Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!

That is what Lady MacBeth said and now I'm saying, Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!

I'm scanning film and preparing files to print for a group show and no matter how carefully I clean the film and the glass on the scanner, I have dust spots. This film from the Holga is so much worse than the film that I developed in my darkroom because the lab doesn't seem to have any dust control measures in place and we live in a dusty environment especially this time of the year. And besides developing the film in the lab without any dust control, they just roll up the film and put it in a plastic bag that is usually left open so more dust gets on the film before I pick it up and clean it as well as possible and put it away in PrintFile archival sleeves.

There is no comparison to the film that was developed in Houston in my darkroom. That film is clean to start with so maybe I'll have a few spots to clean up that managed to attach itself during the handling of the film to get it in the scanner holders. But the film developed here has dust on it from every step in the process.

What all this means is that every speck, every single speck of dust, shows up on the digital scan. My scanner has a dust removal feature that has helped with other film but when I try to use it with this film from the Holga that also has chromatic aberrations strange lines sometimes appear in the transitions from one color to another. So I can't use that feature on the scanner.

It is taking me more than an hour to clean up all those dust specks before I can even start to work on processing the image to print.

Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!

Friends and Family

Our Thanksgiving here was wonderful. Friends invited us and five other people for a Texas Thanksgiving Feast. We guests brought tasty tidbits and desserts but they did the turkeys, dressing, green beans.....the whole thing. They even found a can of jellied cranberry sauce for Ned. Dinner tasted like Thanksgiving is suppose to taste.....or the way it always tastes in our family. I enjoyed every bite and I felt so close to the friends that were there. It was like being with family, except for missing the grandsons.

It reminded me of one of La Gringa in San Miguel's blog entries. She was writing about an interview that she did but near the end of the entry she wrote:

One thing I would have liked to discuss is how easy it is to develop friends and social networks among expats. True, it would be difficult to leave one's family and friends in the U.S., but as I've mentioned here before, many expats in SMA see their friends as pseudo-family. I cannot tell you how many times older expats have talked about the care and support they receive from others in the community. So in a way, the network can mitigate the difficulty of being away from one's extended family.

Actually we haven't felt much difficulty in being away from our family because we travel back and forth and talk on the phone and have emails. I don't think it is anymore difficult than living in different locations in the USA. Without the convenience of all the ways we have to communicate these days, it would be more difficult. But still I do agree with La Gringa that we have friends who have become like family in a fairly short period of time. Much shorter than it would take if we moved to a new location in the USA.

Why is this? I think that you already have something in common with many people who move to Mexico because living outside the USA certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea. And I guess that we are looking for a sense of community AND because most of us are not raising children and working full time, we have the time to build deep friendships.

I'm so looking forward to seeing our Texas family soon. We have a new niece. Jack may be as tall as me when I see him. Dexter will make me laugh. Time for conversations with the sons and their families. But in the meantime, I feel loved by and connected with my San Miguel family.

Grocery List

Cynthia commented on my post about some of the things that I can't always find for my cooking here in San Miguel:

What can't you find there, Billie? I'm curious since I've done so little cooking to date in SMA. I just wonder what it is you miss that is impossible to find in Mexico.

Besides the things I mention in that post, these are the things that are on my shopping list when I go to Texas. I don't know that all of them are impossible to find in Mexico but they aren't easy to find in San Miguel or they cost too, too much.

Brianna Blush Wine Vinaigrette - I saw it here one time for about 3X what I pay for it in Texas. I do make my own vinaigrette lots of time but I especially like this one.

Brianna Poppy Seed Dressing - I've tried a Mexican brand and I don't like it as much as I do the Brianna.

Canned Chili - Every once in a while I'd like a chili dog. Carey's might have it but again at 3X the price.

Chutney - You can find some kinds of chutney's here but not the one I like to use or you can make your own. I like to have a couple of jars on hand for some quick appetizers.

Triskets or WheatThins - Sometimes you can find a small box of triskets at El Tomate but at 3X the price.

Wild Rice - You can find small boxes of wild rice in Bonanza but it is expensive. I buy it by the pound at Central Market.

Grape Jelly - Ned's favorite. We did find some Smuckers grape jelly at Gigante the other day but it is the first grape jelly that I have seen in Mexico and it was imported. I don't understand this since Mexico grows grapes....but they don't make grape jelly.

