7th Anniversary Celebration

April 26, 2009 - Seven Years

It's gone by so fast! Seven fantastic years with so many great experiences. And woven through all those good times are memories of getting together with family and friends for great meals. We decided the best way to celebrate our anniversary would be to cook for the people we love. We were inspired by our trip to Taos and tried our best to recreate the flavors we enjoyed there.

We had such a great time, and everyone was so generous it was almost embarrassing! Paul got a fantastic Mont Blanc pen from Alex and Gloria and he's been using it every day since. He says it writes beautifully. And my jewelry!! I had something new and beautiful to wear at work every day the following week.

Chris and Lena gave us an electronic picture frame that we loaded pictures into the next day. It's such a nice way to display pictures -- so much better than albums of prints. And speaking of pictures, Ryan had two pictures he's taken recently printed on canvas. One is of the ocean at Big Sur (black and white) and the other is a picture of Red Rock with colors so vibrant it looks like a lava flow down the mountain. We took them the next day to have the canvas stretched over frames.

And how about those chickens: bowls with chickens, a wooden puppet-type rooster (sitting on our television now), fluffy little chicks (on the mantle), a chicken made from grape vines (for Paul), rooster candle holders--there would be more, but Joshua told his mom that she could buy NO MORE CHICKENS.

We can't thank you all enough for being part of our lives. We are very grateful to have you.

THE DINNER
We decided to remember the dinner and our guests by photographing groups of people with each course.

Alex and Gloria
Appetizer: Blue Corn Tortillas served with chipotle honey butter, black beans, grilled corn, avocado, pico de gallo, and cotija cheese

We decided to try to make the tortillas we ordered at Grahams Restaurant in Taos. Theirs were definitely better, but Paul's chipotle honey butter was just as good. We served Perrier-Jouet champagne to start.

Chris and Lena

Soup Course: Patricia Quintana's Yucatan Lime and Chicken Soup

It's funny that we chose Chris and Lena for the soup course -- Chris is such a MEAT guy!

Freshly roasted tomatoes were used to make the base of this simple chicken soup. Garnished with cilantro from our garden (which now has a very nice flavor), it had a clean, fresh taste, with some nice richness at the same time. http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/yucatan-lime-and-chicken-soup


Angel and Ryan

Third Course: Green chili and corn risotto served with jicama-orange salad

Risotto is always one of Paul's favorites so we include it in many of our dinners. This one had the authentic flavors of New Mexico. The green chilies and pepper-jack cheese added some nice spice. The raw salad was a nice compliment to the creamy risotto.

Paul and Janette

Main Course: Pork Tenderloin with roasted tomatillo and mushroom sauce

We've made the pork before, but this was the best we've ever done. It was tender and moist and the flavors of the rub were perfect. The roasted tomatillo and mushroom sauce, with a serious kick from chipotle chiles, was HOT but really yummy.

The Kids - Joshua, Roxanne, Cierra, Nataly, and Alex

Dessert: Tres Leches Cake, Fresh Berry Crisp, Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream with Hazelnut Pralines (Yum)

Everyone loves the Tres Leches Cake--especially Lena! It's light and creamy with loads of wonderful fruit throughout. But dessert didn't stop there. We started making a fresh berry crisp years ago and it's always been one of Angel's favorites. Topped with the homemade ice cream, it was so good. Gloria said the ice cream was the best she's ever had. Of course, that was after she'd had some wine, but we'll take the compliment anyway. It's about as rich as it gets (made with seven egg yolks and lots of cream).

The Romantic Finale

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Roxanne wanted to make chocolate-covered strawberries for the party. Angel looked high and low for the prettiest strawberries and she said everyone helped with the dipping. They were delicious with the dark chocolate over the juicy berries. Paul ate the leftovers the next day.

It was a great time and we're looking forward to our next get-together. Chris and Lena's anniversary is in September . . .

And looking forward to Mike and Lauren coming this week (we're working up another menu right now).

Be sure to cast your vote on names for the chickens!

A late wintertime: Taos and Santa Fe Vacation

Janette had a work meeting in Taos, so after her work was done we made a vacation of it. I enjoyed meeting her boss and coworkers, and New Mexico was great. Everywhere we ate the food was fantastic.

The event, however, was the weather. We were excited the first morning when wet snow clung to the trees. It was beautiful. Then the second morning brought six inches with a light snowfall continuing through the day. It meant that we couldn't do the hikes we planned; we did a little more touring in the car and visiting shops and restaurants.

And more restaurants. Taos is loaded with great restaurants. Greatest plates?

• We had bacon ice cream—yes! bacon!—at Joseph's Table. (To be precise, I had bacon ice cream; Janette tasted it and let me have the rest. . . she's so generous with me.)
• We had a great green chile posole at Graham's Grill (and the most simple and wonderful tortillas, too).
• Everything was good at Damon's.

We went up the mountain to Taos Ski Valley (the photo above is at the river along the way), and out to the Rio Grande Gorge. When she took this photo at the gorge, Janette kept telling me "just one more step back and one more step to the left..."

The last night in Taos, Janette stubbed her toe bad enough to break it, but she refused to let it stop her from walking all over Sante Fe. Our tour of Santa Fe included the oldest church in the United States (c. 1610) the oldest house in the United States* (c. 1646) conveniently located across the street from the oldest church), a museum or two, at least three rug dealers, and two great restaurants: La Casa Sena, and the Coyote Cafe. Ice cream highlight at the Coyote Cafe, where we had the seven (small) scoops that made up their sampler? Janette might tell you otherwise, but the basil ice cream was the best. The photo here is Janette next to the very very old adobe bricks of the oldest house.

Best souvenirs:

• The handmade, wood-fired pottery tangine from Logan Wannamaker in Taos.
• The three antique prints from Rev. F.O. Morris's Nests and Eggs (1866) that we found in a great antique maps and prints shop in Taos.

We also had a nice half-day in Albuquerque, where Janette showed me the parts of town she's gotten familiar with on her trips for work. I liked it quite a lot, actually.

Nice to get home, though.

*Note: i.e., oldest house built by a European, and probably in third place in that category, too.

Chicken Casita

I am so excited! We have been talking about getting chickens for so long and we've finally done it.

Two big boxes arrived during the week and Paul and I spent Saturday morning putting together the chicken casita (it's too cute to be called a coop). It is really well made and was easy to assemble. It has a slide-out drawer under the perches so cleaning will be a breeze. The nest box has a lift-up lid that makes for easy egg collecting.

Now all we need are the chickens. We've ordered the breed called "Easter Eggers" and they lay blue and green eggs -- and sometimes even pink. We're getting 3 of them and Paul has picked names: Kitty, Doggy, and Fishy. They're scheduled to arrive May 26th as one-day-old chicks. I'll take a couple days off work and Roxanne said she would spend the night with me and help take care of them when they first arrive. We're going to have a great time!