Town on Fire

It isn't really a city on fire, it is the Alborado or Dawn part of the San Miguel Festival. San Miguel is the beloved patron saint of San Miguel de Allende. The parade of the Alborado starts at 3:00 AM and is made up of groups from different parts of town that converge to form the parade and then come to the Parroquia, the church on the Jardin. The path of the parade is punctuated by rockets but when it terminates in front of the church, the fireworks begin....literally.

At 4:00 AM fireworks are fired from the front of the Parroquia over the Jardin and from the front of the old City Hall back toward the Parroquia in a symbol of San Miguel, Archangel, leading the army of God during the uprising of Lucifer. Many Sanmiguelenses have stayed up all night partying to wait for the battle and many of the young men have no fear of being injured from the flying fireworks and remain in front of the Parroquia or in the Jardin. But most of us move back under the portales or up the street, still at times it is necessary to scatter to avoid the stray missile that takes a sidewinder track. Old clothes are in order because it is most likely that some sparks are going to land on you.

The fireworks continue for one hour.....along with the bells in the Parroquia. Whether or not you go into town for the celebration, you will participate because no one can sleep through the Alborado.

Remembering Margaret

My sister, Margaret, and me. She was 14 and I was 17. My sweater was gold and my skirt was navy blue. Margaret had on a white shirt and corduroy skirt. I don't remember what color her skirt was. Of course, we were well dressed with white socks and loafers. The details of the house are such a vivid memory as well as decorating the Christmas Tree.....placing each tinsel icicle just so on the branch. So long ago.

Tomorrow is Margaret's birthday and also the 11th anniversary since she was buried. I wrote last year in the blog that I still miss talking to her. That hasn't changed at all.

Seeing NYC

I found a new photo blog that I like. Joseph O. Holmes sees New York City in a different way. It is amazing what Joseph finds as he walks the streets of NYC. He sees what most of us pass by.

The Bulls and the Muchachos

Once again, like last year at this time, the San Migelada took place around the Jardin. Young people come in from all over Mexico to Run with the Bulls. The uniform is blue jeans, white shirt and red bandana. And of course the girls come with the guys...same uniform. Between the tequila and testosterone, lots of the muchachos are out in the street ready for the bulls to be let out. This year the bulls were a fiesty lot. Over 50 people were hurt, a few of them seriously. The news report says that one was gored in the butt, another in the thigh and another in the groin.....ouch! There is also a report that two people in the crowd sustained gun shot injuries but the report also says that the perps were captured. Not sure what that was all about.

Many of the young people come in on Friday night and party, just so they will be ready for the running of the bulls. And others come in Saturday morning. There is a "Ley Seca" (dry law) in effect from 3:00 PM on Friday until 3:00 PM on Saturday that keeps the stores from selling liquor but not the bars and restaurants. As best we can tell, it didn't help a lot. The young people came with gallon jugs filled with "orange juice and ???" as well as other containers of liquids that could be juice or a soft drink but probably wasn't. It is like Spring Break.....hormones, booze and sex.

The hotels, bars and restaurants take advantage of the fiesta, and prices go up and cover charges become outrageous. We know people who paid $100/person for a table, and we heard of people paying $150 to 200/person for a viewing spot. It seems that everyone wants to get a premium for their services. On Thursday evening we went to a party across town. The usual fare is 20 pesos. The driver wanted 30. We gave him 25.

And if you are wondering, we didn't run with the bulls, we didn't even venture out of our colonia but we did go to a party and watched it on TV. That was close enough.

Pulling the Pieces Together

This is what the kitchen looks like now. I know, I know, it looks like a nice kitchen but there is very little storage in this kitchen and I have to keep some of my dishes sitting out all of the time. I hate the little fruits in the border of the back splash and the glaze is rubbing off of the tiles and they are chipped and uneven. The grout is impossible to keep clean, and on and on with my complaints about this kitchen.

We are still pulling all the pieces together to remodel it but I can tell you one thing that the new kitchen will not have.....Gorky Gonzales tiles. I love his color palette and his designs but I'm shocked at the prices. He wants about $6.10 USA per 6x6 painted tile and $4.20 per 4x4 painted tile. And the plain white tiles would be $3.10 and $2.70 each. Too much, too much, even though I'm only using the tiles for the backsplash and behind the stove.

So, on to Plan B. We are now talking to Casal about the tile. I've found a design I like but we are going to have to work on the colors in the design. They will make us some samples. And the good news is they are much more reasonable than Gorky. I didn't say cheap but more reasonable.

