Saturday Morning Shopping

Here it is Wednesday. I started this blog on Saturday. That seems to be what is happening to the blog and why it has been almost two months since I wrote anything. I have something to write about but by the time I'm able to write it, the material is out of date. I don't know what is going to happen to the blog but on Saturday I saw a friend who encouraged me in an email later that day to keep writing.

 

I think what I enjoy most about your blog is your appreciation of and commentary on quite ordinary aspects of daily living in Mexico and Mexican culture.

 

That is nice, isn't it. Her comments certainly encourage me to keep up the blog even if I'm not quite timely with my entries. So here we go with Saturday..............

 

Saturday was a beautiful day so with the iPhone in my pocket I went over to the organic market. This market has grown and gets better every time I go to it. Certainly there is produce but also you will find breads, cheeses and prepared food like quiches

There are more people coming and I love all the food stands...a great place to eat desayuno or an early comida.

 I bought some wonderful bread, arugula, sweet potato, dill and green onions. I would have bought more but it is just me at my house and I like to buy fresh produce every day or two.

I'm sorry but this description doesn't do the organic market justice. Yes, there are wonderful products but also it is the atmosphere. There are dogs on leashes, children sitting down in the grass with a snack to munch on, children running and playing, great conversations with the vendors, people at tables relaxing under the trees with their tacos, burritos or whatever they have bought, friends standing around just talking, pop-up bandas playing and singing for a little donation. It really makes you feel good to be there.

I left the market and decided to walk to a new store called Olio Fino that has recently opened. They sell a wide variety of olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Before I got there I saw some friends in Cafe Monet. They are leaving soon so we had a wonderful talk about our plans for the next six months.

When I was in Denver this summer I saw another olive oil and vinegar store. It was very grand and this new store in San Miguel is just as grand. Who knew there could be so many kinds of olive oils and vinegars....but there are. I am amazed that right here in San Miguel we have the very same kind of store. I needed some olive oil. After tasting several, I chose one.

As I walked home I thought about all of the food changes I've seen in San Miguel since we bought our house almost eleven years ago. But I'll save that discussion for another blog. The sun, the bustle in the market, meeting friends on the street, trying something new, walking.....Saturday morning shopping.....it is one of the reasons I'll keep living here.

Cooking for One

My friend in Chicago wanted to bring a car from Chicago to their second home in Houston and she didn't want to do the drive alone.  It was in the late 80's and I was still traveling a lot. I had a trip that would take me to Chicago so rather than fly home, I drove back to Houston with Helen.

Early in the morning we packed the car and Helen put all the road maps where she could get to them. This was back in the days before GPS. Helen liked to know where she was at all times. It made her feel secure and safe. Our plan was that we were going to drive to Pulaski Tennessee and spend the night with my cousin. Somehow there had been a miscommunication and my cousin had gone to a football game but she said for us to go to her Mother's house and we could get the key. Her Mother, my Aunt Lucille, was my favorite Aunt. Uncle Charlie had died a number of years before so she lived alone in an apartment in the center of Pulaski. It was in an old well-maintained building and had a wonderful spirit about it. I had driven from Texas to Tennessee several times to see her because she was getting up there in years.

Helen and I drove to the apartment and knocked on the door. Aunt Lucille opened the door and greeted us like she had been expecting us for weeks. She had this great smile and a shy laugh. Soon she was asking us if we had eaten dinner. No, we hadn't but we were going to get a burger or something. No, no! She would not hear of it. She was immediately in the kitchen, taking stuff from the refrigerator and getting out pans. In about 15 minutes we sat down at the table set with china, napkins. There was meat....I can't remember if it was pork chops or meatloaf and at least three vegetables. Ice tea....it is the South. And then she even had a home made dessert. I seem to remember a slice of cake. I was amazed at the food she prepared for us. When I asked her if she had cooked for company she told me no. She had cooked it for her dinner. I've never forgotten that night because for the first time I realized that even when there is only one person to cook for that the food can be prepared at home and be delicious.

