On Sunday morning, our wedding day, Peter prepared a special Mexican breakfast dish called Migas for us and the other guest-couple, Mondo & Debbie, who are both chefs in Chicago.
Here's a typical Migas recipe:
MIGAS
2 corn tortillas, cut in strips
4 Anaheim chiles, chopped
4-6 eggs
4 Roma tomatoes, cut in chunks
A handful cooked beans
Here's a typical Migas recipe:
MIGAS
2 corn tortillas, cut in strips
4 Anaheim chiles, chopped
4-6 eggs
4 Roma tomatoes, cut in chunks
A handful cooked beans
(Peter also added chopped nopales--the leaves of the beaver-tail cactus-- to his version)
Fry the tortilla strips and peppers together until the peppers are fairly done and the strips are soft. Break eggs in a bowl and mix, as for scrambled eggs. Add tomatoes and beans to frying pan. Add eggs and stir to coat. When the eggs are cooked, it's done. Eat with more tortillas if you have them.
As we were leaving for our wedding, Gaila pleaded with the stubborn groom to wear something warmer than just shorts, a shirt and sandals. But nooooo, he insisted he would be fine. And of course, on the drive to Serendipity House, the weather began to get colder and the temperature dropped to a brisk 52° with dark clouds building in the west. Thundershowers were predicted for the afternoon, so we made a surgical strike at Target for sweat pants and a lightweight hooded jacket.
Fry the tortilla strips and peppers together until the peppers are fairly done and the strips are soft. Break eggs in a bowl and mix, as for scrambled eggs. Add tomatoes and beans to frying pan. Add eggs and stir to coat. When the eggs are cooked, it's done. Eat with more tortillas if you have them.
As we were leaving for our wedding, Gaila pleaded with the stubborn groom to wear something warmer than just shorts, a shirt and sandals. But nooooo, he insisted he would be fine. And of course, on the drive to Serendipity House, the weather began to get colder and the temperature dropped to a brisk 52° with dark clouds building in the west. Thundershowers were predicted for the afternoon, so we made a surgical strike at Target for sweat pants and a lightweight hooded jacket.
After changing into our wedding clothes, Michelle St. Rose, proprietor of Serendipity House, and her photographer-assistant began our ceremony. The setting was exactly what we wanted; small and intimate, just the two of us and the words we had chosen. We exchanged vows, and everyone was teary-eyed as we slipped on our beautiful rings. The ceremony ended with a nice, meaningful kiss, and we were married.
We moved to the adjoining room to cut the cake--yummy carrot cake with apricot filling, and arranged with Michelle to have the remaining cake delivered to the Guadalajara Grill where we would be having dinner that night. Michelle opened the champagne and offered each of us a fluted glass. We entwined our arms and enjoyed a sip as we toasted our love. We sat on the sofa for a few more photos, then went back into the main room to sign the marriage certificate.
After changing our outfits, we thanked Michelle for the perfect ceremony, and headed off to Tubac.
Tubac is essentially an artist colony, with an area approximately three-square blocks filled with shops and galleries. We parked and entered a shop called La Esplendida where we purchased a yellow and blue vase for Gaila and Peter, as a gift for their kindness and generosity. The vase perfectly matched the decor of our room. We then explored about ten other shops and the main gallery that had a wonderful watercolor exhibition. In the gallery gift shop, Pennie found a woodcut of St Pascual, the patron saint of cooks, which she will add to her extensive collection of St Pascual items in our kitchen. Most of the shops had very high quality items; lots of paintings, sculptures, Oaxacan wood figurines, custom furniture, home decorations, pottery, painted tiles, paper flowers, and milagros. We had lunch and then purchased a bottle of J Lohr Chardonnay to go with the vase for Gaila & Peter.
After nearly four hours of shopping we were pretty tired and decided to return to Tucson. Since we were about an hour ahead of schedule, Pennie had the brilliant idea of stopping at Mission San Xavier del Bac on the way to save us a lengthy return trip on Tuesday.
Mission San Xavier del Bac is situated in the Santa Cruz Valley nine miles south of Tucson. The church with its massive dome and spires is a brilliant white, standing out against the ever-present brown of the surrounding desert. A portion of the mission's facade was hidden by scaffolding and was undergoing a restoration.
The interior was far more elaborate than any mission we've seen in California. The impressive main altar and both side altars were wood- carved, and three tiers high, with lots of gold-leaf adorning the various statues and domed ceiling.
It was raining lightly on our way to the Guadalajara Grill, and we could see that the afternoon thunderstorms had dusted the nearby Catalina Mountains with snow. We drove past a soccer field covered with hail just a few blocks from the restaurant.
Guadalajara Grill is small, crowded, and very popular. After being seated, Pennie enjoyed a Sangria, and Tom sipped a shot of Don Julio Añejo tequila. For dinner, Pennie ordered the Relleno Combo, while Tom had the Salmon con Rajas.
The specialty of the restaurant is their fresh salsa prepared to order at your table. You can specify mild, medium or spicy and in a few moments we were enjoying our nacho chips with the just-prepared salsa.
Three musicians--2 guitars and a bass--began warming up a few tables away. Ever the romantic, Tom went to them and requested a special song. In a few moments, they were at our table singing the lovely ballad Sin Ti (Without You). The music, fresh salsa and our meals made for a very enjoyable evening.
We realized when we got back to Alta Vista that we had left the Guadalajara Grill without our wedding cake! We called the restaurant and made arrangements to pick it up Monday afternoon. Then we ended this wonderful day with champagne and roses in our room provided by the ever-thoughtful Gaila.
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