Dinner at Chiqui´s House

Hard to know where to begin. Pepián is the specialty in Guatemala. Chiqui had told me that her mom's pepián is the best anywhere. I'm sure she is right. This was an awesome meal. I am going to post the recipe for anyone adventurous enough to try it! Chiqui met us at our apartment and accompanied us to her town, San Antonio Aquas Caliente, which is only 15 or 20 minutes from Antigua. It was our first experience on the famous "chicken busses," which we learned are basically the same busses that we have for many of the local routes in Costa Rica, the old refurbished "Blue Bird" busses. The difference is that here all the busses are painted in bright colors and patterns, whereas in Costa Rica, they are plain blue or green or whatever. As we came around a bend and down into a valley, the town of San Antonio spread out before us, nestled into the hills. A beautiful sight! I've gotta tell you that Gene was really laughing at me this morning because I was so nervous about meeting Chiqui's mom! Anyhow, Chiqui's mom, Johanna, is a really sweet, friendly person. And she's beautiful. And besides that, she's a fabulous cook! So the deal was that we could accompany her to the tiendas (stores) to purchase the ingredients. We ended up going to at least 4 different stores, all within a block of their home, to get the right stuff. Johanna had already bought the carne because she wanted to start simmering it before we got there - and because she wanted to get the best beef before it was gone. At the first store that we went to, we bought a chicken, 3 carrots, 2 chiles dulces (sweet red peppers) and green beans. They didn't have any culantro, so we went to another store for that. They had tomatoes, but not the kind that Chiqui's mom likes, so we stopped at a 3rd store for the tomatoes. Then we stopped at a little store near the house for a small bag of harina de pan (flour) for thickening. Chiqui and I later went out to a 4th store for beer. And at one point Chiqui left and came back with a melon (cantelope) for liquados (refrescos), so that may have been a 5th store.
Back at the house, there were pots bubbling, vegetables getting chopped, other vegetables getting grilled, tortillas staying warmed (That's right - that must have been at least a 6th store - Chiqui went out and bought fresh, hot tortillas somewhere), things getting liquified in the blenders, and lots of laughing and "spanglish" conversation. And definitely some of the best food I've ever tasted! It was a lot of work (see recipe). Apparently Pepián is normally prepared for special occasions like a wedding.
Chiqui's parents were wonderful - so friendly and willing to put up with our lousy Spanish, too! What an honor to be invited to their home. What a fabulous day!
Seems like I didn´t get many photos. I´m hoping that Gene´s camera has some more that I can add to this later.