Now since I'm cooking for one I've often thought of that night with Aunt Lucille and I have realized something just as important as having delicious food and that is, that the act of  planning, purchasing and preparing the food is comforting and satisfying. Setting the table, even for one, with place mat, napkin and a little glass of wine feels good. Although I admit that the first time I sat at the table without Ned was very sad, it now comforts me.

The picture at the top? Well I put that up because it is the first time I've used my big-girl camera in a while. I did use it when I was in Colorado but I don't think I shot anything worthwhile. Basically, my photo-eye hasn't been working since early May. I took the camera with me into town yesterday and exposed about six images. This graffiti caught my eye because of the red heart. We don't usually see objects among the graffiti. I hope this means my photo-eye is waking up.

Hired Hands

My friends Dar and Cynthia invited Sondra and me to come see them in Pozos. Pozos is a sleepy old mining town about 45 minutes from San Miguel. Gradually things are waking up in Pozos as more Mexicans use it for a weekend getaway and artist and writers are finding that Pozos is a creative place for their work. Dar has a rancho just on the other side of Pozos and she has started a new venture.....Lavendar farming. When Sondra and I accepted the invitation to the farm we were thinking about sitting on the portico in the shade, sipping a cool beverage and looking across the lavendar fields to the distant mountains.

Just one problem, we arrived in the middle of lavendar harvest and Dar put us to work. We were assigned the task of dead-heading the plants. The dry blossoms will be used for sachet. Other mujeres from Pozos were cutting stems of  blooming lavendar that will be hung to dry in the barn. Sondra and I worked diligently on our long, long row of lavendar. It was worth the effort. Sondra and I had time for a wonderful long conversation and then we were paid with a very tasty comida and lots of good conversation with Cynthia and Dar. Oh, we also had some rest breaks so we did get to sit on the portico with a cool beverage or two.

Here is a link to Dar and Cynthia's blog. They welcome all visitors to LavenDar Farms of Pozos. Please let them know when you'd like to stop by to smell the lavender.

View from the 9th Floor

I love the Houston skyline. I use to love seeing it as we drove into town from the northside suburbs and then as we drove to the house we owned in the Old Sixth Ward. There I saw it from ground level. I loved it when we stayed on the 18th floor of a condo and now we are seeing it from the 9th floor of another hi-rise condo. From this viewpoint we can see downtown, the huge campus of the University of Houston and if it is really clear, we can even see the refineries on the far southeast side of Houston. During a clear day it is beautiful but at night with the lights twinkling it is magical.

Last night we had friends for dinner. It was lovely having the city as a backdrop. I think I could get use to hi-rise condo living. Of course, when we get back to San Miguel we have a gorgeous view of the centro from the roof terrace.

Cooking dinner in this condo was an adventure but you make adjustments. Who said you need a rolling pin for the tart dough...a wine bottle can do the job. So what if the recipe calls for a 12-in skillet. In a pinch you can use a large sauce pan. My biggest worry was cooking for son #2 who is a chef. But everyone seemed to enjoy the company and the food.

It is a Wonderful Life and I am Thankful

I have been cooking, some good and some not so good (but I'll save that for another blog entry.) We had thanksgiving dinner with friends so I only had a few things to prepare. First of all and by request of the hostess, I made cheddar cheese coins. I add a little more cayenne to the recipe but every cook that eats them wants the recipe. They are a great snack with wine and maybe a few olives. Best of all they are easy to make.


Next assignment was a green veggie. We eat just about all of the vegetables so I'm always surprised when I find that lots of people I know don't eat a wide variety of vegetables. Brussel sprouts is one of those that a lot of people are on the fence about. Nevertheless, I chose brussel sprouts and I used a new recipe and it turned out really good and it was pretty for the holiday.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Cranberries and Pecans from Fine Cooking Magazine
Makes 4 servings
2 slices bacon (cut into 1/2 inch slices)
1 shallot (diced) (I used regular onion since I didn't find shallots at the mercado.
1 pound brussels sprouts (cleaned, quartered, blanched and drained)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons dried cranberries (I soaked them in warm water and rough chopped them)
2 tablespoons pecans (chopped)

Directions
1. Cook the bacon in a pan and set aside reserving 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease
2. Add the onions/shallots to the pan and cook in the bacon grease and saute until tender about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the brussels sprouts to the pan, season with salt and pepper, toss in the grease and saute for a minute.
4. Remove from heat and mix in the cranberries and pecans.

