Hi everyone, Over the years I blended a few recipes for our tacos. First for those who fear the chipotle, don't worry, it's just in the chipotle tomatillo salsa. So you can substitute your own salsa Originally we just made onion and chard tacos which like the salsa came from everyday Mexican by Rick bayless. But one day we were over at my SILs house and she served a black bean sweet potato taco with a cabbage slaw. All very good, but missing my husbands favorite cheese topping and a little of the smoky heat of the salsa we like as she used a classic rojas sauced mixed with a cashew cream to flavor the potato mixture. I've included a link to her taco inspiration at the bottom. Anyway the next time we made our tacos we ended up adding roasted spiced sweet potatoes and continue to do so to this day.. Rick bayless's Carmelized onion and Swiss chard taco 2 bunches of Swiss chard, thick lower stems removed ( although if I'm not making soup in the future I will add the stems to the tacos and just add the stems first cook for about 5 minutes before I add the ribbons ) 1 1/2 tbl. oil, lard or bacon drippings ( adjust for your own dietary concerns, my vegan sil just cooks everything in a homemade veggie broth no oil) 1 1/2 large onions. thinly sliced 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (add more or less depending on how spicy you like it) 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth (water works too) Salt 16-20 warm corn tortillas 1 cup (4 ounces) Queso Fresco or other fresh cheese such as feta or goat cheese Smoky Chipotle Salsa for serving (recipe below) Slice the chard into 1/2-inch ribbons. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion then cook until golden brown. To the onions add the red pepper flakes and garlic. Stir for about 20 seconds until you are hit with the aroma of the garlic then immediately add the broth or water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the greens. Adjust the heat to medium-low then cover the skillet. Cook until the greens are almost tender. For Swiss chard this will be about 5 -7 minutes. ( in a pinch we've subbed beet greens and kale) Uncover the pan, adjust the heat to medium-high then cook until the juices have reduced significantly and merely glaze the greens. Taste and add salt if you think it needs it. Serve with the corn tortillas, crumbled fresh cheese and Chipotle salsa. Sweet potato addition: before starting greens : 2 large orange sweet potatoes or yams, cubed about 1" Juice from a lime (1/2 to 1 whole lime depending on your flavor preferences) Spices to taste: cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder 1/2 tbsp oil Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Put sheet pan in oven while it preheats. Meanwhile in a bowl place the cubes of sweet potato, 1/2 tbsp of oil, dash of smoked paprika, dash of cumin, dash of chili powder and pinch of chili flakes, and lime juice. Toss together until all of the potato chunks are coated. Place on the preheated rack and return to oven. Bake until softened through and toasted brown. about 40 minutes. I usually flip the potatoes at 15 and 30 minutes to ensure even cooking. Remove from the oven and let stand when cooked through. Salsa: 3 garlic cloves, peeled 4 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut in half 2 canned chipotle chilies Place a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. If it is not a non-stick, Rick Bayless recommends placing a layer of aluminum foil on the bottom. Place the garlic and tomatillos (cut side down) in the skillet. After about 3-4 minutes the tomatillos should be well browned. Turn everything over and brown on the other side. After another 3-4 minutes the tomatillos should be completely soft. Place the garlic and tomatillos into a blender or food processor, along with the chilies and 1/4 cup water. Blend to a coarse puree. Taste and adjust for salt if you like. We don't particularly care for cilantro in our house but I'm sure others would prefer some in this salsa. Pour into a dish and let cool before serving. We tend to keep toppings very plain on these in just the salsa and a light dusting of really good quality cheese but top however you'd like. Also a delicious sweet potato taco( SIL inspiration) can be found here: http://thursdaynightsmackdown.com/2008/03/16/tacogate-2006-sweet-potato-red-chard/ This post was edited by NashvilleBuild42 on Tue, Feb 18, 14 at 2:41

