At Home in Mexico

Demasiado tiempo.....

2010-08-23T20:52:00.004-05:00

Wow, more than two months without posting. It's been too long...

Lots of things have happened, but mostly my time has been taken up by my changing of workplace. I had been working at my old school for eleven years, and I thought a change would be good. Little did I know that this change would be so time consuming.

Among other things, I had to renew my working visa. Since the old one had expired, I had to leave the country and come back in with a new tourist visa to start the whole process again. Having no money for a plane trip, a friend and I decided to go by bus to Laredo, Texas, a 12 hour bus ride. I'll talk about that adventure in another post. Then getting all the papers ready for the visa, and taking them to León, a city about a hour from here, I had to go two times.

I also had to attend a course at my new school. So much information! I thought my head would explode, but everything went well. Then I had to take out all the things I had accumulated in 11 years from my old school and prepare my new classroom. That was very time consuming!

Also I had to prepare all my son's school things. Here notebooks have to be covered with colored paper chosen for each grade (his is yellow), afretwards they have to be covered with plastic (I use contact paper). And the books have to be covered with plastic also. In total, I covered 11 notebooks with yellow paper and plastic, and 10 books with plastic (whew!).

Now, don't think I'm complaning. Summer was good. I planted some pumpkin seeds and they are looking pretty goo. Hopefully we'll have pumpkins for Día de Muertos. We also attended weddings, Quince Años, and a whole bunch of good-bye parties.

I'm posting photos of the mini pizzas my ex-students made the last days of school, and some of co-worker Montserrat and Beto's wedding...

As always, my girls went overboard with this project.
The pizzas are made with flour tortillas, tomato sauce,
and lots of different toppings.
This one has pepperonni, tuna fish, green and black
olives, and mozarella cheese.
Yes, they ate this strange combination!!

They HAD to make faces. Love the cat!

Here some have pinapple with ham (it's called Hawaiian pizza).

And here is Montserrat's wedding.
She looked beautiful, these photos don't do her justice.

At the church with the "lazo" tied around them.

At the reception. Love the new fashion of having
a vegetable and fruit bar. Jicama, carrots, and cucumber
with lots of lime juice and different hot sauces.
Watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew..
In the back you can see the "chamoy" sauce
fountain.

And a photo of a few of the teachers that went to the wedding.
We had a great time.

Still have a lot to post about the summer...

In the mean time, have a great week and wish me luck at my new job!

Ceviche (de soya).

2010-06-18T12:24:00.012-05:00

Ceviche is a dish made with raw fish which is "cooked" with lime juice. Ceviche exists in most Latin American countries, each with is own variations. Most Mexicans LOVE ceviche, and it is very popular during lent, and also during the hot summer months.

Mexican ceviche is prepared using finely chopped fish fillets, and marinated overnight in the lime juice, in the refrigerator. Afterwards the the fish is put in a strainer so the excess juice drains from the fish.

Although fish is Mexico is relatively cheap (at least compared to other countries) making ceviche for a large family can be a bit expensive. So Mexicans, who are very adaptable people, came up with a variant for the fish ceviche: SOY PROTEIN CEVICHE.

Yes, my neighbor taught me how to make soy protein ceviche. I love it, my husband loves it, my kids love it. It is very cheap, and if you are vegetarian, there is no need to worry-no animal was harmed in the process!

Ingredients:
-Dry soy protein-I use the small piece protein
and the amount depends on how many people
Here I used 750 gms. which is about 2 1/2 pounds.
Remember it will almost double its size when hydrated.
-Limes- a lot of them, I used about 15 here.
-White onions
-Cilantro
-Tomatoes
-Avocado
-Salt to taste
-Tostadas
Optional:
-Chopped serrano chiles
-Salsa Valentina or San Luis

The first thing I do is re-hydrate the soy protein.
I put it in a pot full of water, heat it just
till it starts to boil, turn the heat off, and let it cool.

Here is a close-up of the hydrated protein.

Then I put it in a large strainer, and "wash" it.
I let the water run through it while squeezing and "scrubbing" it.
It has to be very well rinsed, till the water runs almost clear.
Then it has to be drained of all the excess water,
I usually squeeze it, and then leave it in the strainer a while.

In the meantime I squeeze the limes, and chop
everything that is going to be added.

After the protein is drained, I add the lime juice, chopped onions...

Chopped cilantro and serrano chiles (optional) .....

Chopped tomatoes....

Mix everything very well adding salt to taste...

And this is what the finished stuff looks like.
You can put it in the fridge a few minutes,
and it will taste even better.

Mmmm, I love this dish.

The tostadas, and salsa San Luis.

At this point the avocado is sliced and put on top.
There is no avocado here because I forgot to buy some.

Great summer dish. Very cheap and tasty.
If you get to make some, let me know how it came out.

Hope you have a great weekend, and just in case I can't post tomorrow, have a Happy Father's Day!

Charreada.

2010-06-15T20:46:00.004-05:00

The official Mexican sport is the Charreada. It is the original rodeo, though there are some major differences between both.

Some weeks ago, our school was host to an academic event to which more that 80 high schools, that belong to our system, perticipated. As part of the cultural entertainment, a Charreada was organized. Click on the link above for more information on this sport. I do not attend frequently, but when I do I enjoy it pretty much. You see, there is a lot more going on besides the horse thing. There is usually live music and lots of typical food. The Charreada begins with somehing that is similiar to a parade. And sometime in between, there is the women's event called the escaramuza. In this event, the women ride side-saddle in a full skirted costume that includes a few frilly petticoats. They perform a choreography while riding thier horses. It is really pretty.

Some of my male students are charros and participated in this even. Some girl students participated in the parade. This sport is very expensive since the charros have to own a horse (same with the girls, Adelitas). And unlike the American rodeo, the Charrería does not give money prizes to the winners, thus making this an amateur sport. At the end of the competition the winners usually recieve a trophy.

The photos...I love the girl's costumes.

Pretty girls in colorful costumes.

This costume is beautifully embroidered!

One of my favorite ex-students. Straight A's,
kind, thoughtful, and beautiful.
I also love this costume...

Part of the escaramuza.

Many times the escaramuza is performed to music.

Visitors from other states posing for the camera.

This was the "banda" playing at the Charreada.

One of the best bands in the area of the Bajío.

Tried to upload a video of this band playing, but each time I try, it shows some kind of error, and tells me to try again later. Guess I will try again....um, later!

Feels good to be posting a bit more often again!
So I hope I can show you some more things from around here tomorrow.
Adios!!

Estela.

2010-06-13T22:55:00.007-05:00

About a month ago artist-friend, Estela, had her exposition at the local "Casa de la Cultura". I like her work very much. Besides painting on canvas, she goes around small towns looking for old, broken, and termite ridden doors. She treats the wood to rid them from the termites, then makes these beautiful paintings on them.

She also does some incredible alebrijes (check out the link, some interiesting things, those alebrijes). Her alebrijes are made from papier mache.

Here are a few photos of her art. Not the greatest pictures, but I'm sure you appreciate her work.

I photographed the door panels in three shots
getting closer to show the detail.
Enjoy!

The photographs that follow are the alebrijes.

I love the doors most.
You should see all the things she has in her house. Lots of linoleum prints. She does acid on metal prints also. Next time I go to her house, I'll take my camera and show you the neat things she has made.
Art always makes me happy. Hope Estela's art made you happy also.
Have a great week!

¡El Mundial de Fútbol!

2010-06-12T15:56:00.004-05:00

One month since I last posted!! Exams, public class preparation, and heat made this last month crazy. Yesterday my students answered their last exam, and it finally rained! So today everybody is feeling better (especially me!)

So, what's new? Well, the most important thing that is happening in the country right now is the FIFA World Cup being held in South Africa!

Fútbol is so very important in Mexico. An example: one commercial on T.V. shows some couples in which the guy tells the girl this classic line "It's not you, it's me." Then he goes on to say "Let's take a break, give us some time." And ends with "Just a few weeks, from June 11 to July 11." Which is the time the World cup lasts!

Yesterday was the innauguration at 7:00 a.m. local time, and Mexico got to play the innaugural game with host country, South Africa. Such an important game! And on a school and work day! Prediction: schools and workplaces would be empty, thousands of students and workers absent from their activities. So the president makes a decision, all schools and government agencies were to be allowed to stop acivities from 9:00a.m to 11:00a.m. to watch the game! He was critisized, but I personally believe it was a correct measure. Do you know how many of my students were absent yeaterday? Not one!!!

So here are the images of my students watching the game in our classroom.

One student loaned his T.V. It was put up
in the classroom and everybody got ready to watch the game.
Same thing was happening in the other 21 classrooms
in our school.

Most brought their Tri shirts.
Tri stands for tricolor, green, white,
and red, the flag's colors.

This is the traditional Tri shirt.

In this world cup, the team will also be using a
black shirt. Yesterday they played with this one.

