Boudin and Cracklin's. It's what's for dinner.

I confess, until I pulled into the Boudin place, I did not know what a boudin was.

Check the link- we’re talking boudin blanc, because this is Arcadia. It’s very very good, but the cracklin’s… Oh my. Like chicharrones (pork rinds), but cut small & individually spiced.  And tasso is another kind of sausage that I like even more than boudin. It’s a very good thing I don’t live here, or I’d start to look like Paul Prudhomme in a matter of days.

Also stopped in a cute little town outside New Orleans, called Covington. Very quaint, and they had all kinds of cute little shops. Unfortunately, every one (including moms of the headband/minivan type) think that they are NASCAR drivers, & go racing up & down the cute little streets. Kinda scary. But I did get a new blouse, a double Americano (after I explained what it was) and a really good curry chicken salad.

Let’s see… I skipped New Orleans. Not the kind of place I want to go by  myself- at least not this time. I did manage to get to Baton Rouge during rush hr, which isn’t as dumb as it sounds. I got to cross the Mississippi very slowly & really take it in.

I went over lots of bridges today, including a very long piece of highway built above a bayou. So a little of everything. Tonight I’m in a weird little place called Sulphur, LA that seems to be huge oil & industrial facilities. I’m about 50 miles from Beaumont, TX. Heading for San Antonio tomorrow. No, I never did find Tupelo honey!

• Coconut water straight from the coconut
• Goat meat tacos
• Corn smut
• A beautiful fresh mango
• Cappuccino
• Hibiscus flower tea

Gosh, I love Mexico!

Don't you just love Ann Taintor?

So, another Friday is upon us. I’ve spent it so far in the traditional SMA single-woman-of-a-certain-age style.

Wake up, walk downtown, yoga, followed by brunch w/the ladies, buying Atencion & poring thru Que Pasa, highlighting events for the coming week. Commiserating, sharing survival tips, skirting political issues. A little shopping & back home to the casita. I’m working on my tan & resting up before a Vagabundo Badgrrl reunion tonight.

Yesterday was the birthday of Ignacio Allende, one of the fathers of Mexico (think Geo Washington, for you in the US.) So lots of fireworks, parades, etc yesterday & more tomorrow. And we’re all gearing up for an influx of new tourists in Feb. Prices are going up, casitas are all rented. There’s no room at the inn.

Here are some Friday links for you (somewhat heavy on food):

• Thanks, I think I’ll do my own cooking
• What should I eat? Food Court Edition (Thx, Mikey!) I am working on an SMA version, which includes: How much Imodium do you have? Have you already had a margarita? How many cobblestoned streets between you & your casita? How many Texans are already seated?
• Menu Blunders
• Cool stuff for artists
• Susan Boyle just makes me happy. What a wake-up call.

Credit: "I'll Never Grow Up"

Well, I’m going to spend a fairly quiet evening in the casita. Fairly quiet, b/c I’m already playing Matt Darey podcasts, as my contribution to the neighborhood celebration. I’m certain they’ll enjoy that.

I made a tour of the market today, gathering supplies… Stopped & got some gorditas @ the tortilla stand. They are about 5″ round & nearly 1/2″ thick, and you slit them like a little pita bread, fill them w/good things & then grill them.

Then stopped at Pollo d’Daniel (Daniel’s Chicken) to get rotisserie chicken that is out of this world. There is a lot of salt & garlic involved, and it’s crispy as all get out.

Let’s see, also got some chopped nopales (cactus pads) now that I know how to make salad. I am really really missing lettuce salads, but I’m not that foolhardy.

Stopped @ Senora’s no-name tiendita for Oaxacan melty cheese, tamarinds & other stuff.

Oh, and mashed up the black sapotes & mixed w/oj, honey & cinnamon for a kind of raw chocolate pudding.

So I will be eating well, at the very least.

I’ve cleaned & boiled the tamarinds, & tomorrow will try my hand at my first agua fresca.

Oh, hey, that’s the neighbors now, coming to tell me how much they appreciate the music! See ya!

Sazon Cooking School- Chef Fernando Padilla

Well, as many of you know, part of my goal in San Miguel is not just to eat the food, but learn to create it. So today was my first cooking class.

