gulfporter

Yes this is at our Mexican house....talavera tiles.

Yes orange and naturally sweet. Sold as treats in Mexico City....but the whistle is so loud we never went close enough to order! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk-3odFyCVo short version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkgReb_LSkY long version if your ears can stand it

Grilled jerk chicken thighs (boneless, skin-on). Side of mashed camote (MXN sweet potato).

Growing up in NE PA in the 50s our city had very ethnic neighborhoods. My parents called the Epiphany (Jan. 6th), "Russian Christmas" as the Russian Orthodox church celebrated it with Masses that were very well attended. Whenever my father brought up taking down the Christmas tree, my mother's response was always, "We leave it up through Russian Christmas." Not sure why she tied it to that, other than back in the 50's in December you often invited (and were invited) to "come by and see our tree." Guess she wanted to make sure it was up long enough for visitors.

The "lucky" person who gets the Baby in their slice has to host the next Mexican Catholic holiday, the 2nd of Feb. is Día de Candelaria. (Not groundhogs day).

Every Rosca has a plastic or ceramic Baby Jesus in it.

Smoked salmon (smoked by local expat who goes by, Canuck Bob) and goat cheese quesadillas. Also inside are grilled onions, red peppers and poblanos and big squeezes of chipotle molido.

Last night (the big celebration for any holiday is the Eve before) Los Tres Reyes sat in the back of a pickup truck and threw hard candies to the children who lined the streets. There were slices of free Rosca de Reyes on the Plaza for everyone. Here are some pics. The Reyes were from a local bakery and rather plain looking, but that's the old-school way. The ones sold in stores here are more brightly colored with strong red, white and green decorations from fruits and sugars. I don't know the significance of the oranges---anyone??

Got the idea from this NYT recipe https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020828-lemony-shrimp-and-bean-stew but I used what I had in the house. It serves 4. Couple tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat in 4 quart pot. Added half a really large white onion. Light salt and black pepper. Let edges get brown, then added 3 large and potent finely diced garlic cloves for barely a few minutes more (I don't like my garlic to get to brown). Added jar of drained (but not rinsed) garbanzos (570g total, 400g net). Added at heaping tbsp. of smoked picante Pimentón. Let it cook for another 5 minutes, stirring pretty often. Added 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth (I use granules in water). Cranked up the heat to high until at a boil, then reduced to a simmer for 15 minutes covered. I then let it sit on stove until mi esposo got home, an hour or so. While the base was sitting, I dusted 12 jumbo shrimp with Pimentón and salt and tossed with 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp. of lemon juice and let them sit on counter for 10 minutes. Then I grilled till barely done (two minutes a side). I reserved 6 of the shrimp for tomorrow's leftover reheat of soup. I cut each of the other 6 into 3 pieces and set aside. Reheated the soup base until almost at a boil then threw in 100g (about 4 oz) of fresh baby spinach. Stirred until barely wilted. Ladled into bowls, topped with shrimp and sprinkle of Pementón and served. I meant to grate some lemon zest over it at serving time, but forgot. When I reheat tomorrow I'll try to remember the zest. I didn't add the normal amount of salt I would normally add to onion, shrimp as I know the chicken broth crystals I buy here are pretty salty. I wrote this off top of my head, pretty sure it's accurate.

Garbanzo bean soup with spinach and topped with grilled shrimp. The color is from Spanish Pimentón, a very picante and smoky version from our last trip to Spain. Mexico has a good trade agreement with Spain so the garbanzos were from a jar imported from Spain. Smooth as silk straight out of the jar (canned ones here tend to be too toothy and difficult to soften).

A fellow diner at a restaurant in Tucson in October overheard me order a non-alcoholic beer. He mentioned to me that there is a Guinness non-alcoholic beer. I should have asked if it was available in Tucson. I looked at Safeway and Fry's, but no luck. Have any of you seen it where you are? I started Seco Enero (dry January) and will be in Tucson in a few weeks. If you've tasted it, what did you think of it?

Quick Chicken Vindaloo with raita and (store bought) lime pickle. I made the Vindaloo paste separately the day before. Heated it with a rotis chicken and roasted potatoes. It was as good as what I've slaved over for hours in the past.

Chicken birria. It's not really a thing here where goat or beef is standard depending on village. But I had a wet pack of birria seasoning and a 1/2 a Pollo Feliz al carbón. So, voilla!

Dry size,

Hot, not quite boiling. Things not working out for me today....I dropped a 30+ year old Pyrex measuring cup....a gazillion shards after it hit the tiles.

Yeah, I know, that's why I called it a quickie. Spur of the moment and absurdly stupid rookie error on my part. I'll keep a-simmering, but in 90 minutes mi esposo's hunger pangs kick into high gear 😎

When do I call it quits on this? I found a bag of dry giant Spanish white beans I brought home in 2018. I did a quickie 3 hour soak in water, then rinsed and put in pot with broth. Been simmering for 3 hours now. They are slightly softer than when I began, but still very very toothy. Can you keep dry beans too long? Am I wasting my time??

Individual Chicken Wellingtons. Didn't get the puff I wanted, but knew that was a risk, given my MXN oven has no thermostat nor insulation. I cranked it up to 420F after 45 minutes, watched it another 10, never got beyond the 420F. Oven temp dropped to 340F after I opened the oven door to put the tray inside (at lightning speed, I might add). Flavors were excellent. No seepage. A tad bit of soggy bottom but luckily Paul Hollywood did not grace our table this Christmas. Sides were grilled asparagus with lemon, and a cranberry-chipotle condiment.

We liked this one so much we now have it at each of our homes. I have had multiple hand surgeries and treatments for my Dupuytren's Contracture in both hands and find this one lightweight and quick. From Good Cook at Amazon.

Forgot we had half a container of guacamole from my take-away pollo al carbón last night. There's a schmear of it under the shrimp salad.

Mi esposo finished his Tuxedo Creme Brulees and they are in fridge. We will have a sneak preview of one tonight with Xmas Eve Dinner.

Today I will make the mushroom duxelle, grill the asparagus (I serve it cold), the cranberry-chipotle condiment. Took out the chicken breasts and puff pastry to thaw in fridge overnight. I will assemble the Chicken Wellingtons tomorrow early. I have a bag of shrimp thawing for lunch; plan to stuff in an avocado with Persian cukes, diced red pepper, shallt, cilantro, with a lime-olive oil-chipotle dressing. The other day at lunch at a nearby eatery, we saw and liked their menu offerings for Xmas Eve so we ordered meals to-go for this evening. However the place was slammed with customers and our waiter wrote our order on a paper napkin. We figure at best, there's a 50-50 chance it will be there when I walk over to fetch tonight 😎 Here's the menu (we chose Chamorro and the Chile en Nogada as we've had theirs many times in past and always great.

My gardener José said malvaviscos are 'rosa' because they are made by the De La Rosa company. I looked today at a market and that was only brand I found. I often overlook the obvious.