With A Moderate Ozone Level I Hiked The Tandy Hills With Potentially Noxious Yellow Weeds

Tandy Hills Mutant Scotch Broom

With the ozone level up one stage from 'good' to 'moderate' I risked breathing in moderately adequate air whilst doing some endorphin inducing aerobically stimulating Tandy Hills hill hiking today.

Clouds did some sun blocking, but high humidity still turned the hill hiking into a salubrious steam bath that felt really good.

The Tandy Hills are currently sprouting large patches of yellow flowers on skinny stems that look like a mutant variation of the notorious noxious west coast weed that goes by the name of Scotch Broom.

A lot of people are allergic to Scotch Broom. I did not seem to have any sort of immediate allergic reaction to the Tandy Hills mutant Scotch Broom.

A week ago today I was in total allergic misery, with Friday night, a week ago, being the night I was a sleepless Zombie. What a difference a week makes.

Last Saturday I got myself a dozen Poblano Peppers at Town Talk. Yesterday I wondered if there was such a thing as Poblano Pepper soup. So I Googled "Poblano Pepper Soup Recipe" and found that there are a lot of recipes for making soup with this particular pepper.

So, this morning I made Poblano Pepper Soup. It turned out to be really tasty.

If one looks at a recipe for making a Chile Relleno it is a Poblano Pepper that is the main ingredient. But, when I roast and use a Poblano Pepper it tastes nothing like a Relleno. When I roast a Hatch Chile, then I totally get the Relleno taste.

This Poblano/Relleno conundrum is very perplexing.

Looking For A Steam Bath On The Tandy Hills After Making Chile Rellenos And Learning Gar The Texan Made It Though His Latest Surgery

In the picture you are on top of Mount Tandy, at noon, on the last Tuesday of August of 2012, looking west across the wagon trail that leads to beautiful downtown Fort Worth, the stunning skyline of which you can see in the distance.

I was hoping for a good feeling steam bath today, courtesy of the humidity. But, the temperature being in the semi-chilly 80s did not make for a good steam bath.

Changing the subject from a steam bath to steaming chiles.

Yesterday I think I mentioned that I was roasting Hatch chiles that  I got from ALDI. The directions had you roasting the chiles, then putting them in a sealed container of some sort, so that the steam from the hot chiles would allow the skins to peel off easily.

I had no idea one had to peel a chile, or how that worked, or why it was needed to be done.

Well, it worked real well, the skins of the chiles pulled right off, leaving a chile that tasted like the chile one gets in a Chile Relleno, which is my favorite item of the Mexican food sort.

So, today I made a Chile Relleno casserole from the roasted and peeled Hatch chiles. Usually I don't think anything I cook tastes all that good, but, I have to say, this Chile Relleno casserole I made today may be the best Chile Relleno I've ever had.

Changing the subject from Chile Relleno to something else that needs to be roasted before peeling.

We've been worried sick about Gar the Texan. He went under the knife on Friday. Something to do with his hips needing to be replaced. No one had heard from Gar the Texan, post-surgery. Phone calls go to voice mail, email unanswered, no blogging, nothing on Facebook.

Well, Gar the Texan resurfaced today. The surgery went fine except for some inept nurses butchering his fingers when they found out he is diabetic.

I think Gar the Texan may be what motivates me to overdo the exercise thing. I see what's happened to that boy as some sort of cautionary tale, making me think I want to do all I can do to prevent that sort of decrepitude from happening to me when I get that old.

Having ones hips replaced sounds real dire. I remember when my grandma had her hips replaced. I think she was quite a bit older than Gar the Texan's current age. But, she was way more active than Gar the Texan.

And not a diabetic.

Watching Possums Escape To Village Creek After Botching Butchering A Chicken While Getting Ready To Roast Hatch Chiles

Village Creek Blue Bayou

The Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Blue Bayou was back being mostly blue today, back blue after its recent iterations as the Brown Bayou, then the Green Bayou.

I like my bayous blue.

When I arrived at the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's parking lot I saw an Arlington Animal Control truck parked. Past experience with seeing that truck led me to think I was about to see a possum released back into the natural world.

This time it was 2 possums. The Animal Control guy lifted 2 possums from their possum cage, by the tail, with gloved hands. It seems to me possums would be being a bit feisty after having been trapped in a cage, then hauled in a truck, then picked up by their tails.

But the possums act like they are not at all bothered. The Animal Control guy sets them gently on the ground and waves goodbye as the possums scurry back to freedom.

Changing the subject from possums to chickens.

Last week I cut up a whole chicken for the first time since some time in August of 2008. My sister had tasked me with teaching my future sister-in-law how to cut up a chicken. There were 2 to cut-up. I showed how with the first, then my student cut up the second.

The chicken I cut up last week was a bit difficult. I sort of had to saw it a few times. This morning I cut up another chicken and I realized why it was so easy to slice a bird in Tacoma and so difficult in Texas.

I have crummy knives.

I have always been a bit of a hazard with knives. I've sliced myself a time or two or three. I'd come to think a dull knife is safer for me. But, after this morning's bizarrely botched butchering I'm thinking I need to get myself a good sharp knife. I don't think what I was doing this morning was safe. That and somehow the chicken's back ended up with one of the thigh pieces attached by the time I was finished. This made for an interesting piece of chicken. I have not been able to determine where the drumstick part of one of the wings ended up being.

Changing the subject again, this time from chicken to Hatch chiles.

I got myself a bag of Hatch chiles on Sunday at ALDI. Today I Googled to see what I need to do with these chiles and learned I must do something with them soon or they will spoil on me.

So, this afternoon I am going to be roasting myself a bag of Hatch chiles in preparation for tomorrow's attempt to make Chile Rellenos.

This operation should go better than my chicken cutting operation.

I hope.