Pining for El Parasol

I’ve been stopping in at W.H. Moore lumber yard since the beginning of Covid.  Most of those projects are long finished or long neglected or undone. Every time I’ve gone, I’ve left empty handed, or, should I say, empty trucked? The consistent reason for this is that they were so busy during Covid that there was a several month backlog and triple pricing! But not this last visit…

We pulled in confidently, aiming to get a load of pine shavings for our new chicken coop. I’d already done some recon, so I knew what I was getting into here. They sell you a towering, full sized truck bed of shavings for $10.00. This is a much more cost efficient way to keep the farm critters warm and snug than straw bales at $8.00 each. It’s way more than we need for the girls so we’ll probably use the rest for mulch over our newly planted trees and garden. 

Driving in we were passed by Bill, the, third Mr. Moore, who is currently running the mill, driving out. He stopped and asked us what we needed, turned around, hopped out of his truck and into his bobcat and told us to meet him at the pine shaving skyscraper. 

Bill drives that bobcat like it’s an extension of his body and quickly filled our truck to the gills.  We left happy and our girls now have a fresh, pine scented coop and are happy too.

Now, for our reward….we Beverly Hill-Billied it over to El Parasol in Espanola, the OG, next to El Paragua. It doesn’t really make sense and maybe it’s just some sort of old fashioned loyalty, but this location tastes so much better then the new, northern location or the others in Santa Fe and Pojoaque. It was cold cold cold so we ordered, ran back to our truck and waited for the blurry amped number call, then ran to get it, back to the warm truck cab and unwrapped our coveted, hot deep fried chicken guacamole tacos. They never disappoint, with the fresh made corn tortillas filled with pulled chicken, lettuce, a little shredded cheese and guacamole. All this somehow magically deep fried and still fresh. We ask for green for the generous sides of included salsa and there is always extra to take home.  Good thing, because it’s crisp and fresh with a perfect zesty spice level and goes well with so many things. My wife and I have tried to jump out of our chicken/guac taco rut, but repeatedly and joyfully, jump back in. We love them so much and ordered our usual three each. They are a bit pricey when it comes to tacos, but well worth it! 

For the sake of variety and leftovers, I ordered a pint of the pozole, and was pleased with it though El Pilar still takes the ristra on this competition. The stew was full of chunks of pork, green chile, and perfectly al dente hominy, but was a little lackluster in the flavor department. The wife, out of curiosity, also ordered a small cup of panocha pudding.  Neither of us had ever had it before, but this traditional New Mexican dessert will likely not make it into our repertoire.  It was a grainy, dark brown pudding (look up what panocha means in Spanish if you don’t already know), had a light, caramel sweetness but with a hint of bitterness at the end as well.  Just not my cuppa. After some research, I now know that it is made of sprouted wheat flour and has been a Lenten treat for hundreds of years. Neato. The wife has a saying, as she is generally braver when it comes to new foods: “I’ll try anything once!”  Oh, boy, there are some great stories that happened after she uttered those words! 

I have never been let down by El Parasol and eagerly look forward to my next visit.  Lunch for two plus a small panocha and the Pozole was just under $40.  I can’t wait for the weather to warm up so I can enjoy an Agua Fresca with my tacos at one of their several shady picnic tables.