Heirloom Grains & Heirloom Fruits marry in a Holiday Pie

November 16, 2015November 16, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / Leave a comment

Padre Kino's Membrillo Fruit with Slide Rock Star King Old Fashioned Double Delicious Apples

An Heirloom Fruit Harvest: Padre Kino’s Membrillo Fruit from my garden with Star King Old Fashioned Double Delicious Apples from Slide Rock State Park heirloom orchard (MABurgess photo)

In both the low Sonoran Desert and in the higher Southwest, fruits are hanging on the trees ready for harvest. At Mission Garden the quince trees, better known as membrillo, are bearing their last sturdy fruits. Mission Garden was the site of a wonderful celebration of membrillo in October with talented cook Josefina demonstrating how to make cajeta de membrillo, our sweet autumn dessert delicacy.

Membrillo (Quince) trees heavy with fruit at Mission Garden Tucson, near A-Mountain

Membrillo (Quince) trees heavy with fruit at Mission Garden in Tucson, Arizona, near A-Mountain–Come visit any Saturday morning!

Membrillo is a perfect food-giving tree for low desert as it can can handle heat–great for a kitchen garden

Tia Marta here to share what is happening in my kitchen these days, bringing together some of my most admired heirloom grain and fruit ingredients–both cultivated and wild–knowing that I have guests coming for the holidays who need a little taste of LOCAL!

It is pie time in our household. And today it is Membrillo-Apple Pie with White Sonora Wheat-Mesquite pie crust! I mean, how much more local can one get?

This was the year that our five-year-old quince tree, which we purchased from Desert Survivors Nursery Kino Fruit-tree Project, and which we planted a couple of years ago in our backyard, decided to flower and set fruit–just enough this time to make a couple of pies. We look forward to the amazing productivity in future years that the Mission Garden quince trees are already showing. Quince or membrillo fruits look like a cross between yellow apples and pears but are far more sturdy than either of those. Before ripening they are covered with fuzz and, as they lose it and become shinier and more yellow, you know they are ripening.

Because they are harder than other fruit, be sure to cut membrillo very carefully. Expect them to come out with not-so -symmetrical slices.

Because they are harder than other fruit, be sure to cut membrillo with extra care. Expect this to result in not-so -symmetrical slices–no problem inside a pie.

Even when this aromatic rose-family fruit is ripe, its somewhat sweet tissue never really softens. They may feel and taste granular, similar to some pear varieties. But they are substantial food, full of good potassium, vitamin C, dietary fiber, and iron. In other regions, quince has been used with apples to make jellies as it aids the gelling process. Since the time of the missionaries into Pimeria Alta, the traditional way of preparing membrillo here is to cook it down with raw sugarcane sugar to make the cajeta confection. (A detailed report of cajeta de membrillo will make a neat separate post.)

I chose to mix membrillo with its sweet cousin, heirloom local apples, to create a Southwestern version of the all-American pie. From the neat old Pendley Homestead at Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona, I obtained the deep maroon-skinned apples shown above from a 1912 orchard. From the English Family Orchards at Willcox I added a few little galas. Don’t ever be ashamed to ask orchardists at farmers’ markets if they have any “rejects” for sale. Many a tasty apple gets tossed because it has a blemish or knick. Such apples can become a rewarding gift in pies, apple-brown-betty, or applesauce.

Pressing mesquite/whiteSonora wheat dough into pie pan

rolling mesquite white Son wheat pie dough

Mesquite meal and white Sonora wheat make a fabulous pie-crust! It is not as elastic as store-bought crusts so be careful in rolling it onto your pie pan. Shown here is a very flat spatula I use as an assist.

Next step, after growing, harvesting, slicing the heirloom fruits, is getting dusted by making my local heirloom Mesquite/White Sonora Wheat Pie Crust (recipe following):

[Kids, don’t try this culinary photographic technique at home. Your one-handed iPhone will get really sticky. Mine will never be the same.]

Ingredients for heirloom wheat pie crust:

1 1/2 cups freshly milled whole, organic White Sonora Wheat flour*

1/2 cup freshly milled local velvet mesquite meal**

1 tsp Real-salt or sea salt

2/3 cup shortening (I use organic butter)

5-7 Tbsp ice water

*Organic, fresh-milled white Sonora wheat flour is available for your holiday baking from our Flor de Mayo booth at Sunday St Philips Farmers Market, or by contacting us at info@flordemayoarts.com or 520-907-9471 to order it ahead. **Freshly-milled velvet mesquite pod meal (flour) is available via the same Flor de Mayo contacts above. Both kinds of heirloom flour are available at a special Heirloom Grains event this coming SATURDAY November 21 at the NativeSeeds/SEARCH store, 3061 N Campbell, Tucson–the public is invited 10am-2pm.

Pinching a tall edge of my mesquite/heirloom wheat pie crust

Pinching a tall scalloped edge of my mesquite/heirloom wheat pie crust–This provides a retaining wall so juicy filling will not overflow while cooking.

Directions for heirloom wheat pie crust (lattice top):

Sift dry ingredients. Cut in shortening into small pea size lumps. Sprinkle in tablespoons of ice water gradually, mixing with a fork. Form 2 balls of dough. Dust each ball with more white Sonoran wheat flour. Flatten each out on a well floured board and roll with rolling pin or bottle. Use rolling pin as in the illustration, to lift lower pie crust dough onto pie pan. Press in with fingers. Keep second ball of dough for working on after pie filling has filled the lower crust. [See recipe for Membrillo/Apple Pie Filling below.]

With second dough ball, roll out as before then cut in 1/2 inch wide strips to lay in basket-weave pattern atop the pie filling to allow filling to lower as it cooks.

Membrillo/Apple Pie Filling ingredients:

(Cook ahead slices and chunks of 4-5 membrillo fruits, washed, then cut with or without skin. Boil in good drinking water for 20 minutes or until soft. I am one of those crazies who thinks fruit skins are healthy and full of phytonutrients, so I leave the colorful fruit skins on.)

