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RAY WYLIE HUBBARD - PORTALES ALICE Is this song about my mom?

My mom is from Portales, New Mexico.  My mom is Alice. Hmmm?

Portales Alice by Ray Wylie Hubbard  
Download now or listen on posterous

PORTALES ALICE.mp3 (3435 KB)

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RETRO PIX OF THE DAY---This one takes more than 140 characters to explain.

Dateline:  Portales, New Mexico. Lindsey Elementary School.  1^st grade homeroom teacher was Miss Romero.  Somewhere along the way that year she became Mrs. Thomas.  Talk about messing with a young man’s head?  I thought people could just change their names at will.

She must have been from South Texas too because I remember saving egg shells all year long so we could make Cascarones for Easter.    Otherwise the cascarones tradition was lost on us Eastern New Mexico peeps.  Way cool.

I’m the one in striped pants.   When are striped pants coming back in style?  Notice most of the boys are wearing hard heeled shoes?  I can’t remember if this was just part of dressing up for Picture Day or if we wore them all the time?

I remember everyone’s name except for two of the kids. 

Back row from Left to Right:  Lucy, Martin, Patricia, Debbie, Gilbert, Junior, unknown kid #1, unknown kid #2, Michael and Tony.

Front row from Left to Right:  Me!, Cynthia, Archie, Jerry (RIP), Pete, Bobby, Brenda, Robin, Jimmy and Mitzi.

Funny that I’m only related to one kid in this picture considering my step-family is huge and the relation is  from my mom’s side of the family.  Hello cousin Jimmy.

Tricky Dick on the calendar.  Oh those were the days. LOL.

I remember the drawing on the bulletin board by the calendar was mine.  I was always a teacher’s pet. It’s a kite.

1st grade was the year I got hit in the eye with a rock.  They would discover my detached retina in 2001.  I had a detached retina all those years.  I was a tough kid.

Can you tell Lindsey Elementary was in “taco town”?  Everyone in this class was Latino or “Spanish” as we grew up calling ourselves, except for one kid.  Hello. Robin.

I hear they are knocking down Lindsey Middle School now and building a brand spanking new school right next door.  Ahh the memories. 

PS:  Mr. Glasscock was the principal for years.  In my best Beavis & Butthead voice:  ha huh, he said Glasscock.

PPS:  I am an open book.

PPPS:  I will stop reminiscing now.

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REVIEW: Chicken Mole w/out the Mole

I burned the Mole.

2.2 Stars out of 5

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REVIEW: My own Hatch Picadillo

When Tommy was ill and had his major operation in Albuquerque, NM, Tia Bea; Tia Geri; Tia Marylou; Tia Gloria and other various relations made us supper that very long day. Apparently all the Montoya's are excellent cooks.  Even by relation. My cousin Joe Jr.'s wife Manin made the picadillo and I have had fantasies about it ever since.  That was circa 2005.  In fact I still dream about that entire meal.  It was THAT good.

Found this recipe for Picadillo last summer @ HEB Central Market during their Hatch Green Chile Festival.  Thought I'd give it a try still always knowing that I could never match Manin's Picadillo.

This recipe was just OK.  I will not make it again.

2.4 Stars out of 5

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REVIEW: My own Pot Roast & Arugula Panini with Ham & Cheese Croquettes

So yesterday I made this meal with the intentions of continuing on and using the left-overs for today's lunch.  Glad I did.

My friend from the Food Network, Claire Robinson had this wonderful idea on her show.  I ran with it.

The croquettes were oh so good.  Glad I made plenty.  I may have more as a snack later. 

My version of the panini was just OK.  I used my bacon press to squash the sandwich.  Oh well.

3.5 Stars out of 5

PS:  Glad I work from home.  Gives me the time to experiment like this.

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REVIEW: My own Tuesday Pot Roast w/ Mushroom Gravy and Parsnip-Potato Mash

So it's nice to be cooking in my remodeled kitchen documented here and there is nothing like comfort food to get things going the right way.

I like Claire Robinson's Five Ingredient Fix show on Food Network.  I like to keep things simple.

Tried her Pot Roast w/ Mushroom Gravy and Parsnip-Potato Mash and it was pretty good but what I like is that it will be my lunch in another recipe tomorrow.

3.9 Stars out of 5

PS:  Could not get the gravy thick without a thickening agent. 

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#Kitchenremodel (or) It’s not my dream kitchen but it’s my better than I had kitchen.

Pix are here.

So the kitchen in la casa chica is a galley kitchen with a drop ceiling.  This ranch house was built in 1970 and that was the style typical of that era.  It opens up on one side to the dining room and the entrance to the garage is on the other side thru the laundry room/pantry.   From the dining area you step down to the sunken living room.   Appliances are all electric.

