What's New and Exciting at The Cottonwood Bed and Breakfast!

Picture of Lavinia and also photos of my fabulous Red Wiggler farm

2012-01-09T13:38:00.000-08:00

Here is the photo of Lavinia I couldn't add to the last post for some weird reason. She's the one about to molest the Christmas tree.

Also, for Christmas I received an earthworm farm from my sister-in-law Teah. It is just the coolest thing ever. This is the deluxe version and has several trays for MANY worms. In fact, it is called La Maison-de-Vers. Nothing but the finest for the red wigglers of the Cottonwood B & B.

I've been feeding them and they seem to be very happy. They are not too picky-- leaves, shredded cardboard, and a few veggie scraps.

Here are some pictures of the new Cottonwood Inn pets:

happy wigglers

Hank/Henrietta reclining in comfort in my hand

A tale of two chickens

2012-01-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

Of course it's a post about chickens. I may have mentioned that I adopted several young hens (and 2 roosters) last fall. At first they were terrified of humans and ran for cover whenever I went into the henway with snacks. Now they are absolutely the biggest beggars on the planet.

They're all pretty bad, but the two who tie-break for the Number One position are Lavinia and Betty. (Photos to follow) Now I just walk out the door and these two chickens are up on the 6 ft fence and over, running up to me and standing on my feet. NO kidding. A couple of weeks ago one of our guests was packing to leave and left his truck door open. When he went to put in another piece of baggage he found Lavinia in the front seat searching for items to steal. Luckily the guest was delighted and sprinted off to get his camera.

Betty, the second hen gone bad, has also been climbing into vehicles. She jumped into the back of my truck and took a brief ride down to the feed store-- unbeknownst to me until I opened the tailgate to throw in some straw.

Maybe I can get some money out of Ford if I send them photos of my Ford-obsessed wild girls.

In any case, I've started to hid my truck keys and will advise guests to do likewise....

oh, and a cute older picture of Shmoo, too.

Betty

15 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours

2011-12-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

Need I say more...?

Brantly wearing a hat I crocheted for my brother

2011-12-11T09:51:00.001-08:00

Now if that just isn't the CUTEST thing, then check out this....

Life in the "Bachelor Pad"

2011-12-11T09:19:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of the Buckarooster and Monty in their new home. They seem to be getting along fine with the ducks and geese. They want hens, of course, but you know what they say-- "you can't always get what you want...."

Wiccus watching the puppies play at the Cottonwood Inn

2011-12-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Graham's Grille in Taos for helping the hungry!

2011-12-05T16:15:00.000-08:00

As many of our guests know, we've been taking in quite a few rescue birds this past year. As the number of beaks have grown, so has the demand for items like fresh greens and tasty snacks (especially when it's minus 9 outside). We are so fortunate to have found a friend in Leslie Fay, owner and chef of Graham's Grille here in Taos. Not only does Graham's continue to offer fabulous fare to their human guests, they now have generously donated their scraps to the hens (and toms and roos and ganders) of the Cottonwood Inn.

We are so happy to be able to give our birds something fresh and healthy to eat-- and something so different from the usual old scratch. Collecting and saving and storing leftovers for our birds is quite a commitment to make. We are so grateful that the folks at Graham's have given their time to helping out our hungry birds. Not only do the birds make out like bandits, but the local landfill benefits as well.

If you're in town and hungry for the best green chili cheese burger or decadent dessert that Taos has to offer, don't drive by the Taos Plaza without paying Graham's Grille a visit.

Here are a couple of photos of our birds enjoying their food-- Ms. Squawkers, Za Za and Wilhelmina have a bit of something green, and Wiccus, our Midget White tom with evidence of his snack still on his beak.

Whoops!

2011-12-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, just realized that people have posted comments on this blog. I didn't know people could do that. Yes, yes, yes. I know it's very sad. To all you folks who've commented since 2009, very sorry to have (inadvertently) ignored you. I'll do better in the future, I promise. Now, if only Barney Sharp Talons would drop me a line....

Today is the second day for the "Rooster Bachelor Pad" experiment. As I've continued to take in random strays I've realized that that the majority of the unwanted birds out there are roosters. This year alone I've added 3 to the flock(Bernard, our head Roo, doesn't seem to mind, actually).

Since the barn is sitting huge, vacant, and insulated, we've decided to try a bachelor pad. Over in The Bach Pad right now are The Buckarooster and Montgomery (Monty, for short. Monty started out life as Monique. Surprise, surprise.)

People say (I've already heard it) "Why do you want a bunch of roosters??" Well, I don't particularly WANT a bunch of roosters, but I do love chickens and these guys play a really tough role in the current backyard chicken trend-- nobody wants them and the rules say you can't have them within most city limits. When they are sans hens roosters are actually quite calm (I can hear all the comments from here). Inside the Taj Mahal (read: barn) with its foot-thick walls is the perfect place to keep potentially noisy critters. Let's put it this way-- The Buckarooster can crow his brains out at 3 a.m. and nobody can hear him. Except for his unfortunate housemates, of course.

The above is a picture of The Buckarooster.

Notes from our time away from the Cottonwood Inn

2011-12-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

In addition to not writing blog entries for the last 6 months Brantly and I also went on our first vacation in two years. We took a leisurely drive from Taos to the Oregon Coast-- we drove my Father's VW Eurovan, which he left here last Spring. On the way, we left a vehicle in Denver so we could take the Amtrak back from Oregon.

The drive across country was absolutely stunning-- highlights were Yellowstone (we nipped through on the second to last open day of the year) Coeur d'Alene (BIG summer houses with NOBODY there!), the Washington Cascades, and Port Townsend. Port Townsend is CUTE!

Along the way we were able to stay at a variety of different types of places. From the truly great bargain in Walden, Colorado (the North Park Inn) clean as a whistle, outrageously cheap, and in the perfect place in our time of need (after 11 pm, freezing cold, and we were exhausted) to the over-priced and underwhelming Denver boutique hotel that charged for everything except the oxygen in the building-- extra $$ for WIFI, parking, breakfast (holy cow-- $9.00 for a cup of yogurt with granola), no in-room coffee/tea/refrigerator, not enough shampoo in the dinky bottles for 2 people to wash their hair, and most unbelievable only one nightstand per bed??!)

Did I mention $259/night and only one nightstand??

Maybe this won't bother most people, but as readers, we were a bit nonplussed to have to put our drinks (purchased from the in-room wetbar-- a soda for $4 can), books, and reading glasses on the floor.

I was also eager to try out the much-lauded Frette bedding. I have to say I wasn't impressed (much to Brantly's relief, as he didn't want to have to buy bedding sets for 1K plus). It might be that the harsh chemicals and laundering they go through in a commercial laundry take away from the softness, but they merely felt thin and scratchy.

Of course my conclusion is that the smaller places offered much more for the money.

Lot's of great bird watching both on the way and in Oregon. Mass Canada Goose migration was a fantastic event to behold. Also a HUGE flock of Trumpeter Swans occupying a pasture in the middle of nowhere just outside of the Washington Cascades.

Back at the homestead we've got lots of bird-watching opportunities, ourselves. Wiccus, our White Midget tom turkey, has figured out that we live behind the windows he sees each day. He has begun to lurk around outside our bedroom window, peering in and making contemplative clucking noises. Truly a Peeping Tom....

Today we had a good 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground, a first for several of the younger hens. Our hen Lavinia refused to come out of the coop, instead standing a few inches inside the door and screeching disbelievingly at the snow. She is usually the first one out in the morning and is very good at flying out of the coop and ranging the entire property at will. Welcome to winter in Taos, Lavinia.

There is more snow on the way, hopefully a good 5-10 inches for us and more up at the Taos Ski Valley.

2011-11-29T11:13:00.001-08:00

Okay, here are some pictures to accompany the post below:

Here is one one of my Michael Kluck chickens, Schmoo and Sparky acting cute, Dinky Van Duuck Schmoo looking brown.

For shame! For shame!

