On the Road in Baja Part 1

This is the first of what I hope will be a series of posts about our Baja travels earlier this year. The blog is best viewed on the website. Just click on the title, if you are an email subscriber. Thanks for checking in!

Many landscape photos that appear in this blog were shot through the windshield with an iPhone7plus. My blue shirt is reflected here. This scene is representative of the dramatic and beautiful northern Baja terrain. Baja scenery overall is outstanding. 

We were 50 days on the road earlier this year driving to the Baja Peninsula and back. Fifty days, most of them in our Class B RV - a Sprinter van all dressed up with camping conveniences crammed into space about a quarter to half the size of a walk-in closet.

I have toured closets that could sleep five or six adults. Believe me, our van can handle only two. And it's good that we're average to small-sized shrinking adults. And that we like each other.

Now that we're home with ridiculous comforts, more room than any human beings need or deserve, and calming predictability, I am entertained by my travel notes.

TRIP STATS

• Nights spent van camping - 35
• Airbnb stays - 8 
• Nights in hotels - 3
• Nights spent with friends - 4
• Miles logged  - 5,185 from Southern Oregon to Todos Santos, Baja CA Sur and back (with a quick side trip to Arizona)

 It all went by with a whoosh.

One of few negatives about travel is that frequent relocations tend to shift time into hyper speed. Every day has its own story, beats with its own rhythm, and glows with its own light. 

Well, honestly, a few of those days were far from glowing. I'll get to those later; I know that the bum-luck bad-decision stories are appreciated.

For now, I'll start with crossing the Mexican border at Tecate, a surprisingly anxiety-free experience despite warnings to the contrary. And then an account of our first days on the Baja Peninsula.


CROSSING INTO MEXICO 
We chose to cross the border at Tecate because it is the smallest and least used of the three ports of entry in San Diego County, CA. The reason? It's out of the way. For us, was, coming from Joshua Tree National Park, it meant navigating narrow twisting mountain roads. Yippee! We like those roads.

This one would have been better without snow, however. The snow was an unwelcome travel surprise about 50 miles north of the Mexican border.

At the border, we were almost lonely; one car was ahead of us and none behind.

No would-be immigrants swarmed the area. It was peaceful and the Mexicans working the crossing were friendly and helpful, performing only a cursory search of the van. Our uneventful crossing took about 15 minutes. In another ten, we were out of town.

RUTA de VINO

Who knew? Northern Baja has a lovely wine region spanning from Tecate to Ensenada and beyond. As we drove the deluxe Highway 3 sixty-seven miles to Ensenada, the vines were dormant and, early in the day, the tasting rooms closed

We also spotted vineyards south of Ensenada before lush greenery and intensive farming transitioned to desert. The Ruta de Vino includes 64 wineries spread over seven different valleys in a Mediterranean micro-climate.

We did our part to ensure the success of Mexican vintners and sampled a fair amount of Baja-produced wine. 

     The scenery along the Ruta de Vino close to Ensenada. 

ESTERO BEACH in ENSENADA 
It was the day after Christmas, and we gave ourselves a gift by booking a room at the Estero Beach Hotel, which, we discovered, no longer operates an RV park listed in our guidebook and where we had planned to stay. 

Darn! Too bad. But after several days camping en route to the border, we were ready for a hotel. It was a good place to practice showering without ingesting any water.

The Estero hotel is a beautiful accommodation, and it was off-season, so we scored a half-price room and enjoyed the view (pictured below) from our balcony. It was an odd but great way to start our Baja camping adventure - lounging around in a luxury hotel!


       

The hotel restaurant served fine Mexican fare. PK ordered a combination plate for lunch not realizing it was crowd-sized. Somehow he polished it off. Because it was so tasty.

Mine was served on a cutting board, each crispy taco stuffed with either shrimp, catch-of-the-day, or octopus.  Hmmm.  Octopus. It was OK, but a bit chewy. I tried not to think about the suction cups. Great cilantro salsa.

                                       ****

We headed south the next morning all cleaned up, well fed and eager to explore.

Oops. A military roadblock. This looks worse than it was.