2 cups sliced membrillo fruit, pre-cooked (reserve liquid for other gelled salads)

2 cups thinly sliced heirloom apples

1/2 cup organic cane sugar

1/2 cup organic brown sugar

2 Tbsp organic heirloom white Sonora Wheat flour

1/2-1 tsp ground cinnamon

dash sea salt

1-2 Tbsp organic butter

juice of one small heirloom sweet lime (I got mine from the Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace Mission Garden booth at the Thursday Santa Cruz farmers market at the Mercado San Agustin, West Congress, Tucson)

Membrillo/apple pie filling in shell ready to bake. Check out the heirloom sweet lime adjacent–with the dimple–this one from Mission Garden.

Membrillo/Apple Pie-Filling Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon, salt, then mix with the sliced apples. Fill uncooked pastry crust (shell) with mixture. Squeeze the sweet lime juice over the filling and place dollups of butter on top. Place lattice strips of the mesquite/whiteSonorawheat dough across the top of the filling as in picture below. BAKE for 40-50 minutes or until the crust looks golden brown. Note: mesquite meal has natural complex sugars which may caramelize or brown faster than white flour so keep an eye on it after 40 minutes. The one in my photo got a little too done for my taste, but it will still be fabulous.

Membrillo/heirloom apple pie with mesquite/white Sonora wheat crust--hot and ready to serve

Membrillo/heirloom apple pie with lattice crust of mesquite/white Sonora wheat –hot and ready to serve–To the left in photo is flour milled from BKWFarms wheat-berries.

There will be several ancient grains available at our upcoming Celebration of Heirloom Grains this SATURDAY at the NativeSeeds/SEARCH Store. Put it on your calendar and dig out your favorite recipes!

Heirloom purple prairie barley available at Flor de Mayo booth,St Philips Farmers Market and at the NSS Grain Event Saturday!

In addition to our native Mesquite Flour, there will be such fresh lovely grains as organic Hard Red Wheat grown by BKW Farms in Marana which is superb for breads. Our organic white Sonora wheat is the best for pastries. Also available will be the ancient Purple Prairie Barley originally from Afghanistan, now from Hayden Mills.

For the knowing baker, milling the whole grain fresh creates a totally different and wondrous effect to breads and pastries because the enzymes and other constituents in the grain remain “lively” for only a few days after milling. Come enjoy the milling process right before your eyes and feel the vitality of the flour you can take home to bake with!

Our thanks go to the caring padres who first brought the grains to the desert Southwest, to the generations of farmers who continued to grow and save the grain, to NSS for “rediscovering” and conserving them so carefully for the future, and to new farmers like San Xavier Farm Coop, BKWFarmsInc, Ramona Farms, and Hayden Flour Mills for multiplying them for our nutrition, enjoyment, and sustainable desert living!

For more info please call NativeSeeds/SEARCH at 520-622-5561 or Flor de Mayo at 520-907-9471. See you at the Milling and our Celebration of the Heirloom Grains!!

Magdalena heirloom barley grown at Mission Garden, Tucson

A savory pilaf made with heirloom purple prairie barley--watch for future recipes--Grain available at the Flor de Mayo booth, Sunday St Philips market

A savory pilaf made with heirloom purple prairie barley–watch for future recipes–Whole grain available at the Flor de Mayo booth, Sunday St Philips market, and at Saturday’s Heirloom Grain Celebration

Bat’s, “Seed-Dispersal” Clusters, and Taking Off by Letting Go

November 6, 2015November 8, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / 1 Comment

“Seed Dispersal” Chocolate Clusters, are inspired by bat’s remarkable ability to drop seed where it is needed.

Aunt Linda here on this chilly early November day, writing to you from under a Tucson bridge. My feet are burrowed in the arroyos’ sand – which is dotted with bat guano. The smell of guano is thick and earthy. And while I am not in a cave, it smells like the inside of a cave from down here. The chattering and “chirping” from the bats above delights me. Bridges, it turns out, are comfortable roosting places for bats. The expansion joints offer 1 foot deep grooves for bats to roost. Habitat loss is a significant challenge that bats face, and while bridges were not constructed with bats in mind, it turns out that they are bat friendly places.

Today we widen our scope beyond the Sonoran Desert and fly into the rainforests. Before we leave though, I’ll mention that bats are more closely related to primates (yes, humans included) than they are to rodents.They are the only mammals to achieve true flight. They are not flying mice; they do not glide like some squirrels. They fly.

And they have been doing so for 50 million years.

One of many reason bats are considered a “keystone species” – meaning so essential to certain ecosystems that they would collapse without them – is that they are extremely effective “seed dispersers”. As we know, huge areas of the planet’s rainforests are cleared every year. Regenerating these vast expanses of open areas, where once a forest thrived, requires seed dispersal. Birds and many primates, fear crossing vast areas where there is little shelter from attacking flying predators, so they usually stick to trees, where they they defecate seeds directly beneath where they perch. In contrast, nocturnal fruit bats have no such concern. Covering large distances over large clearings every evening while they feed and forage, they also drop seeds in those wide expanses. It turns out that many of those very seeds are from “pioneer plants”; those plants capable of growing in the hot/dry extreme conditions found in clearings. The growth of these plants invite other more delicate plants to grow and take root, they do this by the shelter they provide other plants, as well as by providing safe perching sites for birds and other primates, who are now too, dispersing more varieties os seeds. I discovered that seeds dropped by bats usher in up to 95% of the first new growth within these clearings.

Bats have been reported to disperse seeds such as dates, figs, cashews (hence the recipe today) as well as MANY others.

RECIPE : Seed Dispersal Clusters

Ingredients:

2, 3oz chocolate bars (or just a plane 6 oz) I used Lilly’s dark chocolate (coconut flavor) because I like the lack of sugar, but I have used the Trader Joe’s Jumbo bars for bigger batches, chocolate chips, … The Point: use whatever YOU Like. Dark, not dark ….
a handful of roasted salted (your preference of salted or not) cashews. I love the salt with the sweet.
1-2 Figs – dried and unsulfured – slice
4 dates (I used sun-dried and unsulfured) sliced
Optional: for the tops – 1 chiltepin per cluster, or a few pomegranate seeds. Or combine the two.

(And use what you have on hand. I have used almonds, ginger, chia seeds, poppy seeds, sunflower seed, pepita (pumpkin) seeds, dried cranberries … the bats might agree: sky is the limit)

How To:

In a double boiler (I used a pan inside a pan with boiling-roiling water), add the chocolate. As it melts you can begin adding the “seeds”.

