gulfporter

I think it's like Kleenex and Jello.....both a brand name as well as part of common nomenclature no matter the maker. For you DIY'ers out there, here's a website with instructions to build your own. https://www.instructables.com/Build-a-Caja-China-Roast-a-Pig-in-a-Box/

I heard about a pop-up of sorts and drove over to it (12 minute drive from village home). It's a Mexican family set up on side of the road, Sat. and Sun. only. Opens at 11:30 and was told they sell out by 1 or 2. They smoke borrego (sheep), lechón (suckling pig), chickens, chorizo, spareribs in a metal box. Years ago a Cuban told me the box is called La Caja China (a China Box). Sells the meat by the kilo, boneless---he takes it out of pit, hacks it off the bone and weighs it as you watch. He asked if I wanted the sheep bone and he threw it in for free. Crispy skin, tender meats. I went overboard and bought 1/2 a kilo of lechón and 1/4 kilo borrego. After dinner we have enough leftover for a week of lunches!

Tasted better than the pic. Chicken salad in chipotle mayo over arugula.

A late light dinner of a store-bought 'medallion' of spinach, cheese and corn kernels topped with a avocado dip, pickled onion and grilled shrimp.

I empty the can of sweetened condensed milk into a micro-OK plastic bowl. I start at 100% for 2 minutes. Whisk then reset at 50% in 2 minute increments whisking every 2 minutes. Continue until a caramel color. Because it is extremely hot and bubbly as you cook it, don't wait until it is too thick as it thickens as it cools. I have seen recipes that start at 50% then drop to 30% but my MXN microwave is a tad weak as well as old. I have bought dulce de leche in cans here, but my local tienda only stocks the sweetened condensed milk so it saved me a trip to a larger store.

@Senior Sea Kayaker I do mine in the microwave in under 10 minutes.

Fresh ground pork (while I watch) and small-batch locally made Kimchi for burgers. I buy the gochujang in US and "import" to my MXN home. I have bought gochujang via Amazon Mexico but it's got a big markup.

Granadas (as they are called here) are available seasonally, August thru October. In my village there are wheelbarrow sellers of just the seeds (often set up outside my bank). In a small plastic drinking cup with a spoon, maybe 1/2 a measured cup for 20 pesos (about 1 USD). I like to sprinkle or sink the seeds into cheese when I serve a cold plate with paté or ham.

The special dish of this holiday is the Chile en Nogada. Every family has their own recipe though the poblano, the walnut cream sauce and the pomegranate seeds are all pretty much mandatory. I ate 4 in a period of 6 days. And I gained 3 pounds.

Feliz Día de (México0 Independencia!! Today's lunch was seared sesame crusted tuna in a flour tortilla with wasabi mayo, pickled red onions and native (not Haas) avocado.

Mi esposo espied a jar of Za'atar seasoning at a grocery store in our village. We don't often see something this exotic so we snatched it up despite neither of us being familiar with it. Made a sheet pan dinner of gnocchi, grape tomatoes, garlic, shallots, shrimp topped with goat cheese. Since we are at our MXN home with our MXN stove without a thermostat, I made it on top of our propane grill. It worked out well....I added ingredients at various times and got lucky. The gnocchi (a shelf product that I first boiled to soften) ended up with bits of crunch on them. The Za'atar was interesting and worked well with the other ingredients. I based my dish on a recipe that also called for broccolini (in my dreams finding that here) and Feta cheese. I used goat cheese because goats graze everywhere in Central Mexico, but have yet to see any herds of Fetas.

My MIL gave me the James Beard cookbook in 1973 a few years after we married. The following December and until he died, my FIL' s Christmas gifts to me were subscriptions and renewals to Gourmet and then Bon Appetit magazines. Both my In Laws were founding members of a DC food club way back when. Our first cookbooks to ourselves (as a teenage age married couple!) were Pierre Franey's two 60 Minute Gourmet books. James Beard gave me the basics I needed to understand. The magazines gave me interesting au currant recipes. The 60 Minute Gourmet books allowed us to make decent meals a few nights a week after a hard day's work.

