Orange Cranberry Sauce

Yep, it's that time of year again! I love this recipe, and I seem to keep losing it! So, even though it's so basic that I don't think anyone can claim it as their own unique recipe, it's finally somewhere I can find it...

Orange Cranberry Sauce
Julienne the peel from two Clementines*
dice the fruit
add orange juice or water to fruit to make 1 cup
add 1 package fresh cranberries
heat all in a saucier and cook until cranberries pop, about 15 minutes
sweeten to taste with Splenda (I like less than a tsp granulated)
serve warm or cold

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*I like these because they're *easy!* You can also use one regular orange; just make sure no pith gets in (it's too bitter)

Hint: a vegetable peeler works great to get just the skin.

Elena Gallegos Hike

Today's group hike looped around in the Elena Gallegos Open Space! It was a cool and sunny morning, with just a hint of a breeze.

We had a nice view of the Sandia crest

And Downtown Albuquerque

Last week's storm was hinted at

And we were high enough to see some pines

As well as the junipers

The trail was mostly gentle slopes, with just one or two steeper sections - very lovely!
MyTrails track details (our highest elevation was actually slightly higher than 6700 ft per the "real" GPS):

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What she said (Me):
- a week ago - "all right! The cancelled hike is rescheduled! I'd better sign up right away!"
- yesterday - "ugh, I can't believe I signed up to go! I think I know where we're meeting, but I could be wrong."
- this morning - "omg, it's so early. and cold. I can't get out of this, can I?? No way am I signing up for another one."
- 2 miles in, nearing 6700 feet - "oh! this is so great!"
- 4 miles in - "I sure am glad I have moleskin! I have *got* to get better boots before the next hike!"

Off Center Arts

I've been getting back to ART lately*!

Yesterday was my second class in drawing at the local art center, Off Center.  Last time, we did gestural drawing and experimented with conceptual art. This time, we went on a field trip!

We walked from the center down Central (old route 66) to the Exhibit/208 Gallery. Our "assignment" was to draw something on the way there, view the gallery of art, then draw something else on the walk back.

A few things caught my eye besides what I drew**...

This is the transportation center

I particularly liked the shapes here - several semicircles, canted rectangles, and the scrolled edges of the Sunrise bank building.

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* see my other art experiment - Wine Down with Art
** nope, didn't take a picture of my drawings, nor the buildings I drew...

First Snow Storm!

We got our first snow storm of the winter here in Albuquerque!

Here are the Sandias - proof! I was scheduled to go on another group hike, but prudence prevailed, and the hike leader cancelled it :-)

Pork in Red Wine

Pork in Red Wine

Combine in a large stew pot:
2 cups red wine
2 cups broth/stock (~14.5 oz can)
2# pork shoulder or loin, cut into small chunks
10 cloves garlic, peeled, left whole
1 onion, chopped
1/3 # carrots, peeled, large chunks
10 - 14 (~8 oz) mushrooms, quartered
3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped (preferably peeled)
Add seasonings as desired:
salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
tarragon
clove
thyme
nutmeg
1/2 tsp cocoa (trust me, do it!)
Simmer several hours (~3), till pork is tender.
Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Continue simmering to meld flavors.

optional: remove solids and cook liquid to reduce, then recombine.

based on this recipe: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11861-braised-pork-with-red-wine

Serve with barley or rice, green salad, red wine (or all by itself!)

Hiking the Sandias - Copper

Hiking the Sandias - Copper* Trailhead

What a difference a couple of days make! Today was a bit cloudy, and *quite* windy! Nearly everyone kept their layers on :-\  We had a faster hike today, averaging 3 mph - I sure did puff!

I used MyTrails again, but I had another GPS tracker installed, and I also forgot to turn off Wi-Fi - some combination caused me a problem. The phone was too occupied to properly respond when I wanted to take pictures. Well, I got a few anyway!

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Morning temperature = 40's

* Copper just means copper ;-)
Something to know about Albuquerque - a lot of the East-West roads are named for mined material: copper, coal, lead, central (no, wait)...