I chopped the figs and dates roughly because I like the unexpected texture; feel free to be as uniform as you would like.

Stir the cashews and dried fruit until coated with the chocolate.

Place dollops of the seed mixture onto wax or parchment paper - add chiltepin if you like the heat - or pomegranites if you like the sweet. Place in the freezer until chilled through. 10-15 minutes.

Place dollops of the seed mixture onto wax or parchment paper – add chiltepin if you like the heat – or pomegranates if you like the sweet. Place in the freezer until chilled through, about 10-15 minutes. Don’t freeze freeze them – you want them hard, but not so hard that you cannot bit into them.

When firm, delight in the flavors and taste! Put remaining, if there are any, in an air tight container and keep in the fridge.

When firm, try one; delight in the flavors and taste! Put remaining clusters, if there are any, in an air tight container and keep in the fridge. Eat soon and swiftly.

Letting Go

I discovered a bat fact that surprised me. Unlike birds and bees and butterflies, very few bats actually “take off”, meaning they don’t push off of the ground or branch or flower in order to take flight. Because most bats perch upside down, they simply let of the surface from which they are hanging, immediately flap their wings, and fly.

We know this one as well, don’t we. There are times when, having let go of something – (a way of perceiving, an idea no longer relevant, an identity, a person) – we have a sense of flight. I know I have. There is a sense of an inner lightness. And it can take us places.

—————————–

BATS!! I am ENCHANTED with them. There is so VERY much to admire about these flying mammals! Stay tuned Bat Friendly Folk: I will be returning to bats again in future posts. I hope to inspire the building of Bat Houses and the planting of Bat Gardens. We’ll talk about all this before springtime so that you can plan. Whether or not you want to build bat houses or plant bat gardens, you will definitely want to learn about making Guano Tea for the gardens you normally tend. Please feel free and write me with any comments and suggestions and experiences you have had with any of the above.

If luck permits, we may also explore the making of “bacanora”, which is a potent drink made from an agave species in Sonora.

The making of this product affects bats.

Stay tuned.

Two Soups featuring Winter Squash and Mole Dulce

October 30, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / 1 Comment

After selling Mano Y Metate moles on this cool, drizzly day with my mom Tedie and sister Laura, we made some soups with what I had on hand.

We browned a chopped onion in olive oil with a bay leaf, then added a couple cloves of garlic and a tablespoon of Mole Dulce powder. We cooked it until fragrant, then added a quart of homemade turkey broth. A handful of Minnesota wild rice from a friend’s a summer trip simmered in the broth, as well half a butternut squash from the Tucson CSA. Salt and pepper to taste. When tender, we garnished with parsley.

Starting with the same base of onion, bay leaf, garlic and Mole Dulce, we added cooked, pureed hubard squash and more turkey broth. It didn’t seem like enough spice, so we added more Mole Dulce powder and some ground ginger and turmeric. A tiny touch of honey brought it together, salt and pepper to taste. What really made this soup was Laura’s garnish inspiration. Fresh pomegranate arils and hulled pumpkin seeds added texture. The pomegranate’s cool, juicy tartness contrasted with the hot, sweet, creamy squash.

The final touch was Mole Dulce oil. Two tablespoons olive oil with one tablespoon Mole Dulce powder cooked until infused. We drizzled on the top of each bowl to taste.

Join us for Saturday, October 31 for Tohono Chul’s Chile and Chocolate Festival in Tucson. Tia Marta of Flor de Mayo will also be there!

Next weekend Mano Y Metate will be in Phoenix at the Desert Botanical Garden’s Chile and Chocolate Festival November 6, 7 and 8. Enjoy the weather!

Taste Buds Ready to “Rejoice in Local”–at Mission Garden!

October 15, 2015October 20, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / 1 Comment

Gluten-free black tepary brownie-cockaigne for a desert dessert!

Yum!–Gluten-free Akimel O’odham Black Tepary Bean brownies with pinyones — a truly desert dessert served at the Farm-to-Table Picnic Feast at Mission Garden

Indeed, there is no doubt Tucson should be given the designation as an International City of Gastronomy! Where else in the world could we enjoy a finer, more diverse, perfectly indigenous, more delectable and nutritious PICNIC-FEAST than here in Tucson? Delicious dishes were the pieces de resistance by some of Tucson’s most renowned chefs for……the first-ever Farm-to-Table Picnic at Tucson’s Mission Garden.

Native-foods cook and author Carolyn Niethammer picking heirloom figs at the Mission Garden for the Farm to Table Feast for her gone-to-heaven fig-bar postre.

At the base of our landmark A-Mountain–the very birthplace of Schuuck-shon–set in a scene of verdant orchard trees heavy with fruit, and heirloom vegetables bearing their colorful autumn harvest, we feasted this past Sunday, October 18, on the tried and true fruits of our desert land. The community registered for this edible fundraiser via the two hosts of the Farm-to-Table Picnic Feast–our Tucson-born-and-bred organizations– Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace and NativeSeeds/SEARCH. The cost of $75 covered a magnificent repast–not just a dainty little taste of hors d’oeuvres but a sumptuous serving of at least 7 gourmet entrees, plus a variety of hand-made desserts and some locally fermented beverages! Either website can guide you to ways of supporting or volunteering for these worthy outfits–http://www.tucsonsbirthplace.org or http://www.nativeseeds.org.

At our special outdoor feast, we learned and appreciated where every single bite comes from! Every ingredient was LOCAL–grown on our own Baja Arizona soil, bathed by our own Arizona sun, watered by our own Pleistocene aquifer, tended by our own neighbors’ hands not to mention those of Mission Garden and NSS volunteers and staff.

To recognize them from the source….the beautiful Native Tohono O’odham Ha:l squashes, grown at the NativeSeeds/SEARCH Conservation Farm, in combo with I’itoi’s Onions and other heirloom veggies, morphed into betacarotene-rich chile with Loew’s Ventana Canyon‘s Chef Ken Harvey’s magic. Mission Garden’s heirloom pumpkins and greens transformed by Chef Doug Levy at Feast Tucson to a superb salad-supreme.