This is also a typical shirt, but I think
it will not be used during this World Cup.

The line-up...
The kids were very excited.

The team minutes before the game....
The kids were going crazy!!
And when the starting whistle blew,
a loud roar emerged from every clasroom!!
And, I would guess, from every school,
office, and home in the Mexican Republic!

My students are very organized. The all brought
something to eat during the game (potato chips,
doritos, peanuts, and soda at 9:00 a.m.!)

Oh, and lots of hot sauces for the "botana".

So for the record, Mexico and South Africa tied 1-1. Not good, but not bad. South Africa scored first, but when Mexico scored, wow, the school went crazy! At 11:00 everything was over, the kids went to recess, and came back to answer their exam. Everybody was happy for the permission to see the game.

And this will go on for 1 month. By the way, a while ago England and U.S.A. tied 1-1.

Hopefully I'll post tomorrow...
Have a nice weekend, everybody!

10 de Mayo, Día de las Madres.

2010-05-10T16:14:00.003-05:00

Today is Mother's Day in Mexico. It is always on May 10. So I want to wish all Mothers a beautiful day. Especially my mama.

I love you very much, and thank you for all the love you have given me. God Bless you, Mama!

My beautiful Mama, the yoga teacher.
This was taken yesterday.
Isn't she incredible?!
Te amo, Mama...

Cinco de Mayo

2010-05-05T21:14:00.004-05:00

As most people who live in the U.S. know, today is a very famous Mexican celebration going on in many cities that have a high percentage of Hispanic population.

But what happens today in Mexico? Well, the most important thing that happens is that there was no school today. What else? Well, mmmm, nothing. Really, nothing. Except maybe in the city of Puebla, where the Batalla de Puebla was fought. And maybe some Northern states which have been influenced by the celebration of Mexicans in the U.S. This was a battle fought against the French invading forces, in which Mexico won. This celebration has nothing to do with Mexico's Independence. So there is really no 5 de mayo post as such. Sorry, nada!

But I will post some more photos taken in Dolores Hidalgo. And if you live in the U.S. and saw some kind of celebration in your city, I'd love to hear about it!

School children from another school visiting the city.
We saw at least five other groups there.

Local man carrying his milk can.

Typical house seen in many small cities in the state.

Sidewalk "shop": Chamomile and lemongrass
for tea. Guavas and plums.

And after sightseeing in Dolores, we went to Guanajuato.
This tunnel is the official entrance to the city.

Next post, Guanajuato. I'm sure you'll like that place much more.
Have a great evening!

Dolores Hidalgo II

2010-04-28T21:45:00.004-05:00

While in Dolores we went and visited Hidalgo's house. He is considered Father of the Nation. He had a pretty large property about two blocks from the church. On the night of the "Grito" he left with the criollos and peasants to fight for Independence. The house was looted. After his death and the Mexicans having gained their Independence (1821), the house was restored. None of the original furniture remain, but many similiar things were brought to the house and made a museum. The furniture there is very old, so no photographs could be taken. But I could take photographs of the kitchen. I would love to have a kitchen like this (really).

The things shown there are the same as te ones used in a kitchen from 200 years ago, and they are still found in many houses today!! In many small towns, the bakery still bakes its bread in brick ovens. I loved this place!

Stone sign marking the house.

The courtyard is very nice, with lots of trees and plants.

The well, it still has water!!

Dish rack, wooden spoons, earthenware jugs.
They are still made the same way as in the past.

Pots, pans....

These are grinding and mixing utensils
made from volcanic rock.
The ones on the right are molcajetes. They are used
mainly for making red and green salsas.
Then on on the right is a metate. This is used for grinding
coarser ingredients like seeds, to make thicker salsas
like mole and pipán (a special mole made with pumpkin seeds).

The brick oven.

Many things were (and still are) cooked
in copper pots.

This is a very nice place to visit. There were many other things, but photographing was a very limited thing. All the things seen in this kitchen can be bought in any "mercado". I love the copper pots, but they are pretty expensive. They are used for making "carnits" (deep fried pork).

School madness is about a quarter done. Three quarters still left. It will all end in June. Gotta go and start making my final exams...

Will make one more post about Dolores, then will continue with Guanajuato.

Que tengan buenas noches!

¡De regreso! (y Dolores Hidalgo)

2010-04-22T21:38:00.004-05:00

After about 10, 000 years (in Mexico we tend to exagerate) , I'm back.

This is that time of the year when lots of Mexican teachers start to go crazy. Bi-monthly exams, final exams, National exams, Public Class, whew! So much work, and not even half-way through. But thankful to have a job, and doing our best till the last day of school.

So I will be posting every once in a while.

About three weeks ago, our whole class went to Dolores Hidalgo. It is a small town about an hour and a half from where we live. This place is where the Independence movement began in 1810. This year is the 200th anniversary of this event. The whole state is getting ready for this celebration in September. I will be posting photos a little at a time so you can see this pretty place.

The Independence movement began here, at this church.
The person who got the peasants together was
"El Cura Hidalgo" (Priest Hidalgo).
He rang the bell at the steps to call everyone
to take up arms and fight
against the Spanish.

Every year, on September 16 at 11:00 p.m.
the bell is rung, and the governor (sometimes the president
of Mexico) will shout:
"Viva Hidalgo,
Viva Morelos,
Vivan los héroes de la independencia,
Viva México, Viva México, Viva México!"
Then everybody shouts Viva!!!

The inside of the church is very nice.

A lot of restoration work is going on...

On each side of the altar there is some incredible
woodwork. On this side the wood is covered with
gold sheet.

On the other side the wood was left natural.
The guide said that the official verson was that
it looked very nice like that,
but the truth was that they probably ran out of gold!

Some detail of the wood carving.

I will try to make shorter posts, so I can put something up every day. Tomorrow I will continue the tour of this town...

So till tomorrow (hopefully)!

¡Enchiladas!

2010-04-08T10:07:00.006-05:00

Mexico is a very big country with a large variety in its cusine. But something that can be found everywhere in this country are enchiladas. While enchiladas are made more or less the same way everywhere, the sauces can be very different from one region to another.

The three most common enchiladas are verdes (made with green tomatillos), rojas (made with red tomatoes), and the ones made with mole sauce. And all of these (and most enchiladas) are made by frying the tortilla, and then smothering them with chosen sauce. I have not met a single Mexican housewife who makes their enchiladas in the oven. The only enchiladas I know that go in the oven are the Enchiladas Suizas (Swiss) which go into the oven after the tortilla has been fried, and only so the cheese placed atop them melts.

Yesterday my neighbor and I made chile guajillo enchiladas which are from this region of the country. While I like any type of enchiladas, these are my favorite. They are not too difficult to make, but they are kind of messy. These enchiladas use no meat.

Ingredients:
carrots
potatoes
onion
garlic
chile guajillo
ranchero cheese (wll explain)
lettuce
day old tortillas
salt

Extra sauce:
green tomatillos
serrano chile
onion
salt

The first thing I do is cube potatoes and carrots in a small size,
and boil them until soft, but not musshy.
I boil them separate beacuse the potatos cook faster.
All of this was for two families, a total of nine people.
There was enough for all of us to
eat in the afternoon (la comida 4:00 p.m.),
and then for dinner (la cena 8:30 p.m.)
And today Naty (my neighbor) and I ate three more each
for lunch!

While the potatos and carrots are cooking, I diced onion.
It has to be cut pretty small.

Chile guajillo is a dried chile that is mildly hot.
For us it is not hot at all.
It this case the chiles will be boiled for a bout 10 minutes.
Let them cool.

Since the guajillo chile is not hot, everybody makes another hot sauce.
Naty boiled green tomatillos and serrano chile
with a piece of onion.
Then she put it in the blender with some salt,
and that's it!

This is called Ranchero cheese here. In some other places it is
called queso fresco (fresh cheese).
This is a fresh cheese that can be made from cow's or
goat's milk, and slightly salty.

The cheese is a type the crumbles easily, but it is not dry.

Add the diced onion. Unless you don't like onions,
then only crumble the cheese.
Also chop lettuce (no photo).

Put the boiled chiles in the blender with
some water, a few cloves of garlic, and some salt.
Blend until a smooth liquid.

Strain, put aside.

Heat some oil in a pan, add the carrots and potatoes,
and pour some of the guajillo sauce.
Let it cook a few minutes while stirring carefully
till the vegetables are red.

Now here comes the messy part.
Put enough oil in a small pan.
Heat as if for frying.
(Put on an old apron, you can get very dirty).
Dip the tortilla in the guajillo sauce, and put in the hot oil.
And hereis where all the splattering occurs!
I like my enchiladas a little crispy,
so I leave them longer. We use day old tortillas, because fresh
tortillas get all limp and break easily.

Fry on one side, the the other.

Put the torillas on a plate, add vegetables, and fold.

Yes, I know the plate looks messy, but we were
"en confianza" (among friends).
These should be eaten right away while hot.

