MaryIsobel

I find the portions surprisingly large here - perhaps they are following the lead of Canada and the States. Also I find rice and beans together very filling.

We have been eating but not a lot. Grazing has been the MO. It is quite hot, which we expected but the humidity is laying us low. We've been eating lots of mango and pineapple, cheese and crackers, avacado toast - that sort of thing. We will be going out for octopus at least onceI have also been having problems with my phone not syncing with my laptop so photos are a bit of a pain. We spent a long time in the Chedraui grocery store as it is air conditioned and I love perusing grocery stores that are not familar to me. I have never seen green sesame seeds for sale at home. The chicirones are bigger than my head, I was a bit leary of the pastor, but the cuts are on a slab of ice - just not too sure about the meat on the spit. We bought enough for a taste and if we suffer no ill effects from that, we'll get more. Bought a couple of kinds of sausage to grill and some poblanos and onions to go with. Unfortunately they didn't have the bright green cilantro sausage that I was looking for but there is a smaller grocery near by so I'll check there. Last night we went for a late dinner, I had a pastor burrito which was great but very filling.L

I'm going to pass your ideas along to my daughter. She is 5'6" and her fiance is 6'7". She works on the counter and he works on the island but says he wishes it were a couple of inches higher.

That looks fabulous! What are the green spheres? Tomatillos?

Tamarind is a new to me flavour. I know of it's existence but had never tasted it. The tamarind/chili/salt rim was a great foil to the sweet mango marg. I appreciated that the entire glass wasn't rimmed, as it allows one to not partake on every sip.

Well, the best laid plans...We have been eating but it has either been a spontaneous decision while out walking or really not picture worthy. Last night we went looking for somewhere for dinner. We found a great place but the table was outside and not very well lit for photos. Daughter's fiance and I had chicken caesars as we both felt the need for veggies. My daughter had a shrimp burrito which she said was really good. My husband, fresh from the dentist had Azteca Soup which was a spicy tomato base to which one could add diced avacado, cojita cheese, fried tortilla strips and crema, all served on the side. It was a good dinner. Another dental appointment today for my husband so I went out for breakfast which ended up to be a Funky Monkey smoothie; banana, peanut butter (almond butter was an option) and almond milk (regular milk was also an option.) It was delicious, not too sweet and very filling. However, it was a murky beige colour in a plastic cup so not very photogenic. Tonight we went to Happy Hour at the Nauti Burro for drinks and chips and pico de gallo and guac for snacks. I had a frozen mango margarita. The rim is tamarind and chilis and salt. I'll definitely pick up some tamarind. Dinner tonight is chicken and cheese quesadillas which will be made by my husband. Sliced avacados, mangos and tomatoes to go with. He is the king of cooking hot and fast but I've warned him. We shall see. It's a beautiful spot and I spent the morning on a hanging bed, reading poolside.

We also have access to this BBQ area. The two tables are pushed together in the photo as there was a big fiesta de familia there tonight. We are going to have a grilled sausage tasting for dinner one night soon. Various grilled sausage (each of the four of us will pick one kind) grilled peppers and onions... should be fun.

Husband came home with his entire lower impalnt removed, just the "steel studs" left. He does have all his upper teeth so can chew soft things. I made him a cheese and ham quesadilla for lunch and he managed fine with that. I made pico de gallo and cut up a really lucious pineapple. It looks brownish in the photo but it wasn't. I'm going to freeze half to make frozen pineapple jalapeno margaritas. Not sure what's for dinner, we are just tossing around ideas at the moment. The cilantro that I bought for the pico is so incredibly green and fresh and fragrant that if I could get it at home, I would buy bunches for bouquets in the kitchen. The kitchen here is great - huge and very well equipped. And sharp knives! Almost unheard of in Air BnB's in my experience.

We made it to Puerto Aventuras without further incident. We all dozed for the majority of both flights. Yesterday we were reeling from the lack sleeping for 30 hours so didn't venture further than the pool and the grocery store until dinner time. My husband and I went to Nauti Burro http://nautiburro.com/ which is a few steps from our place. The kids stayed home and snacked. I didn't take pictures because I didn't bring my phone. I had grilled veggie quesadillas with guac and pico de gallo, my husband had fish tacos with rice and beans and pico and guac. Lime marg rocks for him, blended mango marg for me. My drink was too big for me to finish and both of our meals were very generous portions; I was unable to eat half of mine. Breakfast today was at home, lunch is TBD. Waiting for my husband to get home from his first of many dental appointments to see what kind of shape his mouth is in.

That's a great idea to riff on - possibilities are endless; bacon, cheese, more cheese...

I don't what it is about their coffee but it gives me an almost instant stomach ache. Have not been to one in years except for when my daughter had Covid and I was dropping off treats, I got her a pumpkin spice latte🙄.

I had only ever had creamed spinach in restaurants but one year, I decided that it would be a good side for Christmas dinner. My husband was skeptical that anyone would eat spinach with their turkey dinner (have I mentioned that he is five years old when it comes to vegetables?) I used this recipe from Ina https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/spinach-gratin-recipe-1940406 and it was one of the first dishes to be cleaned out. I cut out stars from red peppers for the top to make it look more "Christmassy."

Husband's 66th birthday was yesterday. We are leaving for Mexico in a couple of days and just returned from a week of camping so opted to just go to a favourite local spot. It's been around for years and the food is consistently good. I had the fire grilled Caesar with blackened Ahi tuna. Perfect, as usual. My husband had the beer battered cod fish and chips which he has almost every time we go there.

The kids with pickups are still a thing. We have a produce stand up the road that gets a load of picked-this-morning corn from Chilliwack every day. We eat it at least 3 times a week for as long as it lasts.

Too bad - my sister is in Duncan for a few days - I could have sent some with her for you.

I'm surprised at your comment about corn. We had our first local corn a couple of days ago. How early is it ready in Ontario? Chilliwack corn is pretty famous around here and different varieties are ready at different times. Right now it's Jubilee, later will be the bi-colour.

A lot of impressive firsts! I was always interested in cooking and when received a children's cookbook from someone, I proceeded to work my way through it. I was about 6 and made lunch for the family - I think I was bread with process cheese and weiner coins, melted under the broiler.... I haven't been afraid to try new things and did my first "dinner party" for 8 when I was about 18. Lasagna and garlic bread and salad. I guess my big first was when never having made much more than basic layer cake, I decided that I was capable of doing a 3 tier, filled, frosted and decorated cake for my friend's wedding. It turned out surprisingly well but made me realize that I would never be able to bake cakes like that for money! I think all in all it took me the better part of 3 days!

That is my logic. I spend at least an hour and a couple of hundred dollars at Costco, so bringing home the already cooked chickie is a habit that I've adopted.

Plain digestives and sharp cheddar are a very good match in my world.

Now that's a picture worthy onion!!

I'll have to try pork tenderloin done that way.

Those are adorable! Hopefully the cheese, lettuce and tomato are not fondant, maybe white chocolate?

Definitely sounds like a winning combination!

I can find them infrequently. Last time I found the passionfruit, I stocked up.

I'll bet that apricot curd would be lovely. Apricots here are not quite ready yet but in a month they'll be at their best so I will give it a go and report back. I made passionfruit curd once and it was really scrumptious but the puree is hard to find here, the fruits themselves almost impossible. I would like to experiment with a litttle curd and see how it freezes. The recipe for strawberry curd looks good too. Making and bunch of fresh fruit curd and being able to freeze it would make dessert making pretty simple. ETA: my initital search indicates that curd can indeed be frozen.