Hurts so good

Has my “honeymoon” period for my pregnancy finally ended? That short period of time in the second trimester when you feel absolutely fabulous, your energy returns, and you’re not heaving, huffing, puffing and waddling? Afraid so, for me. Yesterday was a day of major exhaustion (TWO naps), lots of waddling, breathlessness, acid reflux and discomfort. BUT, it was in fact a good day on many levels, thank god.
The start of fall is official for me when the church bazaars, arts/crafts fairs, cornfield mazes and, most importantly, Oktoberfest get going. And yesterday we kicked off fall with a trip to the St. Mark’s Church Artisan Fair. Nothing extraordinary, mind you, but I don’t go there for afghans, macramé or scrap leather bolo ties. No siree. We went there for their bake sale, which is one of the better ones around this time of year. We managed to walk out with an $8 blueberry/cherry crumble (my hand’s in the photo to show just how much we got for just $8) that we tried as dessert after our lunch of leftovers from GeoGeske’s (Christian was very happy to have his second half of shaved beef hoagie that he was dying to finish off all at once). The crumble just OOZED fall to me… warm, homemade, comforting, sweet and wholesome.
In the evening, Christian made his family recipe for goulash, which includes sauerkraut. The best, best, best damn goulash I’ve ever had, and I’m so glad he made lots so I could freeze portions for later this week. Didn’t sit well with my ever-increasing acid reflux, but some things cannot and should not be given up just for a little (no, a lot) burning in the chest. It’s that good. We finished off dinner with a trip to Starbucks, where I had a pumpkin spice latte (not worth the $5, if you ask me, but not horrible).
When we got home, I tried on the authentic Dirndl I brought back from Bavaria last year. Looked HUGE (it was given to me by family) at the time, and I thought I’d maybe wear it when I was older, say, in my 60s and my belly had grown, my waist expanded and my butt exploded. Well, I didn’t have to wait until my 60s. The dirndl fits. Barely. Shit.
But actually it looks good and fits in all the right places. We’re hitting up Oktoberfest at Fort Bliss today, and, as long as I stick to ONE Brat und Semmel or ONE portion of Kartoffelsalat, I just may make it out of Oktoberfest with my pride intact as well as all the carved-wood buttons along the front of my Dirndl!
PROST to FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

H&H, R&R and some S&M

… Aw, come on. I just wanted to see if I got your attention. I most certainly will have more hits on this blog with “S&M” in the title, no?
Yesterday I went with my dear friend Kay to go get her car washed at the “infamous” H&H Car Wash in downtown El Paso. It is “infamous” because the car wash also has a hole in the wall dining room for waiting customers which serves Mexican food so good that even Julia Child and George and Laura Bush have eaten there. It has won the James Beard Foundation award. There you’ll find bank CEOs rubbing shoulders with janitors, nurses, professors and even chefs from the most upscale El Paso restaurants.
H&H is not so well-known for its car washing, although it is very good. What it IS known for is its salsa and its Chiles Rellenos. Unfortunately I’d already eaten, so I just took a taste of the salsa that came with Kay’s juevos rancheros. It was delicious…fiery but not Sado-Massiochistic (there… my blog title is relevant!), green and fresh. Kay very much enjoyed the eggs served with hot salsa, tortillas and fried potatoes, and we both enjoyed watching the long-time cooks make enormous batches of battered chiles in anticipation of the large lunch crowds the place gets EVERY day.
Don’t let the shoddy, run-down appearance of the place scare you. It’s the real deal, and there’s a reason Julia Child ate there!
•••
I was really on a quest yesterday to eat the leftovers that have been wallowing in our freezer for a month. Even though we have plenty of groceries in the fridge, I was beginning to feel guilty about letting things just sit there, accumulating ice crystals. So, I compromised. I bought Christian a burrito to go at H&H… a pork and potato burrito. With that I served some leftover salad and some leftover rigatoni. I had some leftover angel hair pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, salad and baguette. There… the freezer was looking a lot more user-friendly.
For dinner, Christian made homemade meatballs. Very simple, almost spartan on the plate, but full of intense meaty flavor and far better than the ready-made frozen meatballs at the grocery store. He simply added paprika, salt and pepper. I ate mine with some Sriracha sauce and some pineapple-habanero salsa and Christian ate his with ketchup. I ate all of mine. I did NOT get on the scale when I woke up this morning.