Traditional and delicious--Tohono O'odham Ha:l winter squash with magic inside--and curry pumpkins (MABphoto)

Traditional and delicious–Tohono O’odham Ha:l winter squash with magic inside of them–with curry pumpkins (MABphoto)

Akimel O’odham pearly black teparies from Pima farmer Ramona Button‘s fields and locally-harvested cholla buds transformed with culinary sorcery by Chef Janos Wilder’s Downtown Kitchen into the most gourmet vegetarian delight.

Padre Kino’s White Sonora Wheat from BKWFarms‘ organic fields became the most flavorful and delicately marinated wheat-berry salad by the hand of Chef Rebecca Ramey at Blue Willow Restaurant. And speaking of transformation, BKWFarms’ organic white Sonora wheat, with the magic of friendly microbes at Dragoon Brewery, became a festive brew with an amazing back-story to delight all samplers.

Ripened seed heads of organic heirloom Padre Kino White Sonora Wheat from BKWFarms in Marana (MABurgess photo)

Farmer Frank’s Crooked Sky Farms‘ GMO-free fresh corn expressed itself in a fresh-from-the garden casserole by Proper’s Chef Kris Vrolijk. Tohono O’odham traditional melon with other fresh corn and tomato, evolved into a gourmet gazpacho created by the Chef at Desert Diamond Casino, our major event sponsor.

Tia Marta here thanking ALL who came to the Table–the Farm-to-Table outdoor Picnic Feast at Mission Garden–to enjoy this enriching experience of Tucson’s traditional foods, cultivated with love in our own “desert terroir.”* THANKS TO ALL our local–yet world-famous–culinary talent who prepared these sacred foods with care and dedication! THANKS ALSO to the supporters and volunteers who made this event such a success! Was it a sign of its significance at that moving moment culminating the feast when the heavens blessed us with a glorious sunset?

The public is invited to visit the ever-changing setting of this feast–the very garden and orchard where many of the heirloom foods are still hanging on fruit-tree boughs or ripening on the vine. The Mission Garden is open for tours every Saturday with knowledgeable guides to take you through this special desert oasis–a living agricultural history museum. (For info see http://www.tucsonsbirthplace.org).

For your own table, you too can source the heirloom foods served at the Picnic Feast, at the NativeSeeds/SEARCH Store, 3061 N Campbell, Tucson, http://www.nativeseeds.org, or at the Flor de Mayo booth (online at http://www.flordemayoarts.com) and other farm booths at Sunday’s St Philips Farmers’ Market (www.foodinroot.com).

Native Black Tepary Beans from Flor de Mayo at St Philips farmers market Sundays

Join NativeSeeds/SEARCH as a member and stay in touch with seed-savers, gardeners, and cooks as we keep these desert-adapted foods alive and well into an unknown future.

Yours truly, Tia Marta, have also honored these heirloom foods artistically by documenting them from my garden in their harvest splendor as watercolor images. I invite you to view them firsthand at two upcoming OPEN STUDIO events: ART TRAILS on Saturday, Oct 24, and the TPAC OPEN STUDIO weekend Nov.14-15 at Carolyn Leigh Studio. Search by my studio name, Flor de Mayo Studio, or by artist’s name, Martha Ames Burgess, at http://www.ArtTrails.org , and at http://www.tucsonpimaopenstudiotour.org for directions, and do come by for a visit. You can also check out some of my Southwest Native heirloom food images on my website gallery http://www.flordemayoarts.com — enjoy!

NativeSeeds/SEARCH heirloom Navajo Cushaw Squash watercolor by artist Martha Ames Burgess

NativeSeeds/SEARCH heirloom Navajo Cushaw watercolor by artist Martha Ames Burgess

What will Tucson's top chefs cook for the Heritage Picnic?

Tucson’s top chefs cook for the Farm-to-Table Heritage Foods Picnic Feast

*Desert Terroir, by renowned author and co-founder of NativeSeeds/SEARCH, available at the NSS store, is a great read about the deep significance of LOCAL. We can “internalize” his messages by shopping at farmers’ markets, growing our own, and honoring long-successful desert traditions, seeds, and foods.

Stella and Alice’s Potent Potato Rosemary Recipe; to Start Your Day

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / Leave a comment

Aunt Linda here: In the Old Pueblo a half moon hangs overhead. Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury are rising in the eastern sky. This pre-dawn, 2nd of October sky is just one week past the autumnal equinox; today’s simple, treasure of a recipe may come in handy in the colder months around the corner.

A few weeks ago, in casual conversation, I asked our 90 year old Aunt Alice (born and raised in the Tirol) what fats her mother used to cook with. Without a pause in her response, she replied: “Lard and olive oil” Of course we had our own pigs, so we made our own lard. OH!!! My mom used to make the BEST potato recipe ….” So I spent a lovely afternoon last week learning how to make this favorite meal of hers.

Like a needle and thread connecting bits of fabric, this recipe comes to you, from the Tirol, via aunt Alice. It comes via Mother Stella, to her daughter Alice (now 90years old), to me, and now to you. What a magic needle, to pierce through the generations and find it’s way through the internet, (Stella lived a full life and died never having had one inkling of “The Internet”) all the way to your eyes. And hopefully, to your hands and kitchen. Their Tirol home, by the way, built of stone, had no heat, Alice says she would wake up to water frozen solid, inside the house, after a cold night. No wonder they needed something this nourishing, including the home rendered animal fat, to get them started.

It turns out that potatoes are more nourishing than I had known. I’ll admit they never held much interest for me. Michael Pollan in The Botany of Desire uncovers many mysteries of the potato, and opened my mind a bit. His research surprised me. In addition to their carbs, potatoes supply “considerable amounts of protein and vitamins B and C”. Combined with the vitamin A in milk, they make for a “nutritionally complete” diet. According to Pollan, “the spud would eventually put an end to scurvy in Europe. If I wax on and on about the potato, you won’t have time to make the recipe, so let me tantalize you into reading The Botany of Desire! It may change your whole experience of slicing into a potato: the ancestors of the Incas, and of course their descendants, grew potatoes in microclimates from their wild potato ancestors … they grew red potatoes, pink. blue, yellow, orange, … They grew bitter potatoes, buttery and starchy ones. So here we find that needle’s thread anchored back in time and place …. how they got to the Tirol and to Tucson …. that is another story.