Smart Balance - Haven't been able to find it anywhere here.

Vegetable Shortening - After trying to make pies with the Mexican vegetable shortening, I can assure you that I'm bringing it back from Texas.

Baker's Angel Flake Coconut

Chicken Broth - I saw boxed chicken broth at Costco one time but the last two times we have been I couldn't find it in the store. Yes, I can make broth but I have a hard time staying ahead.

Canned Tomatoes - Up until the last year or two I couldn't find canned tomatoes at all but now I'm seeing some Spanish or Italian brands. So far I haven't found one that has the flavor and texture that I want.

Tubes of tomato paste - The tomato puree here isn't like tomato sauce or tomato paste. Sometimes you only need a tad of tomato paste to add to a recipe so the tube works great.

Cans of tomato sauce and tomato paste.

Dried cherries - I can find dried cranberries and blueberries but not cherries. I have a great recipe that calls for them so I like to have some in the freezer.

Fresh pecans - you can buy packaged pecans and walnuts here but there is nothing like freshly shelled pecans from the Farmer's Market. When we lived in Houston, I'd buy eight pounds or so in the Fall when they were shelling the fresh crop and put them in the freezer to use all during the year. So much better than the packaged ones.

If I could I'd love to bring back a years supply of lemons. Sometimes you can get them and we all get excited when someone announces that Gigante or Mega has them. I'm surprised how many times I've wanted a lemon. Limes are a substitute but the taste is different especially when you are using the zest.

Crushed red pepper and Cayenne - I have bought a Mexican brand of Cayenne but it wasn't the same.

Baking chocolates - I can only find one brand here and it is okay but I can find a much better variety and quality of baking chocolates in Texas.

Sweet pickles, sliced dill pickles and Kosher pickles - I can get the sliced dill pickles at Costco in one gallon jars but that is too, too much.

Cling wrap - If you have ever tried to use the Mexican brands of plastic wrap, you will understand why I want Cling wrap.

I'm sure I could source many of these things out in Queretaro or Celaya but it isn't like you can use the yellow pages to find a store. Mostly you find places by word of mouth. Add to that finding your way around in Queretaro and Celaya is difficult. Just yesterday, friends took me to a Japanese tienda in Queretaro that had ingredients you need for Japanese recipes. I don't think I ever would have found it on my own.

We recently went to the new Gigante for the first time and I was impressed. So many things I use to bring down like pancake mix and maple syrup or Classico Pasta Sauces, I can buy here now. The same with rice. I use to bring different kinds of rice back but now I can usually find the kind I want at Bonanza. Food shopping is so much better than it was 5 or 6 years ago and I'm sure it will continue to get better. I will continue to adjust my recipes and my desires to what I find here BUT as long as I'm going to be in Texas, why not fill up my larder with some goodies. And besides it is fun when you invite someone over and are able to serve them something that they can't find in San Miguel either.

Portraits from the Yucatan

On our trips to the Yucatan, we always stopped in Hoctun. At first I didn't have much luck photographing people but everytime we went back, I'd take back some of the photographs I made the last time. After a while the people working in the Mercado trusted me and when I asked permission they would pose for me. These two images were made in January 1998.

What Are You Thankful For?

I'm thankful ............

• that Ned and I are in good health


• to have Ned as my husband and my wonderful sons and their families


• for our home in San Miguel and that we can live in Mexico


• for old friends and the opportunity to make new friends here in San Miguel


• for my love of photography and the artistic and mental challenges photography brings.

What are you thankful for?

Comments from the Weekend

I'm running a little behind on some of the news from San Miguel so I'll try to catch up in one post.

Taylor, our Cocker Spaniel was sick. Friday morning he started throwing up. After a while I could see that it wasn't going to get any better so we got the car out and took him to the vet. Dr. Vazquez was very concerned about him and wanted to keep him for a few hours. It ended up that he spent the night in the doggie hospital. Dr. Vazquez diagnosis was Bloat. I didn't know what Bloat in a dog was but once I googled it, I was really glad we had taken him to the vet right away. Apparently dogs can die of it in a pretty short time. As you can see from the picture, by the time Taylor came home he was his usual "relaxed" self.