2011-11-29T11:02:00.001-08:00

It's been 6 months since my last blog post (feels like confession....). What can I say? We've had our best (read: busiest) year ever here at the Cottonwood. It's finally slowing down for a few weeks and I'm going to catch up on EVERYTHING (well, maybe not EVERYTHING) that has happened in the past 6 months.Lots of activity over on the new property, the little house is finished (pictures to come) and we've continued to work the land this year. New native grasses have gone in and we're hoping they will give the thistle some competition. The explosion of our duck population (yes, Anne Duuck hatched another group-- Inky, Blinky, Pinky, & Floyd, to keep young Dinky van Duuck company) has been good for bug and weed control. Having two giant dogs trampling everything has also been good for weed control. Even with the dogs over there we've been able to plant a spruce, two cottonwoods and an oak. They seemed to do well this last year and benefited from the weekly draining of the duck/goose ponds.We've been expanding our fencing venture to allow the fowl and pooches access to the other acre of the property. Unfortunately, the pooches are expert escape artists. There must be 20 miles of fencing around the land, but they continue to find ways under, over, through it. We're going to take a fencing breather and then hit it again in the spring.We've also been busy here at the inn. Lots of new furniture in our rooms and several nice "face-lifts" in the rooms. We acquired a delightful hand-carved desk from a Santa Fe artist as well as a Jim Wagner cabinet with guess what painted on the front....Yes! A chicken!! Local Santa Fe artist Michael Kluck has also contributed to my growing chicken collection with not one, but two hand-carved beauties. Yes, his name is Michael Kluck and he carves chickens (but lots more, too! This was part one of the update, part two is underway.

A new baby duckling!

2011-05-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, the duck/duck/goose trio (Anne/Jean Claude Van duuck/Bridgette) have produced offspring! We believe it is a duck, but it could be a cross (??) Suggestions for a new species name range from Gooyduck to Doose. The little girl/fellah is cuter than a bug in a rug. However, there is some confusion over exactly HOW to raise him. Mama goose Bridgette is trying to imprint goose behavior while Duck Mommy Anne is busy trying to pass along her duckyness even though she is quackless.

Van duuck, meanwhile, chases his offspring, chases the geese, and generally terrorizes the occupants of the poultry yard.

Pictures to come soon....

Okay Barney, What Gives??

2011-04-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've received another letter from Bernard's wild cousin, Barney. He is dealing cards on a riverboat on the Mississippi. He's had an unfortunate incident as a result of some time he spent in the back of an 18-wheeler sleeper. I'm thinking it's time to take up a donation for the Barney Patrimony Defense Fund.

Of course Barney is always welcome here at the Cottonwood, where he could spend his time with some REAL chicks.

Barney, Barney, Barney.

Okay, lots of updates in single post

2011-04-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

I absolutely can't believe it's been 4 months since my last post. So many new and exciting happenings. Where should I start??

The weather has been a bit screwy this winter, snow then hot, then snow, then hot-- well, you get the picture. What's that annoying saying, "if you don't like the weather in __insert geographic location here___ then just wait 5 minutes!"

Lots of new critters-- 2 ducks, 3 new geese, 3 new turkeys, but no partridge in our pear tree yet.

The ducks were are rescue from a college kid in Santa Fe. They are a mallard and a Muscovy hen, with another Buff American goose. I named the Muscovy Anne, as she is very dainty and well-behaved.

The goose is Bridgette and the mallard we initially named Maurice, as he is a suave little talker who keeps his two females happy. However, we had no idea how "Maurice" would fit in with our other 5 geese-- Squanto, Mr. Joshua, Yvette, Susie and Snarky. Well, we needn't have worried about the health of Maurice. As soon as he got into the pen he began chasing and attacking the ganders and trying to chase the geese into his little harem. Well, we had to change his name. We decided he was much more of a Jean-Claude Van Duck. Yes, he continues to live up to his name.

Our turkey population, too, has exploded. We brought in a White Midget Tom to keep Thelma and Louise company. He is a very sweet and friendly bird who came from a home with 5 toms. He was at the bottom of the pecking order there, so they needed to find him a new home. He is still a bit pecked on looking but has gained confidence as the biggest fowl in the hen-way.

About 3 weeks ago we received our last (and that means last for a while. I've finally got my hands full!) additions-- two turkeys so emaciated and featherless that we weren't sure of their gender or breed until about a week ago. We believe we have a tom-- Sniraga and hen-- Nettie, of the bronze breasted variety. They are both incredibly friendly birds who protect me from Bernard when I come into the pen to feed them in the morning. They are bulking up nicely and very pleasant to the other birds in the run (except Bernard, who deserves it).

The flowers are starting to bloom and we finally had a bit of rain this morning and I can HEAR the weeds slurping it down. The blossoms are out on the plum, pear, apple, peach, apricot and cherry trees. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no heavy frosts for a bit & hopefully the fruit can set.

The work on the barn progresses slowly, and we are just about to finish the poultry room and move all the chickens and turkeys over for a few months to give their current run a chance to recover from all the grazing. I will miss getting to look out the front window and see my girls, but they will enjoy unlimited access to 2 acres of grass and bugs!

Pictures of everyone to follow shortly....

Thelma and Louise are here....

2010-12-30T07:24:00.000-08:00

No pictures yet, but our two turkeys arrived yesterday. They are out in the big pasture with the new geese-- Squanto and Mr. Joshua. Of course they arrived during the biggest snow dump of the year, so they haven't actually SEEN their new yard yet. They couldn't even see their new coop, so I was out with my visiting brother and a flashlight at 9pm catching skittish turkeys and depositing them into their new home. It was a good decision, as the snow was at about 4 inches this morning.

If you were waiting for some fresh powder to ski, now is the time. Not too cold and nice fluffy new snow.

Pictures of the new girls coming soon....

New pictures from the Cottonwood Inn

2010-12-18T06:15:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the Cottonwood from the Arroyo Seco River, which runs through the end of the new property.
Mr. Joshua and Squanto in front pond.

Picture of new barn as viewed looking east. This was taken about 3 days ago. The windows and doors are now largely in, and it is now a menacing black block of tar paper. Yes, the barn is build from 2X12s.... Locals are calling it the Taj Mahal.
Okay, we just had our first big snow of the year here, about 6-8 inches at the base and 12 up top on the mountain. It looks pretty cloudy this morning, and the forecast is for a bit more snow today. What are you waiting for? Come ski Taos!!
The snow was a first for a lot of the new critters who were all born last spring. Schmoo, Sparky, Snarky, Sid, Nancy, Squanto and Mr. Joshua were all a bit surprised about the situation. All of them seemed to like it, and the dogs managed to find plenty of snow AND dirt. They are only rarely white these days. Here are some pictures of December 12, 2010 at the Cottonwood.

The above is a picture of the neighbor's horse and Sparky. Sparky is in love with these horses, and they seem to enjoy the dogs, too. The picture below is the mighty Arroyo Seco River. I know people from other parts of the country will laugh at our river, but it's the only one we have....

New chickens and a new barn!

2010-12-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've finally managed to weasel some new birds!! These ladies came to me from a local who didn't want to deal with her chickens anymore and offered them to me. Of course I jumped for joy. Yes, they've all been named-- 2 Wyandottes-- Amelia and Wilhelmina, 2 Rhode Island Reds-- Charlotte and Emily, 2 Buff Orpingtons-- Fancy and Henrietta, and one Americauna-- Venetia. They are still very timid and don't approach me or the other hens too closely, so we firmed up the goose house (added a roost or two, a few nesting boxes and cleaned out the goosy-ness and that is where they are currently hanging out.
The geese have moved over to the large pasture with the puppies (now at 6 and 1/2 months). Tonight at 6 pm they were all resting peacefully around the shores of Largo Gallina (yes, the name for our new pond, located at the shore of Mount Gallina. Cool, huh??) Anyhow, Brantly and I went to pick up the new hens yesterday after sunset, thinking we would be able to hijack sleeping chickens. We did not know about the chicken coop they occupied.... Their set up was like a jungle-coop, and we had to unscrew portions of the coop and crawl through pallets to get these girls. These ladies may have been asleep when we got there, but they were awake and yelling by the time we put them into the pet carrier.
The barn is now in phase 3 (out of 4) and the second floor is finally going up. With a light snow this morning we were wondering if the second floor might have to wait until next week.... However, the weather warmed up a bit and the workers were able to frame up the rest of the job. Now we just wait for the roofing and hope we can beat the snows.
We started some very late winter grass on and around the new pasture. We're hoping to force out the thistles, rather than chemically kill them. We've spoken to several local (and Oregon-based) organic farmers, and have decided this is the best, if maybe slower, method of weed control. Not only that, but the geese have been going after the roots of anything that grows over there, so they will probably take care of some of the weed problem.

