a day in the desert

My New Mexico childhood was magical… kivas, Zozobra (the burning man), Kearney Elementary Bilingual School, Blake’s Lota Burger, Blue Birds, my Santa Fe best friend, Mary Ann Varela and her lovely Mom’s delicious pots of beans, posole, green chile stew and plenty of tortillas to scoop up any remains, crawdad hunting and ghost stories, Wolfman…

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A Very Different Kind of Christmas

What a year this has been… for the world. Hurt, loss, grief, change – I believe most have experienced at least one of these things this year. For the ever dwindling Lombardo household, change was the BIG one. Loss of a kind of life we’ve been living for more than 30 years has been the…

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Everyday Focaccia

I know, I know… I’m evil. I am a bread-eating, carb-loving gal who doesn’t believe that all gluten is bad. For thousands of years, all of our ancestors have been making and eating some type of bread, whether flatbread, crispy, cracker-like breads, crunchy-crusted loaves, water, and ground up grains have shaped how we eat. Read…

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Miso Ramen

Looking back at these days of quarantine, I hope that, as a society, we remember the time spent with our loved ones (if sheltered with family), that we became more resourceful, efficient and innovative, that we learned what we actually NEED vs what we want and that we learn to love what we have. If…

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Good Old Days and Zucchini Bread

These last three weeks of isolation has brought some serious time for reflection… and some purging, but I’ll save that for later. I realized something during my solitary walk this morning – it was SO quiet! It was almost as though the earth was rejoicing in the peace that the forced human quarantine had brought…

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Sweet Pepper Relish

Serve this mouthwatering, addictive condiment on crisp, buttery crackers with goat’s cheese or cream cheese, or use in place of the three standards (ketchup•mayonnaise•must-ard) Sweet Pepper Relish 3 lbs medium hot chilies, mixed 2 lbs yellow and red sweet pepper 1 lbs tomatillo 1 lbs tomatoes 4 lg sweet onion 15 cloves garlic 2 c…

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SSS Kind of Day

~worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy~ Leo Buscaglia

Buttery Ham and Cheese Biscuits

When T heads out for a day of fishing, I always try to send along a little morsel to get him through the day. Today he is taking a few neighbors out on the boat, and I made ham and cheese biscuits to lure them in!😉 3 c flour 3 tsp baking powder 1 scant…

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Death of the Cabbage Rose…

I was SO cocky. I was just so sure of myself. “Wait for help!”, they said. “I’ve got this!”, I said. “You’re going to wear yourself out!”, they cried. “It’ll be easy!”, I vehemently assured them. And then, those darned cabbage rose wallpaper demon spirits set out to put me in my place, arms dangling…

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Biscochitos- New Mexico State Cookie

The biscochito, spelt bizcochito in New Mexican Spanish, is a cookie that was developed in Santa Fe de Nuevo México. The cookie was originally created by the Spanish colonists and the Native American Pueblos, based on lard cookies from European cultures, especially of Portugal and Spain. (www.newmexico.com) Thanks to a recipe found on the good…

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New Mexico on My Mind…

I am so excited to be going back to New Mexico for the holidays, that I am creating all the Christmas classics in my temporary Idaho kitchen today! I have pork stewing in roasted Hatch chilies for my green pork tamales, and I’m about to get started on Biscochito, that delicious, anise-kissed, cinnamon and sugar…

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