Monday at the Mission

Monday, Feb 20…

Well & Chapel (Jim Shoemaker/SmugMug)

So today we visited Mission San Jose, the 2^nd oldest mission in San Antonio (the “Alamo” was actually the first - established as a mission in 1718, secularized in 1793 and then abandoned. Ten years later, it became a military fortress. This is when it was first called the Alamo.) Anyway… the purpose of the missions was to convert the indigenous people to Catholicism, teach them Spanish and European lifestyle skills, and then count them as Spanish citizens (all this as part of the Spanish effort to gain independence from Mexico). 
The community included housing (2-room apts) for about 350 natives, 2 wells, several acres for crops, and a huge storehouse/
granary. Livestock grazed outside the walls. Franciscan monks who managed the mission lived in a separate dormitory. San José gained a reputation as a major social and cultural center and was often referred to as the “Queen of Missions.” The complex of stone walls, bastions, and church was completed by 1782 (and restored as part of the WPA in the 1930s). In 1794 the land was returned to the Indians, and by 1824 all “mission” activities had ended. The church, however, is still an active parish, very popular for weddings.

"Apartments" and Oven

 Sanctuary Chancel 

I love how the older live oaks kiss the ground.

(just a pretty cactus)

...still 15 min on the timer.

After the mission visit we drove to the Pioneer Flour Mills Estate to have lunch at the Guenther House. Pioneer Mills is the oldest business w/ continuous family ownership in Texas (and 63^rd in the U.S.). The restaurant is housed in the original Guenther family home. Good meal, and we picked up several items from their bakery to share w/ our hosts when we joined them for dinner. (See photo. We have a 3-burner gas stove, but no oven. No problem - the microwave has a convection mode. I have never used convection anything. Greg & I  both read the baking section of the manual at least twice w/o being at all convinced we knew what to do. Lemon squares have a shortbread crust and a foamy egg-sugar topping. A regular oven doesn't care how different these are, but the convection did - big time. The crust bakes first, and that seemed to go well, but halfway through the 2nd baking, the top was already this badly caramelized/carbonized. Fortunately, the Guenther House Bakery options were more than adequate.) 

BlogThoughts… It’s been 40 years since I left the East Coast, and I’ve always said the 2 things I missed most were fireflies and thunderstorms. Last night we had the mother of all thunderstorms here in San Antonio. The wind and rain lasted about an hour, and for a good 40 minutes of that we had almost constant sheet lightning. Far more lightning than thunder, but when the thunder came it was loud and long. I suppose that’s what I should expect from a Texas thunderstorm. Loved it! (Greg took a video, but it’s just bright/dark/bright/dark…)