We knew we'd run into "crime-stopping" roadblocks, and had been advised to remove wallets and purses from the van as it was being searched for guns and drugs. Other than getting the stinkeye for taking photos, this and three or four other roadblocks were no problem. 

Oops! Road construction. Quite a lot of it between Ensenada and our night's destination, Don Eddie's Landing.


We waited in a long line for our turn to pass through the construction area. Food vendors were standing by to ease the pain. Candy or pork rinds anyone? 

DON EDDIE'S LANDING - Nice surprise!
When we travel, PK strongly prefers to drive. Fine with me. It is my job to navigate and ferret out attractions to visit and places to spend the night. Since Mex 1 is the main road going north and south in most of the Baja, navigating isn't that challenging. Even though finding side-trip routes can be tricky. And one never knows about camping. 

Our camp spot at Don Eddie's was, umm, Spartan. And big. And not too far from the restroom, which, unfortunately, was hidden behind a palm tree and unlit. There's a story here, but I decline to tell it.

Don Eddie's Landing, an old-time fishing lodge, turned out to be a bit of a side trip that I found in an indispensable guidebook, Traveler's Guide to Camping Mexico's BAJA by Mike and Terri Church.

It was 3.3 miles off Mex 1 on a paved road, although the short entrance to the "landing" itself was sketchy.  

One wouldn't expect much while bumping along this roadto camp,  but a big juicy surprise awaited. 

Don Eddie's Landing turned out to be a popular stop on the snowbird circuit, and we got lots of "beta" from other travelers, as our son, Chris Korbulic calls information garnered before you commit to something. 

We were still a bit skittish, on day two in Mexico, after friends and relatives questioned our sanity for traveling to such a dangerous place. My auntie Ellen forbid me to go. 

Ironically, the first traveler we talked with, camped next door and headed north to home, was eager to tell us all about the thieving going on in the south. 

His story was one we heard repeated, and that we later witnessed, in the same area he described — Bahia de Conception, on the Sea of Cortez, south of Loreto.

I'll save that story for a later post. The point is, despite the following statement that actually came out of his mouth, we were not deterred by this news.

"With that van, you look like millionaires," he declared. "You will be prime targets!"

Thanks, dude. Would we turn around and go home? No. We would not. But we would take extra care and be a little bit wary.

For the record, we had NO problems whatsoever during our Baja travels and never felt unsafe or threatened.

True, the US State Department has issued "do not travel" warnings for several Mexican states on the mainland, but none for most of the Baja Peninsula. 

The homicide hotspots in Baja are clustered in the north, close to the US border. Tijuana, Ensenada, and Rosarito Beach are cities to hurry through. 

The next person to provide "beta", but with a positive spin, was a woman who frequented Don Eddie's Landing. 

"Where are you going for dinner?" she whispered in a conspiratorial way as I headed into Don Eddie's inviting bar and restaurant to check the menu. 
I didn't know there was a choice, but she sure did. She and her husband led me over some rocks to a path leading to a "hidden" restaurant tucked between buildings. The woman insisted we try it.

"You will not believe it," she promised.

Thus we were introduced to Eucalipto Restaurant, the best place we ate in Baja. With all the great seafood and authentic recipes yet to come, that's saying something.

It was a culinary thrill to happen upon a place such as this that doesn't fit in its surroundings and presents unexpected excellence. For me, at least, although PK is not prone to superlatives.

The chef was blasting something the entire
time we were there. The restaurant was packed.
I'd rename the place House of Fire.

Flames lit a nearby table as the waiter fired up liquor and poured it into a shrimp and pasta-filled Parmesan bowl. The entire kitchen was open-view, and I couldn't keep my eyes off the sauteeing veggies flying around and flames licking fish, meat and even mashed potatoes.

Dinner! Mediterranean swordfish and flamed-finished mashed potatoes topped with done-just-right tossed-in-the-air veggies. We both ordered this and had delicious leftovers for the next two nights of van dining.
Along with local wines, of course. We do our part.

NEXT UP:  We made a bad decision the next day. It will be embarrassing to tell the tale. 

Attitude and aging - Lighten up!