With lettuce, cheese and onions, and waiting for the salsa.
The cook is always the last to eat.
But that's OK, Naty and I enjoyed the meal
together.

Click on dried chili information and substitute so you can see what subtitutes you
can use if you can't find chile guajillo.

As I said, there are many types of enchiladas. There are some delicious ones in the state of Colima. The sauce has a smokey taste to it, almost like a barbecue sauce. Sometimes chicken is added. On mole enchiladas, sesame seeds are sprinkled on top. They are all great tasting.

Hope you try them, I'm sure you'll like them....

Angie

¡Felices Pascuas de Resurrección!

2010-04-04T23:22:00.006-05:00

A Blessed Easter to All!

Cumpleaños.

2010-03-23T19:03:00.003-06:00

Last week was my birthday. My friends at school brought me some delicious cake, and at home my family bought me a delicious apple pie.

I wanted to celebrate my birthday with you by having a giveaway, but with the last giveaway fiasco (only one out of four people has confirmed recieving the gift, it took months to get to its destination!), I have decided to have a different giveaway.

Since I couldn't share the cake and pie with you, I'm giving away a cooking e-book!
Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes has released a desert e-book called (Not So) Sweets. What's so special about this cookbook (besides its delicious creations)? Its recipes are specially created for those who have sugar restrictions. Mostly made with Splenda, and some with very little sugar, these deserts taste exactly the same as if made with sugar.

Here are two photos from the e-book. Go over to Pam's so you can see more images.

Mmmm, each and every desert looks and tastes great!

So if you are kind enough to leave a comment, I will choose a winner on Monday, March 30th. And you can be sure that if you are the winner, you will recieve the gift that same day!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Spring season....

Felíz Primavera!

Invitada.

2010-03-16T17:35:00.005-06:00

Last week I got an e-mail from Cassi-the master mind behind The Crafty Crow-inviting me to be one of the guest bloggers for her series Crafts Around the World. It just happens that friend Pam sent her a link to my blog, and she liked it!

I believe you can imagine how excited I am to be able to share a bit of my experiences in Mexico with her visitors.
Thanks Cassi and Pam!

I chose to explain how to make a

typical Mexican Piñata, and a refreshing "Agua de Jamaica".

So go over to her place so you can see
the photos with the steps for making the Mexican piñata and Agua de Jamaica.
(By the way, my Mother-in-law embroidered the napkin
you see in the photo. Lovely, isn't it?)

The Crafts Around the World will last throughout March. There are so many cool posts like the one from India , Turkey, and Luxembourg. What a way to learn and enjoy so many different cultures!

Hope you have an excellent week!

Expo-Fresas 2010

2010-03-12T21:23:00.005-06:00

Last week our city's fair started. It's called Expo-Fresas, fresas meaning strawberry. Lot's of the stuff cultivated here. Anyway, there is something called "Teatro del Pueblo". It's a concert area within the fairgrounds, and everyday there is a concert of some famous Mexican musical group, The music is popular, meaning especially BANDA. Banda is a type of music which uses acordeons and big "tambora" (drum). The costumes the members of the band use include a "Tejana" (Texas style hat).

This Wednesday, a group called K-Paz de la Sierra came to do their show. My friends and I like this group very much, so we went to see them. The concert area has no chairs, everybody is standing. The reason for this is that most of the artists who come, play music which is for dancing, sand almost everybody everybody loves to dance. The entrance fee to the concerts is included in the fair's entrance. How much? 15 pesos, about $1.20!! It is very cheap.

So here are a few photos and two short videos of their most famous songs.

At the other side of the fairgrounds there are
lots of games like roller coasters.

Micheladas-beer mixed with grapefruit soda,
lime juice, tabasco style sauce, and spices.

My friends and I want to go to the fair again to
get in these things.

Andrea says we will look like hamsters in
a plastic ball.

Rueda de la Fortuna (ferris wheel)....

First a local group played for half an hour.

Then the "good", group came out...

Andrea and her friend Fernanda.

Claudia and I.

Claudia knew ALL THE SONGS!

At the end of the concert...

If I get to go again, and get into that hamster thing, I will post about it.
Have a beautiful weekend....adios!

Vista desde mi escuela.

2010-03-03T18:53:00.002-06:00

View from my school at 7:30 a.m.

Cerro Culiacán

This mountain is called Cerro Culiacán. It is near the city of Celaya, in our state, Guanajuato. About a 50 min. drive from here.

The days have been beautiful. Just the right temperature, not too cool, not too warm. Maybe a bit too windy for my taste, but still great.

Hope you had an excellent day.

Lots of warm wishes from me to you!

Nominada.

2010-02-24T18:57:00.004-06:00

Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes has just nominated me for the Creative Blogger Award, and I am so excited! Thanks so much, Pam, for thinking of me. This means a lot.
First thing I have to do is write 7 things fellow bloggers might not know about me.

So here goes...

1. I was born in New York to Puertorrican parents, lived in Puerto Rico from age 8 to 21, married a Mexican, and have lived in Mexico ever since.

2. I was a gymnast. That's how I met my husband, he was a coach in Puerto Rico (he sumersaulted into my life, hehehe).

3. My Mom is a famous Yoga teacher in Puerto Rico (Her name is Lollyana). I miss her so much...haven't seen her in 4 years (sniff sniff).

4. Although I love Puerto Rico very much, I feel Mexico is my first home at this moment. I love the people, the food, the country, everything. That's why I started this blog. I think in "Mexican" now.

5.I love to read. I can read both in Spanish and English, but in this aspect I prefer reading in English.

6. I also love crafts! I wish I could dedicate more time creating things...knitting, sewing, woodworking, anything!

7.When I was small, I dreamed of having a Pen Pal. For some reason, there was nothing of the sort in Puerto Rico. Now, so many years later, and with this bloggy thingy, I am getting to know so many people from so many places. I dare say I even have made "good friends" with a few fellow bloggers. I cherish friendship very much, and it is very important to me.
So now you know I much I appreciate having all of you read my blog. Thank you!

Now I have to nominate 7 bloggers. These are the blogs:

African Kelli : One of the most creative women I have met on the blogsphere. Her recipes are awesome, her crafts are inspiring, and her thoughts are touching.

Glenrosa Journeys: Arizona through the lens of Candace. Beautiful images of this incredible state.

Tobycat Creations: This crafty lady, Char, teaches her girls so many beautiful patchwork projects. And she posts how to make them.

Sew Chic and Unique: This lovely woman inspires other on making a new sewing creation every two weeks. Maybe you would like to join her.

Kitty Garden Makes: I have been following this blog for a very short time, but I LOVE all the projects it features!

Viva Luna: Through Luna's blog we can visit Germany. Her photographs are really beautiful!!

Sofia's Sketchbook: A very creative woman. She paints and sews (gotta love her owls). Her artwork is very original.

So there are the 7 nominees. Very difficult to choose with so many creative bloggers out there. Hope you go visit each one, and enjoy their uniqueness.

And now the nominees have to do the following (of course, if they want to):

1. Thank the person who nominated you for the award and link to their blog.
2. Copy the award to your blog.
3. List 7 things people don't know about you.
4. Nominate 7 bloggers, link to their site and leave a comment on their blog advising them of the nomination.

And if you want to take a beautiful trip though some of U.S.A's incredible national parks, visit Pam's entry. Makes me want to take my backpack, and follow her steps...thanks, Pam!

Wishing you all a lovely evening!!

¡Felíz Día del Amor y la Amistad! (San Valentín)

2010-02-13T18:45:00.007-06:00

Hope you have a Happy Love and Friendship Day! Or St. Valentine's Day!

In Mexico, this day is celebrated mostly the same as in the U.S. Lot's of hearts, pink and red decorations, balloons, etc. It is very commercial. Hershey's chocolates are sold everywhere. Same with heart lollipops. In our family we don't usually celebrate this day in a big way. But since my students at school bring me gifts, I made them some heart bookmarks I found at another blog (mmmcrafts). And I had the girls make some heart baskets with a tutorial from Pam's blog Gingerbread Snowflakes.

As always, the girls went crazy. I have them make a simple craft, and they add their own ideas. Here are the photos.

I used simple colored bond paper for the baskets.

I used a pattern I made, and marked the lines for the girls to cut.

I gave them two colors to combine in any way.

I kept the pattern simple with only two "legs" for weaving.
Here is one the the first finished hearts.

Another color combination.

Then all of a sudden out came the colored pencils
and markers.

And they started decorating the hearts.

Where do they get these ideas?

Imagine what they would do with
a bottle of glue and glitter!

These are my "plain" hearts.
They look sad compared with the girl's hearts.
This was a very easy and cheap craft.
The marking, cutting, and assembly can be done
in 10 minutes.

And these are the bookmarks I made for
the girls. I used colored stockboard
so they wouldn't get dirty so fast.

One of the girl's mom made these for the whole classroom.
Rice krispies with marshmellows.
I don't like marshmellows too much,
but these tasted pretty good.