We have decided on the stove.....A Mabe.....made by GE in Mexico. Very nice looking stainless steel stove with cast iron grates. Very professional looking! But we haven't decided on a refrigerator yet but we do know we want to have at least 16 cu. ft. maybe even 18 cu. ft. Oh my that will be a treat after living with 9 cu. ft. since we bought the house.

We now have the quotes from carpenters, an albanil or bricklayer who will do the destruction and also build the arches for china cabinets in the dining room and lay the tile for the backsplash, and a quote for the granite.

We could be ready to start in a couple of weeks.

Looking for the Rock

Since the kitchen renovation has been under consideration for a year, I've had 15 samples of granite for a year. All the times I've thought about how to do the kitchen I'd lay this board of samples on the kitchen counter and visualize first one granite and then another. I've collected tile samples that might go with this one or that one. But knowing that there can be some variations in granite slabs even from the same mountain over time, we decided yesterday that we should go to Queretaro to check out the current situation for the samples that I was interested in.

Of the four that I had been considering, two were no longer available. I asked to see larger pieces of the two that were available. They took us back into the factory. There was a layer of white dust on everything......No, not A layer but LAYERS of white dust. The men working back there were covered in dust. Dust in their hair, clinging to their eyebrows and we didn't see any face masks......Not one. Also the noise from the saws was deafening and I use that word literally.

The man in charge of the warehouse went looking for some larger pieces of the two samples that we liked. One had changed from a warm rosy beige to a yellowy brown beige. It would not work for us at all. The other one had moved much more to being a white/white rather than a white/gold. I wasn't too thrilled about the color and while we were looking at that piece I found another piece of granite next to it in the stack that looked like a warmer salmony color with black. You know what I don't understand is why, when we were saying that the color of the current pieces were not right, that we wanted something with a warmer color, why didn't they suggest other colors that they had on hand and that were not among the samples that we had from last year. If I had not noticed the piece for myself, we would not have known that they had that slab of granite at all.The rock pattern was larger than I had wanted but I thought the color might work. So they cut us larger samples from both of these pieces....the white and the salmon. The quality of the granite is probably the same as a middle quality of granite in the USA....not the very finest quality of granite.

The people in the office assured us that they had enough of both samples to do the kitchen so we had them prepare an estimate based on the drawing of the kitchen that we had. The price is a little less than the USA for a mid-level quality.

We now have the two samples in the kitchen and we are looking at them through the day to see how the color changes in different light but I think that the salmon colored one is going to work.....if I can find some compatible Mexican tiles for the backsplash. I've been looking at my Gorky dishes with the salmon sample and Gorky's color palette seems to work with it. It is another instance of I keep repeating the colors that I love. I've also talked to Casal who has moved his shop from Dolores Hidalgo to San Miguel and he says that he will be glad to work with me to make tiles that will work with the granite I choose. The link to Casal isn't a direct link but I haven't been able to find a better one yet. But this one will give you an idea about his work. I like Casal's palette too but he generally uses a little brighter Mexican colors.

I think we are making progress on this Kitchen Project.

Blue and Green

Nothing deep.....it is just about color. It is Mexico!

Yellow and Orange

It is about the color. That is all. No agendas, hidden meanings....just rich luscious color.

Fiesta, Mexican Independence Day

A Comida on a Holiday is a leisurely affair and certainly a Mexican Independence Day Comida with Rick and Deb in the country is just that....leisurely, relaxing and overflowing with wonderful food and interesting people.

There is no need to rush. Everyone just sank into the icpalli chairs and couches under a tent or on the portico, snacked on a wonderful selection of cheeses and fruit or guacamole and chips or chicharrones. There was time for conversations, not like sound bites at a cocktail party, but real discussions.

At some point in the afternoon, the hosts put the food on the buffet....chiles en nogada, perfectly done red, white and green rice arranged like a Mexican Flag, and coleslaw. Without a doubt, the best chiles en nogada I've ever had. The filling had just the right mix of meat, fruit and spice and the walnut sauce....my delicioso. The tables were gorgeous with red Independence Day print table cloths and colored glassware. We all lingered at the table getting to know more about our companions sitting next to us. I think that our hosts must know everyone in San Miguel because we always meet someone new at their parties.

Eventually we all moved back out under the tent and later Deb served a wonderful rich creamy chocolate cake with a BIG dollop of Mexican whipped cream.

It was almost dark when we left. About six hours for a Mexican comida on a holiday....that is just about the right amount of time and certainly the perfect way to celebrate Mexican Independence and our opportunity to live here.

Mexican Independence Day

Viva Mexico! Viva Mexico! Viva Mexico!