On Friday night we walked into the Centro and ate at one of our favorite spots, Brasserie. The Restaurante is so relaxing, the food is consistent and we just adore the restaurant owner. I guess we are pretty consistent too because they know what we usually order to drink and if we gave them three guesses I think they would also be able to name the menu item we will order.

I don't know why but it seems like lately we haven't been into the Centro very much on the weekends. So after dinner we walked to the Jardin. WOW, it was packed with teenagers gathered in small groups. There were some couples but most were groups of girls and groups of boys doing a little flirting. It reminded me that it wasn't that that many years ago when the boys and girls circled the jardin going in opposite directions with the girls under the watchful eyes of a guardian. Nope, not that way now.

From the jardin we wandered over to the Civic Plaza where the Wool and Brass Fair had just been set up. There were really nice vendor booths and there was everything there from wood furniture from Dolores Hidalgo to special canned condiments. But there were a lot of sweaters, mittens and mufflers too.

It seemed too early to go home, so we walked back by way of Relox and stopped at Los Milagros. Lee and Ty have been telling us about this place and we wanted to check it out. There was a trio playing "Buena Vista Social Club" type of music. It is amazing how many good musical groups there are in San Miguel.

We sat at the bar and watched what was happening. There were mostly Mexicans and there were several large groups. It was early, 9:30 PM, but it was lively with lots of laughter, talk and a little dancing in the aisles between the tables. We could see that it would get even livelier as the evening went on. But we didn't stay to see it. On the way home we talked about the Mexican growing middle-class and upper middle-class. While we were at Los Milagros we saw the waiters bring another round of drinks to some of the tables. The drinks are not cheap. In fact I thought the prices were similar to what we would pay in a neighborhood bar in Houston. So some of these young people have got to be making a decent wage.

This past weekend was a long weekend for Mexico. Revolution Day is today but the country declared Monday to be a "Bridge" holiday so many people had four-day weekends. San Miguel had lots of Mexican tourist. The traffic was bumper to bumper. I also thought that I saw more gringo tourist who might have been taking some vacation time along with the Thanksgiving holiday weekend this week.

Drops of rain were hitting the windshield of the taxi as we were getting out at Joe's house late Sunday afternoon. Within about 10 minutes we were in the middle of a hail storm that lasted long enough to cover his patio and destroy some of the plants. Some of the hail stones were as big as quarters but most of it was dime size. It rained off and on while we had dinner, yet when we left there was still hail on the ground under the table. This IS NOT the rainy season. This is the SECOND serious hail storm we have had this year. Most unusual!

When we returned home we found that we had lots of debris in the patio and still had unmelted hail stones as well. It wasn't until the next morning that we saw the poor plants in the patio. This is a canna with leaves so shredded that now it almost looks like a palm. I'm not sure what to do with it. I hesitate to cut it back because I don't want to encourage new growth when we are just going into the "winter" season.

Okay, I think that brings you up-to-date!

Tagged

Joanna who writes the Blah, blah, blah, Ginger blog tagged me. The rules for this game are simple.

There are a few rules one must follow to play the game. When tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list eight random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to eight other people.

That seems simple enough but as I look at who has tagged who, and who, and who.........I can't think of eight different bloggers to tag who haven't already been tagged. So I'm only going to be playing half the game.

Eight random things about myself.

I'm a good seamstress and use to make all my clothes from Vogue Designer Patterns

At one time I seriously considered going to law school to be a labor lawyer

I like taking long road trips by myself

At some point I'd like to build another architect designed contemporary house in Houston

I want to publish at least one photography book

I have a thing for clean windows and hate that it is so difficult to get someone to clean the high windows here in San Miguel

Sometimes I fear I'm not a real "fine art photographer"

I've been keeping a daily journal since the early 90's

Curatorial Independence and The Art Business

Today the New York Times has an article about art dealers making contributions to Museums and specifically contributions that help the Museum show the work of artist they represent. I can understand that with reduced funding from Corporations and from other sources that the Museums often need these funds. But no matter how the Museums insist that they maintain their curatorial independence, I think that this situation isn't good. Those who have the money, have the power to influence what is chosen and what isn't chosen. It is a slippery slope for the Museums.

Mezzaluna Restaurante in San Miguel

I'm almost afraid to write this post about Mezzaluna, a new restaurant that we tried last night because so many restaurants in San Miguel have a problem with consistency in service and food. But we had such a wonderful dinner that I'm going to tell about our experience anyway.