The barn is here! The barn is here!

2010-12-02T17:00:00.000-08:00

The long-awaited barn is finally taking shape. Not only that, but we've also begun the 2nd pond, for the ungrateful Cottonwood Inn Geese, Sid, Nancy, & Snarky. Those of you who've been here this year have met the rude brood. These rescue geese are not meek and mild, they have no trouble demanding what they want-- and what they want (as I perceive things) is a larger area to roam, a bigger pond, and a barn. Who are we to deny the geese?

The puppies have already been enjoying most of every day over in the new pasture. They like to run through the pond (or Lake Gallina as we have decided to name this august body of water) and up the dirt mound left by the excavation of the pond (or Mount Gallina, as we are now calling it-- notice a trend here?) Of course they are no longer white dogs, but chocolate-coated mud hounds.

Pictures to come shortly for the new Southwestern room, and for the barn, and for the critters, who are now geometrically larger than the last photos we posted.

Cold and crisp!

2010-11-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

Yep, winter is here. We've begun construction on the new barn, and are shortly moving the two puppies (now approaching 70 lbs each at around 5.5 months) and 3 geese into the pasture. It's been a long haul, fencing around 2 acres with wire that is buried 8 inches and 7.5 feet high. The barn plans continue accordingly-- we should be up and barn-y by the end of December. It has been cold, cold, cold. That hasn't stopped us here at the Cottonwood-- we've started remodeling on our "Buckaroo" room, which we have renamed the "Southwestern". Why? Well, we felt the changes to the room-- pine flooring, bar seating area, and (drum roll) the new patio off the room, including an adobe fireplace and two person hot tub in a latilla-enclosed rooftop oasis-- embody the Southwest experience. The view from the new Southwestern patio is absolutely AMAZING! The stars go on forever, and the 6-foot latilla fence blocks any street-level light interference with star-gazing. This is the room to have on your next visit. Check back on the website soon for more images....

Barny Sharp Talons, who are you?

2010-09-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been driving me nuts. I keep thinking-- "The Chicken Bar, who mentioned the Chicken Bar??" Well, I've got "innkeeperitis, and can't remember anything (beyond this morning's breakfast, and even that is touch-and-go....)

So, put me out of my misery.

Other than THAT, we've had a GREAT late summer/fall. The rejuvenation project next door (the new 3 acres) continues apace. Today the pergola for the casita went up. We have decided to call the little house "Casa Cordova" after the gentleman who lived there alone for so many years. We think he would really like our efforts to shore-up the house and husband the land.

Speaking of husbands... Brantly went out last week and bought over 25 trees, mainly fruit trees. We have planted them all in a double row along our western fence line. They are a mixed bunch, and we are hoping to eventually harvest apples, peaches, cherries, and apricots. In addition to those trees, friends of ours-- MaryAnn and Kaseem, brought over 3 poplars and an "antique" apple tree from the Hacienda Martinez. We're very excited about the apple and have decided to baby it along in the back yard for the first year.

The dogs continue to grow at an alarming rate. We think they are about 40 lbs each, as Brantly just about gave himself a hernia loading them into the Scion today, to take them to their monthly vet visit. Schmoo has turned out to be a superb guard dog. He sleeps most of the day (drooling) and wakes at dusk to keep vigil over the snoozing birds. Sparky mainly just watches Schmoo, wondering why he is doing what he is doing. And the geese, of course, torture and bother the dogs at every opportunity.

Many thanks to our fabulous guests this month-- especially Ann Marie Trapp, who brought me (after much begging and nagging) one of her wonderful water colours. The photo does NOT do this beautiful painting justice. Also much appreciated were the new additions to my "Hen Library," provided by Flora MacDonald and Peter Kelley, and Sally and Jim Blagg. It's true, a chicken fanatic can NEVER HAVE TOO MANY CHICKEN-RELATED ITEMS!!!!!!!

It's finally cooling down here, and a great time to visit before the winter snows. I can't think of a more lovely place to be than Taos at this time of year!

New happenings at the Cottonwood Inn

2010-08-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Another month is almost gone here at the Cottonwood Bed and Breakfast. It's been a hot summer, but the recent rain (1 inch last night alone!) has done a lot to cool things down. It was nice to be in the mid 70s today-- much more like normal in Northern New Mexico.

This summer's projects have been big ones: cleaning up the new lot, re-building the little adobe house, training the 2 Great Pyr pups, and making the goosers into NICER GOOSERS.

Well, let's start in reverses order... the rescue geese are just as ornery as they ever were. Snarky, however, is absolutely lovely!! He looks like a Stevie Nicks pillow with two cute orange legs. He is still deathly afraid of all humans, but is now occasionally nipping at Brantly's shoes (a good thing).

Also, we've had some success training the new pupsters. Both Sparky and Shmoo now know how to sit, beg, come, beg, and (this is really exciting) herd the girls!!! And, of course, beg. Okay, by herd the girls, I mean get them all back into the pen. This is quite an accomplishment for a couple of boys who are only about 12 weeks old.

The little adobe is just about there. This week we will apply the last exterior coat of stucco, and stain the concrete floor (purple!!) We put part of the septic in today, and are about to level and clear the last of the junk away.

If you haven't been here to see these new changes (dogs, geese, and acres) what are you waiting for?? The weather is beautiful, the grass is green, and Taos is as cool as ever!

Big geese and BIGGER dogs!

2010-08-26T17:07:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we've had the puppies for over a month! I didn't realize how much they had grown until I looked at the initial blog pictures-- holy cow! Or dog, actually. These guys think about one thing-- eating. And they eat A LOT. Winston and Eva are regularly horrified by how much of the daily food scrap ration goes to the new pups. Winston doesn't actually want to eat that many scraps, but it really annoys him to see it go to Sparky or Shmoo. This is Winston's first experience as the older (and wiser?) dog, and he is taking it seriously. I never knew he had fangs!

Syd and Nancy are just getting bigger every day. Nancy has recently decided that she likes Brantly, so he doesn't need to duck and dive every time he enters the bird run. She is infatuated by his New Balance shoes and likes to chew on them for hours. Surprisingly, Snarky has also decided that he wouldn't mind a bit of human interaction. He, too, has been seen nibbling on Brantly's tennies....

The plans for the barn are nearing completion, and the little, old house next door is looking cuter every day. This week the interior walls were finished.

The photo thing has been driving me crazy! The only reason the posts aren't more regular is because of our antiquated camera. It has become almost impossible to upload our daily photos and save them. We don't know what happened, but it can be traced to a virus on our computers a few months ago. In any case, it is an agonizing process to upload a photo, but hopefully we will soon have a new (and easier to understand) camera. Here are a few photos from recent weeks. Come to the Cottonwood Inn before the puppies are 160 lbs.!

Here are some pics of the goosers....

2010-07-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the new geese. Incidentally, after the death of the 3 little Sebbies, we knew that Snarky needed some company fast. Unfortunately, the only geese we could find were in Joseph City, AZ. Yes, somebody had to go and get them. Shantal drew the straw on that one. It turned out to be a great trip, and the geese are very loving and friendly. They were both hand raised and are very nibbly and soft-spoken. We have been really impressed at how friendly they have been to our guests and the chickens. Now if we can just get them to like the dogs....

Great Pyrenees, Sebastopol Geese, broody hens, more Great Pyrenees & Sid and Nancy....

2010-07-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, we've finally gone insane over here at the Cottonwood Bed and Breakfast. Last month we bought the 3 acres that adjoin our property to the south. This month we decided to start filling it up-- with critters.

Now for the geese and Great Pyr situation as it stands today-- we have 3 new geese (or goosers, as I like to call them). We have a young Sebastopol goose we have named Snarky, and two cute mutts we have named Sid and Nancy. We had 4 Sebbies, but lost 3 of them to a dog attack. Which leads to the next new guests-- the 2 Great Pyr brothers we drove all the way to Montezuma, KS to get. Yep, Sparky and Shmoo. They are so cute and that only pictures can tell the story. We went to get one pup and ended up with two. Of course. We thought about one poor lonely puppy and just couldn't do it.