My landlord is a chef in the Bay Area- Agustin Gaytan- and he actually helped found the Sazon school. The class I took  was a market tour and then bringing back our finds & watching chef make several recipes, and then eating them.

The regular chef was on vaca, so they tapped Chef Padilla, of Hotel Atotnilco el Viejo, a very upscale resort just out of town. Chef Padilla has training from the Culinary Institute (the other CIA, in NY), great patience, and (thank goodness) a sense of humor.

He led us thru the whole market, introducing us to all kinds of unfamiliar foods, waiting for me to take photos & buy coconut meat (yum!) and answering all kinds of bizarre questions (where can I buy agave nectar?)

What a wonderful day! I’ve discovered a whole new fruit- black sapotes.  They are the ugliest thing imaginable- when ripe they look rotten. But they are so good, just mash thru a strainer & mix in some OJ & cinnamon sugar. You can bet I’ll be eating a lot of these.

Here was our menu, and thanks to Chef Padilla, I believe I can re-create the whole menu. He really is a fantastic teacher, as well as a very talented chef.

Salsa ranchero en molcajete (roasted red salsa crushed in a volcanic grinding bowl)
Nopales a la cazuela (cactus cooked in a clay pot)
Salsa verde con aguacate (a raw tomatillo salsa w/avocado chunks)
Sopecitos con chorizo (little pies w/refried beans, & sausage)

Here is a link to the photos of the day.

And another one to Christmas photos. Yes, I had a terrific Christmas w/friend P. We went to brunch at a very fancy hotel, had LOTS of food & a mariachi band, playing in a beautiful courtyard complete with fountain.

Chocolate Johfrej in San Miguel

Last night was the only time it’s rained since I’ve been here. In fact, there was quite a nice thunderstorm rolling thru the valley.

There was even a little rain today & some mist on the mountains, so a lot of people seem to have just stayed home.

For me, it was the perfect day to go exploring. The rain had stopped, but the temperature was great. So I took a taxi in to Centro & started wandering.

One thing I found was a wonderful chocolate shop. I was kind of peering in & a very suave Mexican gentleman on his way out told me to go on in- I wouldn’t regret it. He was certainly right! It’s not the sort of thing I could do every day, and thank goodness I’m not a chocolate fanatic like some. This was the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.

All the cocoa used comes from nearby Tabasco (where our friend Cain is from) or Chiapas (which is where my favorite coffee originates.) There is just a hint of cinnamon, and maybe some vanilla as well, and it’s not overly sweet. The colorful bowl  has raw sugar for those who like it sweeter. Notice that the table has a glass top, and there are cocoa pods under it!

The same shop also has counters of chocolate candies & ice cream as well (The usual ice cream flavors plus tequila, coffee, and fruit of the day.) Here are more pictures.

I should mention that there’s a bookshop across the street. I have a feeling I’ll be haunting Calle Jesus quite a bit.

Casita Garden

Yes, dear readers, I finally made it! Got in last night after dark, and have set a new record for sleeping.

What am I doing in San Miguel? Here’s an article that explains it. And here’s where I’m staying. I’ll be adding more pix of my own here.

But mostly, I’m getting away from the snow, and experiencing a different culture. The kind where my landlord’s brother comes to fix the heater & stays to drink tea & tell me about his adventures in OK, being mistaken for a Choctaw Indian. And then goes back to work, across the street b/c that was his lunch break. (He’s a very fine artisan, with his own shop, who did a lot of the metalwork & furniture in the casita.)

I did get to the tienda (little store) down the street. My street is mainly dirt & cobblestones w/little narrow sidewalks. There are lots of open warehouses w/people working very hard. Very much a middle-class working n’hood. Lots of people out walking- students, moms & babies, grandmas. And lots of little stores- laundries, butcher shop, etc. There’s a bus that goes from my front door to downtown for 5 pesos, and taxis go by all the time ($2 to downtown.)