It turns our that lard may have, dare I say it, some health benefits. The re-freshed thinking about lard is that it contains 54% less saturated fat than butter and some other plant derived fats). It is also downright flavorful. There is so much new research on fats. I encourage you to explore it.

Before we get started, if you are not open to lard, try this with butter or olive oil …coconut or avocado oils … the photo below shows the home rendered lard (see Savor the Southwest July 3rd post). Note how pure white it is. Remember that we infused one batch of lard with chiltepin. I learned this week, that at least in the Tirol of Alice’s youth, the fat was also smoked along with other meats, to impart a smokey flavor to the lard once it was ready to render. (Smokey lard – stay tuned … we may explore that in the future)

The hands that you see in action are Aunt Alice’s, passing the needle and thread, to you.

Remember to Render!
Not all lards are equal. Home rendered lard is easy and can be made in small batches.

The Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons home rendered lard

2 medium sized potatoes of your choice

2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or sage)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 fresh eggs (to cook as eggs and eat atop the rosemary potatoes)

ice for the potato slices

How To:

First, Peel the potatoes ….

Slice potatoes thinly, however you prefer. We used an old “madonlina” from Italy. IMG_0754 (1)

Soak the slices in ice water – this takes out some of the starches, and helps them cook without disintegrating in the pan.

Add two tablespoons of lard to the pan, and start heat on medium heat. Remember the oils you choose to eat are yours to decide. If you are anti-lard by all means use another oil. Choose what is best for your health and preferences.

Place the potatoes in a thin-ish layer, and place rosemary spring in the pan. Start on medium heat, then lower heat.

Cook slowly, on low, giving the potatoes time to soften.

Eat with a fresh fried or poached egg (or two) atop the potato medley … great for breakfast. Great for anytime.

Black Teparies Make a Come-Back!

September 12, 2015September 12, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / 1 Comment

Rich black teary beans dried, ready to hydrate for cooking

Rich black tepary beans dried, ready to hydrate for cooking

In some light they are a dull charcoal difficult to spot if the pods shatter onto the ground. Sometimes they appear shiny black or opalescent. Somehow black teparies appear to have an antiquity about them–mysteriously harking back to a time rich in prehistory. Tia Marta here to tell you a little about the black tepary bean’s odyssey back into cultivation and into the cooking pots of Southwesterners once again.

Shiny black teparies close up

Back in 1912, before WWI and the rapid plunge the “remote” Southwest unavoidably took into East-Coast food fads, there was a crop survey done of the many types of tepary beans being grown and used by different Native American families and communities throughout the Borderlands. The diversity at that time was astounding—some 40+ different colors, forms, sizes, speckles, of tepary beans were reported. Within about a decade there remained only a couple of dominant tepary colors—“red” (an orangy-brown) and white. [For more history, check out Volume 5, No.1 of Desert Plants Journal published by the University of Arizona CALS. Specifically this issue is devoted to tepary beans, and includes an article by yours truly.]

The neat thing about cultivars that are still genetically close to their wild ancestors is that they still contain a diversity of genes that can “pop out” occasionally as visibly different seeds. In the case of the teparies, every so often in a harvest of white teparies, for example, there may turn up a few coral pink, or blue speckled, or even black beans. At the University of Arizona’s Maricopa Experimental Farm, an amazing crop researcher, Mike Sheedy, was, for several years growing teparies to isolate some of these genetic “sports”. He used assistance from his kids (In farming, child labor rules just can’t apply) to help pick out the odd-ball seeds from hundreds of pounds of harvested teparies. Over the years, he grew the separated colors in isolation from each other to preserve color purity. Before research funds ran out he had “re-created” an ancient lineage of black teparies—i.e. he has assisted the ancient genes to come again to the fore, to bring the “invisible” genotype back into the “visible” phenotypes. At termination of his research project he generously donated the black tepary collection to the traditional Pima farming family of Ramona and Terry Button.

Native Black Tepary Beans & Flor de Mayo 1-lb pkg

Now—tah-dah!—at last black teparies are in agricultural production on ancestral lands! The public can purchase these little food gems of antiquity now at the NativeSeeds/SEARCH store (3061 N Campbell Ave, Tucson) www.nativeseeds.org , at the Flor de Mayo booth at Sunday St Philips Farmers Market www.flordemayoarts.com , or online via www.ramonafarms.com.

Black teparies are very different in taste from the red or white teparies—although all teparies are much richer than their more distant cousins like the common bean, lima or black-eye pea. Black tepary, schkug ba:wĭ of the Tohono and Akimel O’odham, is the deepest, nuttiest of all, with an earthy bouquet and a slightly bitter after-note reminiscent of coffee. Well, you will just have to try your own taste buds on them!

The public will have an exciting opportunity to taste black teparies prepared by none other than our beloved Tucson Chef Janos Wilder (of Downtown Kitchen fame) at the upcoming Farm to Table Picnic feast at Mission Garden, Sunday afternoon, October 18, 4-6:30pm. Janos is not letting on what his special black tepary recipe will be, but we can be sure it’ll be sensational. [The picnic is by pre-registration only so buy your tickets soon! Online purchase is via the Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace site www.tucsonsbirthplace.org.]

Potted blooming chiltepin plant for edible landscaping

All of the heirloom foods served at the Farm to Table Picnic are being grown (even as I write) locally in Baja Arizona, either at the NativeSeeds/SEARCH Conservation Farm in Patagonia, or at the Mission Garden itself, or by sponsoring farmers and ranchers such as BKWFarmsInc, the 47-Ranch, and Ramona Farms. Some of Tucson’s best chefs are donating their skill and time to prepare different dishes for us. It will be a great opportunity to put the fun in fundraising for two worthy local non-profits, to share the delicious tastes of our heirloom foods of the Borderlands, and to share community joy in what we are able to produce together locally.

For adventuresome cooks, dessert addicts, and chocoholics, I would like to share two variations on brownies made with—yes, you guessed it—black tepary beans! You will not believe how yummy these are.

