red chile in the sun

Raw material of awesome spice. Be ready for packing in no time.

First batch of red chile done

JD, Crescencio and Jd

Juvenile Horny Toad

Found him in a sandy area, he was mostly beige and started to change color as I held him.

Crescencio, JD and Cheno setting the red chile out to dry

First red chile to get set out to dry this season.

close up of immature goathead thorns

One plant probably will create hundreds of individual thorns which are actually seed pods. They stick into pretty much everything (tires, shoes, feet, dogs, cats...) and get carried everywhere.

Typical goat head thorn plant spread.

Put a quarter down to show scale. This is a young plant. not big with thorns still green.

goathead thorn plant

Goat head thorns will cover as much are as you let them. Which means they are pretty much everywhere.

goathead sticker

These things are everywhere. I'm so happy they don't grow around here.

Cheno with Crescencio's sunglasses and cap

G G G G unit !!!

Close up of medicine man interior

I got one of these on the suggestion of Cheno. Good call. It was so good. I could only eat half that afternoon.

Interior of the medicine man

Took a bite out of to show the inside. The menu is a standard 8 X 10 sheet of paper (to show scale).

Medicine Man burrito being put together.

Medicine Man $5.49
Steak, Chicken, Bacon, Potato, Green Chile, Milanesa, Cheese

Sante Fe Grill kitchen area

There is a Sante Fe Grill in most Pic Quik convenience stores. She is making some "medicine man" burritos. One of those is mine :).

Katana Teppanyaki Grill - steak and chicken hibachi

Food was good. Didn't do the volcano though

Katana Teppanyaki Grill - its so bright during the day

Other diners at lunch.

inside the sopapilla

you can see the inside of the sopapilla here. these were really good. hot, flakey, crispy. just delicious by themselves or with a bit of honey

My niece Sara taking a bite of a hot sopapilla

Still too hot to hold. :)

nellie's cafe made to order sopapillas

these were too hot to eat when they got to the table.

Nellie's cafe green chile combo plate #8

Plate consisted of 1 chile relleno, 1 taco, 1 green echilada, 1 serving of green chile meat, 1 serving each of rice and beans. So awesome.

the goods.

I think this was an enchilada combo plate

Are you OK man

I like the look of concern from the local citizenry.

whoa

wow that was hot.

Nellie's cafe menu

there is a recurring theme of animated sentient chilies

nellie's cafe green salsa

This salsa was also very good. Notice the lack of tomatoes and the abundance of green chile (not tomatillos). So good. So hot.

outside nellie's cafe

at some point, the plain cinder block exterior was dressed up with this stonework. luckily, it didn't affect the quality of the food ;)

nellie's cafe

nellie's cafe at the original hadley location. Note that they are closed on mondays and sundays. many local places are closed those days as well. its unfair.

across from el taco mexicano on solano, las cruces NM

prickly pear cactus

chicken burrito interior

I took a bite out of it to expose the inside. Oh man. it was so good. they are generous with the filling. Must have weighed a couple of lbs.

el taco mexican - chicken burrito $4.46

burrito place on standard napkins to show scale.

taco mexicano daily special

saw this on the way out. the other side, that you see on the way in is blank. not bad deals though:)

el taco mexicano counter

they have a pretty typical taco menu for the area.  inside the dining area were a couple of guys playing cards and some kids working on homework. I ordered a burrito so I could eat it on the drive home.

El Taco Mexicano

passed this on the way home. It used to be a taco bell. I only had a chile dog earlier and I worked up an appetite from playing Reach.

millagro coffee - typical coffee shop

unofficial interwebs base of operations

milagro coffee company latte

grabbed a latte to recharge my betteries and mooch some bandwidth

finest chili dog

for best results, top with fries :)

fine outdoor dining

der dog

guilty pleasure - weinerschnitzel chili cheese dogs

sunburn

We spent most of the day doing some yard work. So I guess the sun is stronger out here.(no one else had any problem)

they put what in menudo?

Ok, so I already know what they put in menudo (but it is so good)

interior of chimichanga

chimichanga up close and delicious

menudo - lime and onions on side

my niece Sara's lunch

chimichanga plate

my sister's plate

sooo good

compuestas up close

tostadas compuesta plate - red and green

my lunch for Monday

don't really need a lot of that salsa to do the trick

good stuff

mostly fresh green chile

Nice salsa - tasty and hot

it always starts with the salsa

Mi Pueblito - Menudo y caldos

neighborhood diner

another non-menu item

red chile gordita - sooo good