So, now Sparky and The Shmoo are kicking it in the hen yard. So far they have bonded nicely with our 15 girls (and Bernard). They are having a bit of a time with Sid and Nancy, who would like to squeeze their little heads and rip them off. Needless to say, Sid, Nancy, and Snarky are all over in their OWN part of the yard, enjoying the new pond we installed last week.

And if that isn't enough, 4 of my Great Cochins have just gone broody-crazy. I am exhausted with pulling them off their eggs, so they are all going to be allowed to hatch. Yep, it will be chaos here in about 2.5 weeks.

Earlier in the summer we finally tackled the front yard, getting rid of the grass and installing a more "xeric" garden. Okay, so the fountain isn't exactly xeric....

So, what are you waiting for?? Come see the pups before they're 160 lbs! I've attached a few of the first pics.

Peonies, land, more peonies, & hot weather

2010-06-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is a consolidated post because I just can't seem to keep up. Some of our guests are aware that we have been in negotiations for the 3 acres that adjoin the Cottonwood Inn-- well, we finally closed on the deal and the Cottonwood B&B is now 3 acres bigger! The land is beautiful, with a stream running through the northwest side and a natural spring in the center. Also on the property was an old adobe building, which is currently being restored to its former glory.

We're very excited and can't decide what we want to plant on the property-- it fluctuates between raspberries, fruit trees, or lavender-- my guess is that we'll do all three. We're also hoping to keep some critters over there, of course my vote goes for more CHICKENS!!! And maybe a llama or two....

We've already had a bumper crop of peonies and rhubarb this year. I am eating a wedge of pie as I type this. I hate to be a braggart, but this is the best slice of rhubarb pie I've ever had. I had made several pies earlier in the spring, and I used a recipe I found on the internet (cooks or somewhere) and it called for vinegar & eggs in the crust, among other ingredients. I decided to give it a shot, and I thought it tasted just like a store-bought pie. Not exactly what I was aiming for. This pie is just the usual flour/lard/water/salt crust with rhubarb, sugar, lemon zest, & lemon juice. It's a great way to emphasize the flavor of the rhubarb and doesn't taste too sweet.

There are photos to come, of course!

Last but not least, it has been warm here. We are truly appreciating the great cooling abilities of an adobe home. As long as you close your blinds during the heat of the day, it gets to a nice cool 50 in the early mornings-- enough to keep things pleasant for the next day.

The hummers are here! The hummers are here!!

2010-05-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

They're early this year. So far only a few boys-- a broad-tailed and a calliope-- but they are buzzing an fighting already. They actually arrived last week, and there has been nothing but snow, snow, and sub-freezing weather. They seem to be doing okay and draining the feeders. We also have had several Bullock's Oriels hitting the feeders already.

So far the plants and fruit trees seem to be doing okay with these (somewhat) late freezes. The local paper has just announced that the snow pack this year was at an 18-year high. Good for us at the Cottonwood Inn (both flora and fauna) and good for our guests who enjoy river rafting!

What happened to the month of April?

2010-04-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

How could April be gone so fast? That doesn't mean that spring is all the way here-- we had another 2 inches of snow this last weekend. Luckily it only stayed on the ground for a day and we're back up in the 60s during the day. There was some ferocious wind earlier in the month, but it looks like that is behind us. Plenty of tulips, daffodils, and rhubarb. Yes, the rhubarb is back and with a vengeance. We now have 7 large plants underway. I can't wait for more rhubarb bread and punch....

Friends brought us some lovely Meyer lemons (in the photo above) from California and of course we just had to can them. We made some wonderful lemon marmalade, which I had never eaten before. We've already gone through two jars in less than a week, so I guess it will have to be a trip to California next year and a large U-Haul full of lemons. Anyone out there want to trade some excess lemons or oranges for some plums? We've got three kinds and they are usually coming out our ears. Swap! Swap!

Of course now that the snow is abating we're really looking forward to the weeding. And they are here already!

Also, a great recipe for all those boiled eggs you get every Easter-- add green chili to your egg stuffing! (of course!)

Also, a photo of our Easter chicks- a before and after picture of the carnage our guests inflicted on the flock....

Ooops, I thought I had added these photos!

2010-03-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

I'm just looking at the most recent posts and realized I didn't show off a couple of really cool photos of a snow we had earlier in March. It was one of those really warm days which changed in an instant and then we had 5 inches of snow! This meant the trees were absolutely fantastic looking, completely flocked with a layer of fresh snow. Unfortunately, so was my covered chicken run. I had to spend an hour or so smacking the chicken wire with a broom to dislodge all of the pesky frozen snow. And the chickens looked on in disapproval.

Croci are blooming, new biscuit & gravy recipe & more....

2010-03-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

It's spring! Yay! We've got dozens of purple and yellow croci blooming around the property as well as tons of tulips and irises poking their heads out. Oh yeah, not to mention The Rhubarb is back. I'm thinking we should have a rhubarb naming contest this year to finally stick a moniker on the beast....

A couple of new recipes this week-- a gravy for biscuits and gravy and a home-made mac and cheese (both with a southern twist, of course).

As much as I love biscuits and gravy (they are my favorite breakfast dish) I have never made them at the Cottonwood Inn before. I fished around online and found a good gravy recipe-- but it still had a few things missing. The biscuit recipe I use is out of the High Altitude cookbook, a great book for any cook to have. The gravy recipe I concocted reads as follows:

Serves 4

1 lb. pasture-raised pork sausage (please use only humanely raised meats, your food will taste so much better and your immunities will eventually thank you!) We use Beelers.

3 tablespoons of butter (you can use less if your meat is fatty-- Beelers tends to be a bit leaner)

6 tablespoons of flour

4 cups of milk

1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

salt to taste (we found very little was necessary)

1 small can Hatch green chilies (chopped up)Or fresh if you can get 'em!

Brown the sausage in a deep saucepan over med-high heat.
When there is no pink color left add the butter.
Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter/sausage mixture and then gradually add the milk-- stir briskly to keep the flour from clumping.
You can actually dump the green chilies into the milk and they will get added gradually.

Add your pepper and salt after you've added all the milk and the mixture is nicely mixed. Bring the heat up a bit and get your mixture to a boil. Let the mix boil for a few minutes until it has thickened to the consistency you like.

Pour it over your favorite biscuit recipe and fight over the left overs....

I thought this was just fantastic. Brantly isn't a huge gravy fan but even he had a biscuit slathered in the stuff.

The other comfort food we experimented with lately was some homemade mac & cheese. The recipe I found came off the Food Network website but I thought it lacked zip and catered more toward children's tastes. Here is my end result after slight tampering:

served about 6 healthy eaters

1/2 lb bag pasta (your choice of mac & cheese shapes-- I used Texas-shaped because I couldn't help myself)
3 tbs butter
3 tbs flour
1 tbs mustard powder
3 cups milk
1 finely chopped onion, medium
1 bay leaf
1 tsp chili powder (we used chipotle, but it was HOT)
1 egg
10-12 oz shredded cheese (I liked a blend of Monty-Jack and sharp cheddar, but anything you have in the fridge would work)
1 small can green chilies (or fresh!) of course
salt & pepper to taste

I've had this baked (which is nice with the crispy top) or just served it right out of the pot-- you decide how hungry you are and how long you are willing to wait.

If you decide to bake it, you can do it at 350 for 30 minutes or until desired crispyness.

Put your pasta to cook.

In a largish pot melt the butter and then whisk in the flower and mustard powder. You will be making a kind of rue. The recipe I used said do this for 5 minutes, but I think I did it more like 3. Keep it free of lumps and then stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, chili powder, & green chilies. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Take out the bay leaf when done simmering.

"Temper" in your egg-- this means adding a bit of the sauce to the egg first and stirring and then adding the mixture into the pot.

If you are going to eat the mac out of the pot then toss in all the cheese, if not, reserve some cheese for a topping. Add this to your cooked (al dente)pasta and add your salt and pepper.

Yes, green chili and chili powder make EVERYTHING better!

So, other than cooking the news at the Cottonwood B&B is that Eva (our female dog) has turned into a genuine "egg-sucking dog". Yes, it's true. At first I blamed Winston, but I was shortly put to rights when I actually SAW Eva taking an egg from the hen house and burying it in the yard. We kept wondering why she came in every night with dirt on her nose....

