C-C-C-Curry

As promised, I've started cooking again and yesterday I remembered to bring the camera along. We've been craving Thai food since the first week of January, 2007 (we moved here Jan 1st, 2007) and FINALLY have the ingredients to make a proper meal. But it took several friends to make it happen.

Friend of the blog Mary was here last month and our first night hanging out we mentioned how much we missed Thai food, especially curry. Another couple was joining them here two days later, so she emailed them and voila, curry paste.

The coconut milk arrived at my doorstep Wednesday morning via a recent friend we've met around town. She told me last week that she hasn't been able to find it anywhere but she found a stray can in her kitchen and donated it to the cause. How sweet is that? She's heading to Morelia this weekend so we're hoping she brings back a few more cans.

Now, onto the cooking. Via.

This meal was pretty basic: chicken, coconut milk, peanut butter, sugar, curry paste, salt, onion, and rice.


This looks so gross I just had to take a picture. Here I'm simmering the milk, peanut butter, sugar and curry while the rice boils.


Mmm, chicken.



Oh, hi!


The finished product. It wasn't nearly as spicy as we hoped for, but the flavor was awesome and I will definitely make this again.

And Poof, It's Gone

Where did my motivation go? Remember a while back -- you know, on FRIDAY -- when I was all excited about the possibilities at our fingertips? Yeah, now I'm discouraged again. I have a feeling this is going to be a regular thing until we actually find jobs.

Are you Canadian and interested in sponsoring a needy family? Just let me know...

In all seriousness, I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir with most of this. A lot of people are out of work and struggling to not only make ends meet, but keep their sanity, especially as the holidays approach. The only good news is Ibis starts a new job next week so we'll have steady income for the first time since May. Just don't ask how much. Ree-diculous.

When he goes back to work, not only will I have hours and hours to myself, I'll have to resume my cooking duties. As many of you know, my husband is a wonderful cook and when he lost his job, that responsibility fell to him. It's been rather nice having a live-in chef, but I think a paycheck is more important. You can look forward to more cooking photos and/or posts in the near future.

*smiles at the one person who cheered half-heartedly*

My hope is I can get on even more of a schedule than I'm on now so I can finish this draft of my wip, find a job AND cook killer meals. Right.

Do you have any favorite recipes that don't require an oven?

I Got the Hummus

It sometimes surprises me what foods I miss from the US. The everyday comforts from home we can get here, so it's the little things -- Triscuits, Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, dill pickles -- that I find myself longing for.

The latest: hummus.

When I was in Chicago someone told me an easy recipe and the search was on for the ingredients, or substitute ingredients since some of you may recall, Mexico doesn't have lemons. (At least not where I can find them.)

My ingredient list:

2 cans garbanzo beans*
5 cloves of garlic**
1/2 cup lime juice
1 heaping teaspoon of peanut butter***
1/4 cup oil
salt to taste


* These were HARD to find. They are not in the special bean aisle (there's an entire aisle for beans) but next to the olives. Or what I call "the aisle for food only tourists eat."

** This was too much. I'll go for 3-4 next time.

*** Because we don't have tahini.

It turned out MUCH better than I expected, especially for my first attempt, and I'm excited to make it again (once we finish the garlic-fest going on in the refrigerator).

All this talk of hummus always makes me think of a famous Spanish song:



Which then makes me think of one of my favorite Marc Anthony songs, one that EVERYONE is the club always wanted to dance to (his hair is PRETTY in this):



So what do you like to eat with hummus?

(Once again -- major props to anyone who can name the Friends episode that I stole the title of this post from.)

Food Photos

Yes, I've gone all out today, but this really is an exciting development in our lives. We love grilling, but our teeny Weber grill didn't fit in the car when I moved here, so we've gone without for two years. I know you're probably thinking that we could've just bought another one, but we've tried really hard not to buy duplicates of things that we already have in storage. Money isn't exactly plentiful down here.

Well, Ibis broke down a couple days ago and now we're the proud new owners of a Mexican-style grill.


Isn't it cute? So far we've had carne asada (flank steak) and marinated chicken breasts. Yum. The best part -- for me -- is that he does the cooking.

Another photo I want to share with you is of a mango that Ibis prepared for our nephew last week. It's quite common to see vendors at the beach (or any other event with a lot of people) selling mangoes that are sliced up to look like a flower. The cuts make it easier to eat without making a mess of yourself, and the slices also make it easy to douse it with salsa. Yum!


