gulfporter

When we hosted Pi Day parties we included quiche, pot pies, steak & kidney pies....and even pizza pies!

No desserts for us this week, trying to lose our Winter Weight Quiche (and a salad) for lunch.

Mmmmmm......Pi Day.

Made a batch of Browned Butter Cardamom cookies. My whole house smells amazing. Again, it was a special "find" at the Organic Market in town. Getting to be my go-to place.

Of course 100% agave azul....our village is here in Jalisco, also home to the town of Tequila. We have access to many small farm and distillery producers. These are locals who are growing their blue agave in and around Lake Chapala and making a name for themselves locally. http://theguadalajarareporter.net/index.php/news/news/lake-chapala/44881-lakeside-s-own-tequila-makers-open-local-agave-plantation https://acrobaticthoughts.wordpress.com/2015/05/22/tequila-sandy-y-daniel/

Even though we live full-time in Mexico, I don't often order (or make) margaritas. I am a Paloma drinker when I rarely have a mixed drink. Had another couple over and since I know they drink margaritas, I mixed up a batch. I used a Reposado because that was the only tequila I have in the house. It is a respected local small farmed tequila (we happen to know the owners). I showed the bottle to our friends and they said that margaritas are better made with a cheaper younger Blanco. They agreed this was a good tasting Reposado on its own (almost like a brandy to me, but I'm not a spirits aficionado). I am wondering if I should get a Blanco for margaritas (mine are very pure...no mixers or frozen limeade). I feel the better quality of almost anything in a recipe makes a superior end product, so that's my hesitation to switch to Blanco, but want to hear from experts.

In the US we tip 20% on full bill, including tax. In Mexico we tip 15% on full bill. Mexicans especially the most wealthy ones, rarely tip above 5%. But here in an expat community with lots of US and Canadian snowbirds, 10% is the norm, I'd guess. In the US , we tip a minimum of $5 if the 20% is less than $5. In Mexico we tip a minimum of 40 pesos if the 15% is less than that. We leave tips in US lodging at $5 a night at the end of our trip. In Mexico we tip the woman who cleans our hotel room directly, each day (sometimes it's a different person). More often we rent vacation homes in Mexico and the owner will usually leave an instruction sheet about the maid, who they are, when they come (set days and times) and often will recommend a weekly tip. I normally strike up a short-term relationship with the maid (they often come 3x or more a week for several hours a day)...it helps me practice my Spanish. I will usually for their last visit, buy them a nice treat (small cake) and enclose my tip in a pretty card. They appreciate something 'special' and food is always a good gift in a poorer country. On over-tipping....we will bring Christmas cards with a 100 peso note to our usual haunts the week before Xmas and hand out to the servers, even those not waiting on us that night. It is easy to be generous in Mexico. Our dinner meals for the two of us with 1 or 2 wines each rarely go north of 400 pesos total. Right now that's a shade over 20 US bucks and includes taxes.

We have a new organic shop here and they had crystallized ginger. I grabbed a bag with no recipe in mind. Today I baked ginger shortbread icebox cookies (made the dough yesterday and chilled overnight). Delightful!

Amazon Mexico link to what looks like a similar pair. You can get them tomorrow! Others available, too. search: Tijeras para aves or Tijeras para cocina. You can also search in English but I get more results (and often better prices) for items listed in Spanish). https://www.amazon.com.mx/Metaltex-251801-Tijeras-para-aves/dp/B019DW7K2Q/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1520177079&sr=8-18&keywords=tijeras+cocina

We eat light in the evenings, but sometimes I will ask for a dessert, para llevar (to go) if I think it will carry well. I like something sweet with my morning coffee. So far our dessert prices, even at fancier gringo-oriented places, have remained fair. In the US I rarely get a restaurant dessert (to go, or to eat in) as prices continue to climb. No way I'll pay 8 to 10 bucks for a slice of cake or fruit tart.

Popeye's wins hands down. This is based on my analysis of our annual office Christmas party, over the course of the 20 years I was one of those responsible for organizing it (for 60 total staff). We always had a Honey Baked ham and chicken as the core proteins (with tons of sides, usually staff contributions). Over these 20 years, the staff feedback went from 80/20 in favor of KFC to 80/20 in favor of Popeye's. Maybe it was due to changes in their recipes, the changes in taste buds or the changes in staff. But that was what we saw.