Mezzaluna is on Jesus between Umaran and Pila Seca/Quadrante (or whatever it is called at that corner) and it is just a few doors from the corner of Pila Seca. It is in a large courtyard that is covered at night or when it is cool and they have a gas heater or two scattered around in case it is cold. The tree in the center is strung with lights and the restaurant looks inviting. The staff welcomed us and was very attentive. About 8:00 PM we had some very nice music from a duo, not too loud....just nice dinner music. The restaurant is an expansion into San Miguel by owners who have three restaurants in Irapuato. One is also called Mezzaluna, another a sushi bar and the third....I can't remember. But the waiter told us that soon they were going to open a sushi bar in the front room of the restaurant.

Now the most important part....the food. If you have been reading this blog for a while you know that I complain about the restaurants in San Miguel and especially those that serve pasta. I'm not complaining about Mezzaluna. Two of us started off with a ensalada mixta that was crunchy and fresh with a nice tangy dressing and another of us started with a minestrone soup. He said that the soup was delicious and it must have been because he ate every drop. We all ordered a pasta dish.....two Alfredo Fettuccine and one Ravioli stuffed with spinach served with a four cheese sauce. All of the pastas were fresh pasta and the sauces were light but very flavourful.

The menu also has pizzas and some chicken and fish dishes. The next time I'm going to have a pasta with a tomato sauce to see what they do with tomato based sauces.

The prices were about 85 to 95 pesos for the pasta and 50-65 pesos for salads. I think that is a little pricey for San Miguel but on the other hand the other restaurants that serve pasta here have about the same prices and I don't like their pasta.

So if you try Messaluna Restaurante in San Miguel, let me know what you think. I hope that you have as good an experience as we did.

Lost and Found

Sometime ago, maybe about 1983, I started making up pickled carrots and cauliflower around Thanksgiving time and including them on the relish tray for snacking before Thanksgiving Dinner. The recipe was from Gourmet Magazine. I tossed out the hardcopy of the recipe because I had it on my computer but somewhere along the way that recipe didn't make it from the transfer of data from one computer to another. This week I went looking for another recipe for pickled carrot sticks and I think I found the exact recipe that I had used.

During the search I came across several other recipes for refrigerator pickles that looked good. This one in Fine Cooking can be a refrigerator or canned pickles. I hope that you can open the recipe without being a subscriber to the magazine. It looks colorful since it includes carrots, cauliflower and red pepper. It will make up about 3 pints of pickles. I've been thinking that it would make a great hostess gift during the holiday season.....IF I could find containers. In Houston, no problem....I'd pop over to The Container Store or Bed Bath and Beyond. Here in San Miguel, I'm not sure where to even go look for some cute glass containers with tight fitting lids.

Here is the recipe for my lost and now found recipe for Pickled Carrot Sticks........

PICKLED CARROT STICKS (or green beans or cauliflower)

1 lb carrots, cut into 3 1/2- by 1/3-inch sticks
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (next time I'm going to increase the sugar)
2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
1 1/2 tablespoons dill seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons salt

Blanch carrots in a 4-quart nonreactive saucepan of boiling salted water 1 minute, then drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking.

Transfer carrots to a heatproof bowl.

Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Pour pickling liquid over carrots and cool, uncovered.

Chill carrots, covered, at least 1 day for flavors to develop.

Cooks' note: Carrots keep, chilled in an airtight container, 1 month.

Reconnecting Through the Internet

Yes, this is another one of those stories about cyberspace connections. They never cease to amaze me.

John and Mary Lynn were friends we made when we were newlyweds. We were all struggling to make a living, finish college and we were having babies. So our entertainment was pretty simple and the friendships meant a lot. Eventually John took a job that took him out of town but we still stayed in touch with cards and letters (no Internet in those days) and exchanged pictures of the family and Christmas gifts. Over time our contacts got further and further apart. I guess the last time I talked to them was maybe 10 or 12 years ago when I tracked John down by calling the company he worked for. Since then, we have all retired and we have moved twice.

You can imagine my surprise when I got an email from them. Mary Lynn had tried to call us at our old number and had looked for us on the Internet. She told her daughter about trying to locate us and the daughter sat down at the computer and found my blog in a few key strokes. Isn't it amazing?