Robin and I had discussed these on her blog after she returned from Mexico several months ago, so Robin, this is what I was talking about. Except they serve theirs on a wooden stick, not a knife from the silverware drawer. The "petals" on the vendors' mangoes are usually a little prettier, but you get the idea.

Any grilling favorites you'd care to share?

Fruit, Photos, and Facebook

I don't know why I keep taking photos of what I'm doing in the kitchen. Maybe it's because lately I've spent so much time on the computer that my only "breaks" take place five feet away, around the corner.

Among my morning tasks (washing Ibis' work shirt, squeezing OJ, sweeping) is making a shake for Ibis. Now, this isn't a shake by the standard definition. There is no dairy, and there are vegetables.


I've tried this a couple times, and yes, it's nasty. But Ibis loves it. I get everything prepared and let him blend it when it's ready so it doesn't settle. *vomits a little in mouth*


A funny side effect to making this every morning is my mind think I'm eating a lot of vegetables when, in fact, I'm not. I keep trying to remember to nibble on these while I'm preparing them, but I seem to only eat the fruit. I really need to get better about that.

Now, about Facebook. If you aren't on there, why not? What's stopping you? Because really, I'm on there pretty much all day and I miss those of you who don't have an account. It's like a constant party that one or two friends refuse to attend.

But be warned, it's very addictive (as you've probably heard.) My friend John pointed me to an op-ed article in the Washington Post by Kristen Hansen Brakeman that sums up the addiction nicely:

I started to check my friends' status updates a few times a day. Then a few more times. Soon, I was keenly interested in the hourly updates of their infinitely more fascinating lives. Wow, Leslie and Michele worked on the inauguration. Eric took his family to Disneyland. Jeremy had a great time at the Super Bowl. Braggarts.

Then she tried to get her husband to join:

"Come on honey, you should just join. There's no harm in it. And if you don't like it you can always quit. All the kids are doing it."

Then it got ugly:

I began to neglect my duties at the office, so busy was I uploading photos and posting links to hilarious videos. I learned to hide my omnipresent Facebook page by keeping a work-related document open on my desktop, which I would click on whenever my boss happened by.

Finally, she quit cold-turkey:

It hasn't been easy. During the first 48 hours, I lay awake wondering what I was missing: what trips my friends had taken, what jobs they were working on, what "cause" they were now "fans" of. As time has passed, the edge has softened, though my curiosity is still omnipresent.

So, what are you waiting for? :D

eta: Finished product. Barf.

This is Just Weird

I could've titled todays post Another Observation, but what occurred this morning was much too odd for that.

Every weekday I drive Ibis to work and if I have any errands I try to do them while I'm out. Our fridge has been EMP-TY all weekend so I hit the grocery store after dropping him off. That's where the weirdness began.

The Commercial has a bazillion shopping carts, but this morning there were only three in the big corral. I looked around to see if the store was busier than normal and noticed a man pushing a cart FULL of white onions. Weird, but whatever. People cook with onions here.

Then another person went by and same thing, ginormous bag of onions. In the twenty minutes I was inside the store, I believe I saw at least two dozen people with nothing but onions in their cart.

Is there an onion festival coming up? A drop in onion prices? A scheduled salmonella outbreak next week so they all need to stock up now? I looked down and noticed an errant onion skin had wrapped itself around my can of peaches.

WHAT is going on?

Rajas en Crema

Rajas en crema is a traditional Mexican meal that I've actually mastered. Me, the non-cook. :) I've mentioned it before and after some encouragement from my Absolute Write friends, I took pictures as I made it last night. Ready?

Ingredients:
Equal number poblano peppers and tomatoes (7-8 for 4 servings)
Half red onion
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped
Mexican cheese - an amount roughly the size of a stick of butter
3 heaping tablespoons sour cream (one small container)

First you grill the peppers without oil/spray. I have six here, which makes enough for three large servings. I'd recommend a couple more if you have more people.

While they are grilling, chop all the veggies.

Here comes the fun part. Cook the peppers until they are blackened and the skin starts to bubble, then remove from heat. The more bubbled the easier it is to peel, but be careful they don't burn. They only need to cool enough that you can handle them.

