Bonding the Artesian Way

Finally the weather is perfect, goals have been met, my work is done and the weekend is here!

Great timing because this Saturday is also the annual Bondy yard sale. We love this sale. The prices are fair, the goods are plentiful and very well displayed. You can count on having many categories to shop for. You can also count on this field trip taking about three times longer than you planned for, as, likely, you will run into a lot of people that you know. Catch-up chats and quick hugs with a “gotta get going to buy things I probably don’t need, see you later”!

This year was the best year yet. I always follow my same routine by starting front left and working my way clockwise until I reach the Bondys’ front porch that’s usually so crowded with used stuff and people sifting through it, that you have to squeeze in with a lot of “excuse me, I’m sorry”. I pretend to be looking at all the laid out items on tall tables, but really I’m casually strolling to the back where there are always lots of homemade treats that I hope are for the taking. Brian Bondy could always fall back on a second career of candy making with that perfect toffee he makes fresh every year. It’s sweet, but not too sweet with the exact right crunch and chewiness. The nuts compliment it perfectly and one piece is never enough! Yum! But wait, this year I see that there is a whole new section of booths behind the porch with clothes and fun art temptations. Oh dear, this is gonna be hard to resist. Thankfully, I came with my wife and two dear friends and mostly succeeded in focusing my shopping urges on clothes and essential items for them. My wife tends to get grabby at these events and, later, I discovered that she had already made several trips to our car with arms full of very important things by the time we were saying our goodbyes to drive the short distance further down the road to the second location of the sale. I’m glad that we brought our small car this year, because this next leg of the sale had some temptations that were challenging my “less is more” philosophy. I will confess that it is fully my responsibility that we came home with a giant meditation bowl for our, yet to be finished yoga/ meditation space. Ah well, it’s good to treat oneself and to splurge every now and then.

We decided to carry on splurging the next day to treat ourselves to a Mother’s Day breakfast at The Artesian Restaurant in Ojo Caliente. We love coming to this restaurant, it’s so peaceful and beautiful. The gardens were literally sparkling and shining, probably due to the 1.11” of rain torrent that we had received the night before. What a gorgeous day! The bustling dining room was not as crowded as we feared it may be considering the holiday and we were sat quickly at one of the many pleasant tables lining the walls. The menu has a nice variety of delicious sounding items to choose from. We were starving, so, started with the avocado toast as an appetizer. I ordered an omelet, choosing my own ingredients. It comes with cubed potatoes and toast. I chose house cured bacon, goat cheese and spinach. Asked for my potatoes crispy, always, and rye for my toast. My wife went for the French toast.

The avocado toast was all that it boasted to be except for a pet peeve my wife and I share, that avocado should be avocado. Not guacamole! It’s no different than assuming tomato on your BLT, but getting salsa. Come on people, know the difference! Besides that, the sourdough toast was a perfect vessel for the piled high guacamole, sautéed spinach and over medium egg drizzled with a nice zesty sesame chili oil and surrounded by flavorful cherry tomatoes. My omelet was very sizable and topped with a lot of bacon, spinach and goat cheese. At first, I was worried that that was their style, to have the ingredients on the outside of the omelet, but quickly comforted to find the fold was stuffed with much more bacon and goat cheese and spinach. Dare I say too much??! The potatoes were good but nothing spectacular and the toast was bland and room temp. I do appreciate a restaurant that still serves cute, soft butter balls in a ramekin, a rare sight since COVID and was happy to receive this and small sides of ramekin-ed ketchup, syrup and a delicious homemade strawberry jam that I wish they sold jarred and to go.

My wife’s French Toast was some of the best I’ve ever had. Texas toast soaked in a delicate egg batter and fried to a slightly crunchy golden brown, dusted with powdered sugar and surrounded by a generous portion of sliced strawberries, a velvety maple syrup and a mountain of whipped cream. We ate the French toast last thankfully and were not tempted, for a change, to order dessert.  All this, a cup of decaf and a lot left over, came to $55.

It was a truly lovely weekend. As I sit writing this article on a comfortable chair on my new screened in porch on the river, listening to the beautiful song of the Western Tanagers, I am so very thankful to be lucky enough to live in such a beautiful valley surrounded by kind and generous folk.

Now to face all the new tasks on my to-do list, I am rejuvenated and ready to go.
I think that we might make this Bondy-ing with Mother’s Day breakfast an annual tradition!

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