Hiking the Sandia Foothills

Hiking the Sandia Foothills - Embudo* Trailhead

This morning, I took the plunge - I went on a group hike through the foothills of the Sandia mountains!

While the air was crisp, the sun was bright, and the hike was brisk, I think the best part was all the many memories it sparked of past hikes.  I realized that the last serious hike I went on was almost 2 years ago, and I first (officially) hiked over 40 years ago! I kept thinking of Sundays spent at Pinnacles, Muir Woods, and Big Basin, and days backpacking Lassen, Big Sur, and Whitney. And getting off the trail. Or meeting hometown neighbors on a craggy peak. Oh, those were the days!

Well, today I tried out a GPS tracking app (on my Android phone) called MyTrails. So far, I like it - it does what I want, and is not overly complicated. It tracks the route even when it's in sleep mode and in my pocket, and I can still take pictures without interference. My phone doesn't have altitude or temperature sensors, so it's limited in those areas - I take the elevation stats with a grain of salt.

One of the many ways this terrain is different than what I'm used to! Cactus, cactus, cactus...

And scrub

With some juniper trees (to which, it turns out, I am allergic)

Our hiking path** looped around this cone

And flowers bloom, even in mid-November!

Some interesting rock formations

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* Embudo means funnel in Spanish. I don't know why it has this name...
The trailhead (parking lot only) is at the Eastern end of Indian School Road.

** I have *got* to find a map of trails by number! This trip followed 365A-365-400-401. I heard of an interesting sounding trail (through pines!), #140, the Pino Trail, from the Elena Gallegos space.

Wine and Paint

I tried something different yesterday - I went to a "Wine and Paint" workshop! A small group of us all painted the same picture in a 3 hour period. We were guided by our teacher, who supplied everything, even our plastic aprons.

The approach and techniques were very different than my usual, so I learned a lot!
- we painted from the top to the bottom, without sketching
- my brush was bigger and bristlier than my norm
- our paints (acrylic) weren't thinned with water or extender, although we had a spray bottle handy in case we needed to keep the canvas damp longer
- we did clouds and snow using a dry brush
- lake reflections used an up-and-down stroke, then edges blurred with a side-to-side stroke with the edge of the brush

Do I like the end result? No, not the painting; yes, the new ideas*.

I definitely prefer studying the scene and sketching out the spaces first. I felt like I didn't really know what certain parts of the scene were supposed to be, and much of the painting reflects that :-\  I may try a larger brush, and I'll try holding it different ways. I think I will try a few more paintings using unthinned paint, and I will definitely practice the dry brush and reflection techniques!

Details of areas I like:

Dry-brush snow

Reflections

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*and *of course* I liked the wine! :-)

ABQ Whirlwind

Yesterday, our friend and her friend came through Albuquerque on a road trip - So we had a whirlwind afternoon and evening visit!

We started off with lunch at the Chama River Brewing Company (I had an excellent green chile cheeseburger) - outside patio, cloudless skies, mild breeze, lots of catching up!

Then we toured Old Town, peeking in shops, strolling through the plaza, and wandering through what is probably my favorite photo gallery (http://www.abqphotographersgallery.com)

From there, we took a short drive to the Rio Grande open space to take a look at the river

We drove around a variety of neighborhoods - Nob Hill, then down Central past UNM and Downtown, then North up Rio Grande Blvd to Los Ranchos. Then! I saw the sign for Casa Rodeña! Yes, we stopped. We tasted. :-)

After a little rest, we met for dinner at Garduño's; yet another hit!

And now they're off to see the Grand Canyon :-)

Día de los Muertos

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, was this Sunday.
Here in Albuquerque, I went to the parade!

More pictures are here:
https://goo.gl/photos/hyJmjXMucDfehX8N9

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I parked on Isleta a little after 1:00, and walked about 5 blocks to the Westside Community Center, where the parade ends. I walked through the grounds there - full of food booths, then on to the connected park, where the arts and crafts booths were set up. I found a nice spot to set up my chair, surrounded by families, and waited. The parade started at 2:00, and got to me by about quarter after.
After the parade, I walked around the booths for a bit, then back to the car. I was home a little after 4:00.

The route: