When the colorful hot air balloons fill the turquoise sky en masse, they herald the changing of the seasons and all the holiday joys that are soon to follow. Isn’t it amazing that this year is already coming to a close?!

At the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 2017

I was able to crew for a balloon team again this year for 6 out of the 9 days. This year was exceptional; having good weather 8 out of the 9 days (plus no major balloon accidents) and record crowds made for one amazing time. I just love Balloon Fiesta; I grew up attending every year, and being able to participate on a team is kinda a big deal for me. I had to pinch myself a couple times when I stopped working for a second just to take it all in! Here are a few pics from this year:

Photo courtesy Daniel Liberti. Balloons that fly over the Rio Grande river often do a ‘splash n’ dash’ where the pilot will actually touch the water’s surface with the basket. The balloon in the foreground is the one I crew for.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Liberti.

Got vertigo yet? I was helping the pilot try to navigate to a target on the Fiesta grounds. The white rectangle you can see in the photo is one of several targets.

Did you know that competitive Hot-Air Ballooning is a ‘thing’? Yep it’s true, and since Albuquerque hosts the largest international Hot-Air Balloon gathering in the world, the world’s top pilots come out to compete. They have to either hit designated targets by throwing a bean bag from the basket, or fly close enough to the top of 30 ft. poles to either grab keys (usually to a brand new vehicle) or place a hoop over the top. Mind you now, there is no way to really ‘steer’ a hot air balloon in the conventional sense. The only thing the pilot can control is up or down. So how on earth can they fly their balloons to targets? Pilots become extremely adept at reading the winds. Winds in the earth’s atmosphere often blow in different directions at different altitudes. So the pilots gage the winds and use them to blow the balloon to where they want to go by floating in different air currents. It’s pretty amazing really. And I have to brag, because my pilot came in 6th place among over 250 pilots competing this year!

Your Feedback and a Winner for the Crock Pot

Those of you who submitted feedback surveys- you guys rock! Thanks from the bottom of my heart. The results have been fascinating; you guys told me what you want and what’s important to you. In the future you will see more time-saving weeknight recipes, nutrition info for my recipes, desserts and more healthy recipes too! What’s funny is that dessert recipes and healthy recipes were tied for the type of foods people wanted to see more of; I can so relate to that! I want to eat healthy meals, but I also like to relax after dinner with a delectable dessert on my plate!

As for the lucky reader who ended up with the Crock Pot~ it went to Heather M. from Los Lunas New Mexico! Congratulations Heather and thanks again for taking the time to give me your feedback!

Between crewing for Fiesta and trying to finish up writing my cookbook I know I’ve been sparse with posting recipes over the last few weeks. Writing this book is consuming my life (holy smokes it’s a lot of work!) and I look forward to when the project is completed and I can get back to sharing weekly recipes with all of you my wonderful readers! Please hang on and be patient with me, I will try to post recipes as often as I can through the holidays. New Mexican Food Made Easy should be up for pre-order within the next couple weeks-still aiming for a Thanksgiving launch. So keep an eye on your inbox, I’ll be letting everyone know when it will be available!