Excuses or Sketches

Pitchertaker commented on my pictures in the entry about Iglesia de Hacienda Las Trancas. He liked the picture with the mirror best. I started to write a reply in the comments of that entry but it got so long that I decided to make it an entry of its own. Besides I'm still reading Edward Weston's Daybooks and I find it interesting that he often writes about the actual making of images. While I'm not equating my images with Weston's, I hope that I don't bore you with some of my thoughts and struggles as I try to make images.

Pitchertaker, my favorite of the three is the chairs but that is because of the potential not because of what I captured in this particular image. I know that you teach that the photographer is responsible for everything that is in the image. True, but the chairs were being hemmed in by a big box of toilet tissue or something like that and jumbled flower stands and such on the other and the floor was littered with ropes and old flower petals. I saw the image for the color of the chairs against that incredible wall....not because of it's "social landscape." I kicked the ropes and petals away and moved in close to get only the chairs. I didn't have time to stay and wait while the ladies cleaned the church and I didn't feel free to start moving things around while they were working around me. So I took this one as a "sketch" as well as the others to remind me to go back and take my time to get these chairs as well as a lot of other images in this church. And to have a tripod so that I could make them at ISO 100 or 200 instead of 1600.

On the mirror image I made the first image from farther away including a part of the window on the left but it was more about the light. (I should probably go back and look at that "negative" in monochrome.) Then I instinctively moved in so that the mirror would play a more significant role in the image. But by then I had people milling around in the other part of the church (including some gringos) and they were in the mirror. I waited and waited until I couldn't wait any longer so I shot it and photoshopped out one person (a mexicana) from the mirror. I'm still not sure I like it better without the person in the mirror. Also, if I would have been on a tripod I could have chosen the aperture for how much blur I wanted in the mirror.

Okay, Pitchertaker, it sounds like excuses and I'm responsible for these images but I'm just waiting for a chance to go back, both when the church is decorated and when it isn't. All my 16th Century Mexican churches have been photographed in Black and White but this church just screams color and with the control I now have with digital printing, I'm ready to photograph this church in all its exuberant color.

Ann Richards, Texas Governor 1990-1994

I'm sad to read that Ann Richards has died. She was Governor of Texas. She lived life to its fullest with zest. She stood up to the good old Texas boys and made a splash on the national political scene with charm and a spicy wit. She was not an intellectual but she was very intelligent and had political savvy combined with doing what she saw as right for Texas even if it cost her politically. As we say in Texas, she cut a wide path and her boots will be hard to fill.

Crime Report

We were instantly awake when the doorbell rang this morning at 5:00 AM. We have a communication system for the door and Ned picked it up. It was our neighbor, Carlos, saying that he saw someone crawling up the front of our house via the iron bars on the outer windows and he had called the police and they were here. We went down. Carlos and Olga were in the street with three policeman. One policeman came back in the house with Ned to check out the house. No sign that anyone tried to get in the locked windows in the studio or from the terrace but our Mexican flag that had been attached to the iron bars to honor Mexican Independence Day was gone.

With all the attention focused on crime and procedures during the rapes that occurred in San Miguel, it was announced that the Preventative Police would now be using a three-part form to make reports. Well either the Police didn't consider this a crime or the three-part form has gone by the wayside. The only information that was taken was Ned's name and age and it was recorded on a little 3x4 tablet like you can stick in a shirt pocket. I don't know why they needed Ned's age but it would not have surprised me if they had asked for his parents names. This kind of information is very important here. After a few minutes the police left, we shook hands with the neighbors and thanked them and we all went back to bed.

About 7:00 AM when Ned walked the dog, Senora C was washing her front walk. I swear that woman puts all the other women in the Colonia to shame. Sometimes she washes clothes and hangs them out on her roof at 6:00 AM. I think if I started washing my front walk at 6:30 she would be out there at 6:00. She asked what had happened. She had heard someone running down the street earlier in the morning and then had seen the police car and all of us standing around under the window. Another neighbor came out and she too heard someone running down the street around 5:00 AM. They both said that they would like to have our phone number so they could call us if anything suspicious was happening.

We don't officially have a Neighborhood Watch Program in our Colonia but I feel like we have good neighbors who are watching.

Through Mexican Eyes

On Monday we had Norma, la arquitecta, came over to talk about our kitchen remodeling project. She was all business as we said we want to do this, we want to do that.....this and thats like taking all the rustica aplanada finish off of the walls so that we can put a smoother finish on and chipping out all of the concrete of the kitchen counters. But when we said we were going to get a new stove and refrigerator, her "okay" changed to "Oh!" We knew she was surprised that we would get rid of a perfectly good stove and refrigerator. No matter that the stove didn't have a broiler or the oven wasn't sealed very well and didn't cook evenly. No matter that the refrigerator was only 9 cubic feet of space (including the freezer.)