While the peppers are cooling, coat a large skillet with oil. Add the garlic once it's hot, cook for a minute or two, then add the onion. Cook another couple minutes, then add the tomato. You might have to add more oil; use your judgment. As long as nothing sticks, you're fine. Add several shakes of salt, then lower the heat to medium and throw on a lid.

Now back to the peppers. They should be cool enough to handle so now you need to remove the skin.

Next, cut off the tops, discard the seeds, and cut the peppers into strips roughly half an inch wide.

Add the strips (rajas) to the cooking vegetables and mix. Next add the chopped cheese and cream.

Cook for a few minutes, just long enough for the cream and cheese to warm up. Serve,

and Enjoy! We eat it with tortilla, but a fork is fine too. :)


I have no idea how many calories or fat grams this has. I use low-fat sour cream but everything else is healthy (enough). If anyone tries this, let me know how it turns out!

I Was Spit At!

*snicker* Not really. Colby from Spittin' Out Words Like a Llama tagged me with a meme and seeing how I never got around to the one Amy tagged me with a week or so ago, I figured I'd settle down and gitter done.

The rules are simple: Post six things about yourself (I'm assuming unknown or odd things or this wouldn't be a very interesting meme) then tag six more people. I may skip that last part because I hate chain letters and while I don't mind this, I choose to not perpetuate the madness.

Here goes!

1) Mexico has made me an angry person. I've always been optimistic and considered myself to have a sunny disposition, but after being here for a year my temper is right on the edge. I get road rage, sidewalk rage, grocery store rage, stupid person honking his horn for 20 minutes for no apparent reason rage, and on and on. I don't get angry at the beach so maybe I should go there more often.

2) I love pickles but any other pickled item makes me gag. I can't even have them near me or it ruins my entire meal. It's quite common for restaurants here to serve a side of pickled vegetables - carrots, radishes, jalapeños - with your meal and I can't even watch if someone decides to eat them. *shudder* Forget picking them out of food, I'd rather eat crackers.

3) I drink a lot of water. A LOT. Since we have to drink bottled water and I keep a pitcher in the fridge I can better track how much I drink in a day. I knew I was getting my eight 8 oz. glasses but turns out it's much more than that. At least a gallon, possibly a gallon and a half. Now I'm trying to force myself to drink other things from time to time so I don't get that weird problem marathoners get when they drink too much H2O and their sodium levels drop.

4) My sister's three children have all followed in my footsteps and play (or played) lacrosse. I was on the team in high school and before moving to the east coast I'd never even seen a game. It's still not very popular in the Midwest but apparently I was just so cool they all wanted to try. (Not really, but I can dream.)

5) When I'm out in public I like to imagine what's going on with everyone I see: where they're from, their relationship to the people they're with, what they're talking about, that sort of thing. It drives Ibis crazy but now that I've gotten more serious about this writing thing I just tell him it's all "research."

***

I'm not going to tag anyone but if you're in need of content, please join the fun! Let me know if you do the meme.

How Mexico Has Changed Me

Sorry for taking so long to post, this day has been non-stop. Overflowing the washing machine - and therefore flooding my three downstairs neighbors patios - is just a highlight. But here I am, as promised, with a sampling of how living in Mexico for the past year has changed me. Feel free to add to the list in comments if you think I've missed anything.

I Rarely Wear Makeup
I was never one to coat myself in makeup suitable for theater, but I rarely left home without the basics. After one summer in Mexico I've discovered why Mexican women wear so much eye makeup: it's the only thing that doesn't slide off your face. I don't own eyeliner, although I have been experimenting with darker shadows, so I tend to stay bare-faced.

I've Learned to Cook
I could cook before moving here but I didn't experiment very much. I could follow a recipe and not burn things but I didn't try things without knowing how they'd turn out, especially when cooking for someone else. Now I can cook several traditional Mexican dishes and don't even hesitate when dinner time rolls around and I need to whip something up. Perfect example: tonight I'm cooking fish in foil on the stove top. I've never tried it this way but I'm tired of fish tacos and the fish always falls apart if I just cook it in the skillet. It'll taste good, even if it looks scary.

I Can Drive Like a Mexican
Today I drove a few people to the airport and the traffic was particularly disorderly. I maneuvered through without batting an eye, talking to the people the entire time, when one of them commented I drive just like the locals. I think he meant it as a compliment because he also threw something in there about being aggressive. Go me.

