Quick Enchilada Casserole

Here is something I threw together in the kitchen this afternoon, and boy is it good! I figured I'd share it so anyone who wants to can make this tasty recipe! I'll call it Randy's Quick Enchilada Casserole. It started out as a way to use up a few ingredients we had in the refrigerator, but ended up as a very delicious meal. Of course, if you don't want the quick version, you could cook your own beans, roast your own chili peppers, make your own sauce, and even make your own tortillas. But quick and easy is so good with minimal fuss. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Half a can of refried beans
• About 4 oz. of shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, whatever you like)
• One bottle of 505 Red Enchilada Sauce, Hatch, or whatever brand you prefer.
  
• Half pound of cooked ground beef
• Small can of chopped green chilis
• A few sliced, black olives
• Three large flour tortillas

Preparation

If you don't have the beef already cooked, quickly brown it in a skillet, drain, and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Assembly

• Pour a thin layer of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish. This will keep the casserole from sticking.
• Spread the refried beans onto one of the tortillas to approximately the size of the 8" dish. This should be about a 10-inch diameter tortilla to fit up the sides of the dish.
  
• Lay the tortilla with the beans into the dish on top of the thin layer of sauce.
• Pour about a third of the sauce over the top of the beans.
  
• Sprinkle a thin layer of cheese over the top.
  
• Put the next tortilla into the dish.
• Distribute the beef in a layer on top of the second tortilla.
• Add chopped roasted green chilis in whatever amount you like.
• Put about half of the remaining sauce over the layers below.
  
• Top with another layer of shredded cheese.
• Put the third tortilla on top and press it down on top of the other layers. You can crease the tortilla along the edge of the dish to square it up if you like.
  
• Add the remaining sauce over the top. Add another thin layer of shredded cheese. Top with a few slices of black olives.
• Cover with aluminum foil, place in center rack of oven and bake at 375 degrees for one hour.

Remove from oven, let stand for about 5-10 minutes, cut and serve. For extra flair, and to make it feed more, serve with a side of Spanish Rice and avocado slices.

Yield

Serves 6-8 people, depending on how much each one eats.

Houston, We Have a Problem

What's up at NASA? The one-time showcase of American technology has had a bad year. Despite the aging shuttle fleet flying again after the Columbia disaster, we have one thing after another at the space agency.

Earlier this year, Astronaut Lisa Nowak was dismissed after criminal charges were filed against her for driving from Houston to Florida to threaten a romantic rival for another astronaut's affections. Then a contractor kills his boss at the Johnson Space Center. Yesterday, another contrator was found to have sabotaged computers slated for delivery to the International Space Station. Then at the end of the day, NASA admits that it has been sending drunk astronauts into space.

Now while a bit of alcohol may ease pre-flight jitters, you'd think that astronauts need total lucidity to fly the shuttle. I halfway expect the next revelation to be that the astronauts on the ISS are growing marijuana.

I suppose the astronauts are only taking seriously the words of Elton John's hit song, Rocket Man, seriously:

"I packed my bags last night, preflight,
Zero hour, 9 am.
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then."

Our space corps has certainly fallen from grace since the days of Alan Sheppard, Gus Grissom, and John Glenn.

The "Show Me the Passing Lane" State

European passing lane, from
http://international.fhwa.dot.gov/humanfactors/chapter_two.htm

The Associated Press is reporting that the State of Missouri is getting ready to try an experiment with one of its highways. The state's chief highway engineer, Kevin Keith, saw the way that many European countries have implemented the concept of a passing lane. Unlike in the United States, where only the occasional passing lane is built, Europe builds three-lane highways for many of its non-controlled access roads. The idea is that the middle lane alternates every mile or so as a passing lane for each side of the roadway. This will allow the highway to carry nearly as much traffic comfortably, as a four-lane highway.

