New Mexico Grub - Most Like It Hotttt

I like spicy food.

Prior to my relationship with The Gentleman, most of the spicy food I consumed came from Japanese, Thai, and other Asian cuisines. Southwestern spice, however, is very different from the flat spice of wasabi or the pinprick slow burn of Thai chili peppers. Southwestern food is fiery and flavorful, less vinegary than other hot spices. At least to my beginner's palate.

But what I've learned is that I not only like spicy food, I really like spicy food. I'm slowly getting more and more daring, choosing the two chili pepper option after finding I'm used to the one chili pepper option. Not quite yet onto three chilies, but give me time.

We did not go to Tijuana. But the restaurant wanted us to think we did.

 The first place we went to was Frontier, and the first thing I ordered was (of course) huevos rancheros. I have since come to decide that I. Love. Huevos. Rancheros.

I mean, what's not to like?! It's eggs, veggies, tortillas, cheese, and spicy. All awesome things that, when thrown together on a large plate, become EVEN MORE AWESOME.

Huevos rancheros awesomeness.

 On the morning of our failed balloon ride, The Gentleman took me to Flying Star to cheer me up. It worked, because I ordered this:

Breakfast hash with organic red quinoa, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, peppers and onions, and a poached egg.  I have got to try this at home.

During our brief afternoon visit to Santa Fe, we did get to go to The Shed for lunch. It's apparently where famous people hang out. We didn't see anyone famous (this time), but we did have a pretty incredible meal:

Carne Adovada Plate - 
Pieces of lean pork slow-roasted in a marinade of Shed red chile, garlic and oregano. One rolled blue corn enchilada filled with cheddar cheese, onion, covered with red chile & baked. Served with pinto beans & posole

To clarify, posole is a Mexican stew made with pork and hominy. That's those little yellowy bits at about 11 o'clock on the plate. Those little yellowy bits were delightful.

And it was here, at The Shed, that I experienced the most delightful margarita. I am not, per say, a huge fan of margaritas. I don't love sour mix, and most margarita mixes are somehow too sweet for me. But the bartender made me a margarita that featured St. Germain as a primary ingredient. I LOVE St. Germain! And it really did make quite a difference - it was sweet enough to balance the sourness, but not overly sweet. And it tasted fantastic with tequila.

Here is where a Fun Embarrassing Story comes into play. The bartender, who was quite amicable and lovely despite the fact that the restaurant was one like an hour and a half wait (FOR LUNCH, mind you), asked me how I liked my drink after I'd tasted it. I told him that St. Germain is basically one of my most favorite drinks, and he asked if I had ever tried a drink called "Death in the Afternoon?" Champagne, he said, and St. Germain, a candied cherry, and then something else that I didn't quite catch. I hadn't tried "Death in the Afternoon," as it turned out. But I would keep that in mind.

Wellp, because we were on vacation, The Gentleman and his family decided to order another round of margaritas with lunch. Being an adventurous person always seeking to broaden my horizons, I asked the server for a "Death in the Afternoon" cocktail. He sort of looked at me strangely, and I explained: "The bartender mentioned it?" He nodded and went over to the bar, and I saw the bartender look puzzled at first, but then over at me, and gave me a mischievous thumbs' up.

The other, normal, margaritas arrived at the table. "What did you order?" everyone wanted to know. Something with St. Germain and champagne, I said, because I didn't think I could drink any more tequila and still sightsee around Santa Fe all afternoon.

The bartender himself brought me my drink - a champagne flute filled with some sort of clearish green liquid, and a side split of champagne. "People don't usually order these for lunch!" he exclaimed, and I was just about to lament the lack of champagne lunches when The Gentleman politely asked what the green liquid was in my glass.

"That," the bartender said, setting down my flute and pouring champagne into the glass on top of the green liquid, "is the absinthe! Well, and some St. Germain in there too." He set the champagne split, now half-empty, down next to my full champagne glass. "Enjoy!" he exclaimed. "The last time I drank these was with my now-ex-girlfriend. We each had two and took a six hour nap."

So there I was, at a nice lunch in Santa Fe with my boyfriend and his parents, and I had just ordered an absinthe cocktail.

How classy.

The Gentleman seemed to find it hilarious. "Absinthe. You ordered absinthe."

"I DID NOT I ORDERED CHAMPAGNE WITH ST. GERMAIN IN IT!"

"Yes, of course. And it happens to come with absinthe as well."

"I ORDERED A 'DEATH IN THE AFERNOON!'"

"Well, you got one."

I tried to generously share my drink around the table, but no one was clearly as stupid brave as I was or was looking to expand their horizons. So I expanded my own horizon. All the way into an hour-long nap on the car ride home.

This is a "Death in the Afternoon." It's delicious. And by all means, order it. But possibly not at lunch. With your boyfriend's parents.

Adventures in Santa Fe

I was really, really excited to visit Santa Fe. 

I've heard nothing but good things about the city, and had visions of artists' enclaves, cow skulls, dried chili pepper decor, silver jewelry, and excellent margaritas dancing in my head.

Apparently my prior assumptions were quite accurate:

But, lest you think that it's all chili peppers and cow skulls, rest assured that it's much, MUCH more.

