A Mexican Supper

Yesterday, the day after Alejandro's arrival, I invited my cousin Gail, and her husband Wes, over to the house for supper.  Regular readers of my blog might remember that Gail is a third cousin from the Swiss branch of our family.  Incredibly, even though we live only ten minutes away from each other, we did not know of each other's existence until Gail stumbled upon my blog and read about my genealogical research.  The last time that Alejandro was up here for a visit, October of 2014, Gail and Wes had us over to their home.  Gail prepared an early Thanksgiving dinner so that Alejandro could experience our traditional holiday feast.  I wanted to return their gracious hospitality, so I prepared a five-course Mexican supper for them. 

I don't often give dinner parties, but when I do, I go all out.  I spent two days prior to Alejandro's arrival cooking up a storm. 

The table was set...

I even printed up menus written in Spanish and English to place at each setting.

 

 

The "chef" was ready for the guests to arrive.

 



We had a long leisurely dinner.  To drink we had "agua de jamaica"  (see my earlier post) and sangria.  We started with an appetizer of avocado tacos.  Then came "salmorejo", a cold tomato soup similar to gazpacho.  (OK, I cheated.  "Salmorejo" is Spanish not Mexican, but I figured that a cold soup would taste better in the summer.)  That was followed by "fideos al chipotle"... Mexican noodles with chipotle peppers.  The main course was my specialty, chicken "chilaquiles".  My "chilaquiles" are much more elaborate than what are typically served in restaurants.  It's a bit like lasagna in that there are layers of tortillas, chicken in salsa, sour cream, and cheese.  For dessert I simply served vanilla ice cream topped with "cajeta", a Mexican caramel sauce.

My "fideos" were a bit mushy, but otherwise, I was pleased with how everything turned out.  Everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy the meal, as we enjoyed our dinner conversation as we moved from one course to another.  However, it wasn't until after supper that I realized that I had forgotten to take pictures of the meal!

Oh well, here are a couple of pictures of us after filling our tummies with Mexican food!

Gail and Wes are great people, and I feel so fortunate to have made contact with them... through this blog!!