On Tuesday Norma brought over a maestro to get a price on the destruction that would have to be done before we could do the renovation. I wasn't here but Ned said he saw the same "surprise." Why in the world would we want to take off the aplanado or take out a kitchen that looked good to him.

I don't doubt that some Mexican dinner table conversations are going to be about those crazy gringos who throw out things that work and tear out perfectly good kitchens to redo them.

Missing

One of the reasons that we sold our home in Houston is that we found it difficult to live in two places. It seemed like we were always missing something or bringing something down that we needed. I thought that when we sold the house that we would have all that we need here...in one place. But I couldn't fit all my years of negatives and "photo stuff" in this Mexican house so I had to make some decisions about what I actually needed and would be using here.

Several times I've looked for something from my workroom in Houston that I thought I had brought down and I had started to suspect that we left a packed box in storage that should have come with us to Mexico.

I thought that I had packed two boxes of negatives to bring down but only one is here plus a box of old family slides and pictures that I want to scan. When I was looking for something, Ned and I would talk about how careful we were to label all the boxes and how we stacked the ones that were staying and the ones that were going in different places......No, I'd decide, I must be confused. I probably only packed one box of negatives to bring. But today I went looking for some accessories for my scanner that make it possible to scan other sizes of film or prints. Can't be found. I KNOW I packed it to bring down because I can see myself taping the end of the clear plastic envelope that held all the pieces in one place and putting it in a box with negatives that I wanted to bring.

I'm sure that somewhere in our storage in Houston, there sits a box that holds all the missing items that I have looked for but I sure dread the thought of going through the storage unit to find it.

Iglesia at Hacienda Las Trancas

Today we were back at Hacienda las Trancas for a meeting of the Down to Earth Garden Club. While it was a great meeting to learn more about Kelley and Stephen's Gardens at the Hacienda and to enjoy the amazing comida that their staff prepared for us, the highlight of this trip for me was being able to go into the Hacienda Iglesia.

September 8 had been a festival in the church for the Virgin of Loreto and now the women were taking out huge bouquets of flowers and cleaning the church.

I wish I had been there during the festival and I can assure that I will go back for another festival. The church is beautiful with stencil painted walls and exuberant color. All I had time for was a few grab shots but this church is rich with images.

Provincia Juriquilla

On Saturday on our way home from Queretaro, we decided to do a bit of exploring. We had heard about the golf course development and some good restaurants at Juriquilla off of Mexico Highway 57. It was time for Comida so we headed off the highway for Juriquilla.

Oh my, what a place! This high-end residential development is built on the sides of the hills up from a lake and the golf course is tucked along the lake. At the dam end of the lake is a semicircular building that sticks out over the lake. Inside it is terraced up the hillside a bit so that all the tables have a view of the lake. It isn't just one restaurant but it is at least six restaurants offering comida Italiana, Argentina, Mariscos, Espanola, Japones and Mexicana.

You would think that since we have Mexican food all of the time that we would have chosen a place to eat besides Mi Tierra but I just liked the view from there. The service was impeccable and the food was very good. We melted into the chairs and enjoyed the afternoon. There were lots of families coming in for comida and we enjoyed people watching as well as looking at the fabulous terraced houses hanging on the hillside. I wish I would have had the camera with me.

I love all our little neighborhood cafes here in San Miguel but I'm thinking that for a change of pace from now on, we are going to have to make a stop in Juriquilla for a relaxed comida on our way back from Queretaro.

500th Blog Entry

This is the 500th Blog Entry and strange that it should fall on the 5th Anniversary of 9/11. I can't believe that I've found enough "stuff" to write 500 entries in 1-1/2 years.

I've Been Blogged

Ellen Fields, who writes the wonderful blog Yucatan Living also writes the Mexico-in-English blog where she reviews blogs and other writings about Mexico, has honored this blog with a review. I never expected to see my blog on Mexico-in-English because it is such a hodge-podge of stuff and not just about Mexico. But, thanks Ellen, it is a very nice review.

Kitchen Design

We have been waiting for a week and a half to see a design for our kitchen that was being done by a kitchen design store in the big city.....Queretaro. After several phone calls from us asking when it would be ready they finally said come on Saturday so yesterday we drove to Queretaro. Driving in Queretaro is still difficult for us. We have our route to WalMart, Costco and Liverpool shopping center figured out but after that we use a map and we still get lost. It is amazing how many exits off the freeway are not marked.

