continued survival of the Monarch butterfly. See Cinco de Mayo May 5th.

As some of you already know, John and I spent the first seven years of our life in New Mexico courtesy of the Vietnam War. There I learned to cook some wonderful New Mexican food and make a really good, but simple Margarita. So today, I thought I would share a new one with you. Here’s my recipe for Chili rellenos Casserole:

 

Chile Rellenos Casserole

Use Corningware type dish. I prefer a flatter style dish, but a deeper dish would work as well. It would just take longer to bake.

• Butter surface of dish. (use butter, not margarine)
• Open and drain 3 small cans of whole chiles.
• Pour small amount of batter* into dish to cover bottom.
• Begin stuffing chiles with previously grated Medium Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese. You can add onion and ground meat, if you like, to the stuffing.
• Lay the stuffed chiles over the batter in the dish until bottom is covered with stuffed chiles.
• Pour batter over the layer of chiles to cover.
• Repeat layering until you’ve run out of chiles or batter or both, making certain you have enough batter to cover the top layer.
• Garnish top with grated cheese.
• Bake at a 325 degrees until knife comes out clean and batter is lightly browned on top. Approx 45-50 minutes.
• Serve at once.

*Batter: 1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
½ tsp salt

• Sift together dry ingredients.
• Combine eggs and milk.
• Add to flour mixture, stirring enough to mix.

See also Today is National Tequila Day. Enjoy!

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Enchiladas New Mexico-style

Chili peppers drying on an adobe house in New Mexico. We receive a Red Chili Ristra wishing us good health and good luck from friends in New Mexico every Christmas. We used to see dried red chili and dried garlic ristras hanging throughout New Mexico. They are used as decoration and as a sign of welcome, while at the same time preserving food for later use. Hatch, New Mexico is often referred to as the chili capital of the world. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Boston Public Library,

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Today is National Tequila Day

I just became aware that today, July 24th, is National Tequila Day. I couldn’t find anything about how it came to be, but apparently it is. So, here’s to tequila! One of my favorite alcoholic beverages.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

Donna’s Margaritas

1 can frozen limeade

3 cans water

2 cans gold tequila [Read more…]

Deviled Eggs

Now that the Easter day celebration is over, it’s time to do something with those leftover eggs. One of my favorite uses for hard boiled eggs is Deviled Eggs. (Egg Salad isn’t far behind!) Over the years I’ve perfected my recipe (although it’s always slightly different in taste….) and I thought I’d share it with you.

Deviled egg container. Photo Courtesy of Shopko.com

To begin with you need a Deviled Egg container — something that will hold the eggs in place. I got mine as a Christmas present many years ago from my niece. It holds 24 egg halves. So let’s get started.

Deviled Eggs

18 eggs — Cover eggs with water and bring to a boil. Boil at medium heat for 5 minutes. Let sit until water cools. (typically 3-4 hours) Then crack shells all around by hitting gently on a hard surface. Peel broken shells away, rinse and drip dry on clean paper toweling. Then cut each egg in half, scooping out the yolk into a separate bowl. Place egg halves in Deviled Egg container. [Read more…]