Shortbread and Easter

2010-03-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

Okay-- for those of you who asked last weekend, here is the shortbread recipe I've been using lately. I say lately because I recently changed over to this version, from Sunset magazine. There were a couple of things about their recipe I didn't care for, so I've made those changes and written the recipe as I make them.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup cold butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

a couple tablespoons extra of sugar

I cut up the butter into smallish pieces before using my pastry knife. I tried using the standing mixer, as the recipe directs, but it never did crumble and I ended up having to use the pastry knife, anyhow. I made it into pretty fine crumbles because when I didn't, the mix separated while I was trying to press it into the pan. I also poked the finished product with a fork before sprinkling it with sugar. I found that it cooked more evenly with than without the fork-poking. I didn't have large grain sugar, but I do use organic sugar which tends to be darker and a bit rougher grained. I tossed the sugar with a bit of lemon zest to add a bit of something different.

Here is a picture of a piece and also a picture of my new Easter dessert plates, napkins and rabbit napkin rings-- they are too cute to wait until Easter to use them.

Doughnuts and snow (and coffee, of course!)

2010-02-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

It's been snowing since dawn today-- probably about 3 inches on the ground, but melting as it is fairly warm down here at the base of the mountain.

Yesterday I experimented YET AGAIN with yeast doughnuts (cake are my favorite, but I keep trying). I used a recipe from the William Sonoma website and was very happy with the texture and particularly with the chocolate glaze. I thought they could have used a pinch more salt-- their recipe called for 1/4 tsp and it just didn't seem like enough. Still, Brantly and a guest stood around eating them right as they came out of the fryer, so there were at least 4 enthusiastic thumbs up....

Here is a photo of one of the beasts after I have glazed them. Also, a photo of a Fiestaware mug that a very kind guest sent us recently-- I love the shade of periwinkle blue, which is a perfect retro color for the mug shape.

Snow, snow, & more snow

2010-02-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's doing it again. We've had about a foot down here at the Cottonwood Inn and over 3 feet up at the Taos Ski Valley-- all in the last couple of days. Right now the snow is drifting down and the weather is just around freezing. Earlier in the week we had one day of unprecedented cold-- with the morning temp dropping to -7. The chickens hate it, they are tired of snow and dreaming about earth worms. But our skiers are loving it!

We've had good responses from several guests about the local snow-shoeing and snowmobiling. A couple from Dallas raved about the snowmobile tour they took from Big Al up at the TSV, while newbie snow-shoers from both Connecticut and Albuquerque both enjoyed the their experiences-- one with the Stuart and Leah over at Wild Earth (the llama people! Yay!! Llamas!!) and our Albuquerque guest with the folks over at Enchanted Circle.

Brantly has been getting his work-out every morning shoveling snow off balconies and front walk, while I've been keeping fit raking and shoveling the chicken run as well as keeping their favorite dust bathing areas free of snow and ice.

Also, Brantly and I recently went over to Taos Clay and had a blast doing a raku firing as well as experimenting with clay on the wheel. Logan Wannnamaker, who owns the studio, is offering all types of lessons to fit every schedule. You can do a one night session (like the one we enjoyed) and get to glaze and fire a pot (made by Logan or one of his two in-house artists) learn how to throw a pot on the wheel, and then get to enjoy firing the pots you glaze in his outdoor raku kiln. The results were spectacular and Logan and his crew are the best when it comes to everything clay. This is the perfect way to spend an evening after a day on the slopes or a day checking out the local color in Arroyo Seco or Taos.

Spectacular snow

2010-02-14T16:52:00.000-08:00

If you haven't booked to come skiing in Taos yet-- what are you waiting for?! The snow up at the Taos Ski Valley is absolutely perfect-- 2 feet this week alone. Our guests have been raving about the skiing conditions up at the Ski Valley. Everybody knows about how great the Taos Ski School is-- nationally rated in the top three- but even more interesting is the popularity of our new snowboard lessons. As many people may know, the Taos Ski Valley only opened up the slopes to snowboarders a scant few years ago and already we've heard rave reviews about the snowboarding lessons that are available.

And while its frosty & powdery up at the Ski Valley, it's been lovely and warmish down here at the base of the mountain-- perfect weather for hitting our great Taos art galleries and museums and the funky area shops.

Baked Oatmeal Recipe

2010-02-01T08:13:00.000-08:00

Here is one of our most popular breakfast dishes. Even people who normally don't care for oatmeal as for a second helping. The fruit in the dish can be altered according to availability. Make a double batch and enjoy leftovers for breakfast for several days.

Baked Oatmeal
Pre-heat oven to 350
3 cups milk
½ cup brown sugar
2 tbs butter
Bring these 3 ingredients to a boil in a pot on stove top
While these are coming to a boil mix the following in a bowl:
2 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ cups oats (not the instant kind)
2 granny smith apples cubed and chopped
¾ cup raisins
¼ cup dried cranberries
¾ cup chopped nuts

Spray a 9 inch square pan with non-stick coating
Put dry mix into pan and then pour boiling milk mixture over dry mix
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes

Post Holiday Life at the Cottonwood B & B

2010-01-31T07:48:00.000-08:00

Wow, another month and a half has flown by. We were packed here at the Cottonwood Inn, many interesting guests from all walks of life. The skiing was good over the Christmas holiday and most of our guests found the time (and energy) to spend a few days up at the Taos Ski Valley.

Around the first of the year my Dad came to visit and we built the long-anticipated day run for the chickens. We had an interesting time working in the 10 degree weather and digging post holes in the frozen ground. Of course that activity finally answered a topic of some debate around here-- just how deep does the ground freeze. Well, not too deep-- about 3 or 4 inches in most places. This means that I have some hope for a few bulbs that got left in the ground last year. Who knows?

We were given an old barn gate by a friend and Brantly and I have spent some time trying to get it set into the frame. We're about half-way there and pictures are forthcoming.

Very cool guest Pamela C. gave us a FANTASTIC oil pastel of our bad boy Bernard. Pamela is an artist down in the Albuquerque area who found a muse in my ill-tempered rooster. Thank you Pamela, we love our new art work! Again, a photo of the painting is forthcoming....

Ski season has begun in Taos

2009-12-04T18:18:00.000-08:00

The Taos Ski Valley ski area is open for the winter! The whole area is not open yet but there is certainly enough open to please most skiers. We got 6 inches of snow with the last storm and are expecting more snow day after tomorrow. We are going to try to get out as soon as it snows again. There is a chance that we might try either cross-country skiing or snowshoeing with our friends at Wild Earth Llama Adventures.

There were three inches of snow at the Cottonwood Inn Bed and Breakfast which did not please Shantal's chickens - apparently, they don't like to walk around in the snow.

Coming up in town is the lighting of the luminarias and farolitos on Ledoux Street on the 12th of December. This is a wonderful street party with food and drinks at many of the galleries and shops near the historic Ledoux Street area. The Harwood Museum of Art has been involved in this local tradition for the last 10 years.

Plans are still afoot to have torchlight parades at the Taos Ski Valley ski area on Christmas Eve and on New Year's Eve. This is always a fun and popular thing to see. Shantal and I will try to make it back to one of these events this year.

Almost done....

2009-10-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

The canning continues here at the Cottonwood Inn. Twelve cases this week-- plums, peaches (which we had frozen a month ago, due to overwhelming volume) & 60 lbs of blackberries my Father picked for me. Yay! Oregon blackberries!! We've got syrup & jam occupying the kitchen. Again. The pantry is full, the atrium is full....

Canning aside, the weather here in Taos has been spectacular. Long-time area locals say the colors have never been so vivid. It has, however, been COLD for this early in the year. Already 6 inches of snow up at Taos Ski Valley! Yeehaw!!!

Lots of birds around this year-- in addition to our 16 yard-birds. We've already started to feed the local population and the suet has gone up, as well as the woodpecker blocks. We're really hoping our flicker will come back this year. Ever since we had the plum trees pruned he has decided to hang out in the front yard, around our giant pine (which could also use a bit of pruning....)

This coming week we will be starting some roof replacement and hope to beat the snows to get it done. Only one smallish segment this time, replacing rain gutters after this year of record rain.

That is the not-so-very-exciting news for this week.