Gluten-free Black Tepary Brownie-Cockaigne on cooling rack

First, cooking black teparies (as with all teparies) takes some time—and premeditation. The day before you want to use them, sort, wash, and pre-soak your black teparies. I hit them with a quick boil and let them sit overnight to hydrate slowly. Change the water the next day, adding fresh drinking water. Simmer until soft (it may take 2-3 hours on stovetop or 4-6 in crockpot). You want them beyond al dente in order to puree them in a blender or CuisinArt for the following recipes.

Muff’s Gluten-free Black Tepary Bean Brownies-Cockaigne

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked and pureed black tepary beans

1 stick butter= ¼ lb= ½ cup butter

5 Tbsp dark 100% cocoa powder, unsweetened (1 oz.)

¼ tsp sea salt

1 cup organic cane sugar

1 cup loose organic brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs well-beaten

¼- ½ cup nutmeats (I use pinyon nuts to keep the Southwest theme)

Directions for Muff’s Gluten-free Black Tepary Brownie-Cockaigne:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8” baking dish and place a wax paper cut to fit the bottom of pan. Melt butter (preferably in top of double boiler). Stir in thoroughly 5 Tbsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder. Let the mixture cool. Add sugars and sea salt to mixture and beat until creamy. Add vanilla. Beat 4 eggs and add to mixture stirring until uniform in color. Add 1 cup pureed black teparies and hand-mix. Pour batter into greased bake pan. Sprinkle top of batter with pinyones or other nutmeats. Bake 45-50 minutes until it tests done with toothpick. Cool pan on a rack. Cut in small squares to serve because it is so rich and moist. Enjoy their delicious flavors AND the healthy qualities of high protein/high complex carb teparies, protein-rich eggs, and the benefits of dark chocolate!

Gluten-free Black Tepary Brownie-Cockaigne ready to eat–wheat-free, light, nutritious and delicious!

My next black tepary brownie recipe was first inspired by food-writer and “Blog-sister” Carolyn Niethammer’s recipe found in her book Cooking the Wild Southwest (p.133)–a must-have in every SW cook’s kitchen shelf. Here I’ve made some interesting gastronomic additions…including the use of our fantastic local heirloom White Sonora Wheat flour, crushed wild chiltepines, and Mano y Metate’s fresh-ground Mole Dulce powder produced by our local Molera herself, Amy Valdes Schwemm.

“Hot-Dam”* Black Tepary Brownie Bars [*in the best sense of the expression]

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp unsweetened 100% cocoa powder

½ stick (1/4 cup) melted butter

¾ cup organic cane sugar

¾ cup org brown sugar, not-packed

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup pureed cooked black teparies

¾ cup organic heirloom White Sonora Wheat flour**

3 or 4+ crushed wild chiltepin peppers*** (number depends on your desired picante level)

¼ tsp sea salt

1-2 Tbsp Mano y Metate ground Mole Dulce powder

2 Tbsp raw pinyon nutmeats

Adding White Sonora Wheat flour and crushed chiltepin to molten chocolate mixture

** Freshly milled White Sonora Wheat is available at our Flor de Mayo booth, Sunday’s St Philips farmers market (www.foodinroot.com). Call ahead for quantities larger than 1 kilo—520-907-9471.

***whole wild-harvested Chiltepines are available at the NSS Store, 3061 N Campbell, and at Flor de Mayo booth, Sunday St Philips farmers mkt. Chiltepin plants to grow can be purchased at NSS plant sales.

Flavors to guild the lily--Wild chiltepin peppers, ironwood bear molinillo grinder, and Mole Dulce powder

Flavors to guild the lily–Wild chiltepin peppers, ironwood bear molinillo chiltepin grinder, and Mole Dulce powder (all available at NSS store and Flor de Mayo at St Philips farmers market)

Directions for “Hot-dam” Black Tepary Brownie Bars:

Pre-heat oven to 325F. Grease 8×8” baking pan with wax paper set in bottom. Melt butter and mix powdered cocoa in thoroughly. Add the brown sugar and organic white sugar and vanilla to the butter and cocoa, and beat. Beat 2 eggs and stir thoroughly into the choc/sugar mixture. Wisk in ¾ cup pureed black teparies. Sift together: ¾ C white Sonora wheat flour, ¼ tsp sea salt, and the well-crushed chiltepin peppers. Stir dry ingredients into liquid mixture. Add pinyon nutmeats. Pour batter into bake-pan. Sprinkle 1-2 Tbsp of Mole Dulce powder on top of the batter. Bake 25 minutes or until it tests done (when fingerprint pressed on top springs back). When cooled, cut into small bite-size squares to be served with hors d’oeuvre picks—you will see why…..(and don’t rub your eyes after eating.)

“Hot-dam” Black Tepary Brownies ready to enjoy!

Tia Marta is hoping you enjoy these fruits and flavors of the Sonoran Desert assisted by fruits of tropical North America—a marriage made in dessert-Heaven! With every bite we should be thanking ancient tepary farmers, and the recent ones who have brought back the Black Tepary from near genetic-oblivion.

Coming this week to Tucson is a food event not to miss: the Farmer to Chef Connection, this Wednesday, September 16, at Tucson Community Center, 12:00noon-5:30pm, sponsored by LocalFirstArizona. Google their site for tickets and come enjoy a smorgasbord of local tastes.

Also be sure to mark your calendar for October 18 and join NativeSeeds/SEARCH and Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace at the very heart of Tucson’s Birthplace –the Mission Garden at the base of A-Mountain—for the first-ever outdoor Farm to Table Picnic. It will be a feast to remember. Make reservations now and we’ll see you there for fun, flavor, history and friendship!

Mixing Up Senses; Chocolate-Chiltepin-Tequila-Medley

September 4, 2015September 5, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / 3 Comments

Aunt Linda here on an exceptionally moist dawn in the Old Pueblo. All of us desert dwellers, whether made of skin, feather, fur, or scale, are feeling our sensory pores wide open. The “normal” dry, desert, air simply does not hold smells or sounds the way a post monsoon moist morning does. Even the bird calls resonate differently.

Inspired by an Article, Sounds of the Hive, in this month’s American Bee Journal (September 2015, Volume 155, NO. 9), I found myself thinking about Senses. And about how other creatures sense and navigate the earth, air, and water in different ways than humans do.

So I pose a question to ponder: Do bees have ears? Can they hear?

