Magdalena Pics

My computer seems to have problems-- have plenty of material but posting will be slow until they are deciphered. Meanwhile some light photos from the Spur Christmas party last Saturday for your amusement (if I try to link the machine will pinwheel for ten minutes) plus one of Phil's grandfather John Foard that I have gone back and added to his memorial essay (I already captured that URL!)

Spur pics, the few I kept out of 25 or so; band (Bartender 4 Mayor),who played a lot of good stuff including Steve Earle's Guitar Town and Copperhead Road (may link later; funny how he made better songs back when he was a legendary bad actor than now, when he resembles a Marxist history prof in politics and pomposity); Lee Henderson, who bought Gorbatov his "Mexicanski Vodka" and received a print of quail on his ranch, dancing with Cat Aragon and bowing after; our sometime mushrooming colleague and half of the team that saved our roof, Della Armijo, and Linda Middleton, who works at Alamo Navajo and who is married to longtime resident filmmaker Matt Middleton (Google "Way Out There"-- link LATER dammit); "born in the bar" Q Foreign correspondent, temporarily employed teaching writing HERE, Phil Grayson; his grandfather, the legendary Johnny Foard, whose band played here when the present ones were in diapers...

Flying visit with bar & meal

Reid & Connie blew through ahead of a winter storm, down to take a look at Aussie pups which he will doubtless blog on. An early evening in the bar, an excellent elk "Brasato" courtesy of reader Roberto, (recipe below), talk til eyes closing of everything from science fiction to Doc Holliday to folk and country music, rare books, and, always, archaeology; sleep, brunch, photos and off. Amazing how many subjects good talkers can bounce through in a short time...

Lib & Connie at the Spur (grannies didn't look like that when we were kids); my good friend of many years and possible cousin Bobby Winston, demolition expert and long- time proprietor of Winston's Chevron, by Connie, trying to scare the camera (Bob is a descendant of Italian- Swiss miners, the Papas and the Strozzis, first into this country before 1860). He loves to give his baleful Jenghiz frown-- "Be careful, I might break the camera!- but I can testify he is the kindest and most loyal of friends. Finally, Reid and me outside Casa Q; photo by Connie.




Brasato by Roberto Buonfante:

"Soak the meat in chunks or cubes in a large bowl totally covered with red wine and add the following: onion, celery, carrots, cloves, bay leaves and very important cracked juniper berries.This mix stays in the refrigerator at least 24 hrs, stir everything at least once.

"Cooking in a pan, I use copper for best results but any would be fine, extra v. olive oil sautee the meat keeping the wine and everything except cloves that are removed with a strain or placed in advance inside a half onion like nails . Add everything and cook with a lid until meat is tender and fully cooked, maybe 1 hour.

"When cooked add one glass of milk with a spoon of flour well dissolved in the milk. Pour into the brasato and cook until the flour is done, let say 15 more min. At the end I add a teaspoon of ground unsweetened cocoa, strange but amazing the result.

"I serve over polenta."

I used elk rather than boar, added a single dry ancho chile for flavor more than heat, and considering altitude among other things cooked it all afternoon in a closed Dutch oven but in an oven set at only 200 degrees. it was at least as good as he predicted.

Bar 2, Q C # 5

Says Lib, "The thing is, we're multicultural--we just don't know it."

Mmmyes. Karaoke night at the Spur. Cody Henderson -- his father is Lee, who owns the ranch we hunt on, and his mother was born Lorraine Lopez -- as Cupid, about to sing "Landslide" with Linda (Rael) Mansell, born in Taos and married into my mentor's clan, who caters the food at the Spur.

Lee, with Gorbatov quail:

Cody and Linda singing.

Libby with Alexis "Pookie" Mansell, granddaughter of my mentor Floyd and daughter of Phil Mansell and Linda. She's 16 and helps her mother at the cafe. You want multicutural? Her mother is northern NM Spanish (it's alleged that Rael is an old converso name; "Ysrael"--?) Her dad is Arkansas Scots-Irish hillbilly and Lebanese on his paternal side; his mother is Navajo and Choctaw.

Cheery Bar # 1: Querencia Country Part 4

John Carlson suggested Q Country is people too, and I heartily agree. More than one person has asked for pix from the Golden Spur, where as the song goes "everyone knows your name". They have known mine for over 30 years, longer than the youngest staff has been alive.

Sunset-- let's go in-- back door. (Front is for package)...

The bar decor, after a brief interregnum we won't talk about, is Western, with a historical photo gallery...


Plenty of conversation but not busy yet.


That was Montana Pettis. He is a bartender, as are Luke Martin and Cat Aragon (she is also a teacher with a master's degree).


Montana's father Darryl, left, is the present owner; Steve Grayson, right, had the place for nearly 30 years and is in a scene toward the end of Q- the- Book:

Steve and Colleen Grayson are also the parents of occasional (and too infrequent) Q- Blogger Phil, busy living the literary and teaching life in NYC, after stints in Turkey and Poland.

One more customer: John Paul Jones Apachito aka "Paul Jones", one of my oldest friends and a man of many parts. He is Alamo Navajo and Apache, a father and grandfather, a former track star and present coach; and the only person I know who during his summer vacation will pay to go to advanced math workshops for fun. He writes equations on bar napkins...

I am only getting started...

Slightly idiotic photos... farewell to 2011

And welcome 2012!

A New Year's party, the first I can remember attending in-- decades?-- at our home bar, the legendary Golden Spur, yards not miles from Casa Q, my watering hole for some thirty years, Peculiar's first "regular", Eli's from birth a few months ago, and where Phil Grayson grew up (his father used to own it; unfortunately not here because he went back to NYC a couple of days ago)...

Some day I'll focus on history and the cowboy tradition there, but this batch is pure happy idiocy.

Family & postmaster Greg, L's boss, our friend; Peculiar with well- decorated offspring; L; Greg; part- time bartender Cat Aragon, who both teaches and works here, admiring the Beastie. Click to enlarge. (I promised Sam, who worked the door, not to "put him on the internet" without his photo approval).