Moist Apple Buttermilk Bread

2009-10-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

This is a new recipe I tried because of the billions of pounds of apples we have this year (okay, maybe a SLIGHT exaggeration). I pretty much followed this recipe to the "T" as far as ingredients go. However, I let the butter/sugar mixture sit for about 45 minutes, stirring intermittently. I learned that little trick from a recipe in Cook's Illustrated, which claimed that this allows for a caramelizing to take place which lends a richer taste and moister product. I believe it works and use it when making any dessert bread and also with some cookies.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups apples (I used what I had-- I don't know what kind we have on the trees, but they are very sweet) chopped & cored (I leave the peels on as I think it improves the taste)
1/2 cup nuts
1 teaspoon orange zest

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Cream butter and both sugars (let sit if you like, stirring every 10 minutes for 30 minutes or so)

Add eggs to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Alternate adding buttermilk and flour mixture to sugar/butter/egg mix.

Stir in apples, nuts, and zest.

pour into two greased and floured loaf pans (pick larger pans for a smaller slice and smaller pans for a taller slice)

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, until knife inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Invert onto wire rack and cool before storing. Freezes well, wrap in parchment before wrapping in foil.

Fabulous French Toast and Moist Apple Bread Recipes

2009-10-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the recipe for Caramelized French Toast-- I probably get more requests for this recipe than almost anything else (except Tarragon Eggs, which I've also posted). This is a very EASY recipe and good if you have to serve a crowd and only have the basics at hand.

Serves 6
Bake at 400 for about 20-25 minutes

Use 9 X 13 pyrex pan

Mix together:
6 eggs
1 cup half and half (No, DON'T substitute 1/2 percent milk because it won't taste as good!)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Use old french bread, cut if necessary or used sliced. I never take the crusts off, I like the crunchy bits you get with a crust.

In pyrex layer the following:

1/4 cup melted UNsalted butter
1 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white corn syrup (dark will work also, you'll just get a heavier taste)
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Dip your bread in the egg mixture and layer evenly across pyrex.

Pour any additional egg mixture over layered bread and bake until the mix is golden and bubbly.

Serve with heavy whipped cream and some sliced fruit on top for the best result. Mmmmmmm!

Busy, busy, busy.... A bit of news and some recipes

2009-10-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

September was the busiest month this year at the Cottonwood Inn-- we had visitors from as far away as Japan, and as close as Arroyo Seco (only 2 miles!). The weather was gorgeous here until a sneak freeze last week surprised everyone in the Taos area. That took all the dahlias, and another freeze a couple of days ago took everything else (the BEAUTIFUL Virginia Creeper is toast!!!).

The good news is that the pears are ready-- apparently pears need a good freeze to send them on their way to ripening. This morning I made 1.5 cases of a poached pear recipe I found in the NYT a little while ago. The recipe uses apple cider, red wine, peppercorns, & bay leaves, among other things, to flavor the syrup. Before serving you open your jar of pears and pour off the syrup and reduce the syrup in a saucepan before pouring back over your poached pears. I will post a result on this recipe once I've had a chance to try the finished product (the syrup was pretty good already).

The Taos Wool Festival is over for another year. It was fantastic as usual, even though I never did get up the nerve to buy myself a pair of rabbits. Brantly decided to approach rabbit acquisition scientifically, so we will be doing MUCH more research about the feasibility of raising rabbits with my chickens....

A great crowd this past weekend with a few recipe requests. The first is for the Cottonwood Inn Ginger Snaps. I use fresh-ground cloves in mine, which makes them quite a bit "snappier" than most types of ginger snap.

Oven 375
about 4 dozen

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cup flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger

Cream the butter and sugar and add egg. Mix remaining ingredients together and then add to butter mix. Bake 8-11 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your cookies. For the best treat in the universe, sandwich some cream cheese between two cookies!

30 degrees in September!

2009-09-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, I was out until the crack of dawn covering dahlias last night-- at least we had some warning of the temperature drop and were able to save the flowers and tomatoes.

The Taos Fiber Festival is only 2 weeks away!!! Of all the Taos festivals (and there are MANY) this is, in my humble opinion, the best. Of course I've hardly touched the many bags of wool I bought LAST year, but, hey-- IT'S ALL MINE! I plan on adding greatly to my stash this year, again.

Not only can you get wool at the festival, but you can get it in many forms-- felt, yarn, roving, woven and knitted and crocheted goods. You can also get LIVE rabbits! (Brantly doesn't know it yet, but we are getting two). I also bought a fabulous pair of hand-made sheepskin slippers from a family from Colorado. They had rugs, shoes, and slippers that were warm and stylish.

So, if you have a chance to get up here, make it here for the Taos Fiber Festival this October 2-3, 2009.

Midnight hike to Williams Lake!

2009-09-03T13:52:00.001-07:00

Get up here if you can-- this Friday, September 4th, is the annual midnight hike up to Williams Lake. The hike is about 2.5 miles each way and is considered moderate. It will be beautiful, so make it if you can.

Done with the plum syrup over here at the Cottonwood Inn, as well as 60 lbs of Hatch Green Chili-- not made into syrup, just roasted, peeled and bagged for the dining pleasure of our guests.

Next on the list is the rest of the plums and some plum marmalade.

The hummers are still here, but not in the force they were last month. I've dropped to just a quart or two per day.

We're booked up this weekend and looking forward to meeting a new batch of interesting folks.

Plums, plums, plums.

2009-08-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

Today was the first load of Japanese plums-- over 150 lbs. picked, washed, pitted, and bagged. I won't be canning them until Monday or Tuesday. Right now, I don't even want to LOOK at another plum.

But I will have to.... A neighbor of ours (curse him) has invited us over to pick Green Gage plums (Prunus domestica italica, for you botany nerds). Of course I couldn't say no to free fruit! So, I'll be canning some of those, but I think I will also freeze some halved, to use throughout the winter for tarts, pies, et cetera.

Also coming along nicely are the pears and apples. We're on the lookout for either a cheap cider press, or some kind of communal press. If I can get my act together, KTAO-- Taos's solar radio station, the world's only-- will allow a person to get on air and beg, borrow, trade, or sell stuff and services. As a novice at apple pressing, I'd like to borrow or trade. I could trade...PLUMS in return for the use of a press!

We're having a last of the summer heat wave, as high as 90 today, and no rain in our future until Monday. That means lots of dragging the sprinkler from one part of the yard to the other. Still, we've got lots of stuff still blooming, not to mention all of the veggies I've been yanking out of the garden daily-- cukes, cabbage, yellow squash, tomatoes, peppers, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, and dahlias! Yay! I've been getting a steady trickle of the smaller dahlias I planted, nothing much to crow about in the dinner plate department, and I planted over 35 dinner plate varieties. We've just had so much rain that every bug in the universe has moved in and settled down to dinner. Oh well, next year will be all pompoms and mid-sizes.

The dawgs and chickens are all fine, and I'm working on Brantly to get a couple of angora rabbits when the Taos Fiber Festival rolls around. I know the chickens would just LOVE them....

Chicken chairs

2009-08-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of my new adirondack chairs. So far only Za Za and Bernard have a chair. I will be doing Mimi and Babbette soon....

Okay....

2009-08-03T11:39:00.001-07:00

Now I all I have to learn is how to actually label the posts so it is clear what they are. Basically, the prior post shows some sour cherries from the front yard, a rainbow sprouting from the Cottonwood Inn, and my first dahlias.

Yay! Yay!

2009-08-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

I finally figure out how to embed PHOTOS into a post. Here are some of our more recent of life at the Cottonwood Inn....

First Batch of Canning

2009-08-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we have finished the first grueling round of canning-- about 8 cases. Two cases of apricot-cherry jam, 3 cases of Hatch green chili jelly, and a little over 3 cases of plum marmalade made from some frozen plums.

Also have been doing some experimenting on our head roo- Bernard. No, not the kind of experimentation that involves a trip to somewhere mysterious or a large cooking pot with sage. I trimmed his VERY long spurs last night, as well as tied some old towel cloth onto them, hoping this would slow the amount of feathers he seems to remove from the backs of the hens. I had bought "Hensavers," chicken saddles, to put on several of the girls, but after one experiment on Becky, who went wild, and was also ostracized by all the other chickens, I've decided to try out just a few more ideas....

Lots of interesting action coming off Taos Pueblo land-- and across our front yard! It's that time of the year when the Taos Indians take their young up into the wilderness to teach them how to live off the land. The procession of horses, with people wearing traditional clothing, has been fascinating to watch. I even had a group last night who, when they saw our sign, asked if they were too late for breakfast....

The garden news is purple cabbage, sweet peas, squash, squash, and squash, some spinach, broccoli, & radishes, not to mention the sour cherries. I keep meaning to assemble a veggie cornucopia to photograph, but we eat it way too fast.

A short hummer video!

2009-07-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's my first effort at using youtube and then using a video I uploaded to youtube.... You wouldn't think this would be so difficult for a person raised in the video game era....

The canning has begun!

2009-07-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've started canning already.... As Brantly and I were driving through Hondo, we saw a tree with apricots lying under it. Well, I couldn't stop thinking about those poor apricots just LYING there, so we went and met the apricots' owner. Kind Mr. Benndick told us many interesting tales of the area-- as a long time resident of Taos, he has watched some huge changes over the years. He also told us to pick as many as we wanted!

So, I made my first batch of apricot jam. I found a recipe online, but found the first taste of it to be WAY too sweet (I think it called for 3 lbs. of apricots and 6 cups of sugar!)

Anyhow, we had just noticed something very surprising growing behind the raised flowerbeds in front of the parking lot-- cherry trees!! Yes, 5 or 6 cherry trees that had somehow escaped our notice until just a few days ago. These are tiny tart pie cherries, and went perfectly with our apricots to take a bit of the sugary -sweetness out of the jam. The flavor combination is AMAZING! Unfortunately, the cherries are so tiny that it took Brantly about 4 hours to pit 3 lbs.

Our next batch will be cherry jam, and we are also going back for more apricots. We are going to try making an apricot syrup, much like the plum syrup we make from our own plums.

If you haven't canned before-- you need to. There is nothing quite as satisfying as tasting your own home-made jam, jelly, syrup, or conserve. The Bell book of canning is a great start. But after you make a few cases you'll be experimenting to create something that suits your tastes. Last year we made rhubarb/strawberry jams with 3 levels of sweetener, as Brantly likes much less sugar in his jams.

Happy canning from the Cottonwood!

Don't Miss the Millicent Rogers Museum

2009-07-23T08:04:00.000-07:00

Everybody knows that Taos has great museums, galleries, and natural wonders. I would like to put in my vote for the Millicent Rogers Museum. What a great place! If you are interested in the crafts of the Southwest, this is a must see.

Rogers herself is a fascinating figure, and the museum offers interesting tidbits about her life and times in Taos. The museum features silver and turquoise jewelry, basketry, extensive pottery exhibits, textiles, and much more. Not only is the museum great, but the gift shop gives devotees of Southwestern art a chance to own their own treasure.

The gift shop offers Navajo weavings, local pottery and jewelry, and neat local knick-knacks. Also, the shop is currently displaying a private collection of jewelry which is for sale. The variety of items in the collection is enormous and it is truly an opportunity to own your own work of art.

The shop is located off the main road out of Taos, and only about 3 miles from the Cottonwood B and B. Sunday is free museum day for Taos County residents-- so don't miss your chance to check out some great art!

Fun new recipe and fun new kitchen toy!

2009-07-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

I can't pronounce it, but I can type it-- Ebelskiver! Yes, I finally gave in and took the plunge. Every Williams-Sonoma catalog I get has an Ebelskiver pan for sale, right next to some tasty looking little round pancake-type things. Which is basically what an Ebelskiver is.

I made them for breakfast this morning and watched them disappear. I was told by my guests that if I kept placing Ebelskivers in front of them, they would just keep eating them....

Today I used lime curd and our own Cottonwood strawberry-rhubarb jam to fill them-- the were delicious! I'm thinking next time I'll have to put Nutella in them or maybe even a savory cheesy/egg filling.

So, if you have been looking at the Ebelskiver pan and wondering if it is worth it-- wonder no more. I'm only wondering if I should have bought TWO pans, because I could hardly keep up with demand with just one.

The only ones not happy about the new Ebelskiver pan are the dogs and chickens because there weren't any left over for them to try.

German Puff Pancake or Dutch Baby

2009-07-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is another popular and quick recipe. I have heard it called by the above two names as well as by some unpronouncable name in Dutch. By any name it is a fantastic breakfast or brunch food.

I use the recipe out of Colorado Cache but have doubled it and added zest to the mixture. I have also changed the amount of butter needed for the pan and have lengthened the pan heating time.

The following feeds two:

6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon zest
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon unmelted butter for pan
lemons
powdered sugar

Pre-heat oven to 450 and put large cast iron in to pre-heat. Beat your eggs with fork, add milk and flour evenly, add salt, add melted butter and mix well. Remove pan from oven and melt 1 tablespoon of butter, swirling pan to coat sides. Bake for 10-20 minutes, depending on size of pan used. Serve with powdered sugar and lemon squeezed over pancake.

I have found that the super-heating of the cast iron pan really makes for a nice puffy pancake. Oddly enough, it doesn't seem to matter how you mix the ingredients, the cake always tastes the same. I started off making them by using the mixer, and mixing for several minutes (this was according to the recipe found in Sunset Magazine's cookbook). This, it turns out, seems to be a waste of effort. However, that may be due to our high altitude. If you are at sea-level, you might want to give the mix a few minutes of beating, I don't think it will hurt the pancake.

Enjoy!

Recipes, recipes, recipes

2009-07-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

Due to popular demand, I've decided to post a couple of recipes that I get frequent requests for. Although these are high-altitude recipes, they need few if any changes. We are at about 7,500 feet here at the Cottonwood Inn, so some recipes (mainly baked goods like cakes) need a bit of tweaking.

Tarragon Savory Eggs
Cottonwood Bed and Breakfast
Taos, New Mexico

Ingredients:
9 eggs
½ cup half and half
1 ½ tablespoons dried tarragon – coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 375°. Spray or lightly grease 8”x8” pan. Sprinkle cheese in bottom of pan. In blender, combine eggs, half and half, tarragon, mustard, and pepper, blending until frothy – about 3 to 5 minutes. Pour egg mixture on top of cheese. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown.
Optionally, after eggs are set – approximately 25 minutes, add chopped fresh or sun-dried tomatoes as topping.
Serves 6

If you are at lower altitude, you might want to lower the temperature 25 degrees.

Almond Crisp
Cottonwood Inn Bed and Breakfast
Taos, New Mexico

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
24 large Graham Crackers
1 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350°. Place crackers on bottom of jelly roll pan. Bring butter and sugar to boiling, stirring constantly – about 2 minutes. Pour butter-sugar mix over crackers and sprinkle nuts on top. Bake until brown and fluffy – about 6 to 10 minutes.

You can also leave the nuts off until the crisp is finished baking, and instead, spread 8 oz of chocolate chips over the hot mixture and then sprinkle the nuts on top.

Enjoy!

Almond Butter Crunch and Surprise Plants

2009-07-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

Where did this post go? The almond butter crunch recipe is as follows:

melt 1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar, bring to a boil, stirring constantly cook for about 2 minutes until mix is clear and amber.

Put 24 large graham crackers, double stacked, in a jelly roll (2 bottomed) pan.
Pour boiling mixture over crackers.
Sprinkle with 1 cup slivered or sliced almonds

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes-- until it is brown and bubbly.

Cool, cut with pizza cutter and serve. Can be frozen for a month and still taste good.

Quick Shirred Eggs

2009-07-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

If you find yourself cooking for 10, and only find out last minute about some food allergies that make your planned breakfast impossible, try shirred eggs. This is a great "quickie" that really takes very little time and only basic ingredients. Also, since we always like to showcase our free-range Cottonwood eggs, this is a great dish. Use the 6 oz ramekin size:

put a teaspoon of butter,
a tablespoon of heavy cream,
salt & fresh cracked pepper,
and one or two eggs per ramekin-- depending on appetite size

bake in a 325 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

You can spice it up with Tabasco sauce. Or cook it with fresh spinach leaves-- which is what we have been able to do this year with our garden producing spinach.

You can also top it with cheese-- sheep milk parmesan is a tasty option.

Pow Wow Weekend at the Cottonwood Inn

2009-07-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

First off, I'd like to thank Bev and Jim of Arizona for the great photos of the two of us with our chickens! Jim took several great shots of the nightly chicken herd in action, as well as several cameo shots of our local glamor-boy-- Bernard. Anyone else who has any good photos of the critters or the place (or yes, even of us) please send them along!