For years it was thought that honeybees were deaf. Quoting briefly M.E.A. McNeil from the article cited above, (which I HIGHLY encourage you to read), “Evidence for the notion that bees are deaf was partly based on the observation that they have no ears. But, in fact they do; they just aren’t called ears and don’t quite look like ours. While a human detects sound through movement of the ear drum, a honey bee has a collection of sensory cells in the antennae ….” (p987) These sensory cells are found in the second segment of the antennae … it gets technical and fascinating, but basically they “convert mechanical vibrations into nerve impulses” which are then “relayed to the brain.”

No ears, as we think of ears, needed. I expanded my musings beyond bees …. how do other life forms sense the world?

In keeping with hearing: Frogs have eardrums – or tympanic membranes – but on the OUTSIDE of the body, behind their eye.

What about taste? Bees and butterflies have chemoreceptors (or taste receptors) on their on their feet; earthworms have them on their entire body. And octopus: have chemoreceptors on the suckers of their tentacles. They “taste” with their tentacles.

How about sight? A buteo Hawk has 1 million photo receptors per millimeter in it’s retina; flies have 3,000 lenses in each eye, penguins have flat cornea that allows them to see clearly even while under water. They also can see into the untraviolet range. Honeybees see polarized light. If you had asked me, before today, if a scallop could see, I would have flat out assumed NO. In fact, they have 100 eyes around the edges of their shells, enabling them to detect shadows of predators. Bats and dolphins navigate so skillfully, not using their eyes, but Echolocation.

Mixing Up the Senses Chocolate-Chiltepin Tequila Medley

I can’t guarantee you that this medley will help you hear with your antennae, but metaphorically, it just might.

(Warning, if you make it too strong, you may need to learn how to use echolocation to find your way home)

Basic Recipe:

Blend/mix:

1-1/2 oz of your favorite (mixing) tequila.

1-1/2 oz Chocolate Liqueur (I used “Meletti, Cioccolato”)

Add chocolate nibs and one crushed chiltepin to top of drink.

Ice cubes or crushed ice as desired.

Dessert Version: (photo below) Add 4 oz of Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk to the recipe above. It softens the drink, and smooths it our somehow. This was my favorite version. It is chocolaty, sweet, and spicy – all at once. Plus, it is fun to crunch the nibs and chiltepin in your mouth while the sweet, almost desert-like chocolate plays on your tongue.

And for a Very Spicy Concoction Option: substitute 1 1/2 oz of Patron’s XO Café INCENDIO for the chocolate liqueur.

Photo (below) of what Incendio looks like. This version has quite a kick to it, and is not for everyone.

Joy of the Mountains in Tucson

August 28, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / 3 Comments

Jacqueline A. Soule here to tell you of a wonderful perennial herb to plant in your garden or landscape this coming month. Oregano comes to us from the arid mountains of the eastern Mediterranean, including present day Greece and Turkey. Oregano grows well here in the Old Pueblo forming a lovely low mounding landscape plant with a little added water.

In shady sites of our Southwestern yards, oregano can grow quite green and lush.

The name, oregano is translated from the Greek as joy of the mountain. (oros = mountain, ganos = joy) so imagine the rocky Greek mountains as you plant your oregano. Rocky or sandy soil (not clay) works well. Some afternoon shade in summer is best for healthy plants.

Origanum vulgare ‘Hot & Spicy’ likes the heat and has very strong flavor. Like most herbs, it does best in well drained soil and does not thrive if overwatered. Photo courtesy of Monrovia Growers.

Oregano comes in many species, subspecies and varieties. For the best type able to grow here in the Old Pueblo, go with the true Greek oregano, Origanum vulgare subspecies hirtum. Since many nurseries do not label with correct scientific names, look at the leaves. The one you want will have smallish leaves with silvery hairs on them. When you rub a leaf between your fingers, it should release a strong fragrance of oregano. Avoid the oreganos that are mildly scented, musky scented, or have larger, not very hairy leaves. Indeed, you may run across marjoram (Origanum majorana) or even Italian oregano (Origanum X majoricum). These have their place in the kitchen and in the garden, but don’t plant them next to Greek oregano. The more vigorous Greek oregano will over run the others.

Majoram is closely related to oregano. It also grows well here.

Like many herbs, the best time to harvest oregano is just before it blooms. Many herbs increase their production of essential oils as they go into bloom since it is a time when they really need to protect themselves from pests. When you first start growing oregano, harvest may mean pinching a few stalks back with your fingers. Once your patch gets larger, trim it with strong kitchen scissors to about two inches high, so it forms a low mat of leaves. Don’t worry, it will get tall again.

Ideally farvest any oregano you wish to use before it flowers. Once it begins to flower, I like to leave the blooms for the pollinators.

Dry all herbs out of direct sunlight. I spread the cut stems on top of folded paper bags placed on top of the bookshelves. A ceiling fan running during the day helps dry them quickly. The quicker the drying, the less breakdown of the chemical compounds inside the leaves, and thus the sweeter the oregano flavor and less bitter the background notes.

In the nursery look for the oreganos with very hairy leaves. It is one sign og a true Greek oregano.

Besides its culinary uses, oregano is used medicinally as an antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic. The oil of oregano is reported to destroy organisms that contribute to skin infections and digestive problems, strengthen the immune system, increase joint and muscle flexibility, and improve respiratory health. The medicinal properties or oregano appear to be from high concentrations of thymol and carvacrol. Caution is needed since carvacrol appears to reduce the body’s ability to absorb iron. Moderation is, as always, important.

Spread out the branches of your oregano and bury all but the tip. The branch will root where buried (blue arrow). This is called layering and is and easy way to propagate your herbs.

Please do tell me your favorite way to use oregano in the comment section below. We Savor Sisters love to hear from our readers!

As well as in the ground, oregano can be grown in pots. Normally one doesn’t mix iris and oregano but I needed a spot to put the iris, and then it was about to bloom,,, and if you are a gardener, you know how it goes.

If you live in Southeastern Arizona, please come to one of my lectures. Look for me at your local Pima County Library branch, Steam Pump Ranch, Tumacacori National Historical Park (National Park Service Cenntenial this year!), Tucson Festival of Books and more. After each event I will be signing copies of my books, including the latest, “Southwest Fruit and Vegetable Gardening,” written for Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico (Cool Springs Press, $23).
All photos (except where noted) and all text are copyright © 2015, Jacqueline A. Soule. All rights reserved. I receive many requests to reprint my work. My policy is that you may use a short excerpt but you must give proper credit to the author, and must include a link back to the original post on our site. Photos may not be used.