I'm Much More Relaxed
Or so they say. You really can't be uptight and try to live here. Everything moves slower, takes longer, and sometimes can't be done till mañana. When I was home over Thanksgiving a friend commented that they've never seen me so calm. I'm not sure how they reflects my personality before, but I guess it's a good thing.

Oh Yeah! Spanish
I can function on my own in a Spanish speaking country. I still get tripped up on certain words but I can even understand the radio!

I Don't Mind Killing Bugs
Or ingesting the occasional ant (said as I pick an ant out of my water glass). This doesn't mean I like bugs, just that I don't scream and run when I see them. Today at the market I saw a mouse running through the produce, I pointed it out to the lady, and we shared a laugh over the ratón trying to eat the avocados. That's funny right? Please tell me that's funny. Anyway, not so scared, I just clean things extra well.

I've Become a Housewife/Taxi Driver
Every morning I sweep, put away whatever has been left out from the night before, and do endless amounts of dishes. Some days, like today, I spend hours doing laundry and mopping the floor. Although today I mopped because of the washer, but whatever. I know other people do this, too, I'm not claiming to be anything special, just pointing out how I've changed. The taxi driver bit... well, I've spent a lot of time ferrying hotel guests around town. Perhaps that's why my driving has improved.

I'm Talking Like a Canadian
This is a recent change, all thanks to my lovely girlfriend from Canada who says 'ay' every other sentence. I'm also saying 'sorry' with a long 'o'. Didn't think I'd pick up a Canadian accent in Mexico, but I did.


So, did I miss anything?

What a Crybaby

Everyone throws a little pity party now and then. A quiet afternoon where you wallow in whatever misery has wronged you this time, a drunken night with friends to help you forget your sadness, a week in bed watching old Friends episodes (that Joey cracks me up every time). Some people may even write in a journal so they can get the icky feelings out and get on with their day.

But have you ever put all those mopey, waaaaaaaaa, my life sucks thoughts into an official document for the US government? Didn't think so.

Next month Ibis has to return to Ciudad Juarez for the second of two immigration appointments. The interview this month was all about him; this one will be all about me and why I'm better off living in the US. We've worked with our lawyer for several months, documenting every random thing I can think of that has made my life difficult. I don't get into a lot of those things in this blog, but there are plenty. I've sent her emails at all hours of the day, filled with one more obscure thing that came to me while sleeping. (The latest was that we don't have regular mail service and half the letters/cards people have sent never arrive.)

I consider myself an upbeat, optimistic person, and whenever I catch myself wallowing I try to remind myself that there are others much worse off than me. So to see all my gripes bulleted over nine pages almost made me laugh. "What a wimp!" I thought. "Is this what I've become?" I recognize that it's all true but still, who goes and writes their complaints in a list? Besides Heather Mills anyway.

The meeting isn't until April 17th so we still have plenty of anxious waiting ahead of us. In the meantime I finally made contact with my friends and made plans for several different things over the next week. Then I have another friend coming in three weeks. Lots of things to look forward to.

Ibis has tomorrow off and we're taking some hotel guests to the beach, then going to dinner with my friends, so I won't be posting tomorrow. For all of you buried in snow, I'm sorry. :) And Happy Good Friday.

Enjoying Mexico

I spend a lot of time in our condo, sitting in front of the computer. I try to run in the mornings and sometimes grab a drink in town in the afternoon, but for the most part I stay home. It's always sunny and warm so I don't feel that urgency I did in Chicago; when a nice day landed in your lap you went outside and took advantage. Here, I know tomorrow will also be nice so I don't let the weather dictate my schedule.

Friday I went for a drink(s) with a friend and we sat near the ocean till well after the sunset (ironically, at a bar named Sunset). Yesterday I left the house at 10am to go to another friend's and help set up for our birthday party. By noon the house was clean, the food was prepped and the sangria was fermenting so I took a nap by her pool. I know, it's rough.

I'm not telling you this to rub it in that I'm in tropical Mexico and you're not. I'm sharing because it's taken me a full year to finally be living a life that almost resembles what all my friends back home think my life is like. I received many emails from people jealous of me sipping piña coladas by the pool while they were struggling through a Chicago spring, when my life was nowhere near that fantasy. I spent the majority of last summer holed up in our non-air-conditioned condo, only going to the beach once or twice a week despite not having a job. (I realize it sounds like I'm complaining and I'm not, just pointing out that I wasn't out galavanting as much as people might think).

