Glowing path on a rainy Pacific Northwest day in mid-October.

I shoulda. Seriously. When I had to decide what to cook for dinner today, my first thought was "What can I make that includes the hot chiles in the freezer? And the lime and cilantro in the fridge?" And then I started humming a ridiculous song from the 80s to myself "I'm on a Mexican Radio.... Whoa ooooa." If you aren't familiar with that tune, its probably a good thing. They used to play it over and over again on "Radio Free Santa Fe" when I lived in New Mexico. The song makes me imagine that I'm driving an old pick up truck down a dusty road in the desert headed to a trailer home parked in the middle of no where. In the back of the truck I have a cooler filled with Tecate beer covered in ice. I grew up in the Southwest, moving around a lot. At one point we lived 20 minutes from the border (near Tecate, Mexico) where we used to buy gasoline and pastries. Just before that, we lived in East LA. The first Spanglish words I learned were swear words from my babysitter Juanita who was always yelling at her boyfriend. I fell in love with low riders and still love them. At that time and I was the only white girl on my softball team in South El Monte, CA. We were sponsored by a fiberglass company. We were the "Fiberettes" wearing creased T-shirts and Chinos for our uniforms. To this day, I'm obsessed with Frida and think that landscaping should be desert. I prefer to be "off the grid" whenever possible and I'm really good at making something out of nothing. While these characteristics can be associated with other cultures, I am a true Mexican wannabe. Hence, I live vicariously through my collection of "homies." Today I made tortilla soup (pictured above).

Recipe for Tortilla soup by a Chica Wannabe

8 peeled fire roasted green chilies (I like em hot but you could go mild)
2 quarts chicken or veggie stock
1 pound cubed boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large sweet onion diced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup of wild and brown rice (any rice or combo is good)
1-2 cooked cobs of corn, shaved or a can of corn drained
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp Cumin seed
2 Tbsp Mexican oregano
1 cup crushed corn chips
3 medium tortillas thinly sliced into "noodle" shapes

Combine all ingredients except cilantro and tortillas. Simmer for 1 hour. Add water for desired thickness while monitoring. Add cilantro and tortilla strips at end. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serving suggestion: Top with cheese, more cilantro and a twist of lime. Fresh avocado is a great addition as a topping.

The days are getting shorter. The air is cooling. Leaves are turning. I am already craving carbs, comfort and extra sleep. The sun is still shining as each day draws closer to our 9 month rainy season. I miss summer already, even though we are only one week into fall. Summer was perfect this year in the Pacific Northwest and I don't want to let go of it. I stare at pictures to cling a little bit more. I am longing for it to linger, like when you don't want a sunrise moment to end but it must move into broad daylight. This will need to be soothed with a 2nd warm cup of tea.

I just returned from a delightful road trip to visit family in Rupert, ID (a.k.a. farm town, USA). What a gorgeous place! Our vacation agenda was ideal - no planned (structured) activities but carefully timed for comfortable weather and ease. On one of the 'unplanned' days, I was schooled in the art of steam-juicing on the stove-top and canning jelly by Laurie's mom. Then, she gifted me the juicer (pictured on the far right of the stove). I couldn't wait to start using it. In anticipation, we purchased two boxes of giant O'Henry peaches in Yakima on the way home. Several hours later, I ended up with 8 quarts of aromatic and super sweet peach nectar which became 24 pints of old fashioned canned peach jelly. And there were 2 quarts of peach nectar left over for the deep freezer. As I write this, I can hear the canning lids popping as they seal. Canning peach jelly this way was very affordable and I am planning to use some of these for holiday gift giving. I always say that the best gifts are the ones you want to receive. In preparation, I was lucky enough to find 43 pint sized canning jars with lids for 20 cents each at a local Goodwill so all I had to buy for canning supplies were new seals, sugar and pectin. Tomorrow, I'm planning to make salsa out of the plethora of green tomatoes we harvested from the back yard in Idaho. It feels great to embrace early fall with the harvest!