# # # # #

You Say Purslane, I Say Verdolagas

August 21, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / 10 Comments

Purslane just sprigs so far due to late rains at my house.

Purslane is just sprigs so far this year due to late rains at my house.

Here’s how it should look once we get some more rain.

If you’ve had any decent monsoon rain by now, you may have a vitamin powerhouse coming up in your yard. Purslane, also called verdolagas, grows in many Southwest backyards in the summer. It prefers rich, recently turned soils so look for it under your rose bushes or in a flower garden. It has small fleshly leaves about the size of a fingernail, pinkish stems, and grows close to the ground. I have only a small patch this year where a small rain barrel spilled over. There should be more, but rains have been skimpy in our part of downtown Tucson.

It’s sad but true that right now people are out in their yards pulling these plants out and tossing them in the garbage (or compost for the more enlightened). They should be tossing them in the wok (see recipe below.) Purslane provides six times more vitamin E than spinach and seven times more beta carotene than carrots. It’s also rich in vitamin C, magnesium, riboflavin, potassium and phosphorus. One cup of cooked purslane has 25 milligrams (20 percent of the recommended daily intake) of vitamin C.

Especially important to those of us eating a modern diet, purslane is very high in an essential omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Omega-3s are a class of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids. Your body cannot manufacture essential fatty acids, so you must get them from food. Certain fibers also help in controlling blood sugar.

Sometimes all this talk of nutrition can turn people off — you might be saying “OK, but what does it taste like?” Delicious, actually. There are lots of ways to use purslane. The mild lemony flavor goes with everything. Purslane can be eaten raw chopped in salads or sautéed . Add it to a stew. Or toss it in the blender when making a green smoothie and it will add body as well as vitamins.

There’s something else, too. Something beyond just the vitamins that come from eating plants from your own yard. It’s a connection to the land you live on, the seasonal treat that Mother Nature has provided. By eating with the season, you become more than a mere spectator to life’s cycle. You think about these tiny seeds that wait for the rain, then manage to live as the sun beats down with 100-degree fury. And there’s the connection to past generations of people who lived here and ate these plants–a connection that broccoli will never give you.

My friend Roni Rivera-Ashford taught me to put a bowl under the colander and catch the water you use to rinse the purslane. You will find lots of very tiny black seeds in the water. Botanists tell us that a single purslane plant can produce up to 200,000 seeds. Pour that water with the seeds on a potted plant and you’ll have purslane next year.

Since it’s free and (usually) abundant, why not try some? Here’s the classic prepartion cooked up in Mexican kitchens every summer.

To prepare the purslane, first chop and sauté some onion and garlic in a little oil. When the onion is translucent, add the purslane.

Next, toss in some chopped fresh tomatoes.

At this point you can eat it, maybe with a little cheese on top. Or to make a heartier meal, saute some small bits of chicken. Now you’ve got a great side dish. Or how about filling for some enchiladas.

Dip the tortilla in chile sauce, add some purslane and roll.

My favorite is tostadas. Yum!

_________________________________________

Interested in more ideas for using the wild foods of the Southwest? Check out my books Cooking the Wild Southwest where you’ll find recipes for 23 delicious wild plants, and The Prickly Pear Cookbook with lots of recipes for both the prickly pear fruit and pads. Here’s a little video with ideas for other local wild plants to add novelty and nutrition to your diet.

Prickly Pear Upside-down Cake, Summer in Tucson

August 14, 2015August 14, 2015 / Savor Blog Partners / 6 Comments

Amy Valdes Schwemm here today, with glochids in my hands.

Figeater beetle, Cotinis mutablilis

Santa Cruz River Farmers’ Market Workshop

“I want to be a scientist!” she said.

Nopalitos en escabeche (pickled cactus pads with carrots, garlic, I’itoi onion, chiltepin, Mexican oregano)

Prickly pear kombucha

Harvest party at Bean Tree Farm. Classic Barbara Rose cocktail with too many ingredients to list!

Harvest party at Bean Tree Farm. Fancy cocktail by Barbara Rose!

Prickly pear vinegar

Prickly pear jelly on Sourdough Sonoran Wheat, Barley, Almond crepe

Prickly pear jelly and nut butter on sourdough Sonoran wheat, barley, almond crepe

Apple, prickly pear and friends compote

Peach, raspberry, prickly pear cobbler

Prickly pear upside down cake

Prickly Pear Upside-down Cake

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup prickly pear juice

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 prickly pear fruit, glochids singed over fire, peeled, seeded and sliced

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a 9 inch springform pan, put 1/4 cup butter. Put pan in the oven just until butter is melted. Sprinkle with brown sugar and arrange prickly pear fruit on top. Mix flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Separately, mix prickly pear juice, 1/2 cup melted butter and vanilla. Combine the two mixtures and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 3o minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. I like the cake to have some brown edges. Cool, invert on to a serving plate and enjoy.

	David Scott Allen on The Home and Garden Emporium:…
	Savor Blog Partners on Great Greens of Yoeme Her…
	Great Greens of Yoem… on Wild Greens and Mole Ench…
	David Scott Allen on Bluecorn Biscotti with Seasona…
	Savor Blog Partners on Bluecorn Biscotti with Seasona…

Savor the Southwest:

Forage, Raise, Cook

Sonoran Native

Heirloom Grains & Heirloom Fruits marry in a Holiday Pie

Bat’s, “Seed-Dispersal” Clusters, and Taking Off by Letting Go

Two Soups featuring Winter Squash and Mole Dulce

Taste Buds Ready to “Rejoice in Local”–at Mission Garden!

Stella and Alice’s Potent Potato Rosemary Recipe; to Start Your Day

Black Teparies Make a Come-Back!

Mixing Up Senses; Chocolate-Chiltepin-Tequila-Medley

Joy of the Mountains in Tucson

You Say Purslane, I Say Verdolagas

Prickly Pear Upside-down Cake, Summer in Tucson

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: