Reminiscence

It’s ironic that just as I receive photos from my Texas friend who moved to Scotland, I’d love nothing more than being back in Scotland right now.  The irony is that her photos are of her trip back to Texas last week.

Everyone in Scotland must have an electric tea kettle.  I love mine.  At this altitude it takes forever to boil water on the stove and this is quick and easy.  It’s not nearly as fast as ours in the UK, given the difference in volts and whatever that my husband used to scare me about kitchen appliances (there you have to turn everything on and off separately).

We did have a great time there, at least I did traipsing the countryside, literally, with Karen.  We took so many photos, had a lot of tea and scones.  They had terrific water, drinking right from the tap.  Also salmon and their mussels were gorgeous.  Mussel Inn in Glasgow is the place to go for a pail of mussels with your choice of “sauce.”  I prefer just a bit of garlic, white wine, butter, chives in mine.  To cover them with tomato sauce is a sin.  Look it up!

Yesterday we drove the scenic route in a thunderstorm, to Ogden.  We had lunch at pretty much the only restaurant that was open on a Sunday at historic 25th Street.  Jim had wanted to see the Railroad Museum but it was closed.  The Eccles railroad museum was out there, however, so we saw some old trains and pretty cool engines.  Steam, diesel and a jet engine that can pull 735 fully-loaded freight cars through the mountains.  [We also saw the car that carried the Olympic torch in Utah’s 2002 winter games.]

That would be a seven mile-long train.  It’s a near 3,000 foot climb through the mountains from Ogden to California.  It’s just under 3,000 feet up to get to Cheyenne, and Ogden is still a frieight depot.  Wasn’t much of a town, though.  It’s amazing that mid-1800’s trains traversed these mountains carrying mail and other items.

We got home late from our driving excursion so had to take care of the dog et al.  I made my own version of tostadas, cheating all the way.  Note that it’s not the way I normally cook.

corn tortillas (fry or buy already cooked as I did)

rotisserie chicken

tomatoes, shredded lettuce and cheese

vegetarian black beans

1 avocado, large dice, with lime juice to keep from oxidizing

salsa

sour cream

limes

I took the breast meat off the chicken and shredded it.  Topped tortillas with a 1/3″ layer of refried beans and placed them immediately in the oven (I’m guessing 350 for you as I have to adjust for altitude) for 5 minutes then topped with all ingredients, cheese first so it would melt into the beans.    It was good.  Make sure you have everything ready and top with beans and bake at the last minute as the beans will soften the tortilla.  Top with other ingredients immediately.

There wasn’t any left for a photo, sorry.  Hope it’s the same in your home!  Dee