I know I keep yelling it from the rooftops, BUT THE HUMMERS ARE BACK!!! I'm so glad! It was awfully quiet around here without 50 or more of the boys buzzing around outside in the courtyard. Also, our guests had lost that reflexive ducking ability which the hummers had spent all last year teaching them. Yes, they're small, but you don't want one stuck in your forehead.

We've been eating broccoli, broccoli, broccoli from the garden. Also many BS&T sandwiches (bacon, spinach, & tomato). I have been watching the plum trees, and it looks like next week will be the start to "Plum Madness at the Cottonwood B & B"! What does that mean? Well, it mainly means that I will be boiling, cutting, blending, sieving, mashing, pealing, pitting, and generally rolling in plums for at least 2 weeks. We are going to make a double batch of the plum marmalade this year as hungry guests bought every bottle we made last year.

Brantly is also anticipating making loads of Hatch Green Chili Jelly again this year. Hey, I know it sounds weird, but don't knock it until you try it. I will post his recipe as soon as I can winkle it out of him....

If you are fiber crazy, you MUST go to La Lana Wools of Taos! What a great place. I have decided to embrace yet another hobby-- natural dying. I went to La Lana hopeful about using local plants to dye wool felt and didn't come away disappointed. What a wonderful shop with wonderful people running it. The yarn there is to "dye" for (sorry, sorry!), and many of the projects up on the wall are available in kit form. Make sure you bring your wallet when you go.

Another 4th gone....

2009-07-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

Yep, the 4th of July is gone-- again. It was spectacular weather this year, not just our usual sunshine, but tons of rain, too. The weather was kind enough to hold off for the Annual Arroyo Seco 4th of July Parade, pictures to come soon. We had a huge turnout for the parade this year. Brantly and I and some friends walked from here to Arroyo Seco. I think we got home after the parade faster than those who drove.

Anyhow, it was fun, lots of good food (Taos Cow Ice Cream!!) neat stuff to look at, and excellent people-watching. The 5th we had over 1.5 inches of rain at the Cottonwood Inn!! Our rain gauge wasn't placed correctly, or it would have been more. We had some hail in with the rain, which was nice to drop the temperature by about 20 degrees.

Lots of butterflies (and weeds!) today. Still lots of birds, but low hummer population this year. We don't know why, but have heard the same story from others around the area.

Lots and lots of lavender. I can't keep up with all the cutting. Time for some lavender soap....

2009-07-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

No, THIS is really lazy.... (and a rhubarb punch recipe)

2009-07-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it has been a year since my last good intention to keep this blog going. Something about July must kick-in my urge to post....

Yes, it's the rainy season AGAIN. We had a great and rainy June, which means the fruit trees have gone nuts. Because it's been so much cooler this year we're experiencing a later bloom time for many of our plants. So far I've harvested lots of rhubarb, herbs, spinach, & radishes. Which has allowed me to make some rhubarb jam, and some excellent eggs Florentine.

We added another 9 chickens to the Cottonwood Inn flock back in August of last year. Lucille passed away in March, and has left a big hole in flock hierarchy. I would have liked to get more girls this spring, but have decided to wait until the projected "coop expansion" finally occurs. When that finally happens we will be getting ducks as well. Yay!

It's the 4th this weekend, so we are packed to the teeth and looking forward to hitting the Craft Fair that is taking place in Kit Carson park. Also a couple of interesting looking art openings, one at The Stables Gallery.

It's heating up finally-- it looks like 79 degrees and it's only 10 after noon! Two of the hens are out in the back courtyard right now, beating the heat by wrecking my mint garden. I don't have the heart to kick them out as they are making wonderful happy clucking noises.

Here is a great recipe I received from a guest who is also a rhubarb lover:

Rhubarb Punch

Mix the following 3 ingredients:

2 lbs roughly chopped rhubarb
4 entire cloves
1 cup water

bring the above to a boil on high and then reduce to med/low and cover.,
simmer for 25 minutes stirring as needed,
remove from heat and sieve out juice
add 1/4 cup sugar and mix until dissolved and refrigerate until cool.

This is your base and should yield about 3 cups of juice.

Mix this in a large bowl with ginger ale to taste. Add about 1 cup of OJ and some sliced strawberries and oranges.

This is great for a hot day and wonderful for the 4th of July.

Boy are we lazy!

2008-07-23T10:50:00.001-07:00

It doesn't seem like over two weeks since the last post. We've been in a frenzy of activity-- building the new chicken palace, battling the weeds, and feeding a lot of hungry guests. It's the rainy season in Taos, which means we get a nice 45 minutes of rain almost every afternoon. This keeps things cool and also keeps the garden looking great.

Brantly and I continue to attend bridge lessons and struggle with the finer points of bidding. We have started to play against other human beings (as opposed to just playing all four hands ourselves), and look forward to our first game opportunities with any unsuspecting bridge-playing guests.... Of course the last game-playing we did with guests ended in a merciless thrashing-- for us. Still, we'll gladly take on any Spades, Canasta, or Pinochle players who end up on our turf (we never learn and remain optimistic that we might one day win a game).

On the bed and breakfast front, we've ordered a new set of furniture for our Mesa Vista room. While this might not sound hugely exciting, but when you have eight plus rooms to decorate, an entire suite purchase is pretty thrilling. The pieces are beautiful and made by Mountain Comfort, a furniture company based out of Colorado. We think the Mission-style furniture will look great in the room and be a nice, and comfortable, update. We're very excited about the change and think our guests will be, too.

As I mentioned earlier in the post, we've been working on our chicken coop and run. It's a delicate blend of making a comfortable space for "the girls" and keeping it aesthetically pleasing for our guests. We're hoping to plant a bunch of neat vine-type plants around the north and east sides of the run and create shade as well as beauty.

So hey, the weather is gorgeous, the flowers and plants are out of control, and the chickens are free-roaming. Come on by and see us!

First Transmission from The Cottonwood B and B!

2008-07-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm off to a rocky start-- I've already managed to write my first post in Hindi-- which may have been more helpful to some than others. Now that I've got the transliteration issue cleared up, I just wanted to start off by thanking one of our recent guests, Robyn from Denver. Robyn suggested that a blog would be a good way to reach all those folks who are interested in the doings of the owners of The Cottonwood Inn (me & Brantly), what's new with our fabulous pets, and what's going on around Taos.

As some of you might know, I recently got 14 Giant Cochin Chicks and started down the road to Chicken-Mania. The Girls, as we call them collectively, arrived at the Arroyo Seco post office when they were less than a day-old. After spending the first three weeks in a large cardboard box, they finally graduated to the small coop in the back yard. They adjusted well and were on their way to establishing a pretty serious pecking order when the neighbor's dog (known to us only as 'Brownie,' the name given him by Anita, our housekeeping WonderWoman) broke into the yard and killed at least one chicken and dispersed another four. Unfortunately, Maud and Christine were among that number. We had hoped, for the first 5 days, that we might get some of our girls back, but we haven't been that lucky.

In any case, there have been serious re-adjustments inside the coop and out. Brantly and I have decided to construct a very large run for the girls in lieu of fencing the entire yard-- a job for a later date, as it is too costly and too big a job for this year. I will post new pictures as they develop (yes, a bad pun).

The weather has been cooling down the last few days, and it is actually raining out as I type. We're hoping for a nice hard rain to spruce up the parts of the yard we've had a hard time keeping watered. We're also hoping it will cool things down and settle the dust for 22nd Taos Po-Wow, which is coming up next weekend (see http://www.taospueblo.com for more information).

Brantly is making another batch of his much sought after watermelon pickles (hey, don't knock 'em 'til you try 'em). I'm still working on a breakfast menu which is complemented by pickles....

We made the mistake of playing cards with some of our guests-- Terry and Peter from OK. In keeping with tradition (viz. the trouncing we took last Christmas from our Belgian guests) Terry and Peter first did the "we haven't played Spades in YEARS!" routine before they thrashed us soundly. Hey, we're starting to get used to it. It makes me wonder what will happen to us the first time we get to play against actual human opponents at a Bridge table....

Even though our gardens are in full and spectacular bloom, there are still weeds popping up all over. Which leads me to mention a new requirement at the Cottonwood Inn-- bring your weeding tools and gloves, beverages will be provided....