With the turn of this year's never ending winter, we decided it was time to irrigate our beautiful riverfront. We’ve been spending hours each day for years dragging stupidly long hoses all over the acre we planted grass on. It is taking, and, one day, will rarely or maybe even never, need to be watered. After spending an embarrassing amount of screen time, we found a hybrid grass that will eventually have 3 foot roots that will thrive happily with our very high water table. Our hope is that if we run a 1-1/4” poly pipe from the pumphouse down to the area then split off into 6 zones and hook them all up to a good multi-zone timer, we may never have to sacrifice much of the summer fretting and toiling over our huge grass-baby again!
There was no way that we were going to dig those ditches by hand, so we called our reliable equipment rental in Espanola. Gil’s Rental has been doing business since 1971. If you are in need of a tractor, trailer, cherry picker or even a steam roller, Gil’s is the place. They are open 6 days a week, are always there to help you load up your rental and take care to keep their equipment well maintained. It’s almost always guaranteed that you will be greeted by Rocky, the rusty, lumbering Shepherd mix, usually throwing around a small trailer axle or a huge stump. About eight years ago, he showed up and wagged his way into the hearty hearts of the men working there. Now he’s their beloved yard dog and has a full time job. Back to our project. We needed a trencher! We went for the 3 foot, gas driven walk behind. Boy oh boy did we get our trench on! On our third and final day, we decided that we deserved a royal reward and took ourselves to Cafe Sierra Negra. What a treat this place is! Walking in is a festive and warm experience. The staff is very friendly, inviting and efficient. The walls are covered with local art and colorful paint. There is gentle music playing my kind of groove and the aroma is intoxicating. This place has that super laid back vibe that allows one to choose their own table, grab a menu on the way and plop down in a comfortable chair to make some serious culinary decisions . This is a well thought out menu using quality ingredients, sometimes locally sourced. The menu is pleasantly simple and doesn’t overwhelm with too many choices. There are sweet and savory crepes, several interesting and uncommon salads, tacos, quesadillas and a tempting cheese burger I will visit at another time. We asked our neighbor friends to join us so we ended up with a lot of the menu options on our table. I chose one of the specials that day, a perfectly composed au gratin dish of plump rigatoni coated with a decadent gorgonzola and nicely seasoned with fresh spinach. It was baked just right and had a browned crunchy top with a perfectly al dente undercarriage. My wife went for the stuffed poblano chile. This version’s chile was filled with savory brown rice, beans and corn and laid in a stew of green chile. In my opinion, it would benefit from a sprinkle of piquant cheese (like Cotija). One of our companions ordered the fish tacos and the other chose the quesadilla plate. The tacos were built of grilled fish on small corn tortillas and heaped with pico de gallo, avocado, a lime and honey cabbage slaw and a pineapple salsa. The quesadillas, well, three small quesadillas that more resembled tacos, were filled with beans, corn and peppers and then topped with the same slaw as the fish tacos. We all agreed that they could have used a bit more cheese to really be called quesadillas. But, the salsa/slaw combo on both of the dishes added a fresh burst of tang that was absolutely amazing. We tend to be a little piggy, so we also ordered the salad special which was a huge plate of winter greens under a generous portion of dried figs, toasted walnuts and gorgonzola with a slightly sweet vinaigrette on the side. We all dove into our food with hungry gusto and were happy with our choices. As a final reward, we were lucky enough to score the last slice of their homemade Basque style cheesecake which maybe shouldn’t be called cheesecake at all. It looks like cheesecake but melts on your tongue like a creamy flan or pudding or silk. It’s delightful and I highly recommend trying this slice of heaven. It’s good with a smooth glass of Malbec or a steaming hot fluffy latte. The portions are large and left us with plenty of leftovers to eat the next day when we finished our giant ditch irrigation job that hopefully leads to an effortless soft grassy paradise on the river. I can’t wait to go to Cafe Sierra Negra again and try that green chile cheeseburger and hopefully one (or two!?) slices of the “cheesecake.” The prices are not low, but not exorbitant considering the quality of the ingredients and portion sizes. The entire bill for 4 people, with several glasses of wine and ciders came to just under $160. Definitely a treat more than an everyday experience, but I dig it.
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For the first time in my long, poultry tending life, I ran out of chicken food and didn’t even notice. So, the wife and I jumped into the car and bee-lined to Country Farm Supply on Riverside Dr. in Espanola. I love going to this store! It smells like fresh straw and sunny dust. I’m always greeted by denim wearing young men who address me with old-timey respect from days long gone. I looked, again, for a 1” x 12” tractor pin to keep my backhoe from slowly dropping to the ground, but they only had every other size on the planet. Do I have a weird backhoe?
Going to this store is always a little dangerous for my bank account. I try to avoid going into the huge back two rooms filled with sexy cowboy clothes. Think, “Dancing with Wolves”…Floor length, split sided, slung back coats and Carharts in every cut and color. Boots, Stetsons, wood stoves, Acequia gate valves, lawn equipment, flower seeds and, wait, I came for chicken feed! I finally made it out of there with just four bags of layer pellets and a Big Hunk, my favorite candy bar. It was getting too late to go home and cook dinner, so we decided to cross the road and try the Center Bar in the Santa Claran Resort and Casino. We rarely gamble, but sometimes, I don’t mind the flashing lights, and the clamor of bells, whistles, dings, chimes, etc. that creates that unique slot gambling soundtrack. We chose a cozy booth and were quickly addressed by a pleasant young woman with water and menus in hand. She asked us if we wanted a straw. Finally, a server asked, instead of assuming! We always carry our own reusable straws, in hopes to help save the ocean from becoming one huge straw glump. We ordered the Nachos con Pollo and Guacamole, and substituted green for the listed red chile. We also ordered the Chicken Fried Steak and a half rack of BBQ Ribs. Clearly our intention for a small dinner had morphed into a table filling feast! The nachos were gigantic and hot and slathered with, dare I say, too much cheese? The pintos, shredded chicken, sour cream and guacamole were aplenty. Had we made it even close to finishing this bountiful mountain of yumminess, we’d definitely need more chips to scoop up all of the melty richness. We stopped ourselves and turned our forks, and focus, to the other two huge plates of food on our table. My one bite of the chicken fried steak was all that I hoped for. A crispy, well pounded cut of beef slathered in loads of creamy, white gravy. “Meh” on the side of peas and carrots, but I loved the creamy mashed potatoes literally hidden under the huge steak. We each cut off a chunky rib from the (thank goodness!) only half rack, and were very pleased with the smoky, red chile and brown sugar glaze. The fries were coated with a crunchy mystery and fried to crispy perfection. Slaw is not my thing and was not a shining standout to this smorgasbord filling our table. We quickly realized that we were not going to get anywhere close to eating any more of this feast, so we loaded up our large to-go boxes with enough food for several lunches and dinners and even breakfast, as we live by the credo that anything is breakfast if you fry it up and put a fresh egg on it! All in all, a very fulfilling meal and easy on the pocketbook for tapping out at just over $60.00, tax, tip and all. |
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