The Land of Sweet Tea, Peach Trees, and Family Mexican Food Night

The move is over, and my family and I are settling into our new house in Alabama.  I’ve never lived in Alabama, or for that matter, the South.  My mother is a dyed in the wool Pennsylvania Dutch Yankee, and my roots are as different from this as it’s possible to be.  But somehow, this is the most members of my extended family are gathered, including two of my three siblings, one of whom is the father of my nephews.  This is where my dad’s from, and this is where my sister and one of my brothers grew up.  It feels really weird.

That means they drop in on us, regularly, and it means we have a standing monthly dinner date for Mexican food at our house.  Because we can’t just get the real stuff at any local restaurant here like we could in New Mexico.  Noooooo!

Anyway, my nephews!  I’m sure you’re all dying to hear about my nephews, because I just can’t imagine anything more interesting than my nephews, and... Oh wait.  Okay, so my nephews are probably not as fascinating to you as they are to me, too bad, I’m writing about them anyway.  They’re six year old fraternal twins, and one off them wants to be a race car driver, no a fireman, no a baseball player, no a... And the other one wants to be an interior decorator.  He has been telling us so for a year.  A few weeks ago, my brother went to the store with them, and one nephew bought some toy cars, and the other bought candle holders, because he thought they would look good in his daddy’s living room.  His taste is... questionable, but he’s six.  Given that my brother used to have fits when the boys played with pink toy cars, he’s been dealing with this really well.  (Not well enough that I would feel comfortable coming out to him, but progress!)

Meanwhile, Suzy, the six pound maltese/dachshund mix my mom adopted after Liam died, and she just couldn’t take not having a little follow-me-around dog, has fallen in love with the idea of dresses.  We started putting sweaters on her, because when we adopted her, it was winter, and she was bald and skinny.  Then she started wearing teeshirts when it got warmer.  Then the first time I took her to the pet store, she ran over to the clothes (I have no idea how she knew where they were) and jumped all over this one dress.  Reader, I bought it for her, and a monster was born.  It’s all my fault.  She dances in circles when we get out the dress box, and once she has the dress on, she acts like it’s Superman’s cape, like she’s ten feet tall and bullet proof, like she isn’t an anxious little fuzzball.  She even has a favorite dress.  My mom’s dog has a favorite dress.

So we put a dress on her before the boys came over, and our future interior decorator looked at my mom and asked all excited, “Does she have a princess dress?”  And when my mom said no, he insisted, “Well she should!”  And now he’s begging my brother to let him buy his grandmother’s dog a princess dress.

He is so cute!

For everyone curious about what we actually ate on Mexican night (and keep in mind, we’re keeping it heat free at least until we can ease my siblings into spicy), we had Mexican wedding cookies (for some reason called Mexican wedding cakes in the book), which were from Best of the Best from New Mexico Cookbook, only I cooked them at 350° F for 27 minutes instead of 375° for 20 minutes,  fajitas, chopped salsa, and refritos (refried beans).

Fajitas:

I don’t have amounts for this one, because we mostly just throw in however much we have lying around.

Tortillas
Olive Oil
Bell Peppers
Onions
Other Vegetables (optional)
Meat (optional)

Stir fry the bell peppers, onions, other vegetables, and meat, serve on the tortilla.

Chopped Salsa:

4 avocados
4 tomatoes
1 sweet onion
1/2 a lemon’s worth of juice

Cut the avocados, tomatoes, and onions up, add lemon juice, mix together.  Add chopped cooked shrimp for ceviche.  Salt to taste.

Refritos:

4 cups dried beans, left to soak overnight
2 medium sized sweet onions
1lb butter
3 or 4 pieces of bacon

The last two are because I couldn’t find anywhere selling organic lard. *sniff*

Anyway, drain the beans and put them in new water to boil until soft.  This should take several hours.  Dice the onions and cut up the bacon, and fry both with the butter until the onions are mushy.  Try not to let the butter get hot enough to separate.  When the beans are good and soft, mash them with a potato masher or a ricer, mix in the onions, butter, and bacon.  Salt to taste

I find it tastes better after a night in the refrigerator, because all of the flavors have had a chance to mingle.