Note: I excavated this post from my draft archive— one of 163 drafts waiting to be finished —as I searched for references to attitude. Why? I participate in a quarterly discussion group, and attitude is the topic for our fast-approaching get-together. The draft is about three years old, and the primary difference between then and now is I know even more women with attitude advantage. 

 Next, I'll tackle the drafts I've started about recent Baja travels. Thanks for staying tuned!

------------------

I'm lucky to have positive, physically and mentally active, smart, deep-thinking women as friends. Most are age 60+ 

Laurie Gerloff and I resting after a 5-mile uphill hike through cacti and cairns near Tucson, AZ, a few springs ago. I was almost 70. Laurie in her early 60s.

An earlier post about ditching hair dye and accepting aging generated numerous responses, mostly on Facebook, where I share links to my blog posts.

Readers who subscribe to this blog by email may be avoiding FB, and I don't blame them, but they miss the revealing conversations that sometimes develop in comment threads. I enjoyed reading hair-dye and aging stories amidst numerous comments about the ditch-the-hair-dye post. 

I was the only person, however, to see the excerpted comment below, delivered to me via email by Laurie, my friend for 40-some years, and a frequent travel buddy. She and her husband, Steve, and PK and me, have explored together extensively, including several trips to New Orleans, Mexico, and in early 2016, the Galapagos Islands and the Ecuadorian Amazon.

This airplane would soon be flying the four of us out of the Amazon Basin on
the same runway. For more about this "old people's" adventure, See Wild in the Amazon

Laurie changed the subject from fiddling with hair and face, boobs and butts, and other attempts to preserve a youthful appearance to instead concentrate on what's in your brain and heart. What comes out of your mouth.

Guard against calcification and becoming old and set in your ways.  She writes:

I’ve spent much of today thinking about aging and my own march to wormhood. I think that the most youthful attribute for geezers like us is not a head of blond hair, but a young attitude. And I think that we, and many of our pals, have it in spades.

As a youngster, I used to think of old folks as cranky, curmudgeonly and stuck in their ways. It seems that many oldsters calcify — they resist change, don’t take risks, and allow their minds to close and their comfort zones to shrink. I struggle to fend against calcification.

Flexible, open-minded, adventuresome are adjectives Laurie uses to describe concepts for ideal aging. These are powerful adjectives for any stage of life, along with thoughtfulness, kindness, compassion, and incessant curiosity. 

Accepting aging is more than just going along with the physical deterioration without nipping, tucking, hair-dyeing or suiciding. It's about resisting cultural pressures to hang onto youth when we could be embracing the fact that elders have insights, wisdom, and historical understanding impossible for people decades younger. Oh the things we've seen!

We also have a continuing capacity to relish life and face challenges with strength and resolve because we've learned how. 

It's OK to get older. Way better than not getting older. At least that's what I think now at age 74.

I love this poem by Janyne Relaford Brown.

 I Am Becoming the Woman I've Wanted

“I am becoming the woman I’ve wanted, grey at the temples, soft body, delighted, cracked up by life, with a laugh that’s known bitter but, past it, got better, knows she’s a survivor – that whatever comes, she can outlast it. I am becoming a deep weathered basket.

” I am becoming the woman I’ve longed for,  the motherly lover with arms strong and tender, the growing up daughter who blushes surprises. I am becoming full moons and sunrises.

“I find her becoming, this woman I’ve wanted, who knows she’ll encompass, who knows she’s sufficient, knows where she is going and travels with passion. Who remembers she’s precious but knows she’s not scarce – who knows she is plenty, plenty to share.”

Getting by with Less is Good for the Spirit

A clotted sky above the Sea of Cortez, January 2019. Free to all for as long as it lasts.

PK and I are currently road-tripping on the Baja Peninsula, about halfway through a couple-months excursion in our cushy camper van. 

Shortly before we left our Southern Oregon home in mid-December 2018, I ran across a column I wrote in April 1985 when I was a 40-year-old reporter/photographer/columnist at the Grants Pass(OR), Daily Courier. 

In 1985 PK and I lived in a house built for us four years earlier. It was still very new to us, although we'd occupied a beat-up mobile home on the same property for eight years prior.

