Nancy in Pátzcuaro

That is disgusting. No other way to describe it. First you have 2 big slabs of Spam, which right off the top is suspect, and then it's topped with what looks like a layer of charcoal. Visually it's gag-worthy.

I'm late to this discussion, but I have a few thoughts about boosting the flavor of rye bread. First, using very fresh rye flour makes a difference. I buy rye flour from a baking supply company in Morelia, and I must say that the aroma of rye coming from a freshly-opened bag is remarkable. Now, I don't always get flour from a bag opened in front of me, but as a rule the flours of all kinds tend to be fresher. This shop supplies most, if not all, of the bakeries in Morelia (of which there are too many to count), so the turnover is faster. I also store it in my second fridge because I typically buy 2 or 3 kilos at a time. Second, for some reason a scant 1/4 tsp. of ground allspice does something to augment the rye flavor. If I forget it when making a rye loaf it's obvious. There's a little something that's missing in the flavor. Try it--see if you like it.

Try putting a couple of big scoops of yogurt on a full bowl of fruit, giving it a sprinkle of chia seeds and then topping with a lot of granola. That's been our go-to breakfast for many years. Granted, we have access to a lot of good fruit here, but we did it even in the US. Strawberries, kiwi, grapes and pineapples are always available. Try that before you give up on yogurt.

I'm with you on cereal hating. The only time I eat it is in one of those motel breakfast rooms, and then I choose Raisin Bran as the least objectionable.

I was surprised to see that slab of tropical wood. It's huanacastle (also parota, depending on where you live) from a magnificent tree that grows in the jungle along the coast. We have a dining room table from that wood. You can choose either a horizontal slab (round) or vertical, like in the photo. I'll bet our table cost a whole lot less than this one! Twenty thousand pesos, as I recall, which included the base and delivery from the coast. Less than $1,000 US at the time. Weighs a ton--took 6 guys to haul it up our stairs. We gave them good tips and beer. That being said, I found the placement of the slab to be a little clunky. Not well integrated into the overall design. As if someone said, "We need something to warm up this space." I would have preferred to put the slab on the island rather than sticking it off to the side where it seems an afterthought. Does anyone cook in that kitchen? Somehow I don't think so. I'm with dcarch on this one--tear it out and make it into someplace you'd want to be.

Oh my--piecaken is evil! But who's counting?

Thanksgiving at the beach! Friends have a lovely villa on the beach in Nayarit, México, where we made T-Day dinner. There were 7 of us, so I made gravy and dressing (onions, celery, portobello mushrooms, oven-toasted bread chunks, chicken broth, sage, thyme, garlic, etc.) and roasted a couple of boneless turkey breasts on top. There were also sweet potatoes, Brussel sprouts, cranberries, red wine, prosecco and pumpkin pie. I have to say, this was the first Thanksgiving dinner I cooked while barefoot. Right now I'm listening to the surf as the tide is coming in. As a friend says, this doesn't suck too much.

After I read your tale of woe about the road surfaces, I took out our road atlas and saw that there's really no easy way to get through Oklahoma without going through Oklahoma City. Not if you want to stay on the Interstates. I guess you want to get south as quickly as possible, and avoiding cold weather sounds like the imperative. But you're past that now and you'll only have to worry about it on the way back to Minnesota!

Smithy, I'm glad to see you're back on the road again. We didn't go north this past summer, for obvious reasons, and I really miss it. (I find myself obsessively reading Campendium's reports every day, but for the sake of my mental health I have to stop doing that!) Can't blame you for leaving when the temperature gets that low. I am hopeful that we will be able to get the Pleasure-Way out of storage next summer. In the meantime life here in Pátzcuaro is pleasant albeit slightly dull, and the weather can't be beat. 70s during the day, 50s at night, doors and windows open. We're heading to the beach with friends who have a house in Nayrarit for Thanksgiving; normally we have a huge party with as many as 60 folks, but of course not this year. Safe travels, and I hope your trailer repairs don't get you down.

All I know is that at one time when I was having serious stomach issues congee (plain, or maybe with a little sugar) was all I could eat. Even though I recall those days with a shudder, I sometimes crave congee--the plain stuff, with no toppings. Soothing and sits on your stomach quite peacefully.

Just to update, these are even better than the recipe sounds! We absolutely devoured them. I used a combination of chile perón (our local chile, known elsewhere are chile manzana) and poblano. Thanks for this great recipe.

The upper photo are chanterelles/girolles. I don't know what the mushrooms in the lower photo are. The frilly edge bothers me since chanterelles have edges that turn under. The stem length also bothers me. Take a spore print and look it up in a good guidebook. Using the Latin names prevents a lot of misunderstanding.

I like the Satchel Paige quote: "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" It's the kind of question you should ask yourself every year, on your birthday. (Though I have a friend who says that she has a "birthmonth" which means she gets to celebrate all month. Sounds good to me!)

I second the recommendation to plant a dwarf lemon in a large pot. We have a mandarina that has produced dozens of fruits on a plant less than 5 feet tall. Another advantage is that you can put the pot anywhere you want, in full sun, once you get it where you want (they're too heavy to move around). Be careful not to overwater--we killed a lemon that way.

That's going to move to the top of my list of future baking projects. Thanks--sounds downright yummy.

