Darienne

If you're new to achiote, definitely try the puerco pibil recipe from the movie One Upon a time in Mexico. It's easily found on YouTube and is shown being made by the director whose name escapes me. Absolutely fantastic dish and really opened my eyes to mexican cuisine. Thank you, Crouton, for that tip. Just loved the video. What a hoot! Will try making the achiote past next and using it for the dish.

Yesterday was a first for me, using achiote paste in making Mexican Rice. Not exciting, but new and very nice.

I just might get one on your say so, Elsie.

Yes

Some of the above products are either a lot of work to make or nearly impossible to duplicate, but Ice Magic takes about 4 minutes to make and must be cheaper to make...although I have never purchased it. 100 g or coconut oil melted plus 150 g of melted chocolate, a smidgen of salt and there you have it. I make it all the time. It's a 'kid' sort of thing, but I love it.

I was just getting set to respond to this thread and thought...oh oh, wait, google it first. I could not believe my eyes. Our favorite soup, the one we were both raised on from childhood, the one that spoke volumes of home and hearth to us, the only canned soup we eat, the one we bring to Utah with us every year, was owned by Campbell's. Habitant French Canadian Pea Soup with real smoked ham and lard. No, it's not as good as homemade, but when you are cold, or tired, or can't be bothered, there it is in the familiar yellow can with navy lettering, to be simply heated and eaten. Or as usually happens, DH steps in and adds grated carrot, cooked rice and half a can of chickpeas. Then I add parsley and fresh ground pepper. That's my canned product story.

If I ever move to the sunny south, I am going to move in next door to you, Andie. Your depth and breath of knowledge is mind-blowing!! Your biggest fan!!!

I love this. Did you make it up just now? Also, Andie, as for you having 'a bunch of Corning Ware'...you are the Queen of the Kitchenware in my books. I too have a mishmash of this and that accumulated over 50 years of married life, some from my Mother, some from my Mother-in-Law, a few purchased in a regular store and mostly from second hand stores. I use mostly old Pyrex of different sizes and shapes, and like Katie have special dishes for certain recipes.

Fascinating thread. Always so much to learn.

Loved your Blog. You write with humor. Very enjoyable. ps. The Harbingers of Doom are gone. The question is: who removed them? The thoughtless hunter or some furry four-legged beasties of which we have many, both large and small.

As you might no doubt suspect, I know very little about glutamates: monosodium, disodium, calcium, free, whatever they are. I did google the word and the one article I skimmed through was very interesting and I shall have to find out more about these glutamates. I have never had a reaction like that dramatic one in Chinatown since and I may well be totally mistaken about its source as you pointed out. The list of foods containing glutamates is very lengthy and we do eat corn chips a lot and french fries sometimes. We also eat some sausage meat although not much. I'm making my own chorizo now. We don't eat much pre-prepared food, no soy products except for the fermented ones, no cold cuts, canned soups, etc. And I won't touch Aspartame. I suddenly became epileptic at the ripe old age of 56 after a few years of taking in a LOT of aspartame...but then as you note...it could have been anything and we'll never know. According to some experts...epilepsy can be a result of Aspartame, along with about 96 other ailments, including death. Maybe it was being sprayed repeatedly, including in the face, with DDT as a youngster. Life is, according to my youngest, a crap shoot.

At least I can say in my defense that my deeply flawed logic was post-soup. I didn't know that they put it into soup (and most everything else), so it could not have been any kind of placebo effect at work. I am not about to do any double-blind studies on the subject.

This question has been bothering me lately too. Because I now have considerable hand issues, I have been drinking for the last five years all my beverages, hot and cold, from plastic mugs. These mugs are all quite old, second hand because when this need for a lighter mug first appeared, there was a dearth of plastic on the market. Folks were moving to earthenware, etc, for outdoor eating. A plastic mug weighs about 4 oz; a ceramic or glass at least 10 oz and most often about a pound. Our daughter noticed this at Christmas and began to harangue heavily on the dangers of what I was doing. Answers? Perhaps I am at almost 70, too old for it to make much of a difference? Gagghh. I can't believe I am almost 70. Sorry I mentioned it.