All the girls brought something for each other.
Here's one girl's treasure.

And some of the gifts I recived from the students.
Do you see the celophane bag? Inside was a box of chocolates and....

.....a tiny mug that reads "With love, for my teacher".
I think it's really cute.

As I said before, we usually don't celebrate this day, but after seeing Pam's cake recipe on her blog, I've decided to make it tomorrow to celebrate one more day of living as a loving family. My kids will probably celebrate a "day of loving cake". So I guess everybody will be happy.

Hope you have a beautiful day tomorrow, whether you celebrate St. Valentines Day or not. And wish me luck with the cake, I'm not the world's greatest baker.....

P.S. As you can see, I found the cable for downloading photos from my camera. Where were they? Under my bed!!!!

Ayyyy!

2010-02-08T18:48:00.003-06:00

Ouch! Two reasons for not blogging all this time:

a. Lot's of work at school 4th, 5th and 6th graders will be participating in an Itercollegiate Academic Tournament with the other schools that belong to the same system in the Mexican Republic. There are about 86 schools in Mexico.
I have been chosen to help the 6 students that will participate in Oratory. They have to talk for 3 to 4 minutes in English about the following topics: honesty, humility, and collaboration. Only two of the students are fluent enough to write their speech in english. I had the rest write it in spanish, and I translated them (four speeches!). Then I recorded the speeches in my voice so they can hear the pronunciation (they all speak understandable and fluent English, but their accent is not so good). And now we are practicing pitch, modulation, and body posture. We've been staying at school every day for an extra hour to practice. This is our third week! One more week and they're off to Mexico City!
It is HARD work, but I'm enjoying it very much. These kids are very dedicated. I really hope they don't get nervous over there. I really don't care if they win of not, I just want them to do their best and enjoy themselves ( I mean, multiply the 86 schools by two students per grade, and there will be about a zillion competitors).

b. The secon reason is that I can't find the cable for downloading photos from my camera to the computer!!! Arggg!
So today I posted three photos from last's year trip to Morelia. This is the acueduct at that city.

.

And to some of the winners of the giveaway, some packages were returned. Supposedly, the postage was incorrect. Why it took so long? Go figure.....these things happen over here. I opened the packages, and nothing was missing, so I put a extra gift to compensate you having to wait so long, and they're on their way again, whew! Hopefully you will get your package in 2 weeks (or so the girl at the counter assures me). Thank you for your patience.

Well, I've got to keep on looking for those cables. Hope I'll find them soon.
Wish you all a great week......

Dulcería San Luis

2010-01-23T08:46:00.007-06:00

Before leaving for Mexico City to spend Christmas with my husband's family, I stopped over at "Dulcería San Luis" to buy typical candies for the celebrations. This "factory" is pretty well known in our town. It is a family tradition that has been functioning for almos 100 years. It is small, but produces a good variety of homemede sweets.

Most typical sweets have to do with fruits and other types of food. For example: figs, orange peel, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, chilacayote (a type of pumpkin), biznaga (the inside of the agave plant) will be boiled with sugar in copper pots for hours to caramelize them. They are very delicious. Afterwards the syrup that is left over from the boiling is used to make piloncillo, a sugar cone used for sweetening coffee and Christmas ponche among other things.

Other candies are merengue, milk candies, coconut candies, obleas, lollipops.

I went to the Dulcería with my friend Lolis and her sister Marcela. She was buying a lot of stuff to take to her hometown, Colima, for Christmas.

This is the outside of the factory.

Lolis and Marcela picking the pieces right off the drying/cooling racks.

Mmmm, just the sight of it makes my mouth water.
Here we see mostly pumpkin.

Here workers are using the mixing drums.
These are for making coconut candies.

Coconut boiling with sugar.

Here some candies are being strained from the excess liquid.

Chilacayote ready to be boiled.

Pumpkin and chilacayote.

Workers have to stir constantly with big wooden spoons.

Here the pumpkin is ready, and is going to be
put on the racks.
Again wooden spoons are used.

Onto the racks.

Here they cool and dry.
The liquid is then used for the piloncillo.

This is where the coconut candy is mixed.
It goes round and round like a clothers drier.

Coconut ready to be shaped.

The coconut mixture is put onto a press
which gives it is shape, and squeezes out the excess liquid. The
liquid is used again. Nothing is gone to waste.

,After the press is removed the coconut is cut ito bars.
This is one of my favorite candies. It is called alfajor.

Dulce de leche-milk candy. Milk is boiled with sugar
until a paste is formed.

The paste is formed into balls, and a pecan is
pressed onto its side.

These are also very good...

Here are the counters where other finished products are exhibited.
The yellow candies are also coconut, but these are cooked in a different way.
The pink ones at the far right are the finished alfajor.

Big lollipops....

More lollipos....in the back, jars of dulce de leche.
This is in a liquid, caramel form. Many put it on bread..

At the checkout counter.
The flowers are obleas. The are made of flour. It doesn't
have much of a taste, but kids put caramel or
chilii sauce on them.

The rolls are made of guava fruit.
And some more coconut candy.

This is only a small sample of Mexican candies. They vary from one region to another, and the fruits used are endless. Hope you enjoyed this tour.
Enjoy your weekend....

Haiti

2010-01-16T10:01:00.002-06:00

I had been in Mexico for two years, when the 1985 earthquake struck. I will be truthful, the place where we were living in Mexico City was very strong, and nothing happend. My husband and I just looked out our third floor window deciding it we should go outside. Before we knew it, the quake had stopped. At the time we were working in the afternoon, so we went back to sleep. This was at 7:00 a.m.

At about 10.00 a.m., we got up to no telephone, no electricity, and obviously no water (the cistern pump works with electricity). My husband said it had been probably a little bit stronger that he thought, se we dicided to go to my mother-in-laws house to take a shower there, and go to work.

The 20 min. drive was confussing, thousands of people were walking on the streets and avenues. These were people who had been in the subway. Since there was no elecricity, the subway wasn't working, and they had to get out. Some were literally kilometers from there place of work or their home, so everybody was walking to their destination (the Mexican subway system transports an approx. 3.9 million people a day, you can imagine!). As we were driving we saw a few walls about to collapse, but nothing alarming. As we drove into my mother-in-laws neighborhood, things were a bit worse, outside walls collpased, broken windows, cracks in walls. Her house had broken windows, a cracked wall and a collapsing outer wall, and we were like wow, this was strong. When she saw us, she started crying, so happy we were OK. We thought she was exagerating. For some reason this neighborhood had electricity, and everyone was silent and still as they were watching the news. I still cry today at the images I saw. Downtown was destroyed, hotels, shops, office buildings, condominiums, schools totally collapsed, places I had been in, eaten at, shopped at.......thousands of people trapped or dead. We could not stop crying......

The Mexican country, while being a Third World country, is not as poor a Haiti. In less then 4 hours housewives, whose houses had not suffered damage, were in the streets making sandwiches, lemonade, stews, and handing them out to the people who had lost their homes and were on the street looking for their families. By 7.00 p.m. neighborhoods got together to collect blankets, sweaters, socks, and so many things we knew all these people were going to need to spend the night. Many people in Mexico had the means to give things away for the needy, ..... I really don't think Haiti has this capacity, besides being the poorest country in America, the devastation was so general, it would be difficult to help themselves...

I did not know I was going to write all this. I have just let it come out. What I knew I was going to write was the following, because I could not just ignore the facts, and say nothing:

Although Mexico is not poor as Haiti, it still needed a lot of International help especially during the rescue missions, and for those who had lost everything. The Mexican people are so grateful to EVERY PERSON IN EVERY COUNTRY who donated for this cause. Unfortunately, it is payback time for Mexico (this is a debt I'm sure nobody would like to pay back). But the country has gotten together to help our Haitian brothers and sisters. Every supermarket, church, school, has become a place to take canned foods, medicine, diapers, antibacterial gel, and the list goes on and on and on... Everybody is giving and giving....You see, we KNOW how it feels to be helpless, not to know what will happen tommorrow, to loose complete families (we lost SO MANY friends during the '85 earthquake). Yes, unfortunately, we KNOW, and we really hope NOBODY would ever have to feel this. But we also know about the generosity of so many countries, how it feels to have a warm blanket, a sweater, a cup of fresh water, food, medical care and supplies.

So what do I ask? I ask all who read this, not only to donate with money, goods or drives (I know my blogger friends have done this already), but to get others involved, to let them know this is not something that will pass as some other sensational news shows up on TV, not to say "Geesh, I'm glad I live here and not there" and do nothing about it, not talk about it because "It is soooo depressing, ugggg". I ask for everybody to get involved, and help our brothers and sisters in need.......and I thank you SO much, because your help today, was help for us yesterday, and it will be my help to WHOEVER will need it tomorrow.

God Bless....

Pozole Verde.

