La Mariposa Monarca…Translation: the monarch butterfly!
My Secret Garden is full of monarch butterflies and I love them.
Several years ago, our little city became the home of yet another Mexican restaurant….La Mariposa Monarca, or the monarch butterfly.
I love Mexican food but as you know there are many variations of Mexican food.
The food at this restaurant was mostly typical Mexican food with a few differences. For example the Captain and I visited for a breakfast meal and I was glad to see the offering of red or green chile with my eggs….something that is normally offered at breakfasts in Mexico or New Mexico where I lived for a few years. The menu said the chiles were Hatch green chiles.
Hatch, New Mexico that is. There is nothing like Hatch green chiles and I do miss the smell of green chiles roasting at special stands set up in the Fall months in New Mexico. One can always buy green chiles in a supermarket…usually only the mild variety and take the 3 or 4 chiles home and put on a gas burner to roast for a single meal.
Chile Roaster
Somehow the chiles in my supermarket are not the same as in New Mexico!
I always looked forward to the aroma of roasting chiles as I would pick out my bushel basket of green chiles, be it hot, medium or mild chiles and stand in line to have the whole bushel roasted in the spinning outdoor roaster. (see pic above)
Sigh…..I can smell them now as I write this! The chiles would then be put into a black trash bag to be transported to my home. The drive home was an experience in itself as the smell of the roasted chiles would drive my senses crazy and I would plot what meals I could make that very evening using these wonderful chiles. I used little zip lock bags to put little batches of chiles for the freezer for use at a later time, but that evening always meant green chile stew with fried potatoes or green chile posole…and …well you get the picture.
Later, as the chiles ripened on the vines and turned red, I would buy a pre-strung dried, red chile ristra to hang outside from one of my vigas or from the latillas. I could “pluck” as many of this wonderful dried red chile pods as I needed for my cooking that day.
Yes, this restaurant brought back many memories of my years in New Mexico. The cantina was packed with lunch customers, but we didn’t have to wait for our food and we all agreed the food was excellent. The owner, who also has a furniture company in Mexico, brought in hand carved tables and chairs. This restaurant has since stopped serving breakfast and are open for lunch and dinner only. 
La Mariposa Monarca! Makes me think of my home in New Mexico…
thx for the pleasant review and little trip down memory lane.
thanks for stopping by Annie.
Sadly Leonard Cohen, song artist of “My Secret Garden” died last week. I’ve been singing the lyrics in my head and out loud since then. CD is playing in the car. Did you love that song?
No Skylark, I haven’t heard the My Secret Garden song.
When I think of Leonard Cohen I think of the song “Hallelujah”…which I really like.
As far as my Secret Garden, it is based on the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett which fascinated me as a young child and encouraged me as an adult to have a beautiful garden hidden from view where the birds and little animals and I could sit quietly and read or meditate. It is magic for me! Guess that is the romantic in me. 🙂
I am sure you know of it, but The synopsis is:
When Mary Lennox is sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody says she is the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It is true, too. Mary is pale, spoilt and quite contrary. But she is also horribly lonely. Then one day she hears about a garden in the grounds of the Manor that has been kept locked and hidden for years. And when a friendly robin helps Mary find the key, she discovers the most magical place anyone could imagine…
thanks for stopping by