Well, being cinco de mayo, we felt it was our responsibility to partake in some tequila since we had already bought wild salmon, asparagus and potatoes for dinner. And our friend Nancy had highly recommended margaritas at Maria’s here in Santa Fe. So Maria’s it was.
But first, there was laundry to do, emails to check, the paper to read, a walk to take. Our hosts left a map that showed a trail to downtown (the plaza) in 15 minutes so we took it. It included a dried creek bed. Too cool. I took some pictures. I’ll add them at the end of this epistle.
We walked to the plaza and snooped around some of the stores. Let’s see…we found a shirt for $125 made in China. Now, what is wrong with that picture. We found a pig sculpture that hangs on the wall (just the head, really) for $150. Hand made by a local artist. After doing that for awhile, we decided to hike back uphill to the house and get the car and go to Maria’s.
Maria’s was a bit disappointing. They had people in the entry hawking their wares. But we entered anyway. Nancy said it was good. The place was near empty. We figured on cinco de mayo, the place would be teeming with lift. Uh, uh. After engaging the waiter, we settled on a Silver Deluxe and a Horny Toad (that was mine). Now, margaritas are not cheap when they are made with the finest tequila on the planet. They ran from $6.00 to $48 a drink. We settled on $9.00 and $9.50 respectfully. The chips were too salty (all the more you’ll want to drink, we suspect). The salsa was hot but probably out of a jar. We ordered a quesadilla to share (it was 1:30 p.m. and time for lunch). The quesadilla was just so-so. The margarita’s were absolutely fabulous!!!!! The pictures above are of Ray before the margarita, half way through the margarita and after the margarita!!
After lunch I was blitzed. OMG. This one drink sent me to the moon!!! It’s 4:11 p.m. and I’m still blitzed. Wowie zowie. Ray swore he wasn’t drunk. Let’s put it this way. Someone had to drive home and it wasn’t me. We stopped on the way and gathered provisions for tomorrow night’s dinner (pork tinga ala Rick Bayless’s website). Wandering the aisles of Whole Foods has never been more fun. We got home safe and sound. But there was dinner for tomorrow to make. I had everything but Worchester sauce. So, Ray had to go for that to a nearby market. While he was gone, I browned the meat and chorizo, sliced the onion, minced the garlic, added the tomatoes and the red potatoes, added the chipotle, the salt etc. No sign of Ray. I called him. No signal. He finally returned with the Worchester sauce and a tale of woe. Thank goodness he wasn’t in the local jail. And all that on a margarita!! Via la Mexico.
Did you know that Cinco de Mayo was end the Mexican -French war? I didn’t. Now I do. And so do you!!! Imagine if France would have prevailed? The cuisine would be fabulous!! It’s the last time a European army has invaded Mexico. And when France invaded, Napolean III was still a general. Wow.
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