2010-01-09T20:12:00.007-06:00

Green Pozole.
Here is the how-to, just don't look at the dirty blender and filthy stove (incredible how messiness and grime shows so brightly on photograph, sheesh!)

It is very easy. Ingredients:

-Pozole corn (I think it is called hominy in the U.S.)
-Chicken or pork (mine is made with chicken, I used a whole one chopped into parts)
-Green tomatoes (or tomatillos)
-Serrano chiles (also called green chile)
-Cilantro
-Radishes leaves
-White Onions
-Garlic
-Salt (you can also add chicken bullion squares)

Garnish:
-Diced or sliced radishes
-Diced white onions
-Avocado
-Shredded Lettuce or cabbage (I prefer lettuce)
-Dried full leaf Oregano
-Limes
-Tostadas
-Sour cream

First thing I do is cook the meat. I always use a pressure cooker, it is faster. All I do is add the meat to salted water, and and cook for 15 min. after the weight starts "dancing" (as we say here).

After the presuure cooker cools down, I take out the chicken (or pork) and put it in a bowl. While the corn is being cooked, I will chop or "pull" the meat for putting into the pozole bowls.

While the chicken was cooking, I put the following in the blender (or you can use a food processor):
-250 gms. (about 1/2 pound) green tomatoes (or tomatillos)
-Serrano chiles (I used about 6),
-cilantro leaves (about one fistfulls),
-radish leaves (just chop them off the radishes, wash them and put in blender, about two fistfulls),
-a head of garlic without skins
-two onions
-a bit of salt (remember the broth already has salt) and chicken bullion

Serrano chiles, and tomatillos.

Radishes.

Cilantro.

Onions.

Garlic.

Next the corn. I don't know how it is sold in the U.S. but here it is sold precooked in bags. It still has to be cooked for about an hour in the pressure cooker. After taking the chicken out of its broth, I put two bags of corn into the broth, and also pour in the contents of the blender.
Cook for about 1 hour....and done!

We went to buy the ingredients pretty late, so there wasn't
any white corn left. This corn tastes just as good.
I wash it three times, because it comes
pre-cooked in a bag.

I know, lots of fat in the broth...
but it doesn't taste the same without it.

Very bright green color.
It will change once cooked.

Serving: I put the meat at the bottom of the pozole, but most people will put it on top. Pour the hot pozole into deep bowls, put all the garnishes in small bowl so you can add whatever you like.
In some places, fresh cheese, and even canned tomatied sardines are added!

Squeeze limes over pozole...remember
we use limes on everything!

We spread sour cream onto the tostadas.

By the look on his face, guess he liked it....

Oh, the oregano.
We put it between our palms and crush it
over the pozole.

Mmmm!

Digging in.

Yep... approved!

Hope you understood. I'm not very good at explaining recipies, but it really is easy.
Let me know if you make some....
¡Buen Provecho! (Enjoy your food!)

Dia de Reyes.

2010-01-05T23:56:00.011-06:00

Three Kings' Day (Epiphany) is January 6th. It is the day in which Mexican children recieve gifts (toys, bicycles, candies, etc.). They also recieve gifts on December 25 from Santa Claus, or Baby Jesus, but Three Kings' Day is the max.

As you can imagine, the stores were full of people-supermarkets, Wall-Mart, Sam's, and all the small toy stores that are located downtown. Buying toys last minute is a way of life here. It is something adults enjoy, really. Todnight almost all stores will be open past midnight. In Mexico City many street markets will be open till dawn. Many people go after midnight to buy toys because they usually have last minute sales at that hour.

So children make their letter to the Three Kings, then tie it to a balloon and let it go. In our town we have a parade called "Cabalgata de los Reyes Magos". It has been a tradition for thirty years. A group of people get together and prepare this event each year. The money comes out of their pockets, and they decorate trailer beds with scenes that have to do with Christ's birth, always starting with the Angel announcing to Mary that she will have child. Other scenes include when the pastors are infomred to go and adore the newborn King, and ends with the Three Kings visiting and offering their gifts to Baby Jesus. The Kings are people from town who are dressed and made up, and ride by on horses (one of the kings is my kid's pediatrician, Dr. Ramón de León, but he is so made up, the kids don't recognise him). As the Kings ride by, the kids let go of their balloons with their letters attached.

Each year, an approximate of 250,000 people show up lining the streets to view the Cabalgata (our town's population is 500,000).

After the parade ends, everybody goes home to have the famous "Rosca de Reyes". This is an oval shaped sweet bread which is decorated with candied figs and cintron. Inside the "rosca" there is usually one or more small plastic or ceramic babies hidden (depending on the size of the rosca). The tradition is that whoever gets the "niñito" in his or her piece, has to pay for the tamales eaten at the feast of the "Día de la Candelaria" (Candlemass) February 2.. This is the day people literally "pick up" (levantan) the Baby Jesus from the Nativity scene, and put it away. Some people will take it to church to have it blessed, and they will even have a godmother for the baby, who has to dress the figure. There are many establishments that are dedicated solely to dressing the figure. At this event, tamales and atole is served.

So here are the photos starting with the afternoon photographing the stores downtown, till the moment when the shoes are left next to the tree to wait for our gifts in the morning. And it's at events like this in which I wish I had a good camera. The photos of the "cabalgata" did not come out well, but I hope you get the general idea.

Lots of stores downtown selling toys...

People hurrying home to hide the toys,
and leave them next to the tree tomorrow.

This is at the cabalgata. Many street vendors sell
primarily balloons, but many others sell food,
small toys, cotton candy, etc.

Lots of people.

Balloons...they have the drawings of the
three kings,

More balloons...

This is a big family event. The woman smiling there
in the middle, is a teacher from my school.
Everybody shows up herw.

Look at the crowd. We got up on a wall to see better.

The first float...

These are mojigangos, they are used to
cheer up crowds.

You can't see very well, but there are live sheep
on this float. It represents the moment when
Christ was born. The children dressed up in
front are pastors.

When the Angel informs the pastors
to go adore the newborn King.

And here is one of the Kings. Lousy photo,
but you can kind of see his costume.

Another photo of the Kings.
At this moment the crowd goes crazy, letting go of
hundreds of balloons and screaming out
the names of the Kings: Melchor,
Gaspar, and Baltazar.

My son with his ballon and letter...

There it goes....!

And back home, ready to eat our Rosca.
This is a small one, only one kilogram (about two pounds).
We are only four people.

Milk-chocolate to drink with our rosca.

Each cutting a piece...

My husband got the figure!
In the supermarket where we bought
our rosca, they put other figures in the bread.
These figures are for the Nativity scene.
This is a small chicken.
The original should be a small baby.

And now the shoes are ready for the Three Kings....

We'll see tomorrow what they bring us.

I hope you also enjoy Día de Reyes-Epiphany!
¡¡Buenas Noches!!!

Todavía no se acaba la Navidad.

2010-01-04T21:30:00.003-06:00

Christmas is not over yet.

Tomorrow at midnight, the Three Kings of Orient will bring all the Mexican children who behaved well, gifts and candy.

After that we can put the tree, and all the Christmas decorations away.

I will posts photos of this celebration on Wednesday, January 6 (Epiphany).

I've got to go and help my son prepare his letter for tomorrow night.....

Estrenando Año.

2010-01-01T19:55:00.001-06:00

Brand New Year!
Feels good!!

¡Felíz Año Nuevo!

2009-12-31T15:09:00.002-06:00

Just a few photos of the Christmas lights in the Zócalo in Mexico City.

I wish all my blogger friends a great New Year's celebration. It has been a wonderfull year with so many new friends. I thank you all for the time to comment on this blog, and I'll see you next year.

Lots of love from,
Angie (in Mexico)
¡ Felicidades!

De Regreso a Casa.

2009-12-30T18:15:00.009-06:00

Back home.

We spent Christmas in Mexico City with my husband's family. He is one of ten children (five women, five men), so there was quite a crowd at the table on Christmas Eve.
In Mexico the celebrations for Christmas starts on Christmas Eve. That is the day the big dinner is prepared and eaten close to midnight. Many people go to Midnight Mass (which ia usually at 10 p.m.), and dinner afterwards. It is also the last Posada.

Family started arriving at my mother-in-law's house at about 8 p.m. You can imagine, lots of kids. By 10 p.m. everyone who was going to be there had arrived. In total we were only 26 people since some of my husband's brothers, sisters, and other family members were spending Christmas Eve with their spouses. There were 15 members of the family who were not there, but they would arrive the next day.

We started with asking for Posada, then the Piñata, and finnaly the dinner. Afterwards each member of the family (starting by the smallest) said a few words. At midnight hugging and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. And at last we read the "gifts" Baby Jesus gives us with his birth. Unfortunately my camera's memory got full right after the dinner, and I didn't want to start tinkering with removing old photos at that moment.