I doubt that the Pilgrims sat down to such a beautiful table but I appreciated the friends and the beauty of the setting.

Now that was Thanksgiving day and the food but I also took time to think about all we have to be thankful for. Inspite of the health issues in our family this year we still have so much for which to be thankful. The grandsons are doing so well. What a blessing they are to us. Our sons and daughters-in-law are also doing okay and I mean in the way of building their family, cherishing friends and enjoying life. Ned's cancer was a surprise but we are blessed because we can get good medical treatment and the cancer has responded to the treatment without too many side effects. We are blessed that we can live where we want to live and still keep close contact with the family and we are blessed with friends both in Mexico and Texas.

It is a wonderful life.

He Did It His Way

Yesterday was a beautiful day and Joe's friends gathered at his house to eat and drink with him one last time. Everyone I talked with had some wonderful story to tell about Joe. He touched all our lives in special ways. He entertained us, he made us laugh, he cooked for us, he listened when we wanted to talk.

Everytime I've thought about Joe in the last few days, Frank Sinatra singing the song My Way has played in my head.

I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets I've had a few
But then again too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Most of his ashes have been scattered along with yellow rose petals in the San Miguel he loved and some will go back home with family. I'll miss him everyday in many ways but I think having known Joe will also make me laugh more often, live a life filled with more color, be more generous and most of all cherish friends and family even more.

Joseph Stiffler, R.I.P.

A brilliant light has gone out. Our dear friend Joe Stiffler died Tuesday here in San Miguel de Allende. Joe felt like a life long friend although we probably have only known him for six or seven years. Actually I felt we knew him before we met him. He and a business partner had rented a house here that they shared. A couple of months for David and a couple of months for Joe. I met David and some of his friends and they all talked about "Just wait until you meet Joe." My expectations of Joe paled to the real thing.

Joe dressed in bright colors, wore shorts most of the time. Spikey white hair. Black rimmed glasses, baby blue eyes, and a deep tan. He was always remembered in every shop he went to. Joe was a collector and had been all his life. His Mexican folk art collection is outstanding but that isn't all he collected. He had collections from the USA, Africa and Japan as well. He had been an interior designer with an architectural firm and his sense of color and style was perfect. And he loved color. While he was here we saw him in three different houses and each one was transformed with color.

But the most wonderful thing about Joe was his warmth and generosity with everyone. If someone needed something, Joe would take care of it. When I broke my ankle, Joe decided that Ned needed help taking care of me so he sent his gardener over one day a week to help so Ned didn't have to worry about the garden. While we were in Texas while Ned had medical treatment, some graffiti was painted on the house. Joe matched the paint and had the gardener paint over it. I think everyone who knew Joe could tell a story about his generosity.

If Joe brought food to a party it was "decorated." I remember one Christmas when he arrived with a basket of some kind of goodies and the basket was decorated with colorful paper swirls. It was a work of art. No one wanted to eat anything out of the basket because it was so beautiful. Joe was energy. Joe was color. Joe was excitement. When Joe arrived it was time for the party to begin.

Joe and I liked to cook and somehow we started teasing about whose food was better. It spurred each of us on. Joe was formidable competition. One year I made a mistake and gave Joe a cooking magazine filled with chocolate recipes. That started a stampede. Which ever one of us cooked one of the recipes first "owned" the recipe. And a few times we gave a party together and it was always fun to collaborate with him. But our friendship with Joe also included a lot of small dinners and long conversations.

A couple of years ago, six of us traveled to Guatemala. Joe was a great traveling companion. He would disappear while we were shopping and when he came back he had found this out-of-the-way fabric shop or leather shop or folk art piece to share with the rest of us. I don't know how he did it. His sense of style just seemed to lead him to the unique places even if he didn't speak the language.