Ideally, the desire was to raise the drop ceiling; install a gas line for a gas range; have the cabinets installed professionally and open up the kitchen to the living room, but there were too many mechanical components hidden in that drop ceiling; it was too expensive to move the gas lines; professional installation was pricey and the sunken living was not conducive to merging with the kitchen.

I’m handy yet this would become the biggest project I have completed.  I am pleased.

We decided on an IKEA kitchen because they received good reviews from Consumer Reports, even better than some of the well know cabinet brands.  And even though I had once said, I am never assembling another piece of furniture; I reluctantly agreed to go this route because so much money was saved in the long run.

My tendency is toward dark woods.  Every piece of furniture in this house is dark wood and the floors are light.  We decided to buck that trend and picked out a light color wood for the cabinetry and dark wood floors. 

Originally decided to stick with the same appliances but I hatched a plan to garner additional counter space by getting rid of the wall oven and getting a range oven instead.  The plan worked and a great deal was found on a suite of stainless steel appliances. 

So a budget was set.  Ordered the cabinets and appliances and waited.  In the meantime lots of other excitement occurred including my brother’s @TmarkM PHD graduation documented here. 

The cabinets arrived on December 14^th:  all 752 boxes.  Teardown of the old kitchen began on December 18^th. It took one day to demolish everything and haul it all to the curb for pick-up.  Everything was trashed including the kitchen sink. 

It took the entire day to assemble the sink wall of the kitchen on day two.  IKEA has a unique wall cabinet hanging system where the cabinets hang on a rack instead of to the wall.  This ingenuity made for easy installation.

The bottom cabinets have a unique leg system where you are able to raise the legs to level the cabinets.  This also made for easy installation.

The range wall was installed on the third day.  The problem with IKEA instructions is that they do not have a written language on them, only cartoons of the assembly process.  This made it difficult to determine what order to complete the assembly and installation process.   Learned a whole new IKEA language:  Adel, Domsjo, Plinth, Akurum, Rationell and Streckett.  Gotta love the Swedes.

Assembling and installing the cabinets was the easy part.  They say the talking snake is in the details and whoever came up with that saying was not lying.  We spend the better part of almost the entire rest of the month messing with the finer details of this kitchen remodel.   Granted, now we were only working on weekends to complete the project but there were lots of little things to wrap up.  In addition there were two holiday weekends that ate up the remodel time.

Backsplash fitting was no fun.  Trim setting up was no fun.  Under-cabinet lighting set up was no fun.  Floor installation was no fun.  Installation of Microwave and vent system was no fun. 

What is fun?  I love my new deep drawers.  I love my soft close drawers and doors.  I love my sleek clean lines.   I love my adjustable shelves.   I love my expanded counter space.   I love my giant farmhouse sink.

So now all that remains are minor touch-ups here and there.  I finally have my kitchen back and can step back and view a job well done.  It’s not my dream kitchen, but dammit, it’s my kitchen.

No professional assistance was used during this kitchen remodel.  My rough hands and my aching back prove that fact.  My Grampo Saiz would be proud.

Pix are here.

PS:  Went way over budget anyway.  Discovered one can never really plan for a project this big.

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REVIEW: McDONALD'S MAC SNACK WRAP

Cold after the Spurs game, we stop by McDonald's for some hot chocolate.  Me being the adventurous type, order the new Mac Snack Wrap.

OMG OMG OMG.  Seriously, this thing was nasty.  Threw it away as quickly as I could.  Will never order one again.  Only wish bad things for this new product.  Discontinue it as soon as possible please.  Save your money.  Do not order this disgusting, foul thing. 

1/16 Stars out of 5

PS:  even the Chow Chows didn't want it.

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REVIEW: Ruby Tuesday's

Because I am starving and Cheesecake Factory was way super da busy, we stop by Ruby Tuesday's on 281 for supper.  My #kitchenremodel is still a day or two away from completion.  Once it is complete I will have to stop eating out so much.

Start out with Blue Moon beer in honor of the Blue Moon I missed yesterday.  Ruby Tuesday?  Really?  I mean it's only water spots but come on---the beer glass if full of these spots.  And again, really?  That was the last bottle of Blue Moon beer?  Shame.

The salad bar is well tended and the greens are nice and fresh.  I was thoroughly enjoying my salad when the main entree arrived.  I had to put my steak aside to finish my salad.  It was that tasty.

Ordered the Sirloin Steak with Lobster Mac n' Cheese.  Usually am strictly a rib-eye steak kind of guy but really wanted to try the mac n' cheese and this was the only entree with that combination. 

Steak was a actually tender and juicy but the Lobster Mac n' Cheese was really the centerpiece of this meal.  It had a great flavor and I wish I could have had another serving.

The sides of mashed potatoes and mushrooms were also good and tasted homemade.

I left Ruby Tuesday well sated and will return again soon.  No room for dessert.  Shame, because I really wanted to try the Italian Creme Cake.

4 Stars out of 5.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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