We walk into the shop and right away I think we both felt that things were not going to go well. It looked so American subdivision kitcheny.....so unlike this little rustica Mexican house. Two weeks ago when they came to take the measurements of our kitchen so they could do the design, we tried to tell them what we wanted to do in the kitchen, how we wanted to maintain the style of the house. The man who came spoke English, I thought he understood what we said but I was concerned from the start because he didn't ask a single question about what we needed in the kitchen or how we used the kitchen. Well, I can tell you from the plan they put together that we had not communicated. He eliminated about six feet of kitchen counter top and I don't have that much to start with and then he put the refrigerator on a wall, a refrigerator without a cabinet on either side of it, just standing alone on a long wall. Now that is just plain bad design.

I had brought the magazine pictures that I had used two weeks ago to help me explain what we wanted and also a picture of a little carved china cabinet that we have now to see if some carving can be incorporated into the facing of the cabinets. No problema, but it will take another week to redesign the kitchen. Excuse me, but at this point we have measured and talked about the kitchen until we have a design for it in our heads. I think we are going to look for another way to execute our design.

Informe - State of the Town

Last night was the Mayor's Informe or State of the Town Annual City Government Speech and it was held in front of the Parroquia. A huge stage was set up and there were tables for the "City Council" to sit on stage too. A colorful banner backed the stage and in front were folding chairs. The first two or three rows were filled with men in black business suits and ladies also in proper business suits. I wish I could understand more Spanish because I heard him speak several times about Colonia San Antonio where we live. I don't know if he was talking about the money the city had spent on our Colonia or if it was about something else. But just as in the USA the seated crowd listened and applauded when he made a point that they liked.

We saw our friends Sandy and Aggie and slipped around the back of the stage during the speech to go check out the Oratoria church to see what was happening for the Celebration of the Feast of the Virgin of Loreto. The Mass was over but the ladies of the church were lined up outside at folding tables selling some very tantalizing desserts. We milled around for a while and then headed back over to the San Francisco Cafe on the Jardin. The speeches were still in progress when we went into the restaurant but soon there were fireworks to let the town know that the Mayor had spoken. We ordered dinner and talked but all the while we could hear some music coming from the Jardin so as soon as we finished dinner we headed toward the gazebo in the center of the Jardin.

A great band was playing salsas and all around the gazebo there were couples dancing. Some young people but some of the "old marrieds" were dancing too and everyone was having a lively time. The circle around the gazebo was filled with families with children. Sometimes the children would break into a dance or maybe a game of chase across the "dance floor". One little boy kept climbing up the outside of the gazebo and jumping off the platform. While we were there he must have done this 12 or 15 times. Why don't children, especially boys, ever get tired?

The band stopped playing and in minutes all their instruments were packed up and out of the gazebo. We thought about going someplace for dessert but dinner had been too good at the San Francisco Cafe so we walked back to Colonia San Antonio. Outside of the Jardin the town was very quiet and still. Shortly after we got into bed a light rain started to fall. It was good sleeping weather. While there are things that could be improved, I think the "State" of this town is just magical.

Photos from the Reforma in Mexico City

Rick and Deb Hall own Zocalo, an amazing folkart store, here in San Miguel de Allende. Not only is Deb knowledgeable about Mexican Folkart but she is also a photographer. She has posted photos about the presidential election protests along the Reforma from their recent visit to Mexico City.

I Give up. It's a Hobby.

A recent conversation.

He: So, are you a professional photographer?

Me: No, I don't make a living doing photography but I have a gallery that shows my work, an art consultant who represents me and I have work in some private and corporate collections as well as a couple of museums.

He: Oh, so photography is your hobby?

Me: Sigh! Yes, photography is my hobby.

The Moon was a No Show

From the terrace we have a beautiful view across town towards the mountains and the moon comes up over those mountains. It is a thrill to see the full moon as a sliver just breaking the horizon and then moving at what seems very fast to clear the hillside and to hang above San Miguel.

The full moon last night was the harvest moon. My friend Sandy and her guest Aggie are in town so what better reasons to have a cocktail party. The guests showed up but the moon didn't. Clouds moved in before they came and about 9:00 PM the rain started. Not a light rain but a thunderboomer downpour. The guests left about 10:45 but the rain stayed through the night.

For my foodie readers the cocktail menu was simple. Mango salsa, blue cheese spread with sliced apples and pears, deviled eggs and cocktail sausages with country mustard. The Mexican cocktail sausages are not the same as we get in the USA. They are a cross between a USA cocktail sausage and a vienna sausage. I heated them in the oven but I wish they had a little more zing, a little more spice, a little more texture. But I shouldn't complain because it is something that I can add to a cocktail menu and I don't have to prepare it from scratch. And can someone tell me why deviled eggs are always such a favorite. People who wouldn't touch an egg at breakfast will eat 3 or 4 of them.

