I spent two weeks at the end of September and beginning of October in Santa Fe with the Hastings kids while their parents enjoyed a well-earned trip to France. It was a delight because the kids are self-sufficient and caring for them is easy. Apart from the daily routine, we had a couple of fun excursions.
WEEK ONE:
I settled in on Friday 28 September, and on Saturday Rob and Anna left so we were off and rolling. Clara wanted me to help her with a Victoria Sponge Sandwich inspired by
The Great British Baking Show. She is a clever little baker and the result was really good in spite of high altitude adjustments to the recipe. Sunday, Clara, Tucker, Bella, and I drove up to Aspen Vista in the mountains above Santa Fe. The timing was perfect and the Aspens were at their brilliant best. The rest of the week I shuttled kids, shopped, cooked and walked Bella.
Our flight flew right by Mount Nebo which was no longer burning
The guest room at the house in the piñones is wonderful
Anna showed me the La Tierra Trails where I walked each day
Rob and Anna headed to France
The arroyo at the bottom of the La Tierra Trails
Clara was pleased with her new Cath Kidston purse from Grammy
Cooling the sponges
Dusting the Victoria Sponge Sandwich
The finished bake was pretty and delicious, filled with
strawberry jam and whipped cream
The broad swath of yellow in the pines in the distance is
Aspen Vista
Up the trail with Tucker, Clara, and Bella
The vistas are beautiful
Pines amongst the aspens
The same trio near the summit of our hike
Aspen gold against the dark pines
Brilliant color
A spectacular sunrise during the first week
Anders maintaining his Eagle-project orchard at the
community garden
A major tragedy: my mothers pressed glass cake stand
shattered while washing
La Tierra Trails on my daily walk
Impressive New Mexico skies
WEEK TWO:
Saturday 6 October, Anders, Clara, and I drove northeast on I-40 toward Salman Ranch to pick raspberries. They were plentiful and delicious and we ate almost as many as we picked. We continued over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the little village of Chimayo. Along the way we stopped at Las Trampas to have a quick look at the church of San José de Gracia built around the time of The Declaration of Independence. We had a late lunch at Rancho de Chimayo, a place Uncle Tony was very fond of. The consensus was that the food was delicious. Sunday, Clara baked again: a hot-milk sponge with macerated raspberries and buttercream filling. It was even better than the previous week's creation. We had roast beef for dinner and Clara learned to make Yorkshire pudding, which also turned out a treat. On an afternoon when there was no school, Clara and I satisfied our curiosity with a visit to the site of Fort Marcy on a hill directly above the center of Santa Fe (600 yards from the Palace of the Governors). It was built in 1846 to protect the US troops from the New Mexicans during the Mexican American War and as a symbol of new American control of New Mexico. It never saw any action, and within a few short years after the troops left, the rammed earth walls had melted away. The view over Santa Fe is good. On my last Sunday, I taught Clara how to make sticky toffee pudding. It was great and her caramel sauce was the best ever. Rob and Anna returned Sunday evening, and Monday I flew home.
Raspberry pickers
Driving up over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to Chimayo
Fall colors
San José de Gracia at Trampas
Rancho de Chimayo is located in an old Territorial style ranch house
Good eats
Well fed and happy
Spreading her buttercream filling
The heavy buttercream killed the mixer: second tragedy
Sunday dinner: beef roast w/ Yorkshire puds
Another excellent bake
This was delicious and disappeared in a day and a half
The most dramatic sunrise in memory
Santa Fe from the Fort Marcy site
Dickie and Clara with Sunrise Mountain in the distance
Sticky toffee pudding with killer caramel sauce
That's my house down there!
I had a good time and hope Anna and Rob had a wonderful time in France. It was a pleasure to be with their great kids.
That's all for now.
OXO
D.
x
