A summer in El Paso is like a winter in Chicago. You mostly stay inside, judiciously picking which moments you leave the house, or you travel to places with better weather. The time is ripe for taking up creative projects, catching up on loose ends, and planning. This entry of Sun City puts the spotlight on my husband’s fecundity and some activities and discoveries that show you where my head has been this season.
Turning up the Heat with Hatch Chilis
It’s the tail end of Hatch chili season, and if you have the privilege of getting your hands on these capsicums, you outta try making chili rellenos. Hatch chilis, in case you don’t know, are from Hatch, New Mexico, and they are spicier than their California cousins, Anaheim chilis.
Dustin is a pretty good fry guy and this is one of his signature recipes.
West Texas Chili Rellenos
6 servings
Ingredients: 6 chilis, 1/2 cup of flour and some extra, 2 eggs, a pinch of salt, peanut or vegetable oil
Roast a half dozen chilis in a cast iron skillet until their skins start to char. This should take about 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and wrap the chilis in a damp paper towel. Let them steam for about 10 minutes and gently peel off the skins with your fingers or a butter knife. (“This is the make or break point,” Dustin says.)
Meanwhile, fill a frying pan with vegetable oil and let it warm up on the stove at medium heat.
Use a sharp knife to make a vertical incision in the center of each chili. The cuts should be about 2 inches long. Keep the seeds inside and fill the chilis with 2-3 thin strips of cheese, such as Muenster or a Jack blend. You want a decent amount in there but don’t overstuff them.
Pour a thin layer of flour into a rectangular baking dish and sprinkle in a pinch of salt. Roll the chilis in the flour so they are coated and set aside on another dish.
Separate the yolks from the whites in the 2 eggs. Beat the whites vigorously with a whisk until they are foamy. Then beat the yellow part of the yolk into the batter. Carefully coat the floured chilis by gently dipping them into the egg mixture one at a time. At this point, you might be concerned that the cheese will fall out but the egg coating will seal them up nice and good.
Place 2 or 3 of the chilis in the hot oil. Make sure they have enough room between each other. Fry them until they are golden brown and then flip them over until the other side is golden. They should be done in about 7 minutes. Set each fried chili on a plate with a couple of paper towels to soak up the oil.
Optional: Make a tasty burrito by wrapping a chili relleno in a tortilla with refried beans and a little bit of salsa. Buen provecho.
Smoldering Discoveries
Daddy was a Preacher, Mama was a Go-Go Girl. Dustin has been banging away at his writing, and something interesting happened recently. A 93-year-old country-western singer, Betty Jo Bangs, caught wind via her niece that Dustin wrote about how her song was stolen decades ago. Betty Jo’s niece asked if we could call her in her nursing home in Kansas. We chatted about her misfortunes over the years and how she jammed with Fleetwood Mac’s keyboardist before he died of cancer. And she played us a ballad on her keyboard! She’s looking for folks to cover her songs, by the way.
Running drills. I just learned I’ve been running incorrectly my entire life. When I started having ankle pain while training for a half marathon, a physical therapist recommended my running coach. His plyometric drills have changed everything.
“Everyone teaches us how to save. Nobody teaches us how to spend!” I didn’t know who Ramit Sethi was until some friends told me about his “rich life” philosophy. Watching this video prompted me to reflect and think more intentionally about the kind of life I want to have, and what I don’t want to spend my money on so I can spend it on things I truly love.
The Happiness Lab. A friend introduced me to this episode of the podcast and it confirmed a few things for me: community, volunteering, and physical activity are the keys to happiness. Check out this free course, The Science of Well-Being, created by the podcast host. Thanks for the tip, Gina.
What to do when your dog gets skunked. Our dog Levi got sprayed by a skunk in our backyard last month. He started frantically rolling around the ground before we realized what happened. Dustin went to Walgreens and picked up hydrogen peroxide that we mixed with baking soda and dish detergent. We doused our poor guy a few times with the solution, trying not to get it in his eyes. If you don’t have skunk shampoo, do yourself a favor and make sure to have these ingredients on hand.
Cool Down Activities
A bed-in. Do you know how getting sick is one of those times when you get to binge TV or read that book you forgot about? A bed-in is like that; it’s planned relaxation and productivity. What you do is block out the day to stay in bed. Prepare easy-to-eat food in advance, and then create blocks where you organize your computer desktop, journal, catch up on your magazine subscriptions, etc. We just had our second bed-in on Memorial Day and it was exquisite. We might have do to one for Labor Day.
A record party. There is a time and place for game board parties, but they’re not my thing. I’ve been hosting record parties as a chill way to entertain friends over the past few years. Everyone brings something to share, and you can even pick a theme in advance. All you have to supply are snacks and beverages.
Silent Book Club. My pal Janean runs El Paso’s chapter of the Silent Book Club, which has become my favorite way to meet other people and get some reading done. There are chapters across the US.
Slow Burning Tracks
There was a cool chic in my high school, Xenia, who would spend her afternoons sipping tea and listening to The Velvet Underground with her boyfriend in her yard. She said Heroin was her favorite song because it gave her a reprieve from having to figure out what she wanted to play next.
These long, hot days call for drawn-out songs, hence my latest Spotify playlist, Endurance. Xenia, this is for you.