Well, at any rate, it was a good evening with lively story telling and lots of laughter even if the Moon was a No Show.

Edward Weston and Me

I'm reading again The Daybooks of Edward Weston. It has been a while since I read them and I especially wanted to read about his time in Mexico back in the 20's. When I read his thoughts about a trip during Semana Santa, I thought, "Ah yes, Edward, I understand what you are writing about. Mexico's picturesqueness is seductive to every camera."

He wrote this in April, 1924 during Semana Santa, Tepotzotlan, Estado de Mexico.

"I exposed no film on the church, except a few records with the Graflex for 'recuerdos.' Many times I pointed my camera towards it--almost longingly--towards this building of such great beauty, but always the lens was finally pivoted away and off into the region of cacti and maguey, or of walled streets and open sky. Of the wall and cacti I have much to say--they, at least, have not been exploited, but the most casual, superficial of tourist would exclaim in rapture over the church, "snap" it with their Kodaks, and then rush back to the hotel lobby.

.....I printed my order and then one more negative from Tepotzotlan, an arch with organ cactus underneath; it might be a stage setting and is dangerously near being just picturesque. I might call my work in Mexico a fight to avoid its natural picturesqueness. I had this premonition about working in Mexico before leaving Los Angeles and used to be almost angry with those who would remark, 'O, you will have a wonderful opportunity to make pictures in Mexico.'"

The Siesta

A deep siesta but slowly awaking
Now on the cusp of sleep and conscious
The body still sinking deep into the mattress
The mind aware of the body
But sounds not quite in focus

GGRRR-r-r-r--r--r---r
GGRRR-r-r-r--r--r---r

The motorcycle next door?
Why doesn't it start and leave
Again
Again
Pulling me further from siesta

GGRRR-r-r-r--r--r---r
Oh
Not the motorcycle next door
Taylor the cocker spaniel
Curled against my stomach
Snoring, still deep in his siesta

Raul of Heading East Blog

One of my favorite bloggers, Raul Gutierrez is having a photography show, Travel without Maps: Images of China's Western Frontiers at Nelson Hancock Gallery in New York City from September 14 to October 28.

I like Raul's blog for the photography and his lyrical writing. So check out the blog and also the gallery if you are in NYC.

Time for Chiles en Nogada

I regularly have people find my blog because they googled Chiles en Nogada and I wrote about this wonderful seasonal Mexican dish last year. Once again Chiles en Nogada is on the menus in San Miguel restaurants. Last night we went back to the Correo Cafe to enjoy it.

I have a recipe for Chiles en Nogada from Barbara Mauldin who use to live here in San Miguel and had a restaurant and did some catering. I can't find her to ask permission to put her recipe in the blog but I hope she doesn't mind.


Chiles en Nogada
From Barbara Maulden

Here is the simplest recipe that I have used for making Chiles en Nogada. It is an adaptation from one by Rick Bayless, with some of my notes added in parenthesis. In The Best of Quintana, Patricia Quintana offers a recipe serving 16 people that is so formidable it may be directly from those nuns in Puebla who were celebrating Iturbide’s saint’s day. Believe me, you will prefer using the following.

For the Sauce:
3/4 cup walnuts
1 cup milk
1/2 cup thick cream (I use Mexican Aguascaliente or acidificada)
3 ounces queso fresco (try a crumbly ranchero)
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch salt, or to taste
Pinch of sugar or teaspoon of sherry to taste

For the chiles:
1 pound pork, cut into 1-inch pieces (or left over chuletas, roast loin, etc)
1/2 onion, cut in half
2 cloves garlic, cut in half
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 pound tomatoes with their skins seeded and chopped
1 onion minced
1 tablespoon garlic minced
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
2 plantain, or under ripe banana, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Scant 1/4 cup citron or candied orange peel, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
(Try using fresh fruit such as pear or mango in place of the above fruit)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup blanched, chopped almonds
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
6 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and deveined
Flat leaf parsley and pomegranate seeds for garnish

To prepare the sauce, place shelled walnuts in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and let soak 5 minutes. Drain, then peel the thin skin from the nuts (I brush vigorously with a stiff brush, but seldom find that much skin comes off.) Place in a bowl and cover with milk and let soak for 12 hours (less time works if you are in a hurry.)

Drain the walnuts, discarding all but 1/2 cup of the milk for use in pureeing the nuts. Transfer the nuts to a blender and puree with the cream, 1/2 cup milk and the queso fresco, salt and sugar. Refrigerate.

