Ted's Special - "Carnijasada"

Some of my fondest memories are from time at Dad's gas station, the Exxon station off Lee Street in Greenville TX, where he and any of my brothers pumped gas and sold used cars.  It was one of the last full-service stations.  In a back room off of the bay, sometimes there'd be something cooking for lunch.  Whatever it was, it always smelled good.

After finding a handwritten recipe titled "Ted's  Special - Carnijasada" in Mom's stash of recipes, after she had passed away, I suspect that perhaps cooking on the job was something that happened at the Ford dealerships he worked at as well.  I imagine one of the mechanics had this "brewing" in a slow cooker and the aroma filled the bay.  Dad probably couldn't resist and had to sample.  Probably the whole crew had to check this out.  It smells so good!  Here's my adaptation.

TED'S SPECIAL - CARNIJASADA

1 2.8 lb chuck arm pot roast or pork butt roast
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
canola oil for frying
7 oz. can sliced jalapeno peppers
3 oz can chopped chiles
salt & pepper to taste
1tsp. cumin

Heat oil in large pan and brown meat.  Remove, placing in crock pot.  In juices, saute onion and garlic, till onions are soft (you may need to add more oil).   Add onion and garlic to the crock pot along with remaining ingredients.  Add 1/2 to 1 cup water, just to cover bottom.  Cook on high 4 hours, then turn down to low to continue cooking 8 hours.

Serving suggestions:  Use in soft tacos, enchiladas, burritos, or nachos.

Original Recipe

Never Always

Life is never always easy or good or wonderful.  There is pain and aching and hurt.  It has good and wonderful and easy in it, but never always.

(Look up.)

When people and things are taken away from you, and you are left empty-handed
There's only one thing to do.
When that something you never could've expected suddenly rocks your world
and it doesn't look good,
There's one thing left to do.
There's a moment when suddenly the earth you were standing on
just melts away.

(Look up.)

There's someone who will catch you when you fall.
Someone who hears you when you call.

Look up.

Look up.

When Winter Comes to an End

It’s been another long, difficult winter in North Texas, thanks for our boys in Congress who do not seem able to man up and make the hard decisions for our country.  We are streamlining business, and I have taken a full-time temp job to help keeping the home fires burning so to speak.  Despite the political scene, business is starting to awaken a bit from its winter hibernation, with more calls coming in this month than usual for February.  It truly smells like spring is on the threshold and it’s going to be a great year.

In anticipation of a great year, I have restarted a new hobby, and planted some cucumber and tomato seeds.  They are doing very well!  I used the idea of toilet paper rolls to start the seeds, and found it’s a feasible idea.  You have to have a container to keep them in, because they are wobbly and obviously do not hold water.  And you should probably keep it down to one seed a roll, unless you plan to thin seedlings (pulling out the weaker plants).  I had some old seed packets and chose to plant about three seeds each roll, because I wasn’t sure if they would still be good.  The cucumber seeds were only from last year, but I really don’t remember when I got the tomato seeds, which were in packets that really do not tell what variety they are.

My dear son decided to help my enthusiasm along, and after a week from planting the seeds, he took leaves off of a honeysuckle and stuck them in the dirt to make me think the seeds sprouted!  It was very suspicious, since these “mystery plants” just appeared overnight, but I have to admit it was a funny prank on someone who is known to not have a green thumb.  A week later, those honeysuckle leaves are still green.  The prank may turn on him, if those leaves are taking root, because I’m going to need a fence built to train them to grow on and who might I be thinking about to help build it!  Today I separated some of the vegetable seedlings into separate peet pots to give them some room to grow.

Hopefully, my green thumb and 2013 will both grow into some greatness!

The seed packets

After transplanting some, I still have other seedlings still in the toilet paper rolls.  The larger seedlings are the cucumber.  The shorter "plant" that is darker green are the honeysuckle.  Smaller seedlings are the tomatoes, which only just started sprouting a few days ago.

The transplanted seedlings, in 3 inch peet pots.

 

Baby tomatoes.  I just put the whole toilet paper roll in a larger pot.  I wasn't sure if the seedlings would handle being taken out of the roll and transplanted just yet.  Off to the side is another honeysuckle.

 

These are a couple tomato seedlings that I did transplant into a larger pot.  Grow, babies, grow!