it’s been a couple of years since i met susan warder on the bluffs of mendocino.
she lives in albuquerque so we got together for a proper meet-up today.
i tried to disguise my glee when she suggested we go to her house for lunch instead of golden pride for a breakfast burrito. NOT that i would have objected too strenuously to that option. not at all!
but who wouldn’t want some fresh baked bread toast, homemade tangerine marmalade, and a nice cup of black tea WITH a red chile enchilada plate chaser?
who?!
what a pleasure to have an extended time to visit with susan. i sat at the kitchen table while she poured the soaked whole red chiles into the blender and whirred up an incredible smelling sauce.
then she chopped onion, tomatoes, cabbage, and grated some cheese.
i pored over her sketchbooks as the aromatic pot of chile sauce bubbled away on the stove.
aren’t these watercolor sketches divine? i’m crazy about the crosshatching in the top 2 sketches, and the shading on those garlic bulbs!
in the new-mexican tradition the enchiladas were layered not rolled. glossy melted cheese, onions, ladles of thick sauce. a crunchy cabbage chopped for the top along with some smoky sweet tomatoes.
i savored each sublimely delicious bite there in susan’s kitchen. the atmosphere was comforting, warm, charming.
eating and talking. these are good things to do.
on the way back to dottie’s, we went by the farmer’s market so i could pick up some medium red chile powder and a bag of blue corn meal. back to los angeles tomorrow with a suitcase full of culinary treasure and recipes.
hope a special someone somewhere is cooking YOU up something tasty for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. if not, you better don your apron and rustle up something for yourself.
see you soon friends.
What a lovely weekend you had! Thank you for taking us along. 🙂
What a grand time you are having. Her watercolors were wonderful! The food divine! Travel on my friend!
Everyone should have a skilled photographer documenting their daily life. It looks so special in vignettes. Mary Ann has an extraordinary photographer’s eye, both with a camera lens and pen and paint.
Get an eye full of the colour of the blue plate, with its delicious contents.. Home made marmalade!ahhh to die for!
Drooling here in the OC, so happy for you and thankful for your sharing. ♥
Oh wow! You are getting spoiled real hard! Love it! The food looks droolworthy, the sketches are so awesome, and the garlic seems Van Gogh’ish to me…or am I crazy? The brown ink is perfection! And I love that little pop of color in her hair. She’s talented, and trendy too. Thanks for sharing it all with your fan club, MAM.
I know those hands as if they were my own, and that tablecloth and that face. She got new napkins. Lucky you. Lucky Wardie.
OMG! MAM you are killing me (and please don’t stop) with all your wonderful travel adventures and homemade goodie pics! And great artistic friends to boot!
What an awesome day, tangerine marmalade, sketchbook watercolors, and homemade enchiladas… life is good in New Mexico! xox