To prepare the filling, put the meat in a saucepan with enough water to cover, and cook over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and salt. Cook for 40 to 60 minutes or until the meat is tender, skimming and discarding any foam from the surface with a large spoon. Drain the meat, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the onion and garlic, saute until transparent. Add the tomatoes and minced parsley and cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Mix in the remaining cinnamon, cloves, plantain, other fruit, raisins, almonds, pine nuts and salt, along with the pork. Cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking—the meat should begin to fall apart and be slightly moist. If it becomes too dry, add some of the reserved cooking liquid.

Stuff each Chile with the pork mixture and place them on serving plates. Pour the sauce over the chiles avoiding the bases and stems, if possible. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and fresh parsley.

(I like to process the pork in processor until it is slightly broken up, but not at all pureed. I place it in skillet with additional ingredients and let all simmer until well combined and slightly mushy. It seems to adhere better and become a mix that will blend well within the Chile.)

Discussing the Photographs of Brian Lesteberg

Today, Raul's blog Heading East cited Brian Lesteberg's photographs. Raul wrote that Brian's photographs from North Dakota strike him as unmistakably and viscerally American. He said he loved the clarity and sensitivity of his vision. I looked at the images and thought they had a great sense of place so I sent an email to some photography friends asking them to take a look at Brian's images and to write about them.

Billie: Do these have a sense of place or not? And a statement about an American way of life that is foreign to most of us.

John: Absolutely. Very nice prairie work. I've been there, only a little north when I lived in Alberta. We went hunting and lay under tarps on the prairie. This is the North. The South of the North, but the North. Geographically a large part of the country if not populous.Thank you for the introduction. I haven't seen a Texas photographer in the same vein, but we must have some.


Billie: You are right I don't think I've seen a whole project by a Texas photographer that covers the whole deer/duck hunting thing. But it sure is a cultural event here in Texas. I would bet that the project could be approached in two ways. The Big City Good Old Boys who hunt with all the latest equipment and vehicles on expensive leases and then the guys who grew up in small town Texas and hunt out on the farms.

Chip: I would say these pictures reflect a sense of traditional prairie hunting culture, especially as I remember it from my four years "down the hill" in South Dakota. It is a way of life, and for some, a necessary part of subsistence. And they certainly describe the austere wintry landscape of the plains.But what I see underneath these images is a pretty passive and distant art school aesthetic coming from a guy who says he's been inside this hunting life all of his. He seems reluctant to confront, or at least depict, the killing and instead dances around the edges of blood sport. These are pretty sanitary pictures as they might show up in the Sunday Times Magazine, safely aestheticized. At least in the 1991 snapshot he and his father are holding the kill. I say this as an observation more than a criticism. As we prepare to show Agency VII's war photographs from the Congo at the APG Gallery here in Atlanta the issue comes up (one that Bobby A. has raised before) about whether artfulness can dilute rather than clarify the essential statement of a photograph, especially one that addresses physical or political brutality and death. So I would say these pictures are cool rather than warm; static rather than dynamic; removed rather than involved; considered rather than felt, and timid rather than courageous, descriptions that seem to apply to a lot of the photography I see these days.

Billie: For some I guess it is a "blood sport" but as you say for some it is a necessary part of subsistence. I had not thought about the fact that we don't see the guts on the ground but is that necessary to understand what is happening? Isn't it more intriguing to see the decoys, the signs for the "slaughter" houses, the"stuffed" birds. Do I actually have to see an African woman being brutalized and raped to understand the anguish of her look at 8 month pregnant and being told her pregnancy is the result of rape. I guess I prefer the Art School aesthetic to seeing the horror that can be inflicted on the world. With that said, I'm not touting these as great images....art or documentary....but they hit me this morning as an observation of our culture that is foreign to me and yet in Texas it is deeply ingrained.They did make me stop and think. And now your comments are also making me think. I wonder if Lesteberg grew up in this culture, left, and now is back and what he is feeling is some conflict with the old and new. What seemed commonplace as he was growing up now seems a bit bizarre. He is seeing his "common place" with new eyes. Chip, not disagreeing with your observations, just continuing the discussion.

John: (To Chip) There is something to what you say, but I don't think it is fair to ask him to be you. He isn't there. That's not his bag, and he never says it is. Quite the opposite. I think what you are making is an argument against the man rather than the work because you have a disagreement with the underlying premise. That he is not an urban, urbane, edgy shooter is not because he is not an artist of merit. People who have no disagreement with blood sport have no sense of dancing around the edges. They don't have any edges. Every testosterone fueled magazine is full of bloody trophies. No reason for him to repeat that. I would call Brian's stuff lyrical and sympathetic to the ethos. He also seems to be a meat hunter rather than a trophy hunter. Billie makes a great point about Texas hunting. There isn't as much of a contrast in ND because cities like Dallas, Houston, San Antonio are not close enough.