Well, today I'm going back to my friend's house to help eat the leftover food, and hopefully the sangria, too, poolside. My birthday is tomorrow so I suppose it's ok to live decadently for a day or three.

Cooking in a Foreign Country

I think by now I've established that I'm not the world's greatest cook. I can prepare a meal that's both nourishing and delicious, at least to my non-Mexican taste buds, and I've become more comfortable improvising recipes over the past year. This is especially important when following an American cookbook.

I registered for several cookbooks when we were married and among my favorites is Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats. She takes a recipe then changes up main ingredients so you learn to mix and match things on your own. This is very helpful for those of us who spent more time in restaurants and the frozen food aisle than the kitchen.

I've had to take that knowledge and step it up a notch since moving to Mexico. While the basics are more or less the same, there's always one thing that I just cannot find at the market. We've made alioli sauce with lime instead of lemon (tastes the same) and our experiment with Thai food resulted in a pink curry that thankfully still tasted all right.

The recipe I've chosen for today is Pork Chops in a Sweet Chili and Onion Sauce with Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Right there I've already made a change. Ms. Ray calls for Creamy Cilantro Potato Salad but I'd much rather have mashed. I'm keeping the cilantro so there's some green on the plate. I'm skipping the ingredients I don't like or didn't feel like buying for this one dish (celery and black pepper) and regular Idaho potatoes will stand in for russet.

The ingredient that's stirring the pot? Dark brown sugar.

This is essential. You can't have sweet chili and onion sauce without the sugar! The only form I found in the store is Splenda Brown Sugar. My husband won't touch regular Splenda so I doubt he'd appreciate me cooking with it. Plus it was expensive. We searched the market this morning but no one sells it loose; you have to buy a gigantic bag. As this is the first time I've needed brown sugar in almost a year it would end up shoved in the back of the cupboard and serve as additional bait for the ants.

Finally Ibis told me what to use. "That." he said, pointing at a solid cone that looked vaguely like chocolate, but more of a caramel color. It's four inches tall and the base is an inch in diameter. Reminds me of a giant pencil tip.

"Isn't that chocolate?" I asked.

He confirmed with the cashier and reassured me that it's the closest thing to brown sugar they have. It cost all of 3 pesos (that's about a third of a cent) so I tossed it in the bag with the rest of our groceries.

Now, do you see the problem? Have you guessed what I'll be doing after I finish this post? Yes, I'll be grinding, grating and chopping the solid hunk of sugar so it acts like it's supposed to when I throw it in the sauce. I suppose this makes me a better person or something like that, but I sometimes can't believe I've become a woman who spends over an hour preparing a meal.

Page 123

Janna has tagged me again. I still have another tag floating around in my comments from last week but I'm not sure if I'll make it there.

This meme instructs me to do the following:

1) Pick up the book nearest you
2) Open to page 123
3) Find the 5th sentence
4) Post the following 3 sentences
5) Tag five others

My bookshelf is on the wall four inches above my computer (I think you can see it in the iMac post) so I have plenty to choose from. Because I think this meme is fun, I'm going to do the first book that caught my eye AND the book I'm reading (but is in the other room).

The first book I saw (because it's hot pink):
Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats; A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners

Page 123 (from the recipe for Steaks with Two Tapenades, Arugula Salad, and Crusty Bread):

"Drizzle the steaks with EVOO and season with salt and pepper on both sides. When the skillet is screaming hot, cook the steaks for 2 minutes on each side for rare, 3 on each side for medium rare, 4 minutes on each side for medium to medium well. Let the meat stand for 5 to 10 minutes for the juices to redistribute in the meat."



Now for the book I'm reading, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

Page 123:

Ahh! Page 123 is blank! I kid you not, it's the start of a new section. I'll use page 125 instead.

"Don't worry," Miss Throckmorton replied. "We'll take good care of him."

Miss Throckmorton was young, just out of school, dark-haired and wiry and enthusiastic.

I must comment about those three sentences. Miss Throckmorton is not mentioned again in the book and I paused at her name when I first read it. I wondered about the author and how she came up with that name. My thought is she must know someone with a similar name or have some interesting way in which she came up with it, because it's just so odd. I puzzled over it for a few minutes, never imagining I'd end up typing it three times*.

