Here is our new quarterly newsletter, getting everybody up to date on all the comings and goings at The Truck Farm and in Las Cruces. January was filled with the regular start of the year business drudgery. Inventory, taxes, and other bits of important but tedious tasks that all small businesses must endure. Then February happened. Around the time of the Super Bowl Las Cruces froze. The rest of the country froze right alongside us, but most other communities could grasp the concept of snow falling out of the sky and negative degrees. For our little area it was as close as you could get to an apocalypse without actually having one. Power was lost all over the area due to power stations freezing and most pipes froze and shattered putting nearby El Paso on a “boil water” alert for a week. Even The Truck Farm had to take a couple of days off to avoid everyone being run over on the way to work by people whose philosophy on driving in the snow is to put it into 4-wheel drive and gun it. But at least the weather people on local news were thrilled beyond belief, and it had never been better to be a plumber. After the big game, we loaded up and went to OKC so as not to miss their round two of the big storm. Actually we went to do a show there called An Affair of the Heart. The day we set up for the show it was zero degrees. We were so glad to get back to New Mexico where it had warmed up.
Now we are fixing to head up north again to Albuquerque for the always fun Fiery Foods and BBQ show held March 4-6 at the Sandia Casino in Albuquerque. It is always a fun show, the vendors and the customers really get into the spirit of Fiery Foods. Jim dresses in a tuxedo with a big black cowboy hat and attracts a lot of attention.
Also, we saved the biggest news for those willing to slog through our prose: we should be moving into a new building sometime in 2011. We’ll fill you in on more details next time we put one of these out, or whenever the big move has a time table somewhere less than a year. Now for the goodies.
RECIPES
Salsa Stuffed Mushrooms
2 dozen mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed
1/4 cup finely diced onion
Finely diced mushroom stems
4 slices bacon, cooked well, drained and crumbled
1/4 cup Fire Salsa
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
Steam or fry the mushrooms for about three minutes, just to soften them a bit. In about 3 Tablespoons butter, or olive oil (or bacon fat, yum!) sautee the onions and mushroom stems until soft. Add the bacon, Salsa and bread crumbs to onion and mushroom stems. Stuff mushrooms with the mixture. Place in the baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.
Italian Turkeyloaf
1 cup Jalapeno Catsup
¾ cup parmesan
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
½ cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic
½ tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
½ cup bread crumbs
1 ½ pounds ground turkey
Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, stir Catsup with cheese, tomato paste, basil, and oregano. Divide mixture in half. Combine one half with onion, garlic, salt, and egg. Stir in breadcrumbs. Crumble turkey into same bowl and mix gently until evenly combined. Press meat mixture gently into a greased meatloaf pan. Spread remaining Catsup mixture over the top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until internal temperature registers 170 F. Let cool for 5 minutes, slice and serve.
TRI-MONTH SPECIAL
It'll be three months til our next newsletter so the monthly special is now three months long. Get 10% off of Cannon Fire Salsa, Tia Rita Salsa mixes, and Fiesta Chutney when ordered here. Why these three? A common thread of chile, tomatoes, and onions.
OTHER NEWS
The Red Velvet that has been discontinued is now down to its’ last case. If you or anyone you know loves this stuff, it won’t be around by April. Also, the Green Chile Piccallili has met a similar fate. You may have noticed that all the recipes using it are off the site, and it won’t be around for much longer either. If you love it, grab it while you can at its’ new lower price. Finally, since we had to replace the recipes using new ones, there are a whole lot of different ones on the recipe page, such as the ones in this newsletter. Let us know if any of them could use a little improvement.
Update: All of the Red Velvet and Piccalilli have been sold and are no longer available.