James, Thanks for the update. I'm glad the plants are doing so well. The mealy tomatoes usually are a result of too much rain or of too much cool weather as the fruit was ripening, but really, I think that any adverse enronmental condition can cause mealiness. I notice it more on the earliest tomatoes of the season in general, or on late tomatoes ripening after, let's say, October 1st. Mealiness is an odd duck---you can have a lot of it one year, little the next---or you can have it on a specific variety one year but then not observe it with that same variety the next year. There's not much we can do to prevent mealiness since we have little control over the weather, but if a gardener has a constant problem with it non-stop, then that's likely from excess fertilization and excess moisture. I suspect you and Alexis both were observing the typical too much moisture/cool temperature type of mealiness. Now that the weather is hotter, and presumably will be drier, I bet you won't see the mealiness any more. Dawn

Given that 95% of the population of Thailand is Buddhist, it's no surprise that there are an estimated 40,000 temples in Thailand. Thai temple complexes usually include a temple or wat, feature a tall bell-shaped stupa which is a place for relics and the ashes of monks, ordination and sermon halls, a space for shrines and Buddha images and a residence for the monks. The public is welcome at most temples. When visiting the temples, please show respect by observing the following guidelines: Take your shoes off before entering the temple. Make sure shoulders are covered and wear long pants (or long skirts for women). Remove hats and sunglasses, don't chew gum or smoke and speak quietly. After entering the temple, sit on the floor with your feet under you and try not to put yourself in a position where you are higher than any Buddha statues or Buddhist monks. It's ok to take photographs unless there are signs forbidding it, but don't use a flash. With their ornate appearance, the temples are easily recognizable: These are peaceful places, and even if not Buddhist, one may feel the urge to reflect or meditate while visiting. Beautiful arrangements of fresh flowers adorn the interior of the temples and they are spectacular: The interior of the temples are dominated by Buddha statues. Buddha statues are made out of many different materials from gold plate to stone to wood to clay. One famous statue, the Golden Buddha, was thought to be made of plaster until it was being moved to a new location in 1954. Ropes supporting the statue snapped causing the statue to fall to the floor and resulting in some of the plaster chipping off allowing the gold surface underneath to be seen. After carefully removing the plaster it was discovered that the statue was solid gold. It is believed that it was covered over with plaster in the 1700's to prevent theft, although at 5.5 tons stealing it would be a daunting task! The interior of the temples include beautifully embellished shutters and ceilings. And, detailed murals cover the walls:

Whew...that air temp overnight dipped right down. They nailed it here with a low of 38F. I'm sure all the newly planted warm season stuff appreciate that. We've been running ragged lately. The two weekends before, we we're out west in Waynoka & Okeene. Pair that with baseball going full-on right now. This weekend, we were outside working to catch up. The wind still sucks! So ready for that to calm down. We've got a full garden now with only about 4 eggplants to add when they get a bit bigger. We put down a couple of double rows of sweet corn this year, so I'm hoping that doesn't bring in the worms. Last time we did corn, the worms exploded. BT & Spinosad are great, I'm sure, but the timing has to be pretty spot on. On the cool season stuff, I've got onions that are a little behind due to me burning the original planting and re-planting a lot in early March. I'm trying to push them with nitrogen, but have to be careful not to burn again. The cabbage is getting big and the broccoli look pretty good so far. Funny that there has been a lot of talk about mulch. Last season, I removed a lot of rocks out of the front beds and replaced it with pine bark. Last week, we saw a bunch of weird looking stuff that looked like spray foam except it was white on the outside. Turns out it is called "slime mold" and I guess it was in the mulch when we put it down? Strange looking stuff, but apparently harmless. We've been mulching the garden walkways with pine bark and then mulching the planted rows with goat bedding. I'm about wore out from that and still have over half to go. It makes it much cleaner, i'll say that. If I don't spray glyphosate around the border, I'll be pulling bermuda until the 1st freeze. I gotta draw the line somewhere, because I'm only one guy.