It’s Hatch Chile Time. The moment to catch and enjoy them is so fleeting, chile heads across the country are grabbing them up by the case and throwing them into the freezer to last until next year. While we can get them fresh, take advantage. Don’t limit your green chile to lunch and dinner. Go beyond the usual scrambled eggs & chile and give this waffle a shot -- a Masa Waffle with Hatch Chiles, Bacon & Cinnamon Agave Syrup. (That said, this waffle has brinner written all over it, so why wait until next weekend?)
The last few summers we've made an annual trip up to Tofino, situated on the edge of Vancouver Island, about a 4 hour drive from Victoria, BC. It's a great surf spot for Wolf, it's got great hiking and beaches and a concentration of restaurants in Tofino-town. The timing of this year's trip didn't let us (well, at least me) sign off completely, so it ended up being a working vacation. Still great to get away. As it turns out, even after several visits there are plenty of new discoveries still to be made in Tofino.
Ten days ago, our old girl H was trotting on the beach with me and Wolf in Tofino and today she’s back home after a day and a half at the emergency vet. It doesn’t look good. It started with a lack of interest in her kibble, she was wheezy and her breathing was somewhat labored. She coughed a few times and by the end of the trip, she just wasn’t all that interested in going very far for a walk. We got home late and went to the vet the next day.
The hand pie may be one of the world’s best food creations. Whether it’s a piroshky, a Pop Tart, a beerock or an empanada, the idea of tucking something sweet or savory into a little pocket of dough is an idea embraced by food cultures the world over. It’s an easy way to have a snack or a meal on the go with relatively minimal mess, which makes these Black Bean and Sweet Potato Empanadas perfect for back-to-school and back-to-work lunch boxes. (I know, I don’t want to think about it, either, and I don’t have kids).
The back to school stuff is going in Target, heralding the end of the summer. Soon enough it'll be time for backpacks and lunchboxes and binders, but before we give ourselves over to F-A-L-L, it's time to worship at the altar of the Hatch chile. Last summer I froze 25 pounds worth and it looks like I was pretty stingy in doling out the chiles over the year since I still have several bags in the freezer. But there's nothing like fresh roasted, and stores across the country are already breaking out their roasters with events starting this weekend.