Now we are exchanging emails, trying to catch up on the last 15 years. Reconnecting with them has brought back a flood of memories of the good times we had. But good friends are always good friends and I'm glad Mary Lynn found us.

Liverpool

Liverpool has opened a store in San Miguel de Allende. Well not actually in the historic center but in the new mall where the Gigante Grocery opened earlier this year. Liverpool is the Mexican Macy's. They offer clothing for men, women and children, as well as appliances, consumer electronics, and home furnishings. Liverpool operates some 60 department stores in Mexico's largest cities where they cater to an upper-income customer base. Liverpool also owns and manages malls and is one of the largest issuers of credit cards in Mexico. The store in San Miguel is just one of the seven stores that they are opening this year. This store is not a large department store. It is just one floor although it looks like they could expand and add another story if there is a need. It is beautifully merchandised. You would be hard pressed to tell the difference between it and any Macy's or Lord & Taylor that you walked into in the United States. Except for one thing......the prices. They are higher.

When we were walking around checking out the store, it seemed to me that the prices were about 1/3 more than we would pay in the US, and in the case of a Television that we have been pricing, it was 1/3 more than the prices in Costco and Walmart here in Mexico. Another thing that I have noticed about Liverpool in Queretaro and certainly here in the new store is that nothing is on sale. If you are like me, when I walk into a store I always look for the sale racks and I really, really have to want something to pay the full tag price.

I'm sure that Liverpool did their research before building the store but I hope that they weren't counting on the expats to carry the store. So let's hope that there is a Mexican upper-income customer base between San Miguel and Celaya and Mexican tourist who can make the store successful.

A Keeper

As you know I'm always trying new recipes. Most of them are good but every once in a while I find one that becomes a keeper. This one is a keeper.......Leek Tart with Bacon and Gruyere. My tart pan was occupied with the dessert for the dinner party last night so I cooked the tart in a pie pan so that is why it doesn't have the "tart" shape but that didn't make any difference it was good. The recipe is from the December 2007 issue of Fine Cooking Magazine. I served it with a green salad but you could use it for a main course with a larger salad or other vegetables.

I don't think this is a fast recipe but with a little planning you can make it easier. As I've complained before, I'm not good with pie doughs and crusts but this one was easy and it has fresh thyme in it....very savory and flaky. You could make the dough the day before then roll it out and bake it a few hours ahead of time. You can also make the filling earlier in the day. Then a couple of hours before the dinner party you can put the filling in the shell and bake it. Let it sit out to cool and it will be ready to cut for the dinner party. My cooking friend thought I was really creative to combine the tart with a salad for the first course and I didn't tell him that the combination was straight out of fine cooking. Well.....you can't reveal all of your secrets!

Actually this was a pretty easy dinner party.

Salmon spread with capers on crackers - this is one of my quickly thrown together appetizers that everyone seems to love. A package of cream cheese, about 3-4 ounces smoked salmon, 2-3 tablespoons finely minced red onion and add a little heavy cream to help smooth it out for a spread. Mix a couple of hours ahead so the flavors can blend. Top with capers and serve with crackers or bagel chips. I also love it on a bagel or rye toast for breakfast.

Next was the leek tart with a green salad. That was followed with a roasted pork loin, wild rice and lightly cook green beans sauteed in olive oil and red pepper flakes. Of course there is nothing to do with roasting meat once you have it in the oven. The wild rice takes a long time to cook at our altitude so I cooked it earlier in the day in chicken stock and then just reheated it, added a bit of butter and adjusted seasonings just before serving. The green beans were steamed earlier in the day and thrown in a skillet with the olive oil and cracked red pepper for a few minutes to warm them up. I sliced the pork loin and arranged all of them on a large platter. It was a pretty presentation if I say so myself.

I made the dessert the day before as suggested in the tips for making the recipe. Again the recipe for the Bourbon Pumpkin Tart with Walnut Streusel was from Fine Cooking.....November 2005. All of this prep work certainly reduced the amount of time in the kitchen on the day of the Dinner Party and avoided a lot of time in the kitchen after the guests arrived. This Bourbon Pumpkin Tart is good.....maybe it is a keeper. I haven't quite decided about it yet but I think it could be slipped right into the traditional Thanksgiving Day Dinner without a rebellion from the traditionalist.