Like....corn!

And...baskets!

And....old ladies!

But it's not all indigenous, crafty artwork. There's the New Mexico Museum of Art which features contemporary art next to historic art. Like these columns outside of the museum:

The buildings have beautiful architecture as well. The beautiful Hotel Santa Fe has these internal glass-paned panels that separate off an atrium restaurant. The panes are all hand-painted with various designs and New Mexican motifs:

There are sculptures EVERYWHERE:

And, of course, hand-crafted goods such as this black cherry goat replica of Andre the Giant's boots.

For reference: my feet next to Andre the Giant's boots.

There are panels:

And colorful opinions:

And then there's Canyon Road. 

Canyon Road is a winding stretch of road in Santa Fe lined with hundreds of art galleries, boutiques, sculpture gardens, and restaurants. And, of course, twee adobe homes built in classic southwest fashion:

I made a friend.

We only had a limited amount of time in Santa Fe, and decided to make a quick trip to see the famous Santa Fe Opera House. I would LOVE. To go see an opera there. 

Typical New Mexican art on a highway overpass.

The crunchy in me is happy with this sign.

Not a bad view from the opera parking lot.

Unfortunately, we were there in the middle of the day on a Monday, and thus did not get to see the actual opera. We did see the fence:

and will-call....

and the parking lot.

Still - isn't it beautiful?!

And thus: Santa Fe in an afternoon. 

The World's Longest Suspended Tram Ride - Sandia Peak Tramway

OK, Wikipedia tells me that I'm lying about it being the longest. Apparently, it's the world's third longest. Oops. Fact checking FTW!

We timed the tram ride perfectly to coincide with the sunset. It was a beautiful, clear day and while it was a delightful 60-something degrees at the base (which is, by the way, still over 5,000 feet above sea level), it was roughly 23 degrees at the top, which is a good 10,000 feet. I had packed for Mexico, and not vast variances in temperature, and thus ended up having to wear two sweatshirts (one of which belonged to The Gentleman) underneath my light spring trench. We didn't spend all that much time outside once we got to the top. Anyway, the real treat of the experience is the ride itself.

For about $20 per person, you can purchase a round-trip ticket on the Sandia Peak Tramway. It starts at the base of the Sandia Mountains just at the edge of Albuquerque. The unit at the base reminded me a lot of The Funicular in Prague, except this thing is suspended from cables, not running on a track. It's probably best not to think too much about the mechanics of this until you're back, safely, on the ground. Or maybe you're one of those people who feels safer when you understand every detail. Either way, here are some basic things you should know:

This is where you'll start. This image was taken as we were returning safely to port.

This is what the cable cars look like. This was an oncoming car. The Sandia Tramway is a "double reversible jigback aerial tramway" which is also a move perfected by Olympic gymnasts, but basically means that the tram cars have to move in unison with one ascending as the other is descending.

This is what a tram car looks like as it's headed back down to home port from the top.

These are the giant fixtures, placed periodically along the climb, that hold up the cables. There are no access roads up the mountain sides, and so most of these fixtures were built by helicopter. That kind of freaked me out, so I decided not to think about it too much.

These super-strong cables are the only things supporting you hundreds of feet in the air and preventing you from crashing into the side of the mountain. Don't worry - they're pretty strong.

This is one of the giant wheels that supports the double reversible jigback aerial tramway. Don't touch it.

I am not afraid of heights, and I didn't really have a problem with the tram ride, but I can easily see how it would be intimidating for some. But however freaked out you may be by the thought of being suspended hundreds of feet above a desolate mountain landscape in a tin can by a triplet of strong wires, the view is pretty freaking fantastic. And, once you get moving, it's a pretty smooth ride.

Passing the other tram car at the midway point.

Our shadow on the mountainside.

Icicles dripping down the mountain side nearer the top. It's cold up here.

View of Albuquerque from the top of Sandia Mountains.

See, now, we just came up THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, so I was sort of prepped for mountainous terrain for the last 30 minutes....

The cables from whence we came.

The top of Sandia Mountain in this area is actually the back side of a ski resort that runs on the other side of the mountain. It was past ski season by the time we were there in late March, but some snow remained.

They show you this at the top of the mountain....in the little port area where you wait to board the tram running back down. Soooooo, there's roughly a bit less than 4" of cabling holding that tram aloft. Awesome.

Don't molest the animals.

There is another feature of this particular double reversible jigback aerial tramway system that should be pointed out, and that is the High Finance Restaurant at the top. We enjoyed appetizers (cocktail shrimp and spinach artichoke dip) and some cocktails. Which brings up another important point about high altitude.

Not only is working out more difficult at high altitudes, so is drinking. I ordered a martini (Ketel One, straight up) which was dumb. At the High Finance Restaurant, you are 10,378 feet above sea level. If you're not used to it, one drink is about the equivalent of three. Also, breathing is not easy. Also, we had 2 rounds of drinks. It was not pretty.

Boarding the tram to head back down. After two drinks at 10,000+ feet, the ride down seemed a bit faster. Or maybe that was gravity. I don't know.

Moon peaking over the edge

Back safely at the base port.

 Stay tuned for: Adventures in Santa Fe, and New Mexican eats and bevs!