In April 1985 we had one child, Quinn, who was 7, with another about-to-be conceived, a son, Chris, who arrived in June 1986.

Our adult children long ago fledged and we have grown old, still living in the same home. 

And now, after all those years of working and raising kids and caring for an elderly parent, we are free to travel the world. Which we do. 

My 1985 column is about how we traveled before we had jobs, kids, or a care in the world. 

Unlike the photo-loaded blog posts I usually publish, this one has just one image. During the trip described below, I did not bring a camera; I couldn't afford film or developing. I had no money. Paul and I had known one another for just a couple months. 


From the 1985 column 

I live in a nice house. It's new and pretty and has lots of oak and tile and thick carpets. It has a washer and dryer and dishwasher and a color TV. Sometimes I sit in the reclining chair in the living room and admire my house.

But other times I sit in the same chair, eyes closed, and drift back 12 years to when we lived in a three-sided thatched hut on a beach on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

We weren't there long, but the time was memorable both for what we had and what we didn't.

We rented our little stretch of perfect white sand beach for pennies a day. One morning I relaxed in my hammock tied between two palm trees and watched a long thick green serpent slither through our camp. I didn't care. It could live there too.

Iguanas sunned on rocks in front of our three-sided hut while the turquoise waters of the Caribbean lapped at their thorny claws. A coral reef was not far out and we snorkeled to it, observing the brilliant corals and tropical fishes.

Sometimes we'd get lucky and spear the tropical equivalent of lobsters and have ourselves a feast. Other times we'd eat the dried beans and lentils and canned meats we'd stocked up on.

Paul fashioned an oven out of an old peanut butter tin, and we burned dried coconut shells for heat. We made simple biscuits, cakes, and cookies.

We had no refrigeration, and except for the bottled water we bought at a not-too-distant village, we had no fresh water. We washed our clothes, our dishes, and ourselves in the turquoise sea.

Once a week or so we'd travel a couple miles to a cenote, where an underground stream surfaced from the limestone catacombs beneath the Yucatan peninsula. I remember the sweet fresh fragrance of the crystalline emerald water as we swam. Tiny silver fish flickering in the sunlight 20 feet below seemed unperturbed by our splashing.

Swimming in that small but unfathomable hidden jungle pool was a deep pleasure I will surely never forget.

Once our old 4WD Toyota Landcruiser got buried to the hubs in the sand. I'm sorry to say we pulled down a palm tree when we attached a winch to it trying to get out. There was no AAA, or anyone else, to come to our rescue.

We made do. We learned the truth of Thoreau's observation: A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can do without.

And a woman, too, I might add.

No TV, no radio, no phone, (oh joy!) no newspapers, limited fresh water, limited diet, no washer, dryer, trash masher, vacuum cleaner, refrigerator, carpets, or air conditioner.

We got as much pleasure from solving our survival problems as we did from the natural beauty of our surroundings.

These days we recapture some of that simplicity when we go backpacking or rafting. We gladly leave our conveniences behind and make do for as many days as we can get away with what we can carry.

We need to reaffirm, somehow, that we can rely on ourselves and each other without all the luxuries and trappings of society.

Things are different for people born into poverty. They have no choice, no luxury of slipping back and forth between a world rich with material goods and an impoverished one where their children die of preventable diseases and malnutrition. Or endless wars.

But with our great wealth comes the choice. It isn't an easy choice.

Choosing to live with less, learning to simplify, certainly isn't the American dream.

A simpler less materialistic way of life would wreak havoc on the gross national product because our capitalistic society depends on us to be busy little consumers. 

Choosing to live with less would throw a wrench into the speeding reckless wheels of commerce.

What it might do for the human spirit, however, is another matter.


Postscript January 2019

OK. My younger self is talking to me, reminding me that I don't need anything.

Although this very day, in Mexico, I bought a pair of earrings and a colorful woven top. 

Clearly, I'm not ready to forgo everything superfluous to survival. 

But I intend to reexamine my relationship with Amazon Prime, which makes it way too easy to surrender to consumerism—and with all the energy-using shipping and waste-producing packaging. 

I'm so sick of styrofoam padding and air-filled plastic bags. Isn't everyone?