Now that I've made the Leek Tart a keeper, I'm trying to decide if I'm brave enough to make a double recipe of it and use an 11x17 rimmed baking sheet so that I can cut it in squares to serve for a brunch. It is rolling out that dough and getting it into the pan that scares me.

Last Night's Menu

I'm in such a cooking mood. The Menu last night was:

Sheep cheese from Rancho Marina with Membrillo
Salad greens with dried cranberries, toasted pecans and blue cheese with vinaigrette dressing
Chicken Quarters roasted with olive oil, fresh thyme and crushed red pepper
Potatoes roasted with fresh rosemary
Broccoli sauteed with garlic
Rustic Apple tart topped with whipped mascarpone cheese

I had been saving the Sheep cheese that I bought when I visited the Rancho and so I opened it. This piece must have been one of the more aged pieces because it was dry and a bit crumbly but the texture and saltiness was a good counterpoint to the membrillo.

I have opened a package of dried cranberries so I'm using them in everything while they are still fresh. They also were sprinkled in with the Apple Tart to add some color.

The idea for the chicken quarters came from the current issue of Fine Cooking. But their recipe called for sliced lemons and olives with seeds and dried thyme. We can seldom find lemons and it is hard to find a variety of olives. Besides the lemons and olives just didn't seem seasonal for the Fall and I always worry about serving olives with seeds mixed into a main course. Don't want any guests with a broken tooth. I have fresh thyme growing on the terrace and I think it is better than the dried any day of the week. Still the idea of the leg and thigh rubbed with a seasoned olive oil both under the skin and out seemed like it would make a good presentation on the plate.

Roasted potatoes and sauteed broccoli are a sure thing. Besides a lot of the broccoli for Whole Foods is grown near San Miguel de Allende so the broccoli that we buy here is always delicious and very fresh.

I tried the rustic tart recipe last week so I made another one. This time I added more spices to the apple mixture and used brown sugar on the apples rather than regular sugar. I also added the mascarpone topping.

Really simple food but with a little wine and some good conversation alongside, it was very tasty.

Lions, Baboon and Llamas

Yesterday from the kitchen window, we saw a lion with his face framed by his huge ruff just lounging, a baboon prowling around and looking back, and two stately llamas. The big circus is in town and they are driving the trucks that transport the animals through the colonias with the loud speakers blaring advertising the Circus.

What happened on your street yesterday?

Cost of Gourmet

I've been going through my cooking magazines and cookbooks and had a list of some ingredients that I'd like to have for some new recipes.

Poppy seeds to put on a cracker that I'd like to try. I didn't see them in the bulk containers at Bonanza's but I asked and sure enough they had them hidden away in the back. The price they quote me seemed outrageous but I was looking on line tonight and I see that a spice jar of them from McCormick is $9.77 so maybe the price here isn't so bad after all.

Crystallized ginger to add to a streusel topping on a pumpkin tart was $8.30 for a tiny package. First of all, I think it is amazing that I found it here but I thought $8.30 was expensive. On line I see that crystallized ginger is $7 for 7 ounces. The cost here was at least double if not triple. I just won't tell my guests that the topping is missing the crystallized ginger.

One 15-ounce can of pumpkin was $3.50. I don't know what I'd pay for it in the USA but I'm betting it would be under a $1 during the holidays. I don't think many Mexicans would use canned pumpkin so this is strictly an import for the ex-pats. Some enterprising person went to the trouble to get it across the border and down here. I guess they deserve to be compensated for their industry.

This week I tried the local sweet potatoes....not the camotes....but sweet potatoes. They are definitely not the smooth skinned Louisiana yams but they weren't bad. They do not have as much fiber as the yams and they are drier and I don't think they are as sweet but they taste the same with a few adjustments.

On Monday the local market had beautiful Portabello, button and oyster mushrooms. I kept thinking about them so I looked up a couple of cream of mushroom soup recipes. Alas, today the portabellos were gone except for two scraggly leftovers, the oyster mushrooms were no longer white and beautiful. Ya gotta buy'm when you see'm.

Even though you may pay a higher price for an ingredient here in San Miguel, I'm constantly amazed at what we can find on the grocer's shelves.

