Clean out the cyber-fridge post

Once again, my complete neglect of this blog is resulting in a lame-o post featuring photos of things I ate over the last month but can't remember exactly how I made them. Sorry, friends. I know it seems like I'm saying "Na-na-na-nah-naaah" but I'm not. I wish I could eat these things again too.
This, obviously, is not something I made. Joe and I ate late lunch at a Vietnamese/pan-Asian joint in Green Valley, AZ, after our day at the Sonoran Desert Museum. I always order bun with spring rolls.
My mom and I made kolacky cookies the last time she was in town. These are almond filled.
The highlight of this meal is the quinoa "pilaf" that featured almonds and cucumbers.

Spinach pockets from my East-West Mennonite cookbook.
Homemade Sweet Potato Gnochi with "manager's special" Buitoni Pesto, pinenuts and diced roma tomato.

Arizona outback

We went to Arizona from Feb. 8 to 11 to visit Nan and to soak in a little sun and seem some friendly cacti. Like this one, which we found while on a private Jeep tour.
Here's my mom, looking cute. Dad, tour guide Jim and Nan are in the background.
There was this little pink cooler sitting under Jim's seat the whole time. I assumed it was his personal snack.
Turns out it was a tarantula, which Joe insisted I photograph while he held it. Not close enough, he says.

Arizona food

First stop after getting off the plane: lunch at Lerua's mexican restaurant for some green tamales and horchata. The tamales were the right flavor, but unfortunately mine had a bunch of corn husk mashed up in it, making the texture seem like I was eating cream of wheats with a cup of shredded paper in it!

Horchata-- a mexican drink made from pulverized white rice, cinnamon and sugar. Hit the spot! Notice my small, dad's medium and Joe's large horchatas.

Another meal we had was at a Japanese buffet.... we got there about 15 minutes before the buffet was supposed to end, so we got all our food at once. Pretty good, for a buffet.