I also noticed the structure of the third sentence. I'm not a fan of multiple "ands' within a sentence, I'd much rather use commas. That's just me and my style, but that also gave me pause. How strange that those three sentences were the ones randomly chosen by an online meme.

Hmm...

That's all for now. How many of you are planning on steak for dinner?


*now four times because I just had to add it in my tags.

Oh, and EVOO is extra-virgin olive oil.

Ack! I forgot to tag people. Let's see... I'm just going to tag Jenna because she's reading Stephen King's On Writing and I know she wants to post more. :)

This Day is a Bust

After the busy week with my parents I planned to get a few things done on my computer, do a little (well, a lot of) laundry, and not leave the house. First I discovered that Ibis' toolbag is at the hotel so I couldn't install the new ram in my computer. Then, ten minutes after Ibis left for work he called because he left the office key in his pants pocket. The pants he wore yesterday and had left on a chair in our bedroom.

I walked the mile-plus trek to his hotel and hung out a little before heading home, screwdrivers in hand. If I've ever been self-conscious about the locals staring at me as I walk down the street, holding a couple screwdrivers only increased their curiosity tremendously. At least I didn't look like a tourist. I hadn't had breakfast or lunch yet so I picked up a roasted chicken and tortillas.

After eating and switching the laundry I flipped over my computer, ready to release my inner techie and upgrade my computer. One problem: the panel won't come off. The directions I printed from Apple's website are very easy to follow but my model appears to be older than the one in the picture. There must be some secret trick because these screws turn a few times one direction, then a few times the other, without ever loosening from the panel. I've never seen anything like it. AND, it doesn't look like the panel will come off even if I manage to remove the screws. Hopefully Apple has a solution for this.

I need to catch up with my emails and do some work on a freelance project and THEN I can get back to my relaxing afternoon, just in time for bed.

UPDATE: I found a site with very good instructions! Yay!

Thai Take-Out Would Be Lovely

My parents are packing up their bags and getting ready to head home where it's currently hovering around 10 degrees and snowy. Poor things. We've had quite a week and all of us are exhausted, but they've loved the warm weather.

Last night we went on a sunset cruise aboard a catamaran then had a late dinner in town. We've eaten out for most of our meals and I'm getting a little tired of Mexican food. Yes, I realize I'm in Mexico and that's the most common food available, but we don't eat out much and tend to cook our own meals.

There is a variety of restaurants in the area but only a few are worth the money. We've yet to venture into the local Chinese place, although I've heard decent things about the one sushi joint. In Chicago we ate Thai at least once a week and peanut sauce lovers with a side of curry sounds wonderful right about now.

We still have one meal left before they head to the airport so maybe I'll ask them to whip up an extra-large order of pad thai. Wish me luck with that. ;)

Distractions

I apologize for my tardiness today. I was all set to write about my trip to the grocery store today - there was yet another comment about my eyes - but when I turned on the computer I got sidetracked. That was three hours ago.

My early teenage years are making a comeback.

Step by step, I forced myself away from YouTube so I could post on my blog. I'd almost pull away, but it was as if the videos were calling for me to please don't go. It was tough, but the shopping story was still hangin' around in my head, determined to be set free.

The more I thought about it, another story of me at the store just wasn't exciting enough, even though the cab driver was more than shocked when I told him where I live. It's not the best neighborhood and our little stretch of street is known as Calle de Churro, literally, Churro Street. Churro, as in that cinnamon & sugar doughy treat I always bought at White Sox games. I'm not sure how our street became known by that name, but the cab driver knew it and rambled on and on the entire drive home about how bad the neighborhood is and he'd never live there. HE owns a house outside the city with lots of property.

As we approached my building he waved out his window and called, "Sobrino." His nephew works in a store a few doors down. Then he tells me his aunt lives across the street from us and he honked and waved at her, too. I guess I understand why he hates it - he finally got out of Vicente Guerrero and I dragged him back in.

If you haven't caught on by now, please direct your attention here: this is your final warning. There are countless videos on YouTube here, here, here, and here, so that's where I'll be till something writing related comes to mind.

Hopefully I won't get in trouble with the blog police. ;)

Dia de Descanso

Today is Ibis' day off so, in turn, it's my day off, too. I realize I really have every day off so it sounds a little strange to say that, but it's essentially my day away from the computer.