One Christmas when we arrived in Houston, Betsy, my daughter-in-law asked what Joe was doing for Christmas. We said he was complaining that all of his friends were leaving for the holidays. Betsy picked up the phone and called him to invite him to join us. Joe could do things on the spur of the moment and he said yes. He became a part of a wonderful family Christmas. Of course, he found out things about us that he could tease us about for the next two years.

There are so many more stories to tell but I'll stop. Joe was a unique soul, a wonderful and generous friend. I'll miss him everyday.

To read some other stories about Joe, click here and here.

Celebrate Good Times

I kept thinking about this song by Kool & The Gang last night.......

Celebrate good times, come on
Let's celebrate
Celebrate good times, come on
There's a party goin' on right here

There was a party going on and we were celebrating being back in San Miguel with our friends. I never could have pulled this together but son #2 and our friend Joe managed it very well.

All we had to do was show up at the top of the Sunset Bar and have a good time. Even the threatening weather held off until the end of the party. It was beautiful to see a 360 degree view of the city with the storm clouds and watch the lights come on in town.

My friend and fellow blogger, Babs, blogged about the party. See what I'm saying about good friends?

Ah, it is good to be home!

Eggs Benedict

We have been going out for breakfast on Saturdays. Usually to some small, funky, Mexican kind of place. Enough of the Huevos Mexicana or Ranchero with beans. I wanted something different like Eggs Benedict. The first time I had Benedict was at some restaurant in New Orleans. How delicious, how elegant they were but they didn't seem like something I could make for breakfast. Hollandaise Sauce? Didn't it break or fall apart or something like that if you didn't make it just right? Too complicated.

Not too complicated for my friend Helen. Her introduction to making perfect hollandaise in the blender started a tradition with our group of friends. So many breakfasts flash into my mind of three or four couples being in the kitchen and turning out a breakfast of Eggs Benedict. Any occasion would do.

We were pretty traditional in our preparation of the dish, English muffin, Canadian bacon, poached egg, hollandaise sauce. But today when I went to Wikipedia to see where the recipe originated, I found that there are lots of claims to fame for being the originator of the dish. And there are many, many variations to the recipe.....and all of them seem interesting to me although I don't think my heart could take trying them all.

This reminds me of a time when the gang was going to make Eggs Benedict at Pat and Tom's. Pat was a health nut and used low fat everything and anything. The hollandaise didn't turn out. Then we looked at the "butter" wrapper. It wasn't real butter. It had a high content of water and I can tell you for sure water will not make hollandaise.

Today we went to a little more upscale place for breakfast, Hungry's Cafe and Bistro and I had Eggs Benedict. It wasn't the Eggs Benedict with friends that I remembered. Ham instead of Canadian Bacon, Ciabatta bread instead of English Muffin, eggs poached with firm yolks and Hollandaise skimpy and without a kick of lemon or heat. So I'm making sure that I remember how to make it because I'll have the family together next weekend and maybe I'll see if we can whip up Eggs Benedict for the crowd.

Here is the recipe for the hollandaise made in the blender....just in case you want to try it too.

6 Servings (I'd double this recipe for 8 people....but then I like the hollandaise)

INGREDIENTS
3 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 dash hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™) (I prefer using some cayenne)
1/2 cup butter

DIRECTIONS
In the container of a blender, combine the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Cover, and blend for about 5 seconds.

Place the butter in a glass measuring cup. Heat butter in the microwave for about 1 minute, or until completely melted and hot. Set the blender on high speed, and pour the butter into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. It should thicken almost immediately. Keep the sauce warm until serving by placing the blender container in a pan of hot tap water.

Out of Commission

I am internet-less. At least on my computer I can't get on the internet. How do these things happen. I went to bed on Wednesday night and I had the internet and when I got up on Thursday morning....no internet. The technician came about 5:00 PM on Friday but he couldn't repair the problem because he only works inside and this is some transmission problem. It will be sometime on Monday before it is repaired. Talk about withdrawal.....I'm there. Fortunately, I have not had to go cold turkey. Ned's laptop can pick up a wireless network. He is very kind and is sharing but it isn't the same as having my very own computer on the internet.