We have homes in FL and Mexico (and a previous home in AZ). I disagree about grilling in hot weather (or any inclement weather). I use a gas grill. It is so well-seasoned that I get a good flavor off it. And by 'seasoned' I basically mean I never clean it. I rarely stand over the grill. My grill is 5 steps from my kitchen. I walk out, preheat it and come back inside until it's hot enough (usually 5 minutes on this grill). For salmon, I take a fillet with skin (I use my own dry rub on flesh side), throw it skin-side down and go back in the house. 8 minutes later I go out, shut off gas and come back inside to ready the plates, etc. 3 minutes later I bring the salmon indoors. It is always perfect. For pork tenderloin and lamb racks I grill 6 to 8 minutes on each side, let rest another 6 to 8 minutes, lid up. I do not monitor these grill items...I could do them blindfolded. The only items I do watch are veggies....but the cooking time is so much less for grilled eggplant, zucchini, etc. that I am rarely outside for more than a few minutes. I also use the grill to reheat pizza. Preheat, then all burners to low, slices on grill for exactly 5 minutes. EZ PZ and the grill flavor improves the original flavor x10. Though our temperatures in Ajijic are mild (under 80F) for 10 months, we can hit 90 in May until the rains start in mid June. We don't have much humidity even in the rainy season. Now FL...that's another story, but still I prefer grilling there...for the flavor and general lack of mess. All my splatters go onto nearby bushes that seem to thrive on grease!

This is last dessert I had here in Ajijic.....

My family also poor, East European immigrants (Lithuanian). We alternated between these throughout Lent: Cheese and/or potato pierogis topped with sautéed onions and butter (homemade pierogis) Potato pancakes with sour cream Macaroni and cheese AND baked potatoes with sour cream (mac n cheese homemade) Once in awhile....real fish sticks (from a real fish market) but not fries...some sort of fried potato ball (similar to tater tots but more like real food)

We fly United from Tampa to Guadalajara (connection in Houston) 4 or 5 times a year, business/first class. Each flight is around 2 hours. We never get a meal on the US leg. If it's a morning flight out of TPA we get a heated scone. On an evening flight we just get a choice of up-branded pre-packed chips, cookies, energy bars and bananas. We almost always get a hot meal on the international leg. Though on early AM (before 9AM) flights out of GDL, instead of a hot breakfast, we get a cold platter that includes a decent sweet roll, yogurt, fresh juice, granola, fresh fruit, coffee, etc. Afternoon flights into or out of GDL start with hot mixed nuts (this is often the highlight). We usually get a choice of a chicken or beef entrée; some have been quite good, others, meh. And of course free booze on all biz/1st class flights.

I make Banh Mi with grilled pork tenderloin. We grew up on Banh Mi's in Northern Virginia (DC) where many Vietnamese settled after the fall of Saigon. They opened eateries, but the best Banh Mi's were the ones sold at counters in convenience stores owned by Vietnamese. When we retired and moved to AZ, there were none to be found in our isolated town, 100 miles south of Tucson on the MXN border. I researched a lot of recipes and came up with this one which suits us. We have a home in FL where we have a number of Vietnamese eateries. The best Banh Mi for us is the one at a French-Viet bistro, Alesias in St. Pete. Her grilled pork is a very coarsely ground pork shoulder, made in-house. I tried using ground pork but could not find a coarse texture, so I still used grilled tenderloin. Now we are living primarily in Central Mexico so it's up to me to make them again. I usually set it up as a Banh Mi bar so everyone can assemble their own. This recipe makes 8 sandwiches. 2# pork tenderloin 5 tbl. fish sauce 6 tbl. brown sugar 3 tbl. soy sauce 1 tbl. sesame oil 6 garlic cloves 2" ginger minced/grated 6 green onions, sliced thin 1/2 tsp black pepper 4 tbl veg oil 2 loaves French baguettes (each cut into 4 pieces) or 8 mini baguette rolls. 2 seedless cukes, peeled and sliced very thin lenghtwise pickled carrots (see below) sliced fresh jalapenos or serranos 2 bunches cilantro Pate (opt. but recommended). Use a spreadable chicken liver or duck liver pate. Red chile mayonnaise (chili garlic sauce mixed with mayo to your desired spice level) Cut tenderloin across grain into thin 3 or 4 inch long pieces (big enough not to fall through grill). Mix ingredients from fish sauce to veg oil. Add meat and marinate at room temperature at least 3 hours and up to 5, but no more than 5 as the pork will start to disintegrate. Grill pork over hot charcoal or gas grill. Let rest while you assemble sandwiches. Assemble sandwiches: Slice baguettes and generously spread chili-mayo on one side, pate on the other. Add cukes, meat, pickled carrots (see below), cilantro and peppers. Pickled carrots (or equal amounts carrots and daikon)...make a day ahead at least. 1/2 # carrots shredded 1/2 c water 1 c cider vinegar 1 tbl salt 2 tbl sugar Mix and let sit overnight (or at least 4 hours).