But it was a beautiful evening, sharing with family. Oh, and the menu. Christmas Eve dinner is a combination of food from three worlds-
-Stuffed turkey, although Mexico had always had wild turkeys, the stuffed version comes from our Anglo neighbors. The stuffing is made with ground beef to which olives, raisins, and acitron is added.
-Then Bacalao a la Vizcaína which is salted codfish cooked with tomato sauce, chopped onions and garlic, olives, and chiles. This dish comes from the Spanish ancestry in Mexico.
-And Romeritos con Mole. This is a dish prepared with a plant that resembles the rosemary plant, though it is softer and juicier. It comes from the suaeda or seepweed family. It is cooked with very small potatoes in a mole sauce and served with shrimp patties. This is a Pre-hispanic dish
All of this is accompained with dishes such as spaghetti in cream sauce, and bread.

So here are some photos.

First asking for Posada. Everyone has a small
candle and sings.

Lighting the candles.

Outside the house, getting ready to ask for Posada.

Dara...

Ariel...

Lucero...

Ian...

Moises...

Andrea and Angel...

Mireya, brother-in-law's wife singing...

Ready to go in...

Then the piñata.
Everyone gets a chance to hit it.
This piñata was full of tangerines,
oranges, and sugar cane.

In my mother-in-law's patio.
The smaller kids are lined up waiting for their turn.

Dale, dale, dale no pierdas el tino porque si lo
pierdes, pierdes el camino....

Ya le diste una, yale diste dos, ya le diste tres
y tu tiempo se acabó...

Mauricio with his "spike" from
the piñata full of fruit.

Emiliano is happy with what he got.

Ariel with his hands full.

And the dead piñata...

Then dinner...

Getting ready to eat.

We had to take out the furniture from the living room
to put two long tables in which we would all fit.

Next New Year's Eve. We will spend it as the small family we are, at home, and eating some delicious green Pozole.

Hope your Christmas Celebration was great, and that the New Year brings you lots of happiness, love, and health.

Angie (in Mexico)

¡Felíz Navidad!

2009-12-25T22:34:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas!!
(Lights in Downtown MexicoCity)

Nacimientos

2009-12-22T21:37:00.011-06:00

The Nativity Scenes or Creche.

In almost all Mexican houses you will find a Nacimiento under the Christmas tree. If the family is poor, and there is no money for a tree there wil still be a Nacimiento.

The typical Nacimiento is put together little by little. First the family will get the main characters: Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the tree Kings. And each year they will add other characters depending on their economic possibilities: cows, hens, donkeys, etc. All these pieces are bought at the market. There are so many figures in so many sizes. Some are very elaborate like ranchers milking cows, and pastors heating food on an open fire.

Two weekends ago we went to a Baptism celebration at the town of Abasolo. In front of the small church were many stalls selling Christmas tree decorations, but mostly figures for the Nacimiento. Here are the photos, and at the end are the winners of the giveaway...
(Click on the photos to see them bigger)

This is the altar of the church where
the baptism was celebrated.

The church was not very big, but I liked
the altar very much.

Here are some decorations for Christmas trees.

Lots of shiny stuff...

And here are the stalls. In front of the stall
are boxes with different types of paper.
The paper is not for gifts, it's for the nacimineto,
the blue paper is for the sky and the redish ones
are for constructing rocks and caves
around the birthplace.

There are small submergible pumps used for
making rivers and waterfalls.

Palm trees and bushes.

Cactus, oxen, pastors...

Sheep, pigs, hens, ducks, geese....

Water bearers, jar sellers...

More water bearers, sheep, donkeys...

A milkman, milking his cow.

A wooden cart with earthenware jugs...

A vegetable vendor...

The devil cannot be left out
with a bag of money showing avarice..

Some turkeys...

I like the cactuses behind this
woman selling baskets and jugs.

A fisherman at a creek...

More rock paper....

Shooting stars to show the way to the newborn King...

...and, of course, Baby Jesus.
In all sizes.
In most nacimientos the baby is put
in his place at midnight on the 24th.

Here is a big Nacimineto in one of our
town's Churches.

As you can see, the place for the Baby
is empty.

The Baby will be put in his place
during Midnight Mass on the 24th.

Now for the giveaway.
I want to thank everyone for all the beautiful comments recieved. I loved all the memories you shared. I really enjoyed reading them.

Now the hard part, hard because I'd love to send everyone a gift but only have four to give.

Since we spent part of the day driving to Mexico City to spend Christmas with my husband's family, I decided to have the winners chosen the old-fashinod way. I wrote the names on pieces of paper and had my mother-in-law and sister-in-law pick out the lucky numbers.....

The slips of paper in a ceramic
basket my sister-in-law painted.

Picking the winners.

Congratulations
Christephi,
Juanita,
Barkley's Mommy
and IndyPoppy.

I will be sending them from my hometown
next week. Please send me your e-mail
so I can get in contact with you and get your addresses.

Thanks again to all of you, and thank you Pam for connecting me with your blog.
Take care, and I'll be back soon to post some photos of Mexico City.
Hasta Pronto....

Las Posadas.

2009-12-15T21:10:00.007-06:00

Warning! This will be a bit long, especially the explanation part. I've tried to make it as condensed as possible, but some things cannot be shortened. So be forewarned (meaning: hope you don't get bored)!
If it gets tedious, just link to past posadas, they are shorter with more images.

Today I will explain a bit about the Posadas. Since they officially start tomorrow, I have not gone to any yet. I will explain as much as I can, and then write as we are invited to them, Here are some links to last year's posadas posts.
Adriana's Posada 2008
Posada at Home

Posada litteraly means hostel, inn or just a place to sleep over. The idea is that Joseph and Pregnant Virgin Mary had to flee unexpectedly, and had no place to stay. They knocked on many doors before finding a place to stay. So starting tomorrow, Mary and Joseph will seek for a place to stay.

All the neighbors get together to decide who celebrates the Posada on which day starting tomorrw. Posadas are usually celebrated at night. What happens? Everybody who is invited to the Posada (sometimes everybody who lives on the street) will start with Joseph's and Mary's search for a place to stay. There are figures sold in the stores which show Mary on a donkey with Joseph walking next to her (there's a photo in last year's post). People walk behind the two people carrying the statues singing and praying. They head towards the chosen people's house for that posada. Most people stay inside and the family is inside. Then a asking/answering song starts in which Joseph asks for posada, and the owners of the house say there is no place for them. The pleading goes on till the owner of the house says he hadn't recognized the Mother of God, and invites them in. Everyone sings with joy at being accepted, and go into the house. Praying continiues, and when this ends the kids start sing "I want no gold, I want no silver, all I want is to break the Piñata" Everyone goes outside so the kids can break the piñata. After the piñata is broken, there is plenty of food and ponche.
Next day, the procession starts at the house where Mary and Joseph stayed, and goes to next house on the list. And it starts all over again..... till the 24th of December when at midnight Baby Jesus is born.

So now I explain the Piñata.
Apparently piñatas originated in China, but to make a long story short, when the Spanish were converting the natives, they used the idea brought from China with Aztec customs and created a very symbolic item. The original piñatas have seven spikes which represent the seven capital sins: greed, gluttony, laziness, pride, envy, wrath and lust. The person which is about to hit the piñata is blinfolded, this represents faith which should be blind. Then they try to hit and break the piñata or "sins". When they achieve this, they are "rewarded" with fruits and candy.
Even though most birthday piñatas have only candy, posada piñatas also have sugar canes, tejocotes (a type of crab apple), tangerines, and peanuts.

Traditional Piñata.

More...

....and MORE!

The markets are full of piñatas and the stuff that goes inside on sale.

Ponche
Traditional Posada drink. It is more like a super tea. Water is put to boil with the following ingredients: cinnammon sticks, hibbiscus flowers (jamaica), a type of brown sugar called piloncillo, chopped apples, tejocotes, split sugar canes, raisins, prunes, tamarinds, guavas. Depending on the family's tastes, some ingredients may be ommited. It is served very hot. Some people will serve it with rum or brandy.

Sugar canes all lined up for the piñata or ponche.

This is the way the sugar cane is put into the piñata.
For the ponche, it is usually stripped of its
outside covering.

Tamarind, this is the dried kind. It is sour,
but gives the ponche a great taste.

Tejocotes.
For the piñata, just the way it is.
For the ponche, washed and cut in half.

And since I want to La Central de Abastos to take photos of the Piñatas, I took some of the poinsettias being sold there. Oh, in Mexico they are called Nochebuena which means Christmas Eve.

There were about twenty stalls selling
the Nochebuena plants.

There are three common varieties, red,
white, and pink.

People like the red type most.

The white looks also pretty.

These are the ones I bought. I got four
red and one white. Each plant cost about
$1.20 dollars.

This is the first time I see this new variety.

The leaves are sort of crinkled.

They are called Nochebuena Rehilete,
which means Pinwheel Poitsettia.

