Santa Fe -- The Food

OMG, our first meal on the road to Santa Fe nearly killed me! We stopped at the Pepper Pot in Hatch, NM, the chile capitol of the world. I had a Christmas plate -- an enchilada and chile relleno with both red and green sauce. Sandy and I each took a bite together and I said, "It has a bit of a kick." Then at exactly the same time the heat hit us and we started choking and grabbing for our water. Beth thought it was hilarious, but I literally thought I would die!

Beth saved the day by sharing her sour cream with us, and I coated each bite with sour cream and guacamole to tone down the heat. It was delicious.

After our group met up in Santa Fe, our first order of business was dinner at La Choza. The wait was about an hour, but it was worth it.

We were seated on a patio full of bright colors and plants, and this time I was more cautious with that first bite. It was spicy but not flammable, and I made sure to order sour cream with it. Best of all was the basket of sopapillas that came with our meal. Sopapillas are big puffs of fried dough and you tear off a corner and pour honey into it. To die for, but in a sweet way! Below is my enchilada and relleno plate with posole, Spanish rice and salad.

We had our coffee and breakfast on the patio looking out over a phenomenal view of the New Mexico hills. We decided ahead of time that no one wanted to cook, so we just brought our own breakfast fixings (cottage cheese, blueberries and almonds for me) and ate out for our other meals. One restaurant meal a day was enough because we used leftovers for the third meal.

Here's the view from the patio:

The next day we wandered around downtown and then four of us had lunch at Cafe Pasqual's with the turquoise door while Beth and Kathie drank their lunch at a wine tasting.

Inside it was festive and our food was divine. I broke from my New Mexican meals by having avocado toast with poached eggs, turkey bacon and some amazing roasted sweet potatoes.

Next day we hit the road north for Taos, where we had another patio meal at La Cueva. It was green enchiladas for me under a bright umbrella and views of colorful hollyhocks.

We went back to La Choza for our last restaurant meal and toasted a very fun trip -- our first road trip together.

We played Mahjong in the evenings with wine and chocolate. Beth also brought fixings for s'mores, but we were too lazy to start a fire in the outdoor fireplace. Nor did we ever get around to using the hot tub because we were usually too full to get into bathing suits!

Then it was back on the road to Tucson, where we stopped for lunch at Sparky's at Hatch. That was quite the experience. Colorful signs and memorabilia everywhere, and a line out the door. 

More to come on the art and other attractions.

Have a colorful day