The experiment will be first played out on Missouri Highway 5 between the towns of Lebanon and Camdenton, a stretch of about 16-miles. This highway connects the popular tourist destination, The Lake of the Ozarks, to Interstate 44, the main highway from St. Louis to Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Lawton, and Wichita Falls. The cost of upgrading the highway is estimated at $50-million dollars.

Traffic engineers at The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is closely watching the MoDOT project, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. If it proves as successful and safe here as in Europe, you may soon see this concept in highway design coming to a road near you.

1957 Chevys

A beautiful, black 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air.
Notice the black rubber cones on the bumper.

The 1957 Chevrolet is a classic icon of mid 20th Century American automobile manufacturing. From the chrome grill and bumpers to the tail fins, this car was uniquely different from the 1956 model before it, and the round rear-ended 1957 that followed. In fact, it seemed that Chevy made significant styling changes every model year from 1956 through 1960. It is hard to believe that this beloved and much collected car is celebrating its 50th birthday this year!

The 1957 Chevy has a prominent place in my childhood memories. Sometime around 1960 or so, my dad traded our old 1950 Ford Custom in on a white 1957 Chevy Bel-Air at a Chevy dealership in Pasadena, Texas. What a car it was. No center column between the front and rear windows made it unlike any other I had ever ridden in. We had that car when we moved to California in 1962, and kept it until it was traded on what was the first brand new car my dad ever bought . . . a 1964 Chevrolet Impala station wagon that served us for many years.


Inside the black '57 Bel-Air

The black Bel-Air and the yellow one below were parked today alongside some other vintage cars on Mainstreet (yes, spelled as one word) in Parker, Colorado at the weekly Farmer's Market. While both were fantastic vehicles, the interior of the black one had upholstery of the original design, while the yellow one had been altered significantly.


Yellow 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air in Parker

There were some other cars parked on Mainstreet as well, and I may share some photos of them in another post. Still, after I left the Farmers Market I ran across yet another 1957 Chevrolet in Parker. This on had a "For Sale" sign in the window, and was parked in a lot along Parker Road (Colorado 83). This one wasn't as sweet as the other two, as it wasn't fully restored, and is a more spartan model, featuring window columns and no rubber cones on the front bumpers. A sign in the window said the car was worth $18,000 NADA, but would be sold for $9,100 or best offer.


For Sale - 1957 Red Chevy

If I had the financial resources, I think I could really get into collecting old cars. Since that is not the case, I will just continue to take pictures of those I see that interest me.


1957 Chevy for sale - rear view

A Mini-Rant & A Road Food Burger

For about the last week or so, I have been steaming over the latest blatant disregard for the law by the Bush Administration. What's more, it seems that the very crowd who was calling for the impeachment of President Clinton over lying to a grand jury want to give a pass to "Scooter" Libby for doing the same thing. Well, not quite the same thing; Clinton lied about a personal sexual affair, while Libby lied and obstructed justice over a matter of national security and putting the life of a covert CIA agent in danger for politics. Still, as each day brings another way for the administration to use the desecrate the Constitution they pledged to uphold, I don't really want to go off on a rant today. So instead, let's talk food!

As any road geek will tell you, drive through burgers are a staple along the highways of America. Along the Colorado Front Range and a few other western locations, Goodtimes Burgers and Frozen Custard has introduced their version of the midwest classic White Castle burgers. Goodtimes calls theirs the Bambino Burger.




The Bambino Burger 3-Pack Sack

The Bambino comes alone, or in a 3-pack sack or 5-pack carton. Last week, I tried this little tasty burger and it was immaculately assembled and tasted great. Goodtimes makes its burgers from all-Natural, hormone free Coleman beef. So Friday night, I decided to grab a 3-pack and head home to enjoy another set of these minute morsels of beefy goodness.

Now the standard Bambino comes with meat, pickle slice, and a dollop of thousand-island type dressing. You can also add cheese. I like them best without the dressing, so I have them hold that and put the piece of cheese on mine. The meat is thicker than your standard White Castle slider. White Castle is not available in Colorado by the way, except as a frozen and boxed grocery store purchase. Unlike the slider, the Bambino also doesn't have the smattering of minced onion. Still, I think I prefer the Bambino over the White Castle product (yes, a heretical statement I know).

