A Sweet Surprise!...

The other day,while searching high and low for a place to take my aunt and uncle who are new "Winter Texans" I drove right past a sign right across the street from where I live that said "Valley Lemons" so, curious me I drove into a long, little, windy path that led to a brown shed, a really nice older man, and a little bit of heaven here on earth... I thought " This is it" This is where I need to bring them. I asked the nice older man who by the way sells Valley lemons, Grapefruit, Oranges Tangerines and Praline candy if he would let us walk the property his response "MI CASA SU CASA".























Now, my camera doesn't do this picture justice. This is what you see as you drive up Isn't this just breath taking?... There is beautiful landscaping everywhere!! and you immediately feel relaxed as you walk up to the lake and sit on this bench!.
















Calmness and Peace is a feeling you get when walking through this property!















I think If I lived here I wouldn't care about in-doors. Just leave me here with a pitcher of Iced tea and a good book!
















My aunt Licha and uncle Butch! I think they were equally impressed! The weather was gorgeous and we had a blast hanging out with them.















This little path led us to ...














And inside.....














An amazing vegetable garden! I loved it! and feel the need to come home and start one! well, maybe a smaller version..














And after walking all the property, we sat and enjoyed a nice conversation with John. what a nice man! He mentioned that it had taken him 42 years to do all this work and that he still wasn't done yet. WOW what an amazing man!














And if you are wondering if we bought any of his fruit? well, we all walked out with a bag of Valley lemons and Tangerines. I later made an excuse to go back...hey I needed more fruit.. so, I took Romeo and he loved it! I am so glad I get to live across from him.. Do you think he would notice if I brought a tiny tent and camped out? ok now I am pushing it...

If you need some fruit, and you are in my neck of the woods ~ come see me ~ I would love to take you!

Halloween and my crazy week....

Have you ever had a week when everything happened in a flash?... This week was that week... before I knew it Halloween was here!.. and I had to go go go....

















Is it just me or does anyone have the same problem on Monday mornings?
















On the way to see this guy (who's name is Eloy who probably thinks I have a thing for him cause I see him sometimes twice a week)... I will get back to him in a bit.
















I SEE THIS... And it is becoming way to familiar.
















Okay, getting back to Eloy I got wind damage on one of my most admired plants. The more I looked at it the more I knew it had to go. The plant looked wimpy and burned beyond recognition,so I took my shovel and pulled it out! Eloy works at Mid Valley Garden and Pond Supply which is couple of miles from my house and that makes it very covenient especially when you have to replace a plant in a zippy. I see him often because as you know, I am a little obsessed with my yard. (Aside from Lilly at Valley Garden Center in Mcallen) Eloy knows all there is to any type of plant he is extremely knowledgeable!
























This week my sister and I have visited countless fabric stores. The weird thing is I really don't know why?. really.. I know she mentioned something about re-doing her sofas, but she had already bought several yards of fabric a couple of weeks ago. I also bought a couple of yards of black twall fabric that same week. I know there is a reason I just can't remember Now that's weird...




















In the midst of all this I have been baking galore! I got this fabulous Cheesecake recipe from my friend Shannon at Afternoon coffee with shannon can you believe this has about a pound of cheese? It was heaven..














I also made a carrot cake from scratch and put the cheesecake in between layers. and when I turned Romeo took pinch and gave me a thumbs up.. I literally made a couple until I got the right recipe, but that's a whole other blog..



















At the end of the week I visited a Talavera store in San Juan.. I needed more plates for my collection and who wants to go into Mexico these days?













On Saturday I spent decorating my yard for the trick or treaters. I love these velvet Pumpkins..

















I don't think these girls said "Trick or Treat"..





















My niece Vianae.. Monique and Eddies youngest.















And before I knew it....I couldn't keep up with the supply!

Chicken Empanadas..

If there is a recipe that is worthy of a post it is this one!. These amazing Chicken Empanadas are truly pockets of heaven that are filled with comforting ingredients that keep you wanting more and more..


Here's how I made them....

















First off, I had left over chicken from the night before, so I shredded it and diced up some red and yellow Bell Pepper.























Took two of these...













diced them and tossed them in.















Can you see where I am going with this?... I added about half the bag and a little more...













Oh yes..Creme Cheese tastes better with everything!!













I cut about 1/4 later I added a little more....















Gave it a good massage...


Now this is where the fun begins...













Rolled out two of these.













Did not have a Biscuit cutter so I used Romeos beer mug... and It worked just perfect..













perfect circles..



















Think I cut out about two dozen..















I spooned a little filling being careful not to over fill... (that was the hard part) because I always think more is better (when it comes to cooking) according to Romeo..





















Ahh I love perfection...

















Glazed them with a little egg..















on to a lightly greased pan and into the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 min...














Can you smell them?..














The flavor of all the ingredients coming together is out of this world. Give it a try..

Welcome Fall

I enjoy this time of year because its the start of new beginnings. School starts, routines begin, Cooler mornings and evenings make it perfect for Football season. The leaves begin to change (at least in some parts of the country) and the clean brisk air floating though your open windows always smells like heaven, but best of all decorating season begins. You start to see more and more homes adding touches of fall to their homes. This year I couldn't afford to go all out and buy all new fall decor After all I'm still furnishing my home, but I did have a few things in my Fall bin. Take a look.













Believe it or not this corn is about 4 yrs old. How do I keep it fresh? when I'm through with the season I put in a zip lock bag with a few drops of Peppercorn oil, and it keeps it fresh and smelling amazing! When I take it out I add more oil This peppercorn aroma fills my whole home with a warm a blend of Autumn spices .















This is no Martha Stewart Table scape but it will do for now.












There is nothing like a flag flying! I fly this flag until the middle part of October my Halloween flag then goes up. then this flag comes back on until Thanksgiving.













Got this metal pumpkin wall decor 50% off at Hobby Lobby.



















This Turkey did not look like this. This was broken from the neck and leg therefore I got it at a special price of $5.00 at Ross I came home and super glued it. NOTICE: its missing the other part of its mustache.













I added this fall leaf garland around this metal topiary. I also plan to add fresh Pumpkins of different sizes to add a special charm to my entryway.


p.s I also need to change my blog header. (maybe this weekend).. Thank you for visiting! and hope that somehow I have inspired you to add your own fall charm..:)

~ Shrimp Chipotle~

This week on "La Salud del Valle" Chef Inaki cooked up a yummy dish. I couldn't remember the name, so I re-named it. I call it ~ Shrimp Chipotle ~I thought it was easy so, I bought a few ingredient's and got busy...









I first started by warming up some Italian dressing.












just like this...... I then added some Shrimp about 2 cups












Chopped up Chipotle just like this...















I added about a half a cup of Orange Marmalade and stirred.















I then added fresh Cilantro for that extra kick..















I made some White rice.















This dish was so delicious!!! next time Im trying it with Jumbo shrimp!!



Oh, I almost forgot I made desert too.....


















I made a yummy fruit salad!..