Feast and Feed

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?
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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.