About 15 years ago I lived an entire year without buying anything new except for food and underwear. 

It's still January. I will make a NY resolution. 

I will buy nothing new until a year from today. 

I'll let you know how it goes January 15, 2020.

However, new landscapes and experiences will not be prohibited on the long road ahead. 

Blues Cruise Bliss - Concerts at Sea

The great and crazy thing about blues cruises is that they provide hours and hours of back-to-back kick-butt performances and FUN, and they do it all ON THE OCEAN!

    You can gawk in one direction and see the blazing sun dipping into the Pacific.

Then turn your spinning head to see a musical performance bringing down the house on the outdoor pool deck.

   Ruthie Foster's Quintet is a marvel, performing here at sunset. 

You can also chill in the Crow's Nest lounge atop the ship listening to, or jamming with, amateurs and pros, sometimes twice a day. Very popular.

                 
               Then turn and see albatrosses gliding behind the ship.

   
      And you can do this most of the day and all night.

The Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise entertainment usually begins by 11 a.m. The last scheduled act starts around 12:30 a.m. and ends ---- whenever. I have yet to stay up past 4 a.m., but the most zealous blues fans don't surrender to fatigue until dawn is breaking and bacon fumes waft from the galley.

Impromptu jam sessions are a huge part of the musical scene, occurring in large venues and small, on the pool deck, lounges or in intimate piano bars. Maybe elevators. All over the place, people are making music, unscheduled and inspired.

One of my favorite 2018 cruise moments: At a piano bar, two members of the California Honeydrops improvise with pianist Bettye Jo Miller w/Mack Davis. Lech Wierzynski, left, is the Honeydrop's lead vocalist and trumpet player. He's flanked by clarinetist Leon. The Honeydrops wowed me big time.  Especially the multi-talented Lech, who, in this shot, had just put down his trumpet and is making eye contact. Hi there!

Indefatiguable Bettye Jo Miller and Mack Davis.

Musical entertainment began the moment the ship left the embarkation port, in this case, San Diego. It continued until the party ended early Sunday morning when blues cruisers were forced to vacate at the same dock. Our cruise began Oct. 28 and ended Nov. 7, 2018. It was the best!

       For an official wrap-up of this cruise, click this link.

On our sweet little veranda, leaving San Diego in our wake. PK appeared to be checking my heart, which was pounding with anticipation. We're about to visit ports of Cabo San Lucas, on the tip of the Baja Peninsula, then into the Sea of Cortez to Laz Paz and Loreto. Photo credit: Steve Lambros

But honestly, Blues Cruising is all about the music. Cool excursions on land and sea are offered, but so are in-port performances by on-ship musicians.

Smaller towns, such as Loreto, are visited by just a handful of cruise ships during a typical season and go all out for a cruise ship crowd. 

We enjoyed a fun day in Loreto, browsing the colorful shops and
  dancing with the locals. Musicians from the ship performed at
several different venues around the town.

This little guy was itching to dance, and soon he was boogying with his friends.

Billy Branch is blowing his sweet harmonica into our faces in Loreto. Loved it!

The scenery was A-OK traveling south from Loreto down to La Paz, the last of 3 ports.  

    Rev. Peyton and his Big Damn Band included only a drummer and his wife on the unlikely washboard. The Rev. is a big damn presence and produced
big damn sounds that drove dancers to their feet.

Mindi Adair and the Boneshakers performed at the Cabo Wabo club in Cabo San Lucas, although this photo was taken on the ship. She was one of at least a dozen artists we had never heard of before the cruise and are now fans.  

Tommy Castro and the Painkillers are Blues Cruise regulars. Great stuff!

On regular cruises, you can't count on running into anybody on your wavelength. On a blues cruise, common wavelengths vibrate like crazy around musical performances, creating as much excitement as the waves beneath the boat.

My new friend Gail and I became pals when, after standing a few minutes in a crowded venue, I invited her to step in front me so she could see. We were both boogieing in place, although the dance floor was vacant. "Come'on," she said, "Let's get the party started!" I followed her to the dance floor and the party ensued.

