Food – From Wyoming, with love

Southwestern Dreamin’ – Things to do in Santa Fe

September 2, 2015 2 Comments

Weekend before last, we took a couple of days off of work and took a trip down to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The real occasion was the annual SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market, but with the end of summer quickly approaching (cringe), it was a great way to soak up some last-minute southwestern warmth and relaxation. Jesse’s mom and sister are both incredibly talented professional artists, and they have Northern Arapaho roots. The Santa Fe Indian Market is a long-standing tradition for Jackie, as she has participated for around 25 years. The family also gets to reconnect with some of their best crazy Indian friends (I can say that, because I’m family, right)? Anyway, this was my first time spending any time in Santa Fe, and it was even better than I expected. It’s kind of a sleepy little town, full of art and romance, chilis, pops of color and southwestern style. Its high-desert climate was surprisingly more similar to Wyoming than Phoenix, but with nights warm enough to sleep outside. I was amazed by the consistency of the adobe architecture, and the way the houses literally blend into the landscape.

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Here are some of my favorites and recommendations from the trip.

Thai Curry Chicken Stuffed Peppers

First, let me start by saying that I don’t consider myself to be an awesome cook. I mean, I have a few go-to meals that I think are delicious and require a little bit of throwing together. But if you asked me who’s the better cook between Jesse and I, I would vote for him 8 days a week. He has the patience of a saint, which I do not. He’s also watched a lot (all) of Good Eats and America’s Test Kitchen, so he knows a lot about food technique. I’m more of a Top Chef kinda gal. I watch for the entertainment and to drool over the dishes, not to actually learn how to cook.

That being said, I am SO thankful to have a husband who is creative and awesome at cooking, and I have been able to (reluctantly) step out of my comfort zone to try to come up with new ideas, and improve on dishes that we’ve done in the past. That isn’t to say that we are always successful when we try to spice something up, we’ve had our flops. Which is why sometimes, I tell Jesse “if it’s already good, don’t f*#% with it!”. So I was a taaad bit skeptical when we found a recipe for buffalo ranch stuffed peppers and decided to make it something completely different than what it was supposed to be, because we were missing about 80% of the ingredients that it called for. Whoops. I do have to give credit to Kelly at Primally Inspired for the original recipe inspiration though because…

OH. MY. GOD. Did this turn out awesome!!