Another 3 ingredient wonder. It worked and we used 70% chocolate despite the warning not to. I did add 2 tablespoons cream to my chocolate as it was way too stiff when melted. I made my own dulce de leche; I always do so I have no idea what the canned product looks like. Maybe mine is too solid, not solid enough??? Anyway it surprisingly cuts like a thin brownie; I used my only square pan, a 9 inch, would have been better in the 8" called for. I didn't get a swirl due to thickness of my homemade dulce de leche and the thinness of the brownie. Nonetheless, we'd make it again! We like deep dark chocolate so we're happy with its pronounced flavor. https://kirbiecravings.com/3-ingredient-caramel-brownies/

Light dinner (after lunch out); split a mini quiche from local bakery and fresh green beans with bacon. The green beans are grown on nearby Mezcala Island and best tasting I've ever had.

Grilled blackened salmon with grilled radicchio (a rare find here in central Mexico) with a chipotle cherry dipping sauce. My portion of salmon is always the thinner ends of a fillet as I like mine a tad more cooked than mi esposo.

I used this one (there are a zillion out there). I used juice from half a large lemon. I also short-cutted it by melting butter first, then adding everything else and microwaving in 15 second increments using a small whisk on it between zaps. https://www.farmlandfoods.nz/recipes/recipe/quick-and-easy-hollandaise-sauce

I fried up some veggie 'medallions' I bought frozen at a local tienda. It's covered in Microwave Hollandaise which I hadn't made in years, but it came out great. A few blackened shrimp atop. Light meal as we had a big rotis chicken in Indian curry sauce for lunch.

Pasta with bacon and peas.

This isn't the result of my gardening, just foraging on my part. Each of past 3 days I have foraged an intact aguacate in my yard, fallen from my neighbor's tree. Usually when I get to them the ardillas (squirrels) have chomped on them. Or they suffered severe damage from the fall. These are not Haas, they are natural ones, natives. Very mild, not good for guac, we eat on side with the local hot sauce and/or a sprinkle of Tajin.

I made dinner for the first time since my eyelid surgery last Wednesday. I had blurred vision for a day or two, some pain. Worst part is I cannot wear my contact lenses and I HATE wearing glasses. My contact lenses are prescribed for Monovision, meaning I have 1 lens for distance, and 1 lens for reading. The brain adjusts to them and I can drive and read without 'readers.' I normally wear my glasses two hours a day, with my morning coffee, and watching an hour or so of TV after getting ready for bed. They are for distance only. Cooking is a challenge in them, reading thermometers, dials, etc. I grilled salmon and made a couscous salad with toasted pecans and dried cranberries in a lemon-mustard vinaigrette. Picture isn't great as focusing the camera was a guess on my part.

Mi esposo is so lazy he even short-cutted this 3 ingredient no-bake dessert. He melted the butter and chocolate in micro, then added the can of pumpkin (NOT pie filling) and stirred by hand. To make storing easier he put it in a square tupperware container, no paper or cooking spray. It set up in 2 hours in fridge; then he topped with a quick ganache. Wouldn't call it a 'cake' more a dense mousse, but a nice one at that. It tastes better than expected, guess it'd be smoother had he blended it, but like I said, he can be a Lazy Cook Or Non-Cook in this case. Recipe here: https://kirbiecravings.com/3-ingredient-no-bake-chocolate-cake/

Last minute meal. We were literally going out the door to walk to a restaurant when thunderclaps made us reconsider. Thawed a hot Italian sausage link and fried with onions, peppers and half a tomato. Rinsed a pack Udon noodles, added goat cheese and fresh basil. Topped with a quick pan toasting of panko, garlic and olive oil. Oh.....it never rained! Storm didn't make it over to our side of lake.

Breakfast for Dinner. Potato hash with bacon. Potatoes culled from our plates at generous local restaurant.

Food For Thought....