Here's another dance story. I was rockin' around the pool deck, as usual, with about 100 others and caught the eye of this fine woman. She sent her daughter to ask, "How old are you? My mom wants to know." Ha! I'm not the oldest person out there, but I may be one of the more rambunctious. I admitted to being 73 when her daughter introduced me. I saw her the next day and she flashed me this radiant smile. She has 20 years on me. She declined my dancing invitation, although she was having a wonderful time. I hope to still be rockin' out at her age. 

The great band Los Lobos was a headliner. Here they're playing on the Main Stage, which is a large theater accommodating 700 people or more.  Photo credit, Michael McGrath

Blues legend Taj Mahal, with the Phantom Blues Band, still wows his fans. He performed several times in the larger of the ship's seven venues.  Photo credit, Michael McGrath

G Love and Special Sauce, a condiment that  G Love actually makes. He did a morning cooking demo on the ship. Morning shows included interesting stuff such as this. Also, on this cruise, a couple of musician panels discussing such things as how the blues music scene is evolving, and how participants got their start. Best of all, however, was the first morning's 10:30 a.m. tribute to Aretha Franklin. Photo credit, Michael McGrath

Here's the crowd the first morning of the cruise at the main stage, a theater-like venue. They're listening to 20-some musicians creating a rousing and emotional tribute to Aretha Franklin. Although men performed,  women were the heart and soul of this extraordinary show. All before lunch.

The women included Deva Mahal, one of Taj's daughters.

And Zooey Mahal, another of his progeny. 

Interested in cranking up your fun meter? Check it out.
 2019 Blues Cruise  

In case you hadn't noticed, I am recommending blues cruising to any adult who loves blues, rock, Americana, funk, jazz, Zydeco, etc. etc., and especially people who love to dance, sing, or play an instrument or two.

I don't get paid for this. I'm just a cheerful kind of person trying to tell you that if you have the time and $$, you oughta try this. Or perhaps another music-type cruise. Get out the ol' bucket list and write it on there.

PK and I have been on three blues cruises, and we will doubtless go again. 

The only hazard is that afterward, ordinary life can seem way too dull, resulting in an affliction most blues cruisers know: PBCSS 

A post about an earlier blues cruise and the sad aftermath. I have PBCSS right now!
Blues Cruise and the Post Blues Cruise Stress Syndrome 

In the end, it's all a beautiful blur. 

Thanksgiving leftovers? Try Turkey Stuffed Roasted Poblano Peppers with Chipotle Crema

I love this stuffed roasted poblano pepper recipe for using leftover turkey. It's for pepper lovers only, however. Although you could substitute a mild green bell pepper if you must.

Why would I even think about turkey leftovers when Thanksgiving is still a few days away?

Short answer: I'm anal.

Longer: I volunteered, in a diminished moment, to make gravy at the legendary - to about 25 friends and family - four-day Thanksgiving blow-out at a rented Southern Oregon property near Selma, OR. This will be our 11th year of fantastic food and fun.

I roasted a turkey a few days ago so I could collect the juices and browned bits for proper gravy making. Most of the turkey is now in the freezer, along with the gravy. But I had an ample packet of leftover turkey in the frig just begging for a new approach.

Earlier, I'd purchased three large peppers with no particular recipe in mind. I needed to use them so I Googled: turkey and poblanos.

A great-looking recipe appeared on this blog - Joyful Healthy Eats, a professional cooking blog with great photos, sponsors and all that. 

Turkey Stuffed Poblanos with Avocado Crema - click for the original recipe

The recipe was the jumping off point for what turned out to be a keeper. I did make some significant changes to the original, however.

Primary among them was roasting the peppers and using leftover roasted turkey rather than raw ground turkey. I think roasting makes the peppers taste better and also eliminates the tough skin, which comes off easily after roasting. I subbed chipotle crema for avocado crema and used sliced avocados on the side. Prepared (homemade) salsa made flavoring the stuffing easy. 

Poblanos roasting on a gas range. They may also be roasted in the oven with an electric or gas stove. I first saw the stovetop roasting in Mexico when a group of friends rented a house for a week and we splurged a couple times to hire a neighborhood woman/chef to prepare dinner. I was fascinated by the roasting method and at home gave it a try. It's easy, and so is clean-up. Just make sure your vent fan is working.