Are you what you eat?

If I am, then lately I’m a spitfire-hot, blazing mad, indulgent, over-the-top, multicultural hodgepodge all wrapped up in a blanket of refined white dough. With a few bits of wholesomeness every so often. If you can judge a person by what they eat you’ll have a heyday with me
Yesterday I started out with very good intentions, eating a big bowl of muesli with nonfat Greek yogurt, chopped apple, and a little leftover Cheerios. Even walked our dogs in the arroyo for more than an hour. So far so good.
Then, at lunchtime, Christian presented me with burritos he had gotten at work. You know what I’m talking about if you’re from El Paso.. “burrito lady” burritos. Everyone knows a “burrito lady,” those (predominantly) women who show up at offices or even nightclubs, with a cooler strapped to a luggage trolley, selling their homemade burritos with stuffings such as bean and cheese, lengua, carne asada, juevos con papas, etc. There is something about buying from a “burrito lady,” something naughty and secretive (many do not have food handler’s cards or work permits), but oh-so-good! In this case, Christian had purchased two chile relleno burritos for us, $2 each and huge. Filled with refried beans, cheese and chile rellenos.
Along with the burritos, I added some salted fresh cucumber spears and hummus left over from the night before; a salad; and Christian’s homemade salsa with chips. I tell ya, it is not a health item, a burrito. Far from it. But it’s cheap, satisfying, fun to eat and fills you up and keeps you going. All of that food for about $6… for both of us. And way better than anything at Taco Bell.
For dinner, we’d originally intended to cook some chicken legs on our outdoor grill we just purchased, but chickened out a bit, so to speak. Afraid of offending the neighbors with smoke, as they were moving out next door. So, we tested out our new George Foreman grill inside, and it was insane how efficient and fast that little device is. Kudos to George for being the saving grace for denizens of tiny apartments around the country.
Christian worked his paprika/salt/pepper/secret ingredient magic on the chicken, while I worked on salads and some roasted corn (I roasted the corn with salt/sugar/veggie oil and chile powder in a cast iron skillet, to be served with wedges of lime).
Superb dinner, if not a bit too much. But oh well, I say. I can just start over today with a healthy bowl of artery-cleaning muesli and a walk. Oh, but I’m supposed to meet a friend at H&H Car Wash later this morning. And that, my friends, is ANOTHER story altogether. Let’s just say this … Julia Child did in fact eat at H&H Car Wash…

Finally fall

Here we are, cozy-ed up at our quaint coffee house up in Cloudcroft, and I’m wearing a blue and black fleece jacket, black leggings and worn-out running shoes. Christian is looking dapper in a beige and navy turtleneck sweater and cargo jeans, and we’re both sipping slowly at nice and hot Americanos.
The weather is in the low 50s, sunny yet nippy, and there’s a persistent gust of air streaming through the mountains, whistling through the tall pines. Fall has arrived.
The apple trees are weighed down with crisp, tart apples and, although the aspen trees haven’t begun to turn golden, fire red or pumpkin orange, they’re beginning their transformation. The kids are back in school, and Labor Day is over, so there are dramatically less tourists clogging up the small boardwalk in Cloudcroft.
This is our time.
I’ve always adored fall. It’s the one season that still permits outdoor hiking and sitting on the porch, without extreme heat or cold. It has certain scents such as pumpkin spice, back-to-school crayon and new-book smells, hearty casseroles, firewood, bread baking, coffee and fall leaves. What I love about Cloudcroft is the fact that ALL of these smells are available all at once in this small village! We’re staying through Sunday and would stay longer if I didn’t have a doctor’s appointment Monday, but at least we have almost three whole days to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and to reflect, share each other exclusively, and to celebrate our “babymoon” at our little, quaint circa-1930s cabin.
•••
This morning, I got up at 5 a.m. and took a 40 minute walk around the perimeter of the village of Cloudcroft, as Christian slept. Since the morning was brisk and chilly, I found I walked a bit faster than usual and actually felt like I got some type of workout by the time I was done. When I returned to the cabin (carefully avoiding not one, not two but THREE skunks), I made myself a breakfast with fall colors: Oat/almond cereal, peach yogurt, a diced apple and cinnamon.
Last night we got to Cloudcroft a bit later than usual, having gotten off to a late start. So, we got to the cabin after dark, around 8, so Christian got started on cooking dinner immediately. It was a chilly night, so it was just right for his Griess souppe, which he usually makes with sausage but instead added three eggs to it. So, in a sense it was like a German egg-drop soup (but way better). With that we had baguette and a green salad. And I had some of my banana-pear bread for dessert. This was the loaf that caused me so much grief the other night, when I stabbed myself silly with a knife trying to get the loaf out of the Pyrex dish. At least it turned out okay. It BETTA have!
And speaking of my wound… it seems to be healing quite nicely on the outside and I’m encouraged by that. However there MAY be a tiny bit of nerve inflammation. I can feel all my digits and I have full mobility, but there are pains where the wound ISN’T, so I wonder. But there is still a little swelling, so I’ll know in a day or two.
•••
Now we make our way over to Mountain Top Mercantile for some homemade potato bread, some overpriced kitchen supplies (we’re more than happy to pay $6 for their bread, however!), and the village newspaper, and we’ll get our little $20 Thermos grill started on the porch. This is coming from two people who have never started a charcoal grill in their lives. Wish us luck!