View from the Kitchen Window

We have a unique view from our kitchen window. Most casas in Mexico have a window or two on the street but most other windows look inward to patios and terraces. Our casa just happens to be where two streets come together in a "Y" and we sit where the kitchen window over the sink has a view down both sides of the "Y" as does one of our studio windows. So we see a lot more street life than you would ordinarily expect to see. In fact, we find what happens on the street so interesting that I think I could write a blog called La Vida en Nuestros Calle.

Yesterday we had a two hour drama about the Transito Policia confiscating two motorcycles. When we first looked out there were two Transitos, one motorcycle and one guy standing by the telephone pole looking a little dejected. We couldn't figure out exactly what was going on because none of the men were talking to each other and the transitos were looking at some of the cars parked in the area. When I glanced out again, I saw a woman coming up the street the "wrong way" on a small scooter and the transito steps out to stop her. I couldn't believe that he would stop her for going the wrong way on a one-way street because that doesn't seem to matter very much here. But the look on her face said that she wasn't happy at what he was saying to her.

Before long we had five transitos and two transito pickup trucks here in front of the house. Two of the transitos were going over the motorcycles with a fine tooth comb and writing on the papers on their clipboards. While all this official business didn't have the street totally blocked it surely did slow it down as cars and trucks tried to negotiate past the men and official vehicles on the narrow street.

Several groups of women walking from the bottom of the street stopped to talk to the woman who for a long time would not get off her scooter. Obviously they were friends and were commiserating with her over the situation. There was nothing they could do to help her with these very serious officials who were doing their job thoroughly and with their supervisors standing around watching.

In the end, the two motorcycles were loaded in the transito pickups, the drivers were given pieces of paper and the drama was over. It only took two hours to confiscate the two motorcycles for whatever their violation was. Most likely not being registered and having the proper license and paperwork. We have seen them pull this sting on a major street but never here in our little Colonia.

Mexican Landscape Photographers

Driving to and back from Patzcuaro I was wondering why I haven't seen a lot....make that "hardly any"......landscape photographs from Mexican Photographers. Mexico is an amazingly beautiful country. There are some amazing paintings of the landscape that were done in the 1930-1970 time period by all the wonderful Mexican painters of that period including Rivera, Sisqueiros, and Ortega. But when I try to find landscape photographs I only come across a few from Bravo and Brehme and since Throckmorton Fine Art includes Edward Weston in a show titled Men of Mexico, I'll include him too. From what I can find, most of the Mexican photographers only saw the vast sweeping landscapes as a backdrop for the people in their images. There may be some contemporary photographers who are making landscape work but I couldn't find them on the net.

As I think about it, maybe the "pristine landscape" as fine art photographic subject matter was a United States phenomenon.

Where Did The Week Go?

We have been to Patzcuaro this last week for Day of the Dead. There was no time to write and if I could have written the Internet cafe connections were not the best. For years I had wanted to go to Patzcuaro to see the cemeteries in the villages around the lake during this time but I had heard about the crowds so somehow we had never gone. Well, the crowds are there but it is still something that you just need to see. What I came away with was an even greater appreciation of the Mexican culture particularly in these villages. There are rich traditions that mark the mileposts in peoples lives from birth to death and these traditions are the fabric of the village. The images above were made in a village and they show the home altars of two people who died during the year. Of course, food is prepared and offered to everyone....I don't know if the tradition is always a rich fish soup and corundas but that was what we were served. Even in Patzcuaro the flower vendors take up a whole street and at times the street was grid-locked with traffic, trucks and pedestrians. If you can imagine a huge truck, not just a pickup, loaded to the top with orange and crimson flowers. The perfume of the flowers was overwhelming. Actually the whole scene was overwhelming. Buses and more buses come in bringing tourists and then take them out to some of the village cemeteries about 8 PM on November 1. They either bring the back about 2 to 4 AM or they start the drive back from the cemetery. I don't know if the Santa Fe Workshops which holds four weeks of workshops in San Miguel every Fall did it this year but they usually have students who take a bus from San Miguel, photograph in the cemeteries during the night and then the bus drives them straight back to San Miguel.

If you are going to go, book a room early. Try to find a way to go to several of the cemeteries besides the buses. Oh, and be sure to make restaurant reservations ahead of time. But there is so much going on in the town as well as the villages, it is worth the hassle to be able to say that you have seen it.