Perfectly roasted poblano peppers. Well, almost perfect. Still a bit of green where

the tough skin will stick. To finish the pepper prep, run the pepper under cool water, rubbing gently to remove the skin. Cut the stem end close to the top, and pull out the seeds and membranes. Rinse well and drain before filling. 

The original recipe is linked above; mine with alterations follows.

Turkey Stuffed Roasted Poblanos with Chipotle Crema 

This recipe will feed two generously.
Ingredients

3 large fresh poblano peppers (often confused with pasilla peppers), roasted
1 cup chopped roasted turkey, white or dark
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup cooked basmati rice (or whatever you have)
1/2 pint, or more, prepared salsa 
3 heaping tablespoons of prepared artichoke, jalapeno and Parmesan dip
1/2 cup raw onion, chopped
smoked paprika for sprinkling
cilantro, trimmed
1/4 cup chopped and seeded jalapenos (optional!)
One medium avocado, sliced and spritzed with lemon or lime and a bit of salt
Sliced or grated cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, Monterey) as much as you prefer

Turkey, raw onion, beans, rice, salsa, and artichoke,  jalapeno, Parmesan dip mixed.

Directions
Prep time about 20 minutes - bakng time, 30 minutes

Preheat oven to 350

Wash and dry the peppers. 

Roast the peppers, 10 minutes or less. If you have a gas stove, turn a burner or two on high, place the peppers directly on the burner, and turn with tongs until the skins are evenly blackened.

When using an electric stove, place the peppers on a rack close to the oven broiler set on high. Turn to blacken evenly and remove from oven. 

Either method set the peppers aside on a rack for at least five minutes to cool. Don't overroast the peppers; you want them to be pliable but not mushy or falling apart.

While waiting for peppers to cool, mix together the chopped (or shredded) turkey, beans, rice, salsa, raw onion, and the artichoke, jalapeno, Parmesan dip. If you don't have this dip, substitute with mayonnaise and a bit of grated cheese to moisten and flavor the stuffing. Or you can add more prepared salsa. 

When peppers are cooled enough to handle, cut off the stem ends close to the top and pull out the seeds and membranes. Rinse, making sure to remove all the hot little seed devils. Spoon the stuffing into the peppers, shaking gently to fill the peppers evenly.

If the peppers aren't large enough to be used whole, slice open, fill with turkey mixture, then fold over and secure with wooden toothpicks. 

Sprinkle the peppers with smoked paprika, if you like. 

Ready to bake.

Arrange the peppers in an ungreased casserole dish and put them into the preheated oven. Set timer for 25 minutes.

When timer dings, remove the dish from oven and apply sliced or grated cheese and return to the oven for five more minutes to allow cheese to melt.

The stuffing I couldn't fit into the peppers was fine cooked outside.
 I used sliced pepper jack cheese.

Serve immediately with sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, salsa, and chipotle crema. We like a roasted tortilla on the side with diced chilies, onions, and cheese.


Chipotle crema anyone?

This is a staple at our house. Although we make it with our homegrown dried and smoked (then reconstituted) red ripe jalapenos (AKA chipotles), it's much easier to make with canned chipotles in adobo sauce.

How to Make It

• Use two to three canned peppers and a tablespoon or so of the adobo sauce. Depends upon how hot you like it. The unused portion can be frozen.
• Dice or process the peppers finely.
• Measure roughly equal amounts of mayo, plain yogurt, and sour cream and mix with the peppers. I usually use half a cup of each.
• Add a bit of lemon or lime juice, if you like. Or more adobo, if you want it spicier.
• Adjust everything to your taste

I also add serrano or garlic chili sauce. Chipotle crema is something to play with until you get it right for you and others who'll be using it. We're a hot-food loving little family.

The crema keeps in the refrigerator for up to a month. But it rarely lasts that long.

If you try the recipe, please let me know what you may have done to make it better!

More turkey leftover recipes

Pain in the ass turkey soup and an epiphany

Turkey/broccoli casserole the year we went to Tahoe