But I’m sheltered from all this by the cutest courtyard in the world! In side 10 ft brick walls, I have a fig tree, pomegranate, two papayas & a peach tree. Most have little brick walls (like wells) around them, and I’m to put my fruit peels there. They kind of compost around the tree trunks. Then there are all the flowers. So far, I’ve identified geranium & impatiens, but there’s also a neat herb that I don’t know. Most of the courtyard is little pebbles, and then the plants are in pots, at all different levels. The effect is very aesthetically pleasing & I’m sure it also saves water.

Anyway, I spent a good part of the morning just sitting there enjoying it. The n’bors were getting ready for some kind of little family fiesta & playing really good music. The sun felt so good! And I met a little hummingbird who likes all the red flowers.

So far I’ve eaten 2 avocados. Gosh, they were good. Absolutely perfect. I’ve also tried 2 kinds of white cheese & developed an addiction to guavas. (yes, that was fast.) I have a papaya in the fridge that’s as big as my head. Life is good! (And yes, I disinfected all of them.)

Here’s my crockpot split pea soup, in case you want to cook along:

1# green split peas, rinsed
1 hambone or meaty hamhocks, or 2 C diced ham
3 carrots, peeled & diced
2 stalks of celery, w/leaves, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 C parsley, chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
6 C hot water

Put in crockpot in order listed. Don’t stir. High for 4-5 hrs or low for 8-10 hrs. You can add a little sherry @ serving time if you like it. (It’s better than it sounds.)

Leaf-peepers

Well, after a very long day of travel yesterday, I woke up in VA.

While I was gone, the maple outside my bedroom window went from dark green to caution-light yellow. I’ve heard people complaining about leaf-peepers. Now I know what they mean. How would you like to wake up to this? I wish I could describe the quality of the light in the morning. (Kind of like regaining consciousness in a highway construction zone? Without the noise?)

Anyway, I’m taking it easy today. Went to the library & paid my fine. (Heck, they needed a new wing anyway.) Got some more books, and the soundtrack to My Fair Lady. Just wait, I’ll be in Mexico, all by my lonesome, learning all the words to Wouldn’t It be Loverly. (Have I mentioned that I totally heart Julie Andrews? I know, I’m hopeless.)

It’s chilly & rainy, but not nearly as deathly cold as it was when I left. A good day to dust off the crockpot & fill it with something yummy. I’ve been wanting to try Kalua Pork for a long time, and finally found Hawaiin Salt @ WholeFoods. So this time tomorrow, that’s what we’ll be eating.

Arches National Park

So, today I meandered around the town a bit. Every bit as cool as I remembered, and then some.

Book situation: At least 2 very good bookstores (one with an espresso stand) and an excellent library. Lots of great galleries. I only hit a couple, but was very impressed. I bought 2 books right away, by 2 of the authors who’ll be giving workshops: Deborah Madison & Ann Vileisis. Trying to decide which one to go to (I can only choose one.) Total aside… just found out my San Miguel landlord, Agustin Gaytan, who’s a chef/consultant has just signed a book deal!

Food situation: LOTS of good healthy food, as well as the Mexican & steak-centric cuisine you’d expect in the West. Tomorrow I’m planning to check out Hogi/Yogi as well as the Taste of Om juice bar.

Then I decided I’d better get out to Arches & start soaking up that red rock mojo. I can’t explain what the red rock does to me… Maybe it’s being an earth-energy Virgo, maybe I was an Anasazi in a past life… maybe I just LOVE it.

I stopped on the way out of town to get some Pinon nuts. A very nice young man was roasting them over a camp stove & selling them either raw or roasted/salted. I bought some of each. How nice is he? Well, there were some other folks there, whom he had called last night to say he’d found their purse @ the movie theater & they could come pick it up when he opened. He makes darned good pinon nuts, too, and I was munching them all thru my drive.

Then I headed out to Arches, where I got a 7 day pass fo $10. This is one road that you want to take slowly. There are pull-outs every few yards, it seems, and the scenery just keeps coming. I took lots of

pictures, but note that these are all taken either from the car or very close to it. I also only made it about 1/2 way through. There was a massive storm brewing (yes, the weather curse continues!) so I left the rest for another day.

I just wish my camera skills were up to this… It’s really difficult to capture what it’s like to be surrounded by sculpted red rock formations.

Here’s the Moab set so far, with no editing.