Two-legged construction zone

I am officially more than half way through my pregnancy, in what they say is the “honeymoon” period of one’s pregnancy, when morning sickness wanes and you’re not quite too big to be able to move around with relative ease. Well, I never had morning sickness, and on a very good day or with the exact right outfit, you just may not know I was with child, although those days are becoming increasingly more rare as my wardrobe has diminished to about four outfits I:
1: Feel comfortable in,
2. Can button, or
3. Don’t make me look like one of those people who definitely SHOULDN’T be wearing track suits if they’ve never seen a track.

Although I never ever lost my appetite, even at the beginning, I find that now it’s just growing like wildfire! I’m easily putting away twice as many calories as my 175-pound husband, and, let me tell you, enjoying every single creamy, crumbly, flaky, salty and fatty minute of it, lol. I am, after all, a walking construction zone, so put your hard hat on if you want to dine with me.
Today’s our anniversary, and I’m going to be sure to have a healthy (i.e. hearty) sized lunch so I don’t polish off the bread basket and my three course meal at the restaurant tonight, before my husband can begin to nibble on his food.
Yesterday, for breakfast, I had Alpen muesli with sliced banana, raw oats and peach yogurt for breakfast, after a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood. My beloved walks are beginning to strain my back a bit, but it will take a rip or a tear … or a doctor’s note … to get me to stop those.
Christian had to be at work at 7:30, so he took off on his mountain bike at 6:40, leaving me to fend for myself until his return at 1:30. Now I used to be the most self-sufficient loner EVER, until I met my husband. I ALWAYS wanted to be alone. Heck, I lived in a cabin in the woods in New Mexico for two years and perhaps in that time frame two people other than family came to visit. I just wanted SOLITUDE! Now I can’t stand it. My walks are my solitude time, and then it’s definitely time to share my day with someone. But now that I’m unemployed, I’m having to deal with the alone time, and man, I don’t like it one bit. But I’m creating schedules each day, writing them down and crossing them off as I do them, as trite as they may seem: “Vacuum,” check; “Send out three resumes,” check; “Clean fridge,” check; “Write birth plan,” check; etc.
I got squeezed in at the dentist yesterday for a broken crown, so I had to eat lunch earlier, alone, so I could make the appointment. Solo lunches are the worst. I also used to be a solo eater, preferring it that way, but now I crave conversation and companionship when I eat. At least Hannah nudged me a few times to either approve or disapprove of my beans/rye bread/salad lunch. Looks like something served to a prisoner, right? It sort of feels that way, lol.
At least at the dentist, I enjoyed some great banter, tips and laughs with her and her assistant. She too (my dentist) had a daughter later in life, and had lots of anecdotes and warnings, tips and even… a free playpen! My teeth came second as she excitedly told me about pregnancy milestones, birth and being an older parent. Lol, first time I was excited to be at the dentist’s office. She had an extra playpen in a back office and insisted I carry it home. I happily obliged.
My bland prisoner-lunch was replaced by a much more elaborate and MUCH tastier pasta (rigatoni) dinner I made for us last night, served with a Caprese salad and baguette. I simply added sliced garlic (LOTS, 4 cloves..not heads, but cloves) to some pepper/eggplant vegetable dip in a jar I bought at the Middle Eastern grocery store, with some olive oil to thin it out, to my rigatoni. But the Caprese salad (sliced tomatoes, Mozarella cheese and fresh basil with olive oil, salt and pepper, won the award for its freshness and simplicity. The leftover tomatoes, basil and cheese will become a pizza Margherita later on today.
I may need to ramp up the walks after today’s meals, but who knew construction could be so FUN?! I’m an eating engineer!