Gordon: Great description, Chip. Your ideas fit what I experienced when I looked at the portfolio---I was attracted to form and line and they could have been taken in almost any context (though I did like the "Deer Head Collection Site" sign next to the hand-painted "DEER" sign---are the deer supposed to know to walk right in?). I couldn't help but have Les Krims "Deerslayers" images in my head when I looked at Lesterberg's. I got to see what I wanted to see. I like deer (although I do think of Lyme disease when I see the animals) and I didn't have to see them splayed out. But, if more blood and guts were depicted, would we criticize him for trying to shock? I have to say, though, I am a bit envious that Lesterberg came up with such a project at such a young age. Just think what it will look like in 10 years.

Paul: but chip...it has always been like that. people don't push. they like to stay in the comfort zone. the zoners' photos are as a group pretty darn warm and fuzzy. of course you are going to give me a dozen example of zoners photos that have some edge but generally we are traditional landscapes or nudes on a blanket. no blood, their guts still inside, no erections. sally mann's husband in the pool with an erection - that's edge. stephen's photo of the couple on the blanket - a photo of design and light - no edge. but stephen likes it that way. he wants it that way. just like that guy and his sanitized hunting photos. (About confronting) .....couldn't it also be equally as true that the photos are what he has chosen - that the photos are what he likes, not the edited down safe magazine photos that you suggest he aimed for. i'm only saying that chip's photos would have been straight ahead, in your face, edgey, right into the bloody guts on the snow. but this fellows photos aren't chip's photos. does that make sense?

You: Did you look at Brian's photographs? What do you think?

Update:
Article on Brian: PDNonLine
Brian's Professors: Alec Sloth
Kathrine Turczan
David Goldes
Compare:
Andrew Wyeth

Brian Lesteberg

Boo Blogger Beta

The new look for the blog came about when I switched to the new beta version of Blogger. My transition went smoothly. I flicked the switch, so to speak, and everything moved over to the new version. Everyone hasn't had such a smooth transition. The Blogger help groups are overwhelmed with people complaining about issues with their blogs up to and including their blog just disappearing. My issue is that I can't upload photographs to billieblog for more than a week.

On August 24th "Blogger Employee" wrote on the help board that they were aware of the issue and suggested that everyone try FireFox browser but many people have written to say that doesn't work either. Since then, silence, total silence. No information on their own Blogger status site. Nada. Not a word and no way to actually send a message to Blogger.

I had been thinking about moving the blog to WordPress before the new Blogger Beta but I have a pretty large blog, approaching 500 entries with lots of images. I dread trying a move and all the issues that can pop up. On the other hand I really like the look of the photograph banner across the top in Wordpress and I like their categories.

Do I have any WordPress readers? What are the problems over in WordPress? How is support?

Can We Do It Again?

It has been a year since we finished our last construction project, the office/studio. We love the room. Before we built this room I felt like we had a small house but since we build it, I feel like this is a big house. Certainly big enough for all the things we need in a house..........

BUT.......I've never liked the kitchen. And I was planning on starting on a kitchen redo as well as revamping the patio shortly after the studio project. However, I just couldn't bring myself to walk into more construction. The dust, the endless noise of Chip Chip Chip, the loss of privacy, the issues that need to be settled everyday...in another language. I knew that this project was going to close down the kitchen for 6 to 8 weeks and that would really be hard to endure. But the other issue was I didn't have a clear vision of how to renovate the kitchen.

Here are the kitchen problems. It doesn't have any storage, it has Mexican clay tiles with the glaze worn off in the work areas, the grout is different from the USA and impossible to keep clean, the tiles have painted fruits on them which I have hated since we first looked at the house and the tiles are uneven so the cutting board becomes a click-clack seesaw when you are trying to prepare vegetables. There is a three inch gap on each side of the stove. Not big enough to get in there to clean but big enough to catch all kinds of grease and food remnants. There are other issues I could write about but let's just say that I finally have decided that the whole kitchen needs to go......tile, concrete, cabinets, stove and refrigerator so that it can be reborn.

I want a nice smooth granite countertop with Mexican tile backsplash. I want lower cabinets with drawers that pull out to hold pots and pans and if possible doors that open to pull out racks so that under counter corners can be used. I want a convenient storage space for appliances so that they are easy to reach. I want cabinets for dishes. But at the same time I want to preserve the Mexican flavor of the house. I think I've just about figured out how to do this. Now the challenge is finding the people to do the job. Expect more blog entries on the Kitchen Project.