We've been busy doing things around the house and plan to go to the beach to play volleyball in a couple hours. Then we're planning carne asada for dinner, yum.

Have a great day, I'll be back tomorrow!

Hard Work Does Pay Off

Every day Ibis comes home full of stories about all the people who spend their day at his pool. Since most everyone is there for at least a week, he's gotten to know some of the families as he keeps them watered, fed, and cervesa'ed. Yesterday one of those families decided to take us out to dinner as a thank you for all his hard work - said for him to pick the restaurant, make reservations and they'd see us there.

We spent a wonderful night at Il Mare, an Italian restaurant overlooking Zihuatanejo Bay, and even though we got there after the sun had set, the lights of the city make a beautiful backdrop. The family - a mother, her grown daughters & their boyfriends, and her mother - are from Minnesota and last night was their last here. I couldn't believe they wanted to spend that time with us, but people are silly sometimes. ;)

A funny side note - in the cab on the way there we passed another camel in a trailer being pulled through the streets by a pick-up truck. Today is Kings' Day so we think maybe these camels have something to do with the celebration. You know, the kings rode camels to see Baby Jesus, or something like that. I'm curious to see what's planned in the plaza tonight.

Tomorrow things go back to normal here in town. Schools have been out for a couple weeks and the workers in our building were given extra time off for the holiday, but I imagine the banging and drilling will be back by 8am. At least it's cooled off...

Smuggled Goodies

Something horrible has happened.

For the past two weeks, I have been forced to cook my own meals.

Ibis and I have a nice trade-off: I do all the cleaning and he does all the cooking. It may sound lopsided but he's a really good cook and I don't mind most of the cleaning. (He does still have to mop.) We don't always eat every meal together: I often make my own eggs for breakfast and I can handle snacks and sandwiches, but the big meals... that's all him.

If you've been following along you know he's been working as a waiters' captain at a hotel. He gets home early enough that we could eat together, but the one perk (since he's yet to see a paycheck) is they feed him. And I'm not talking tacos and beans; the employees get real meals, with fish or other meats, plus dessert.

I've been dining on sandwiches and Cup O'Noodle.

He feels bad that my diet has tanked since he's been there, and he's even said he wants to put some food in his pocket to bring home to me. Like Napolean Dynamite and his tots. I've even debated hanging out at the beach near his hotel so he can sneak me a nice meal. It's sounds pathetic, I know, but I've been spoiled since we've been together. And yes, this is why I cooked our Christmas dinner.

Well, last night Ibis came home and pulled a napkin-wrapped lump out of his pocket. "Look what I have for you!"

I opened it, eager to see what was inside.

Spongecake!

Sure, it's not filet mignon or a day's catch, but since I'd already eaten my sandwich, dessert was just what I wanted.

I wonder what he'll bring home today...

Soy Mexicana?

In the past 24-hours, two things occurred that make me think I might be a little closer to fitting in here. Yesterday I made rajas en crema, and typical Mexican dish with poblano peppers and cream, and today the lady we buy a lot of our produce from gave me a special bag that says I'm an Esteemed Client.

Well slap me silly and call me a biscuit.

The meal we've eaten a number of times, but Ibis is always in charge. My duties are to run and get the tortillas when the dinner is almost ready. Since he worked yesterday I said I'd attempt it on my own, and while we didn't have tortillas, it was delicious! Between the green peppers and red tomatoes, it was very Christmasey.

You grill the peppers, then peel off the skin once they're blackened and cut into rajas (strips). Meanwhile you sautee tomatoes, onion & garlic in oil, then add the peppers. Next is the most important step: add crema (sour cream) and queso cotijo (a crumbly cheese). Cook a few more minutes & you're done.

It sounds easy but I have a habit of destroying what should be a simple meal. Since this went so well I plan to make this at least once a week, as long as I can find low-fat sour cream.

The bag really isn't that exciting, but it was very sweet the woman, Doña as we call her, gave it to me. Ibis and I get most of our produce from her & she sometimes throws in a head of garlic or a couple limes for free. She's always very patient with me - helping me pick produce that's good for today, or good for tomorrow, depending on which day we plan to eat it. Now that's customer service.

Now I have a neon green shopping bag to tote through town, just like one of the locals.