The.Best.Salsa. Ever.

Yesterday was lazy day. For me, anyway. Two naps, much eating, little doing. But Christian was on a roll and decided to make a time consuming but luscious salsa for dinner and beyond. He’d outdone himself with his fabulous Milchreis for lunch and I guess decided the creamy and rich, but not so spicy Milchreis needed to be countered by a fiery salsa to add to our evening repertoire.
With his salsa, we served chips and I made a “krautundcracker” sandwich made with toasted Bauernbrot, Mozzarella cheese, roasted Hatch chiles, leftover rotisserie chicken from the night before, beer und brat mustard; and a simple cabbage salad on the side.
The salsa stole the show. But here’s a recipe you can try to get the same effect, even if you don’t live in the land of Habaneros and Hatch green chiles like we do:

Fresca Salsa:

Four yellow Habanero chiles, minced and seeded
Two roasted Hatch green chiles (or Anaheim chiles), minced and seeded
Four Roma tomatoes, finely diced
One medium purple onion, diced
Two cloves fresh garlic, minced
Two tablespoons veggie oil
Two-three tablespoons lime juice, fresh
1/4 cup cilantro or parsley (we used parsley, but cilantro is more authentic)
One large avocado, diced

Mix it all up except the cilantro and avocado. Let stand for an hour to blend flavors, then add the avocado/cilantro mixture and remix. Makes two cups.

I bought some gordita flour discs at the Mexican market yesterday, and with those I’ll make some sunny side up eggs to serve on top, with salsa on top of that for breakfast.

•••

Today is Labor Day, and we originally planned to go up to Aguirre Springs in New Mexico for the day for a hike and picnic, but, being the bookies (no, not THAT kind) and foodies that we are, we’ve decided to make it a day trip to Las Cruces to visit the COAS Bookstore (the Southwest’s largest used book store), Enchanted Gardens greenery, and Zeffiro’s Italian Restaurant for their amazing wood fire stove pizzas and Mediterranean salads. Besides, did we REALLY think we’d find a decent, shady picnic table at the last second on Labor Day? Pshaw!

Hangin’ with the ‘homies’-Deutsche-style

Okay, so Germany didn’t win the World Cup this year, but the folks over at the German Air Force at Fort Bliss didn’t let that stop them from having a great viewing party for everyone to watch Deutschland beat Uruguay 3-2 in a very exciting match.
Christian and I took my dad to the party, and he came decked out in a Bayern München fussball jersey and baseball cap. I was embarrassed, until I saw that he was drastically UNDER-dressed for the occasion, with revelers painted the colors of the German flag, with hats, costumes, horns and all. I borrowed dad’s baseball cap so I too could “fit in.”
The viewing party was held in Bldg. 747, the same one where Oktoberfest is held each year and, just like Oktoberfest, lots of bier, brats, Berliners, Sekt und sodas were served. We had brought lunch just in case, but were glad to see we could get the brats to supplement our meal.
I must say I’m not exactly the biggest TV sports fan, but I got so into it, I had to check myself. I also got camera happy, but to save the ego of my loved ones, I didn’t use the flash too often, hence the quality of the photos.
I hope to attend lots more of the Deutsches Soldatenstube events, because they definitely know how to party and to make everything a celebration!