Comida mexicana con huéspedes y tren

Matthew is hanging out with Dave's grandson this weekend, so we invited John and Judi over for dinner. I was off today and took responsibility for the meal. Usually when we have company, Tom cooks or we get pizza. I knew Mexican would work for everyone and had fun with it.

I made my famous enchiladas suizas, with the usual sides of rice and refried beans. We started with tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole. I even made a pitcher of non-alcoholic sangria and finished it all up with a cake that looked like a train.


Peggy and Rich gave Tom this train baking pan last Christmas and this was the first time I tried it out. (Tom does the fancy baking, while I normally make easy fudge and candy.) It turned out remarkably well. You may not be able to tell much from the picture, but the train consists of a locomotive, a tender (coal car), a couple of tank cars, four other freight cars and a caboose. Because the shape would be hidden by layers of frosting, I just sprinkled different colors of sugar on the cars. I made a track from licorice sticks, added white coarse sugar crystals as ballast (the stones and stuff along the tracks) and green sugar for grass sprinkled with tiny candy flowers.

Yes, it is a bit much. But this is what happens when you leave me home with too much time on my hands.