And now the Giveaway.
I made some totes with some Mexican cloth. There are four totes in all. Two will have a Mexican scarf each (not a warm scarf, but very pretty), ant the other two totes will have dish towels which are used very much here.
I took photos of the gifts, but it was too dark, and with a flash the colors were distorted.
I`m posting them here anyway.

Some days ago I took a photo of the cloth I was going to use.
I looks better here. It is called Cambaya.

This is one of the totes. It is very simple. Maybe it can be used
for books or when going to the market.

The inside is a nice blue..
(yes, those are the poitsettinas I bought).

Scarf one...

Scarf two...

The other photos are terrible. I will try to take more in daylight.
How can you win? Leave a comment telling about any family tradition you have fond memories about. And leave your e-mail so I can contact you if you win. I will send to any country. I will be making the draw on Monday, midnight. Oh, and please keep into consideration that the gifts will probably arrive in January. It takes about two weeks from Mexico, plus any Christmas rush in your country.

I want to thank Pam over at Gingerbread Snowflakes for getting me all excited ino producing these posts. Go visit her, she has links to celebrations from all over the world.

I also want to thank all my blogger friends for making nice comments, and following me around in this Mexican adventure.

Next post-Nacimientos (Nativity scenes or Creche). Promise it will be much shorter.
Hasta pronto.....

3er Domingo de Adviento

2009-12-13T22:12:00.001-06:00

3rd Sunday of Advent

Virgen de Guadalupe.

2009-12-10T23:19:00.020-06:00

A few minutes from now, it will be December 12, the day Mexicans celebrate the miracle of the Virgin of Guadalupe (firecrakers and "cohetes",fireworks that only make a loud boom, can be heard from all parts of town).

"Many years ago, the converted indian, Juan Diego, was walking through El Cerro del Tepeyac (Tepeyac Hill) when he heard a beautiful voice singing. He saw a young girl of about 14 or 15 years old, which he immediatly identified as the Virgin Mary, beacuse she was shining all over. The Virgin told Juan Diego she wanted a temple built in her honor on top of the hill. He ran to tell the Spanish priests what he had just heard and seen. The priests did not believe him, and asked for proof. So Juan Diego went to the Cerro again, and the Virgin gave him an armful of fresh castille roses (which did not grow during that time of the year, Winter). He carried them in his tilpa (a kind of long apron indians used) all the way back to the priests. When he unwrapped the roses, the image of the Virgen was imprinted onto the tilpa....!"

December 12 is a very important day for Mexicans. It is so important, that when it falls on a weekday, there are no clases (not even in public schools), banks and government offices are also closed. Although the original site of this aparition is in Mexico City, every town and city has a special church, shrine, or sanctuary dedicated to the Virgen of Guadalupe. There are literally thousands of people who make a pligrimage to these places, being the Basilica in Mexico City the one that recieves the most.

Our town is no exception. Since there are so many groups that want to pay homage, the local church gives dates for each pilgimage. Every year, my son's school does theirs. This year it was their turn on December 3. It was good beacuse we were the only group that day. The bad part was then it was a pretty cold day for our standards, so not everybody showed up.

But it still was a very enthusiastic group, which sang and danced all the way to the Sanctuary.
I hope you enjoy the photos of this procession......

The pre-schoolers, oh how I love them.
Some were dressed as indians, and others as angels.

There is always typical dancing going around.
This year it was the turn of dances and costumes from the
state of Michoacán.

The braids done up in ribbon are fake (of course)
Not many girls use hair so long anymore.

The braids are made with black yarn....
Even if they are not real, I think they look great.

All the skirts and blouses are hand embroidered.

Some detail of the skirt's decorations.

Only the 6th graders dressed up for the procession.
The rest of the kids used their daily uniform.
Here these kids are clapping to the music.

I like this part of town with the stone street.
My son also participated in the dancing.

The pre-schoolers did not walk. They traveled on the
back of a trailer, with a young girl dressed
as La Guadalupana.

The prosession started at 5:00 p.m.
These are the girls who belong to the "escolta" and marched with the
Mexican flag.

Some more variations of the costumes.

There was a car with speakers and music at the
front of the kids, so they could dance to the music.

My husband, dean of discipline, was in charge
of the Jr. High students.

Walking down the street.....

Twirling...

The Sanctuary of Guadalupe.
I like this photo very much because of the cold, blue
light outside, and the warm yellow light inside.

Waiting to go in....

The priest welcoming the school.

The girls danced all the way into the church.

A beautiful little angel...

During the mass.

This is the statue in the church with the Mexican flag
as background.

This is the back part of the altar.

Same altar, another view....

The previous photos were taken on December 3, but the following ones were taken a few hours ago.

I had to go out to visit a friend. I really didn't want to go, but boy am I happy I did.
The neighborhood I went through was totally decorated with altars for the Virgin.
It was incredible. I took only a few photos, I mean the post is long enough as it is. But let me tell you there were at least 50+ altars like the ones in the photos. Almost every house had an altar.

And as I drove into my neighborhood, I saw one of my neighbors had put up her altar and they called me to join them. We prayed the rosary, and then ate some delicious Pozole.
I was very lucky to participate in this so I could show you yet another face of this celebration...

Some of the altars in the Colonia Juarez
(a neighborhhod near our house).

This is my friend Rita's altar.

Naty, Rita and Lety.

And the Pozole, of course.

I want to comment that it is not mandatory
for the children to participate in the pilgrimage.
Those who went, were there beacuse they
wanted to be there.

So hope you have a happy Virgen de Guadalupe Feast.
And have a great weekend.
Oh, and the giveaway will be posted on the 15th, the day I post about the posadas...
Adios.......

Nacimientos.

2009-12-08T21:58:00.005-06:00

Navitiy Scenes.

Here in Mexico, almost everybody decorates their house with a Nativity scene.

At school, the 5th grade girls had to make a Nacimiento with whatever they wanted. It was really exciting to see these girls' creations. They used many materials- clay, funny foam, seeds, candy, marshmellows, even peanuts!

Take a look at some of some of their creations.

Clay and cotton.

Funny foam.

More clay.

Paper.

This clay model was very well made.

Look at the detail in the faces.

This was made with upside down plastic dessert cups.

The bodies were full of glitter.
Look at this King (I think they are calld Magi in the U.S.).

Marshmellows.

Love these marshmellow cows.

This is one of my favorites. The bodies are made with corn
on the cob.

The Baby's bed was covered
with sunflower seeds.

More corn people. The floor is covered
with a very small seed called chía (it belongs to the
flax family).

Corn King.

But this is my favorite.
It is accomodated inside a Kleenex box.

It's made out of peanuts!
This is a King with his "gold" turban.

And how about the Holy Family?
I really liked this one.

Nacimiento Competitions are made in many cities here. They choose the most original, the biggest, the smallest, Nacimientos with recycled material, etc. This tradition is very important.
Hope you liked this little exhibition.

Soon I will post about a bigger Nacimiento at a friend's house.

Buenas noches.....

2do Domingo de Adviento

2009-12-06T21:38:00.002-06:00

2nd Sunday of Advent

Pre-Posada

2009-12-05T11:58:00.005-06:00

I will post about the real posadas whan they get near (Dec.16), these are the previous celebrations.

Some of us teachers decided to get together and have a small pre-posada. You see, once the real posadas start, we will probably have little time to get together and celebrate our friendship as the end of the year nears. We had it a Margarita's house. The menu was tostadas with Chicken Tinga and Cochinita Pibil.

-Chicken Tinga (couldn't find a tinga link, so put a Mexican cuisine link) is cooked, pulled chicken, lots of sliced, sauteed white onions, and a tomato sauce made with chipotle chile (dried, smoked jalapeño chile-has a very rich, smoky taste). This dish is from central Mexico.

-Cochinita Pibil is cooked, pulled pork, cooked in a sauce made with an acid orange juice, and condimented with achiote (annato). This dish is from the Mexican Southeast (Yucatán Peninsula-Merida, Can-Cun area).
It is served with chopped purple onions and habanero chile (very, VERY hot) in vinegar with a bit of oregano.
Both can be eaten with tortilla or tostadas.

-Desert- a Nuttela braid with almonds and nuts-mmmm.

Afterwards a bit of Karaoke with Banda songs (I mean, we're in Mexico, right?).
We had a nice time, here are the pics...

Margarita has an inner patio with her birds and
some plants. And of course, a statue of
La Virgen de Guadalupe.

You can see the tostadas and the meats.
Some refried beans at the back. No Mexican
food is complete without beans.

This is the Cochinita Pibil. It was in the afternoon,
and nice, warm sunshine was streaming in.

And this is the Tinga. You can see the onion slices.

Here is the purple onion and habanero chile.
Margarita dices it really nices and small.
They are cured in "sugar cane" vinegar.

Nuttela braid. Our friend, Mari Pili, makes them.

And of course, some Tequila. This brand is called "Quita Penas".
Roughly tranlates to "To take away your sufferings".

Ready to eat.

Montserrat and Lili.