Aw--you're killin' me! We haven't experienced "mushroom greed" in a long time, when you pick more than you have time or energy to process. It's so much fun, going around with your knife and basket, but then when you get home you're confronted with the results of your excess! It's a great thing to experience, isn't it? We haven't had success in Colorado lately (and this year we didn't go north at all) that we've had in the past. All our favorite foraging places have suffered from drought, and a dead forest isn't the best place to look for mushrooms. I still have half a gallon jar of dry porcini (and it takes a darned good recipe for me to use any) and some frozen chanterelles, but we haven't replenished our supply. Someday--

As to grocery chains, I grew up with King Soopers (Kroger) and Safeway. Albertsons was a distant third, mostly because the store was in a different part of town that I didn't often get to. Lucky's Markets, which originated in Boulder (CO), had at one time almost 80 stores, but as is so common in business they expanded too aggressively and in the past year or so have had to declare bankruptcy and close most of their stores. I think the only 2 left in Colorado are the north Boulder store and the one in Fort Collins. Too bad, because they had an amazing deli department, and made some of the best pizzas I've ever eaten. Made their own cheese and dangerously good cookies. I confess I didn't get too far into the store in Longmont because I was seduced by the pizza and the wonderful offerings in the deli. I expect the rest of the store was pretty straightforward.

I'm late to this rodeo, but I wanted to comment about Andie's post describing the sweet potato ("camote" in Spanish) vendor's technique of spearing a camote, dusting it with sugar and then toasting it to melt the sugar. Sounds yummy. I have heard camote vendors all over México--I say "heard" because they use a small wagon with a wood fire roasting the camotes, which produces steam that he uses to announce his presence. There's a whistle on the chimney and when he gets to a neighborhood he opens a valve to activate the whistle. You can hear it for blocks! There is even a scene in "Roma" of a guy on the street with the same set-up. The camotes are served with a generous drizzle of sweetened condensed milk. I've heard this unmistakable sound in México City (Condessa), Guanajuato, Queretaro and here in Pátzcuaro. This is the beginning of the season for camotes. We have 3 colors--orange, white, and god help us, purple. We tried one of the purple ones, and other than the bright color we thought it was forgettable. Not much flavor, oddly enough. But the mercado is full of big piles of camotes. They're available year round but are especially abundant in the fall.

We have a very old Revere Ware kettle--I can't remember when I first got it as a present from my mom. I think it was when I first set up house for myself in the mid-70s--that's how old it is. Still whistles like a steam engine. Not as sexy as some kettles (if a kettle could be sexy) but gets the job done. It sits unobtrusively on the stove, unnoticed until needed.

The secret to good tamales is to whip the masa until it's light and fluffy to avoid gummy-ness, and to use a light touch with the baking powder if you use it. Our neighbor makes quite good tamales every Saturday, which means I'm less likely to make them myself. I imagine most Mexican housewives have access to at least hand mixers, though perhaps those who make 100s at a time use a stand mixer. But it still takes a goodly amount of time to get it right even with mechanical assistance. In February, when we were in Oaxaca for a 5-day hiking trip from village to village, we visited a family who demonstrated making tamales. These were made with blue corn masa, but because the family is Seventh-Day Adventists they don't use pork products, hence no lard. These were the worst tamales I've ever eaten--the masa was not only not fluffy, it was downright slimey. Lest you think we hiked with all our gear on our backs, there is an program called Mancomunados that has for over 30 years given hikers a considerable amount of support. Luggage is transported from one village to the next and all you need is a daypack with room for water and whatever clothes you need for the day. They even feed you 3 meals a day and provide comfortable cabins with fireplaces (it's at pretty high altitude and the nights are darned cold). Each day after hiking there's a demonstration of some cultural or culinary specialty of the area. Oaxaca City is worth the trip even if you don't want to hike (we came home with a lot of new rugs). The program has made life much more comfortable for the villages, allowing them to have medical clinics, paved streets, and water systems that they would not have had without the income that the program brings in. The area is mountainous and very scenic. All this talk about tamales makes me want to make some. I recall reading a recipe for a mushroom filling, which sounds good right about now. But it's definitely more fun to make tamales with a group of friends, sharing the tasks and then dividing up the tamales so everyone gets some to take home.

My husband's all-time favorite tomato is Prudens Purple, but he admits he also likes Gold Medal almost as much. In the Colorado mountains we were restricted to short-season varieties, so while one year I successfully grew Prudens, the following years were not as good. And here because I grow tomatoes in pots to shelter them from the rains, I can't grow anything that large. Sigh. Right now I have 4 tomatoes in process--Siberian (not to be confused with the old tasteless variety Siberia), Juliette (a small roma type), Very Large Cherry (from Seed Savers) and an unnamed slicing tomato called "bola" or ball. Just as I was in Colorado, I am hopeful.

For as long as I can remember, Wednesday was always the day that the local newspaper produced a special section of grocery store ads. Websites like the New York Times and Washington Post post recipes and restaurant reviews on Wednesday. My question is--what's so special about Wednesday? When (and where) did this tradition begin?

I was going to say Jackfruit, based on the texture. I'm not a fan, ever since our gardener on the coast brought us a big one. It's really really sticky when you take it apart--I told my husband I felt as if I had rendered a pig (it was that big). Oil takes the stickiness off your hands and tools. We didn't really like it after all that trouble. I understand it's a meat substitute these days.

How about mincing the carrot tops too? Nice flavor. Actually a lot of vegetable tops are underutilized, like beet greens, but you only get them if you buy from farmers markets. And if they're not fresh--ick.

Ah--that's the name of the butterfly who lays eggs on our vine. Not being a butterfly expert I didn't know the name. The resulting wormy thing has a big appetite for the leaves. Fortunately there are enough leaves to go around. I especially like to watch the bees as they gather pollen. They have to go up into the flower and get covered with the pollen, and then hover in air while they scrape it off their bodies onto the pollen baskets on their legs. Then they go back for more. One of nature's finer moments. Pollen is baby bee food but nectar makes honey.