Anecdotal info: I should preface this by saying that I can eat everything pretty much. Hotter than Hades doesn't faze me. All nuts, all grains, whatever are fine. Plus I do not get headaches and never have. Years ago we were dining at our favorite Toronto Chinese Restaurant, starting with the Hot & Sour Soup. Soon it dawned on me that my head was being crushed inwardly as if a circular vise were being tightened. It became so bad that I thought I would go mad. Although it was pouring like mad outside, I ran outside and stood in the pouring rain until I could breathe normally. DH, Ed, was fine. What else could that be except for the MSG? They must have made a mis-measurement that day. Never ate soup there again.

The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession. Adam Leith Gollner Candy Freak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America. Steve Almond. Two fascinating books from the decade. The title, Candy Freak, is one that the publishers must have picked because it is purely sensational and does not reflect on the nature of the book at all. I would recommend this one for a good read. It's the engaging history of the many little regional and family candy manufacturers of the USA and how they have just about all disappeared in the face of the marketing practices of the current biggies. It sent me on a hunt in Moab for all the regional type candies I could find which still are out there.

Them's fightin' words, gal. Our neighbors around the corner (a country type corner, y'hear) make and sell their own maple syrup, as do many in our township, and I'd bet our maple syrup against your American product any day. So there. I took our local maple syrup to a friend in Moab last year and she adored it. What can I say? Syrup snob? Hah! ps. The Harbingers of Doom were still hanging there this morning.

Dear rebgold, There are NO stupid questions on this forum...and if there were, I am probably the one to ask them. I like to think of myself as a fearless ambassador for the timid.

:laugh: That was Mtn. Dew up the nose laugh! Harbingers of doom :laugh: Does he hang them there a long time before he cleans them? As for his timeframe...I don't really know. We met him out there a couple of weeks ago and he was cutting part of them off. They had already been hanging there...and they are hanging there still. I didn't ask...he didn't say. We exchanged brief polite greetings but that was about all. Mountain Dew first thing in the am? You are a fearless one!

Your BLOG is great fun to read. You supplied my first laugh of the day with you pie crust story. As for Canadian geese, hunters where we live do kill and eat them. Our neighbor behind us hangs the dead carcasses at the far corner of HIS property so HIS family doesn't have to look at them hanging there like harbingers of doom...which makes them completely visible to US on OUR daily farm perimeter walk. So thoughtful. To HIS family. Rats.

Thanks Andie, and Sharon and Calypso, for all the information.

There are recipes for the first three desserts in My Sweet Mexico, but not even a listing for the tortitas de Sta Clara. I found it on Google, but with two differing definition: one is a shortbread type cookie, the other a pumpkin. Please tell me which is correct and where you found your recipe. Thanks.

What: Chiles Rellenos with the usual sides and Churros for dessert. Nothing fancy or special. Horchata to drink (first (and last probably for now until I learn if that's what it's supposed to taste like. If it is...then last) With DH, Ed, and good friend, Bob. Next time another friend had some version of Tamales. I just mostly kept eating Chiles Rellenos...we can't get them in Ontario as far as I know. Where: Moab, Utah, on our last stay there, fall 10. Why: To celebrate our return to Moab, to be with one of our best Moab friends again, to try this new restaurant. I use the term restaurant loosely. It's really a 'hole-in-the-wall' with take-out and four tables. We were the only gringos in there at the time with a steady stream of laborers in a line ordering lunch. The outlet caters to the area's Hispanic workers who are currently at a number of huge projects, including a new bridge into the town on the main highway. The rest of the country may be curtailing public spending: not Moab. The menu is incredible with many dishes and from at least 6 Mexican states. Most of the staff don't speak English. We went there often while in Moab, but I fear the restaurant won't be there by next fall. The bridge is finally finished. We took all our Moab acquaintances there and they were all favorably impressed, but this is not a place which is likely to be popular with either the regular townsfolk or the tourists. Too bad! The really good small Hispanic restaurants disappear quickly and the old regulars and chains live on. We also had a wonderful meal at the much touted Mexican restaurant, El Bruno's, in Cuba, NM, on our way towards home.

Oh, Darienne. In all your travels, you must come to Arkansas, and I will fry okra for you. It will change your life. I swear. I'm not sure I can stand to have my life changed again, but if we ever get near Arkansas again, I'll take you up on this. Thanks. Ditto for the homemade tortillas.

You have been busy. Any photos???

I probably have never eaten, or maybe even heard of, half the dishes which will become challenges this year. In the meantime I have: - my own chorizo - Capirotada, traditional style - brioche sticky buns - croissants - spun sugar - wontons