The Bambinos I got this round were just as tasty, but were a bit of a sloppy stack. They obviously were just thrown together, as they didn't have the professional and neat appearance of the ones from last week. Here is the best looking one of the trio I brought home with me. It was noticeably misshapen and one side of the bun was mashed a bit. These are very soft buns, but this one looked like it had been handled just a bit too roughly.


Bambino fresh from the bag!

Flipping the mini-sized treat open for inspection yielded this view of a bun toasted nicely on the inside, a ripple-cut pickle slice, a severly off-center piece of processed cheese, and a piece of hamburger meat that is not the uniform square cut of a White Castle. Since the cheese was somewhat melted from the heat of the meat, it stayed right where it was. To heck with aesthetics!


The Bambino laid bare.

Two and a half burgers and half a small pack of fries later, I was full. Molly the dog benefited with the last bite of Bambino and a couple of french fries. She gave it two paws up and seemed to thoroughly enjoy her share in the bounty.

I-No Longer-HOP

A former International House of Pancakes

The last half of the 20th Century was one where Americans began to travel by car more and more, as post-World War II prosperity and the resulting boom of babies saw families enjoying the sights across the United States. The Motor-Hotel or Motel became common; the Drive-In Theater allowed families to take the kids to the movies without ever leaving the car (as well as becoming the teen-aged "make out" venue of choice); and fast food in the form of drive-ins and drive throughs became popular. Other types of restaurants and shops also rode the automobile to roadside ubiquity. What boomer doesn't remember the ever-present Stuckey's by the side of the road, with its gift shop and restaurant; somewhat a forerunner of today's chains like Cracker Barrel. In the plains states, Nickerson Farms served a similar role.

One roadside restaurant franchise that has managed to survive to the present is IHOP, formerly the International House of Pancakes. From the time of its founding in 1958 to 1979, this restaurant chain was easily identifiable by its "A-frame" buildings. One thing I loved about them as a kid, but would absolutely sicken me today, was their chocolate chip pancakes covered in chocolate syrup. I am a chocolate lover, but that is just one big "YUCK" for me! In any case, IHOP has managed to stick around through morphing itself into a restaurant more like Denny's or Village Inn.

This venerable franchise holds a spot in recent American political rhetoric, thanks to Patrick Buchannan's joke at the 1992 GOP Convention, where he said that Bill Clinton's international policy experience "amounted to having once had breakfast at the International House of Pancakes".

While driving around the south Denver metro area, I came across this building that once housed an International House of Pancakes. I don't think it has been out of business for very long, since the letters IHOP can still be made out over the entrance where a sign once was mounted. It also has a DISH Network reflector antenna visible on the southwest corner of the building (seen in the photo above on the left). Apparently in its later days, this restaurant provided satellite television programming to its patrons.

With the real estate sign out front, I suspect this will soon be a used car sales office, or perhaps a taco joint in the near future. Still, there is something about this style of building that makes me think of chocolate chips and chocolate syrup!

An Interesting Bridge

Wood & steel suspension bridge on Apple Valley Road

There are many interesting sights along the highways and roads of Colorado. This is one I noticed at the intersection of US 36 (North St. Vrain Road) and Apple Valley Road (County Road 71N), just west of Lyons, Colorado. This view looks to the north from Apple Valley Road with US 36 crossing just on the other side.

This bridge doesn't appear to be very old. The construction is a combination of layers of bent wood for the suspension arches, and steel rods to hold up the road surface. I wonder though if it is truly a suspension bridge, or just an aesthetic addition to an older bridge, given the apparent age of the road surface. Yet, as you can tell from the close up below, there appears to be substantial bracing in the construction, more so than you would expect to find if the bridge structure wasn't truly supporting the road. This is why I think it is a real suspension bridge. In any case, it did catch my attention.