But in the meantime I'm trying to stay busy. Thursday I finally went to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. This is the light tunnel that goes under the street from one building of the Museum to the other. It is one of the few places that the Museum says it is okay to photograph.
I don't know why almost everywhere in the Museum is restricted for photography. I can remember 25 years ago being able to take photographs in the MOMA and the Metropolitan in NYC. Now I'm sure photography would be restricted there as well.

So what did I see. First of all I went to see Amy Blakemore's exhibition, Photographs 1988-2008 The Diana camera has been her camera of choice since the 1980's. The Diana is kind of like my Holga but maybe with more blur and distortion. I've seen some of Blakemore's images before but seeing this retrospective of 20 years helped me see her vision much better. Amy is a Houstonian who received recognition in the 2006 Whitney Biennial.
The other thing that I noticed in the Museum is that more and more of the exhibition rooms are using deep color on the walls. Before you ask.....this was a restricted area. Right after I took this picture, the guard was by my side. I was nicely lectured and given a map noting the spaces where you can photograph.

Friday we met friends for dinner and then went to the Main Street Theater to see the world premiere of Ps and Qs: the ABCs of Manners. I love small theaters like the Main Street. So intimate. And the play was fun.

Tonight we'll have dinner with our friends and former neighbors. A pretty good weekend. And we are one week closer to going home.

Jonathan's Restaurant

Last night we met Pam and Jim at Jonathan's Rub Restaurant for dinner. We've been to Jonathan's before but it was so good that we wanted to go back. I can't say that about a lot of the new restaurants we've tried on this stay in Houston. We also wanted to introduce our friends to the restaurant. Jonathan met us at the door like we were old friends. Soon after we arrived he was busy with his helpers in the tiny kitchen that opens to the restaurant. That's Jonathan in the white cap.

This time I had a Chilean sea bass that was as flaky and succulent as any fish I've ever had. Everyone at our table raved about what they ordered. And this food is prepared in a very unassuming tiny restaurant tucked in at the end of an old strip shopping center. It may hold 10 tables. It is BYOB place with a $5 corkage fee. Most of the entrees come with a salad and two sides. The sides are fabulous. I can personally rave about the cheesy creamy grits and the spinach and greens saute.

We arrived at 6:00 PM on a Tuesday. I know that is early but there are usually people waiting to get in...even on a Tuesday. By 6:15 the place was full. Mmm.....you know I'm thinking I shouldn't put this on the blog and tell anymore people about this place. I might not be able to get in at all next time.

A Summer Bouquet

A summer time bouquet....Isn't it a happy bouquet with all the bright colors? Well, we are feeling pretty happy as well. Ned is half way through the chemo treatments and one-third of the way through the radiation. He is feeling good.

We are still on the move. Last night we had dinner with Joe who is in from San Miguel, Guy and Debbie, long time friends who visit SMA often and Son #2. The dinner at Antica Osteria was absolutely delicious and the conversation was good. This weekend we'll head to Austin to hear Maxwell's rock band concert. Although we are missing San Miguel friends a lot, the calendar just keeps getting filled up with fun stuff.

Friends and Strangers

Yesterday was Ned's second chemo treatment. All those little bags on the left are dripping "stuff" that help with the side effects of chemo and so far they seem to be working very well.

We are so fortunate to have family and so many friends who are surrounding us with attention. We have received phone calls and emails from friends and co-workers from years ago. We are being entertained with dinners. A friend and I went to lunch yesterday and then she came back to the doctor's office and sat with me while Ned was getting chemo. Between the medical treatment schedule and our social schedule we certainly don't have time to be bored.

But what amazes me is how many people we don't know have also rallied around us. So many of you blog readers that I haven't met have sent best wishes both on the blog and by email. Everyone of them is appreciated. CH, one of the blog readers here in Houston has offered to help in any way she can. She lives in the area of town where we owned a home and we have now met face to face over a cup of coffee.

