gulfporter

I bought aged rum to make my backyard bananas into Bananas Foster.

And now .... Bananas Foster in the making.

Finalmente! They are turning yellow...and fast!

Yes you are right it is called corn smut. Also known a corn fungus.....now a descriptor for it is, Mexican Truffle. Oh so posh!

Bacon and Huitlacoche Quesadillas (shown before grilling).

Potato and bacon hash.

It's a madhouse as tomorrow is Día de Independencia; here "eves" are always when the celebrations take place. Streets are already closed so vendors can set up tonight. I went on a shopping walk through town (along with everyone else in town it seemed!), you can feel the excitement--people in such great moods, shouting to one another about their plans for the long weekend. This is first Independencia celebration since the pandemic. Lots of pentup demand. We will lay low for a few days and avoid the throngs...many Tapatíos (what people from Guadalajara proudly call themselves) flood into our village for holidays; others often go to Puerta Vallarta but there are storms brewing that may hit Saturday, so I think we'll get a larger crowd than usual. Seared some sesame-coated tuna to make tacos with pickled red onions and cilantro--the colors looks very MXN for the holiday. I use a schmear of wasabi mayo on the tortilla.

For whatever reason these bananas remained green thru today. They are larger than most we get in our yard. After a week of heavy rain (and a very wet monsoon season since mid-June) the weight of the fruit caused the plant to fall. There were signs of 'lightening' of the green, which precedes ripening. José our gardener cut the bunch and hung outside. I am on Ant Patrol.

Mi esposo likes to eat at 6; I prefer 7. What time we eat dinner at home depends on who's doing the cooking 😉 When we eat out we leave our home on foot at 6 and wander into town. After making our choice of where to eat, by the time we get our food it's generally 7 o'clock. We've been retired almost 20 years (from age 50); in our work years we never ate before 7, most often at 8 o'clock. We also eat lighter at dinner nowadays. When we worked, lunch for us was light. a piece of fruit for me between running errands on my lunch hour. For him a pack or two of crackers or dried fruits & nuts between job sites. Things change with retirement....we now prefer lunch to be our main meal.

Our local hospital food used to be great; a year ago this month mi esposo was there for 3 days and had chicken pipían, shredded beef tostadas and various frittatas and molletes for breakfast. Sandwiches for lunch such as pierna (pork leg) on fresh bolillos (rolls) with fresh pico de gallo. I was there overnight last month and got dry toast, watery oatmeal and a vegetable soup devoid of any seasoning. Turns out the hospital hired a dietician a few months ago to cook "healthy" meals. Prior to that you ordered off the menu from the small restaurant next door to the hospital. Ah, progress??

Francisco's family owns a small coffee farm in Veracruz. He brings beans roasted at the farm and also hand grinds beans for you. I like his strongest beans finely ground and he has an electric machine to do that. 250 pesos per kilo for the 'muy fuerte y molido fino'; his whole beans sell for 230 pesos per kilo. He parks his truck at the side of the road in Ajijic, Jalisco where we live. He disappears for a few weeks when he sells out and returns to Veracruz to visit his family and load up.

Shiitake mushrooms over angel hair. Olive oil, butter, shallots and garlic. Shot of chopped arugula on top. EZ PZ.

Kimchi pork burger with gochujang sauce. Trust me, it tasted better than it looks 🙄

After a big lunch at a Jewish deli, we went light for dinner with avocado halves and a simple black bean and corn salad.

Angel hair pasta with caramelized shallots tossed in olive oil, red pepper flakes. Brown in separate pan: panko with crushed garlic. Top the cooked pasta with the panko, zest of lemon. We do a lot of last minute cold plates; usually have in fridge prosciutto, a few cheeses, assorted olives, mango chutney, Dijon. If I plan ahead I will have fresh fruit and deviled eggs. Serve with good crackers or sliced baguette (often have 1/2 baguettes in freezer).

We prefer Chile Garlic Sauce over Sambal Oelek and we freely substitute in recipes. Had always thought they were one and the same, other than the garlic. But this website does a good job explaining the differences. https://missvickie.com/sambal-oelek-vs-chili-garlic-sauce/

Our microwave got eerily quieter....a sign that it's dying. I went for style over substance (my other small appliances and canisters are red). Ordered from Amazon Mexico and due here this week. We don't use the microwave much especially since I treated myself to an electric kettle a few months ago. Not only do we use it for tea, I can get my pasta water to a boil far quicker than stove-top at our altitude.

Seared sesame crusted tuna over avocado with fresh corn, pickled onions and cilantro.

Potato hash with bacon, onions, peppers and poblanos. I bring home most the roasted new potatoes that come with our restaurant meals and make a hash for weekend lunch.

@rotuts Here is their wine list. fyi, prices in MX Pesos, so divide by 20 for US equivalent (100p = 5 USD). And also this link to a story on MX's award winning wines. https://newsinamerica.com/en/entertainment/2021/twenty-three-mexican-wines-won-accolades-at-north-americas-largest-wine-competition/

A local bakery expanded to serving meals. The hit of the meal was this Duck Confit on an 8" piece of freshly baked baguette. They were oh-so generous with the duck. The owner is featuring mostly Mexican wines; can't remember the one I had but we plan to return soon.

Traditional in September for Día de Independencia, I scored an early one for lunch today. I made them once....labor intensive with a lot of finely minced dried fruit, chopped nuts and ground beef (or pork). Sauce is creamy walnut, topped with fresh pomegranate seeds.

My first meal out in an entire month (down with Covid in July, then had hip replacement 2 1/2 weeks ago). Have had CFS, Chicken Fried Steak Have had CFC, Chicken Fried Chicken But this was a first: CFL, Chicken Fried Lamb Oh so good! And just 180 pesos or 9 USD including taxes.

I always put some Red Hots in my apple pies before baking when we lived in US.