Close up of the bridge's steel and wood construction

The next picture shows the reason for the bridge's existence. This is the creek that the bridge crosses. This particular creek flows alongside US 36 as it makes its way down the mountain and onto the prairie east of Lyons.

The Stanley Hotel

US 36 approaching Estes Park, Colorado

One of my favorite towns is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park, Colorado is an interesting town that caters to tourists visiting the area. One landmark of note in the town is The Stanley Hotel, an historic venue that has played host to many dignitaries over the years; from Teddy Roosevelt to Steven King. It was staying at The Stanley that inspired King to create the fictional Overlook Hotel for his novel, "The Shining". The television miniseries of the same name was shot at The Stanley.


The magnificent Stanley Hotel sits by the Colorado Rocky Mountains

Driving into Estes Park, The Stanley is the largest man made structures you see. If it weren't for the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, the Stanley would overpower everything else in sight. Yesterday, I managed to get the shot above of the hotel complex from a distance, with the mountains and approaching storm clouds in the background. While the photo doesn't do the view justice, as with all of my pictures, you can click on them for a larger version.


The main building at The Stanley Hotel

The main building at the hotel is a huge structure featuring Georgian architecture. The hotel was founded by F. O. Stanley, inventor of the famed Stanley Steamer automobile. Stanley came to Estes Park to have a healing climate for his tuberculosis, and ended up building the hotel as a summertime resort, one of the first to have electricity and plumbing. An actual Stanley Steamer is displayed in the main lobby, and is a beautiful piece of early 20th Century transportation history.

As an sidebar, one thing that occasionally gets my attention is the cultural knowledge differences between people of different ages. My 17-year-old nephew and his same-aged buddy heard the rest of us talking about the Stanley Steamer. They couldn't figure out why we were so excited about seeing a vacuum cleaner! (For those who don't know, Stanley Steemer is a carpet cleaning franchise in the United States that advertises heavily on the television). So this turned into an educational moment for them.


An original Stanley Steamer

While the hotel has had a revival of interest since The Shining became popular, it is truly a piece of history. If you visit Estes Park, it is worth a stay. Barring that, at least be sure to visit this beautiful hotel just for the spectacular views and classic architecture. If you are lucky, you will be able to stay for one of the evenings of ghost stories presented by the hotel staff. Who's that wispy figure standing on the staircase?


Main Lobby staircase and elevator at The Stanley Hotel

Drive with care, and buy Sinclair!

The title of this post is an old advertising slogan for Sinclair gasoline. That is one of the brands that I remember from my childhood. I can remember the round Sinclair signs that had "H-C" in the middle. I seem to recall that the H-C stood for "High Compression", but I also have seen on the Internet that it was for "Houston Concentrate", its high octane motor fuel.

The Sinclair brand also plays a prominent role in another childhood memory. My family went to the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, where Sinclair sponsored a pavilion about dinosaurs. My sisters and I got plastic dinosaurs there that were injection molded on the spot by a machine the company had set up to dispense them. I wish I still had one, as I imagine they may have some collectible value today.

Many Sinclair outlets were rebranded as either ARCO or BP after the company was acquired by Atlantic-Richfield in 1969. In the 1970s, the brand and its apatasaurus logo made a resurgence in many western states, and today can be found once again along the American highway. Once in a while, one of the stations will still have a large dinosaur standing out front. Here is one that happens to have two of them!

Over the Independence Day holiday, my mom, sister, nephew, and a friend came up from Texas for a visit, that included a trip to the always stunning Garden of the Gods. Just outside the park lies the town of Manitou Springs, Colorado, home to the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. It was in Manitou Springs where two of the Sinclair dinos watch the traffic go into and out of this great little municipality.

The first one you notice is a bright green dinosaur looking out at the street. To his left and positioned sideways and in a stand of trees is a darker green version. These guys, like other advertising icons, have become more rare as time has taken its toll on them, along with the occasional theft of one from the front of a gasoline station. Still, I am glad to see that these two are still around.