This is a story about the kindness of a stranger that came out of the blue but meant so much to me when it happened. We thought that Ned's cancer could be removed with surgery and we would be able to move on. Over and done with. We checked into the hospital early one morning for the surgery with high hopes.

After Ned was taken off to surgery I was in the surgical waiting room. In the room was a woman with her feet pulled up in the chair and wrapped in a blanket dozing. She woke and folded her banket. We talked a bit like you do in waiting rooms and I learned that her husband had had three major surgeries that week because of complications.

Later that morning when the surgeon came out to tell me that he wasn't able to do the surgery as planned, I'm sure she could see the concern and sadness in my face. An hour or two later, she walked by and handed me an tiny yellow sack. She patted my shoulder and said, "Here is a little gift." On the sack was written, "I just met you but I was led to get this for you. Remember, regardless of the news the doctors give, our Great Physician is in control. Marty" Inside the sack in yellow tissue paper was a silver-dollar-sized coin that had a Biblical inspired saying on it. I was so touched. The little coin is of little material value but her kindness was golden.

I really don't know how to say Thank You to all our friends and to all the strangers who have been so supportive to us except to say, "Thank You."

Saturday Morning

In case anyone is interested, here is what we did this Saturday morning. We met friends at the Farmer's Market off Richmond at 8:00 AM. At first I thought that we wouldn't do that. It was too early but what the heck. We are always up by that time anyway so why not throw on some shorts and go. They are regulars at the market so they filled us in on who has the best goat cheeses, veggies and eggs. We didn't plan to buy anything but of course we did. Can't wait to try the homemade feta.
After the market we headed over to the Guadalupana Bakery and Cafe on Dunlavy. It is a tiny place that sits kitty-cornered (Texas talk for cross-wise) on a corner lot. They have some tables and umbrellas outside and a few tables and booths inside. We ate inside. It is too damn hot to eat outside even at 9:00 AM. They had a great looking case of Mexican rolls and pastries. I bought my favorite pan dulce, orejas. They were larger than the ones we get in San Miguel and I've nibbled off of one of them and they seem a little sweeter as well.

It has been a while since we had a Mexican breakfast so we also had breakfast. It was good and had a nice bite of chili. The big cups of steaming hot coffee had a touch of cinnamon. It was the first time we had been to Guadalupana but it won't be the last time.
When we left there it was almost 10:00. The Guild Shop, a resale shop, is on Dunlavy. It opens at 10 and we were on Dunlavy so why not stop. I've been looking for a cake plate to take back to San Miguel. I'd already checked out one of my favorite consignment shops and the one they had was pink. Pink isn't working for me. I have also checked out places like Crate & Barrel and theirs were all on pedestals and expensive. I don't have room to store a pedestal and I don't want to spend $40 to $70 for a cake plate. The Guild Shop had exactly what I have been looking for...a cake plate with little feet and the price was right, $9.

This was a very good Saturday morning.

Tables of Food

Oh my but we've had quite a weekend. We joined up with some friends to cook for two days. Everyone was trying new recipes. It was like gathering for a family Thanksgiving with people coming in from Morelia, Guanajuato and DF. That means rounds of hugs and kisses with each new arrival. Eating kind of spread over eight hours each day with lots of visiting as we moved from one room to another and from one course to another. My key lime pie was a hit. Life is good.

A Recipe Is Just A Place To Start

I didn't make any photographs of the food from dinner last night. I wish I had but I don't seem to be able to cook and photograph at the same time anymore. Last night I started with Pam Anderson's cookbook, Perfect Recipes for Having People Over. I like this book because she gives some great hints on how to do things ahead of time for a party so that you aren't stuck in the kitchen and missing out on all the good conversation with the guests and the recipes are usually very fresh and crisp tasting with distinct flavors.

My menu was: roasted pork tenderloin, poblano mashed potatoes, green bean and tomato salad, and bittersweet flourless chocolate cake.

