A reliable sign that it is officially Fall (besides looking at a calendar and the appearance of pumpkin spice flavored everything) is when the chili crop is ready.   There are roasting stands for green chili, and bushels and ristras (chili tied up in string) of the red.

So this is what they look like when they are fresh.

And this is what they look like in a dried ristra.  Well, what happens next?   To use this for more than decoration, one removes the stem and seeds, boils them for a bit in some water, whizzes them up in a blender, strains the pulp, and uses this to make a pot of red chili (or one starts with the frozen pulp from the grocery store which is much easier).

And voila, a pot of New Mexico Red Chili.   Actually, this one is not very traditional, because it contains beans.  A traditionalist would serve  the red chili and beans separately, so that one can put together a bowl to one’s taste.   But I made this particular pot for a reason.

My group of ladies made pots of chili of varying kinds as part of a charity fundraiser (mine is the puny pot on the end) held in a member’s empty barn.   I did try to make this a mild batch, but it didn’t taste right to me until it was fairly spicy (oops).  And the chilis ranged from hotter than mine, to one without any spice (I don’t know if one could even rightly call this chili).

And here is a very traditional recipe, from a cookbook published in 1971 by M’s favorite restaurant in Mesilla, NM.   And what I made was somewhat similar.

The mild-ish was a lie.

But a good time was had by all on a perfect Autumn day, trying all the variations and permutations of this humble dish.

Sprouting up like mushrooms after a rain (not that we have had much in the way of rain), why it’s the tents of a local art festival.  It’s a chance for starving artists to meet with the tight-fisted public, and perhaps flog a little art on this beautiful sunny day.   (For some reason there was no dinosaur art represented, go figure.)

And the fair is located at a downtown park, usually empty.  But for today  the park’s main attraction is a giant rotating circle that sprays water onto children (no dogs allowed) and perhaps a stray pterodactyl or two.

Hey Pteri, I think that you really need to do something about that breath.

Perhaps a small treat will do the trick.  Yes, that’s better.

What’s that on stage right now?  It’s Pteri pretending to be the star of the show. However you slice it,  Pteri is certainly the best pterodactyl of the day.

Hey wait a minute!   That looks like a traditional teahouse from Tajikistan located right behind Pteri.   (I know, who knew such a thing was possible?)

And here is the beautiful interior.   Oh Pteri, quit clowning around and sit down at the table.

My father always said (well not always, he did also say other things) “straighten up and fly right”.   And I suppose that this is good advice for any pterodactyl too.

And the reward is a lovely cup of chai tea, just like they make in Tajikistan, wherever that might be.

Pterodactyls grow up and love to explore new places.   So on this day Pteri decided to see the university town to the north.   And it is worlds away from our comfortable city, in more ways than one.

This town has a large pedestrian mall that replaced the old heart of the former business district, so once one finds a spot to park, it’s a great place for people watching.  And what sort of people does one find?

Well gosh, we don’t have any of these (a guy balancing on chairs while keeping up a continuous line of blather in the hope of some donations from the crowd) around here.  We don’t even usually have crowds.

And we especially don’t have any of these, which was apparently a dance? troupe of half naked men.   They certainly were dancing to the beat of their own drum.

But there are also art galleries everywhere.   And pterodactyls have a well known (at least to me) affinity for art.

No Pteri, I know that looks like food, but you can’t eat it (it wouldn’t be very tasty for one thing, and it probably costs a bomb).   So we had better stop for now and find some place to have a snack.   (To be continued.)

I did challenge myself to see if the food I make really looks that bad, so I made everything from the last post.

Here’s my version of a taco salad, lettuce, beans, meat, green onion (I did put in some avocado because the previous one had some), avocado, tomato, tortilla chips, and cheese.   The dressing is salsa and mayo.   It’s an easy recipe and one can add or subtract ingredients to use up whatever is at hand.

Here’s my version of corn soup, it’s rather bland looking in comparison to the restaurant one, but mine has bacon in it, so it wins the contest.  Ingredients are corn, potato, onions, broth and bacon, so the recipe is simple and delicious.

The taco is being propped up by the kitchen shears, which were close at hand.   I don’t have a fancy holder for tacos, but the tacos are okay if a little lopsided.   Meat. salsa, lettuce, tomato and lots of cheese in a commercially made shell.   (Not as tasty as the restaurant ones) 🙁

The stuffed Poblano  pepper does not look nearly as nice as the restaurant version, but both were equally delicious.  Mine has a meat, onion, green chili and bread stuffing, and is disguised in a green chili sauce and plenty of cheese.

Ultimately, I like both kinds of creations:  in restaurant food they need it to look nice (and hopefully taste nice) so that one feels that the food is worth the money, but home cooking means that food is prepared exactly to one’s own preference, and that is a good thing too.