Angie’s fine Tex-Mex

Chuy's

Once upon a time we lived in Austin, where the people are very friendly and there are restaurants everywhere. One of our favorites was Chuy’s which was unabashedly Tex-Mex. It was also Weird, as all good Austin restaurants should be.

I miss Chuy’s tomatillo sauce over a nice chimi. I tried to re-create Chuy’s sauce last night for dinner. I think it’s close, but I’m tellin’ all y’all, there’s no place like Texas.

Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

Recipe invented by A.R., formerly of Austin, Texas

  • 2 T minced onion
  • 1 clove garlic minced (Optional, especially if you haven’t yet found someone to marry you.)
  • 1-2 T oil (Olive oil if you’re trendy. I used vegetable oil because I am out of trendy things around here.)
  • 9-10 fresh tomatillos (remove papery covering, wash, and quarter)
  • 1 c chicken broth
  • 3-4 T fresh cilantro leaves (wash ’em well)
  • 1 T lime juice
  • jalepeno (I just used about a 1/4 inch… and no seeds)
  • 1 c sour cream

Saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the quartered tomatillos and saute for another 5-7 minutes. Add 1 c chicken broth and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and place mixture in a food processor or blender. Add cilantro, lime juice, jalepeno and pulse until very smooth. Finally, add the sour cream. It will be creamy and green and just right to pour over your chicken enchiladas or chimichangas or to use as a dip for your corn chips.

 

What’s cookin?

1978 Sparks

Me, at Grandma Stewart’s in 1978.

This week we spent some time shopping a case lot sale to re-stock the pantry. We also went bargain hunting for produce through a bulk ordering process. When I do a bulk produce order, I don’t choose what I will receive. I just have to take what they give me. It makes life pretty interesting. I now have more vegetables in our refrigerator than I have ever had at one time. I even had 3 persimmons until I gave them away to our Chinese home teacher tonight. What does one do with 9 lemons? I’ve only ever used one at a time.

Our menu this week will include:

  • chiles rellenos
  • enchiladas with tomatillo sauce
  • grilled zucchini and tomatoes with mozzarella cheese
  • cucumbers in pasta salad, drenched in vinegar, and green salad
  • several salads
  • guacamole
  • Fresh green beans
  • homemade pizza
  • lemon bars (to freeze)
  • lemon sour cream pie (to inhale)
  • carrot sticks, carrot stew, carrot cake
  • homemade salsa
  • mashed potatoes
  • bananas, banana splits, banana  bread, dried bananas, bananas flambe, bananas frozen on a stick with chocolate (well, maybe not all of these things)
  • fresh limes (lemon-lime soda with fresh lime juice and lots of ice)
  • zucchini bread using Sister Kunzler’s recipe
  • pomegranates

Sigh, this picture makes me wish I had bought a cherry red cupboard like Grandma’s from an antique store years ago in Austin.

Heaven on Earth

Tonight, as I made dinner, this is what our family room looked like:

Kid Heaven.

messy house

(Yes, Mark is taking a little pre-dinner snooze.) Thankfully, the living room still looked like this:

Mom Heaven.

Mom's room

I should have completed the series by taking a picture of Daniel and Richard in the garage replacing the car’s brake pads.

The title of that picture would have been,

Father-Son Heaven.

Grandma Ruth

Ruth

We love Grandma Ruth.

First memory of her: walking toward the hospital with her when my brother Joe was sick (I was 5).

Favorite dish she makes: tamale pie

Favorite Grandma Ruth object: her sketches from her childhood

Happy memories: Curling her hair one day, trip to Hearst Castle, faithful letters and cards all my life, sorting out boxes of the past, dressing up in heirloom clothing in her living room, working on recipes, special talks about important things.

Favorite decorations in her home: pictures of grandchildren and soft watercolors.

I was a Hunting Widow this week

Run, Bambi, Run!

Today after church I stood outside the building, apparently looking listless. The boys were playing in the bushes and Paige was in a meeting. Someone yelled from their car window, “Are you a widow this week?”

And I shrugged my shoulders. I hadn’t told many that Richard was gone. But I’m no good at hiding things. I was anxious to get home to see if he had made it back safely.

He noticed my clean house and my new haircut (Love him!) right away.

I missed him. The above are the creatures he “shot”… with a camera.

More on the hunting trip later.

The Buttons

buttons

Today Timothy, Mark and I played math games. We pulled out the flash cards, dominoes, matching games, geoshapes, dice, and of course,

the buttons.

Whenever I pull out my collection of buttons, I smile because they were given to me by my mother-in-law during my first month teaching Paige at home.

My mother-in-law sorted buttons of all shapes and colors and put them in little containers with color-coordinated lids; some lids were hand-painted to match the buttons inside. “They will be helpful in Math,” she said. She bundled everything up in a package and mailed them to me.

That package meant so much to me because it said without words, “I support you in your decision.”

Since that time, we have had many generous donations to our school from family and friends. But these buttons were the first.

And 9 year later, the buttons and that quiet support are still treasured.