Everytime I roast pork tenderloins I make some kind of a marinade. It usually depends on which herbs I have growing on the terrace. I doubt if I have ever made exactly the same one twice. This time it was some minced garlic, olive oil, dijon mustard, finely chopped rosemary, oregano and thyme and of course salt and pepper. I roasted them at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes and then let them rest for a while before cutting. They were juicy and had a pale pink center. I thought they were cooked just right. I also made a quick pan sauce with dried cherries soaked in a port, chicken broth, cornstarch and a bit of butter. It was okay but not outstanding.

Although Anderson doesn't have a recipe for poblano mashed potatoes she does have several variations on mash potatoes and a technique for making them earlier, even up to a day or so ahead of time, then finishing them off when you are ready to serve. Instead of one of her variations I roasted and cleaned three poblano peppers, chopped them into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces and added them to the potatoes. Somewhere years ago, I found a recipe for pureeing the poblanos and adding that to the potatoes but I prefer the texture of having the pieces in the potato and I also think it is more interesting looking dish than just having pale green mashed potatoes.

Anderson also had a recipe for a green bean and cherry tomato salad. I really liked her technique for cooking the beans. You put them in a skillet with some salt and a small amount of water, maybe 1/2 cup. Put a lid on and stay near by because the water will evaporate rapidly and your beans are cooked to tender crisp in less than 5 minutes. But what I really liked about the recipe was that instead of running cold water over them to stop the cooking she recommends spreading them out on a paper towel on a cookie sheet and they cool very quickly but you don't wash off the taste. I can't remember her dressing recipe exactly but it doesn't make any difference because I did a variation on it. About 1/4 cup of sour cream, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of seasoned rice wine vinegar, a big heaping tablespoon of horseradish, one clove of garlic finely minced, and 1 or 2 tablespoon of chopped basil.

The dessert was easy and I made it a day ahead of time. Once again it is a Fine Cooking Magazine recipe. This time it was a bittersweet flourless chocolate cake. It is almost like a chocolate truffle melting in your mouth but what made it even better was the Terra d'Oro Zinfadel Port from Montevina Vineyards in Amador County in California. Whenever we can we smuggle in one or two bottles from the USA. It is just an amazing wine/port to serve with anything chocolate, especially any bittersweet chocolate.

This dinner was a little different for me because I skipped a first course of a soup or salad. I'm going to try cutting back on having a first course and simplfying dinner parties. God knows with all the eating and visiting that goes on around this house, we and our guests will not go hungry. And I certainly do not want to give up desserts so soup or salad was the one to go. My plan last night was to have simple food that is well prepared but it does put a bit more pressure on menu choices.

Of course, if I could always serve a chocolate dessert with the Terra d'Oro Zinfadel Port no one would remember the rest of the dinner.

Last Week

Does this image look a little busy to you? Well that is the way last week was. Busy. This week looks like it is going to be another full week as well.

Besides a fabulous cocktail party, a couple of trips to the campo to photograph and also be a librarian, meeting Kate, another blogger, I had the opportunity to join some serious and some professional foodies to cook rabbit.

The rabbits were cooked four different ways.....all of them delicious. I was on the cooking team of Ruth Alegria of Alegria in Mexico blog and Ben Wenske, a retired chef. They carried the load cooking Diana Kennedy's rabbit in a red chili sauce, but I was a good watcher and taster. The next day we all enjoyed pork in a chili verde sauce, fabulous, fabulous refried beans and rice, all cooked by Cristina Potter of Mexico Cooks. It was an international crowd that gathered in the Rancho Casa Luna kitchen to cook. Sitting down to eat was just as wonderful. Conversation ranged over lots of subjects although cooking and food probably topped the list.

Last week I also found lamb at a butcher shop in town. Seasonal meats - local spring lamb...what a concept. I bought a rack of lamb but it isn't trimmed up or frenched. I'm trying to decide whether to french it or not. I just have a feeling that the meat between those little ribs could be tasty.

If we were living in Houston, or anywhere in the USA, would we have had the same opportunities to be with so many interesting people from so many different countries and experiences? I don't think so. It seems to me that in most places in the USA as people grow older their horizons narrow down. Friends die or move away and it is harder to make new friends and have new experiences. Here in San Miguel, I feel like my horizons continue to expand everyday. Always something new just around the corner.

