New Mexican Birthday Party

My birthday was last week, and to celebrate I actually threw myself a party. I haven't had a real birthday party since a joint one I threw with a friend in 2008. For a while now I've been wanting to have friends over to eat New Mexican food, and this seemed like a good opportunity.

Cooking all that food by myself (which, by the way, I'd never cooked before) was a lot of work, but it was fun and worth it. I had red chile cheese enchiladas, green chile chicken enchiladas, rice, beans, salad, and chips with salsa and guacamole. Oh, and red chile pistachios. The red (powdered) and green (frozen) chile were actually from New Mexico, as were the salsas and pistachios. I also had all the makings for margaritas. And I even bought myself a piñata for decoration.
 

So festive!

Servin' it up

The guacamole was a big hit.

Margarita makings!

My plate. (And please note the red and yellow New Mexican flag theme.)

Of course I wore my "Hecho en Nuevo Mexico" shirt (and a buffalo necklace).

Birthday dessert!

Everyone seemed to like the food, especially the green chile chicken enchiladas. And for dessert a friend brought Mexican popsicles from a local ice cream shop, plus some mini churros. They were big hits.

I had a lot of fun. Maybe I'll throw parties a little more often? (And a big shout-out goes to my parents for providing most of the New Mexican food, and to my mom for answering lots of cooking questions and providing recipes.)