I am as lapsed a Catholic as you'll ever meet. But I forego meat on Fridays during Lent. Old habits die hard. I don't otherwise fast during Lent but my brother, another lapsed Catholic, still does (he's giving up beer this year). During Lent (Cuaresma) here in Mexico, many local women sell capriotada on Fridays. They just put a handwritten sign on their doors late in the week announcing the sale. Capriotada is a bread pudding, that contains both sweet and savory elements. It has the requisite bread, cinnamon, cloves, raisins and sugar (very sweet piloncillo, an unrefined cane sugar sold in cylindrical shapes). Instead of eggs and milk as a binder, only water is added. There is always a ton of cheese in it which becomes the binder. Many senoras add tomato and onion; it varies household to household. Nuts are sometimes found in it, too. While I buy a piece every Friday on our walk home from dinner, I have not acquired an appreciation of it.

I forgot about it until a friend emailed me greetings. We have one rather awful Chinese eatery here, so will go to a Thai restaurant that serves a range of Asian dishes.

Gave up eating out on Valentine's Day in the US decades ago....overpriced and too crowded.....reservations for dinner in DC-Metro had to made soon after Xmas. Here in Mexico, Dia del Amor y la Amistad (friendship) is getting a little more traction over the past 10 years. There are a lot of winter expats where we live, and so local eateries will offer Valentine's Day dinners. We still stay home for it here, preferring to buy a special wine and make a meal together (or buy some ready made special treats). This year we will be in airports and in-flight most of the day. While we'll be in first class, we don't have high expectations especially for the domestic leg of our trip. What are your plans this Valentine's Day?

I was 16 years old in the late 1960s. My HS guidance counselor said I needed some community service on my "permanent record" to help me secure a college scholarship. She suggested I become a Candy Striper. I told her I was squeamish with blood, but she assured me all I would be asked to do was wrap swab bandages, serve food trays and some light clerical duties. You'll never see a drop of blood, she assured me. My first day on the job I was stuffing billing envelopes outside the ER. As an ambulance with sirens blazing arrived, a nurse came out and shouted, EVERYONE INSIDE NOW. In I went with everyone else and I was directed with other clerical staff to bring surgical sheets and covers from everywhere within the ER to the area where the ambulance patient was going to be treated. The poor man worked across the street at the Krispy Kreme donut shop. He had somehow gotten his arm (up to his shoulder) stuck in the industrial mixer. I saw his injuries as he was being moved to the bed. I stayed in the ER as long as I was needed, then went outside and threw up.

Have also made with blackberry and blueberry preserves...not as good as cherry IMO. The only disaster was strawberry.....but neither of us like strawberries with any savory dish. Also a squirt of fresh lime if you have it, after the micro.

Our go-to quick sauce for most proteins is to mix some cherry preserves with a squirt of Clemente Jacques chipotle molido (for us it's more than a squirt, more like 1:1). Zap it in the micro for 10 seconds. I cannot eat grilled salmon (or pork or shrimp) without a dollop of this on the side. Sometimes cherry preserves aren't readily available in our little village, so I have also used jamaica (dried hibiscus) preserves. I cannot find the Clemente Jacques chipotle molido in my Florida markets, but it's available at Amazon. It is the correct thickness and flavor. Other bottled chipotle sauces are mostly vinegar The alternative is to buy canned chipotles in adobo and run it through the food processor and keep on hand in fridge.

Same with us over here at Lake Chapala (Ajijic). Main meal is midday. We often go out in evening for a walk and stop somewhere for a glass of wine and share a few appetizers. We are lucky to have 2 Spanish tapas places as well as a few international eateries which offer small plates. We find we don't sleep well if we eat a full meal in the evening.

Here in Mexico, Soriana is the 'average' grocery store.... like Safeway or Winn-Dixie. There is an upscale grocery, called Mega. I live in a backwater village and the nearest Mega is 1 hour away in Guadalajara. It is near Costco (they have some sort of partnership as many times around MX I see both in the same Center). Mega has a huge wine selection (wine is relatively new to Mexico, as is a middle class that is eager to learn about it). Mega's in store bakeries are simply amazing. Both Mega and Soriana have areas within them dedicated to vats of pre-made mole's.....often more than 10 types.