What does the image have to do with my busy week. Nothing except it is busy too. I made it on the steps of the church in Chichicastenango in Guatemala last August with the Holga camera.

Last Night's Simple Menu

Friends came for dinner last night. I didn't use them for guinea pigs like I usually do. I didn't cook one single new thing. How lazy is that?

We started off with Mango Salsa on the patio. Here is my recipe. While we were on the patio the wind kicked up a bit and it turned cool. We headed inside for a Roasted Red Pepper tart with goat cheese served with a simple salad of romaine lettuce. The tart was the most difficult thing on the menu because it requires a lot of steps...roasting the peppers, carmelizing the onions, making the dough, chilling the dough in two different steps, cooking the crust,and then adding the filling. The good news is that I didn't have any problems with the crust or the tart which I cooked in a square tart pan. I dressed the salad with a slightly sweet dressing and there was a nice combination of the flavors and textures of the tart and the salad.

I plated up the dinner of one/half of a cornish game hen with wildflower honey and orange. Of course, I couldn't find wildflower honey...it was just honey. You marinate the hen in white wine, honey, orange strips and thyme. I don't think any of these flavors stand out but the hen was very good. Also on the plate was roasted potatoes with thyme and rosemary and roasted asparagus. All of this is easy to do because you first put in the quartered potatoes, then the hen. When the potatoes and hens are done (175 to 180 degrees for the hens), you take them out and put the asparagus in the oven while you make a light sauce with the pan drippings from the hens along with some wine and chicken broth. This looks really pretty on the plate.

The dessert was really simple, key lime pie in a purchased graham cracker crust and a whipped cream topping. It looks pretty because you spinkle the whipped cream with lime zest but I used finely grated lime peel. I found the recipe for the key lime pie in Fine Cooking magazine several years ago and the recipe always draws raves. It is one of the recipes that I don't mess with.

Okay, before you ask......NO. I do not have any pictures of this dinner. I just can't cook and photograph at the same time.

Creating the Mood

I like to cook and have people over but my friend Pat taught me a lot about entertaining. We were in a gourmet club of eight couples. Sixteen people are far too many to sit down to a five-course dinner inside a normal house much less prepare the meal with all the various things that accompany each course but I have to admit that it was a lot of fun.

About four times a year two of the couples would prepare the dinner. Pat and Tom and Ned and I were one of the teams. I have to brag that Pat and I were outstanding. I liked the cooking and Pat had flare and like to decorate. Pat's ideas just elevated a dinner party to an EVENT. When people arrived they knew that it was a special evening.

One time we filled the ceiling with balloons with curly streamers hanging down. Another time we made Mardi Gras masks for each person. We served soup in tiny antique demitasse cups, edible flowers stuffed with salmon mousse, chocolate tarts decorated with chocolate leaves and raspberries, hollowed acorn squash and filled them with chilled soup. We were always on the look out for special china or glasses or linens to build around for the dinner. We spent days going through our cookbooks for just the right combination of menus. All of this may not seem so different now but 20 years ago, we were on the cutting edge, if I say so myself.

I couldn't help but think of Pat while we were staying in a gorgeous contemporary Mexican house in Valle de Bravo. The table was set differently for each meal and the food was presented so well. Pat would have loved it and so did I.

Early Christmas Dinner

Standing Pork Rib Roast. Doesn't it look gorgeous? It was delicious too.

Our friends have found a butcher in San Miguel who is very accommodating. They went to him with pictures and diagrams of how to make a standing pork rib roast because they were not sure he had ever made one before. He was listening to them and then a big smile spread across his face. "Ahh, si, si, a corona." Now it was his turn to show a picture. He knew exactly what they wanted. When they went back to pick it up, the butcher and his helpers were just finishing it and they were standing around it very proud of themselves because they had prepared a perfect standing pork rib roast. Our friends cooked it and filled it with rice.
So if you want a standing pork rib roast, ask the butcher if he knows how to make a corona de cerdo.

It was a lovely dinner.