Genny

Fooling aroud with the Karaoke...
Claudia, Lolis, and Claudia's mom.

And me... I had started feeling bad in the morning.
By this time I was pretty sick- a head cold,
sore throat, puffy eyes, and cough.
But I enjoyed being there with my friends.

Pretty soon the real "partying" starts. Will try to post all the posadas I can, and on the 12th, the celebration of La Virgen de Guadalupe.
And I will probably post the Giveaway on the 12th also, so don't forget to vist.....
Adios......

Retiro Adviento.

2009-12-01T22:53:00.003-06:00

Advent mini-retreat.
As I've written before, I work at a Catholic school, and I've also mentioned that 90% of the festivities here in Mexico have to do with religion.
So yesterday afternoon was the teacher's Advent mini retreat and I wanted to share some photos with you. The retreat was downtown at some very pretty grounds. Until I got there, I hadn't really felt very "Christmasy", that is until I saw these beautiful Poinsettias. The awesome redness of these plants really got to me. These flowers (though they really are not flowers) represent Christmas in Mexico.
So these are a few photos I took at the grounds where the retreat was celebrated.

The afternoon was cloudy, but still, the plant's
color stood out.

A bit closer.....

Here are the blant in both it's variations, white and red.

I like the way this pot looks next to the plants.

Inside the chapel, there is this beautiful sculpture.
It was made by one of my fellow teacher's sister.
She is a famous sculpture here in Mexico.

Close up of the white ponsettias.

This is what today looked like from my school.
There is a cold front that had the northern
state of Chihuahua get covered with snow.
We only had some unusual cold temperature for us
with lots of wind and rain.
Now how's that for a real "Christmasy" felling?

The retreat was great, with lots of reflection. I liked it.

And since it's December 1st, I'll give you some more "Christmasy" feelings.
A while ago I found this great Christmas blog called "Gingerbread Snowflakes". It's author, Pam and I have become blogger friends, and she has linked her blog to mine during the season. I am really grateful to her for doing me this honor. She will be linking to my posts about Chrismas traditions and celebrations in Mexico. Go over to her place so you can see the wonderful things she makes and blogs about related to this wonderful season. I really hope you enjoy this adventure. And to celebreate this friendship, I will be having a giveaway. Just keep popping in, beacuse I will soon announce the gifts (Mexican stuff, of course).

So happy 1st of December, and may we all have a great Christmas.
Hasta pronto......

1er Domingo de Adviento

2009-11-29T21:06:00.002-06:00

First Sunday of Advent

Have a great beginning of Christmas Season!

Tianguis de Chácharas.

2009-11-28T14:10:00.007-06:00

Tianguis means something like an open market or flea market. There are thousands if not millions of these markets all over Mexico, being Mexico City the one with the most amount of Tianguis. Even though Wikipedia proclaims another Tianguis as the biggest, the really biggest one is the San Felipe de Jesús Tianguis. It is more than a kilometer long. There are eight rows the whole kilometer long. This Tianguis is put up and taken down every Sunday. That day the two way avenue is closed.

What is sold in a Tianguis? Well it depends. There are fresh fuit and vegetables Tianguis, electronics, used clothes, new clothes, toys, and "chácharas" Tianguis which just about sells anything used.

In my town we have a few Tianguis (none as big as those in Mexico City), and we have a Sunday "chacháras tianguis". Last Sunday I went there to look for a sewing machine technician to fix my machine (all went well, three days later I had a great sewing machine).

Anyway, I took photos of some of the stuff sold there.

The guy who fixed sewing machines had a lot of
old fashioned machine's spare parts.
Like this engraved cover.

Here is another one. People still have lots of very
old sewing machines that still work
and are used.

Check out this old, hand cranked machine.
I don't know if this one could be fixed.

But this one is in perfect working condition,
The price? $1,500 pesos.
Something like $120. dollars.
Nice....

We saw this live snake being sold.

Lots of tools...

A chinese parasol, motorbike helmets, coffee maker,
tennis rackets, heater, you name it!!

Books, encyclopedias....

Need a spare stroller tire??

Bright crocs, old rusted chains.......

Honey....

Small cheesecakes.....

And cold tepache.
It is a slightly fermented drink made from the
pineapple rind. It is very refreshing.

For the kids, a bubbles vendor.

As we were leaving, I saw this birdcage. I thought
about my mother-in-law who has birds.
And the cassette player, pretty old!

Then I saw this record player.
We had one very much like this when we were kids.
Older still!!

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Dar Gracias.

2009-11-26T20:50:00.002-06:00

To be thankful.....no Thanksgiving Day here, but every day I thank God for:

-My husband
-My sons
-My Mom
-All of my family
-My husband's family
-So many friends in so many places!
-Good health
-A roof over my head
-A job
-The freedom to be who I am

Hope you enjoyed this special holiday.
Angie

Agarradera.

2009-11-22T20:06:00.002-06:00

Spanish word for potholder. Literally it means "grabber". It took me so long to make these. You see my machine was not working so I had it fixed. But for some reason, it still doesn't work well. I decided to use it anyway, and made these strip potholder from a tutorial I found over at Char's incredible blog (at last, Char!!).
Mine aren't as pretty as Char's, but I realloy enjoyed making them. The tutorial calls for an appliqué, but I like the way they look just like this.I think they would make nice gifts. Thanks for the tutorial, Char. I'll probably be making more as soon as scraps pile up!!

One of these will probably end up in Hungary. Which do you like, Sofi?
Have a great week!

San Judas 2009

2009-11-09T21:10:00.012-06:00

A few weeks ago we went to the state of Michoacán to celebrate the day of San Judas Tadeo (St. Jude). My friend Adriana and her family are devoted to this saint, and have a big celebration every year. She invites a lot of friends to celebrate and stay over.Not everybody stays, but we always do. I love going there. They have an authentic adobe house which is really incredible. At night, there are fireworks, and of course, lots of food. In the afternoon of the first day, a rosary is prayed, and there is lots of singing.
So prepare yourself for lots of photos. Hope you like them.....

This is the adobe house with lots of plants in terracotta pots.

As we arrived to the house, the bread seller
arrived in his pick-up selling freshly baked sweet bread.
Those small chocolate doughnut were incredible.

Just in time... we arrived when food was being
served. These are some friends who had arrived earlier.

Rossana (Adriana's sister), Doña Leonor (her Mom)
were some of the women in charge of this great celebration.
With them my friend Lolis, her daughter Andrea,
and Loli's sister, Marcela who came from Colima to visit.

The pots full of mole at the indoor cooking place.
They have a gas stove, but this type of fod tastes better
cooked over firewood.

Part of the kitchen wall. You can see some gourds
hanging there, and a blackened part where
the food is cooked over firewood.

Stringed chiles.

I love this wall.

Adriana was singing in the rain.
Love ya, Adri!

Around the house there are lots of plants, rocks,
trees, etc. I love these moss covered stones.

Time to pray and sing.
Here they are singing "Las Mañanitas".

As soon as it was dark, fireworks!

After the fireworks, we played Loteria.
By then the temperature had dropped, and we had to
put on our jackets and scarves.

This small fruit is called níspero.
It's sweet, and gets a bit tart towards the seed.

This is the normal size.

The inside.

The seed.

The trees were heavy with the fruit.

Some guavas from the trees. There are also
orange and tangerine trees on the grounds.

I guess these are some type of suculents growing from
volccanic rocks.

I don't know what is this. I think it is some
kind of fungi. I like the way it looks.

Strange but nice.

Now, check out this tree.
I really don't know what kind of tree this is.
It has some kind of bumps on the trunk.

People in this town say that a tea made
of these bumps cures diabetes.

I love these plants.

And here is the small chapel
dedicated to San Judas.

Votives dedicated to the saint.

On our way back home we stopped at a fish
nursery (is this correctily written?),
and bought 4 kgs. (about 8 pounds)
of fish.

Fresh fish...

On our way home... passing confields, pumpkin patches,
and some beautiful mountains.

Mmmm... I love Autumn!

Dulces/Día de Muertos 2009

2009-11-02T15:15:00.007-06:00

Buying candy for Día de Muertos.
Yesyerday we went downtown to the main market to buy candy for Día de Muertos. There are many places here where candy is sold my grams. This is really a candy lover's paradise. We bought lots of candy for the kids who would go to our house asking for them, but we also bought some for my kids. They love "panditas" (gummy bears), and other candies for which I do not know their English names.
Then we went home to prepare the Altar de Muertos. We weren't going to put one up this year, but at the last minute we did.
So here are the photos. The altar ones are kind of blurry, but it was dark and I couldn't see how they came out at the moment.

This is the store where we bought the candy.

These are called "perfumados".

Lots of gummy candy.

These are covered with chilli powder.

In the back are the packaged candies.

Attacking the gummy bear bag.

My son's favorite.

Oh, Pandita, how sweet art thou!!

Our personal stash.

This is the altar. It looks a lot like last year's, but this
year I included my father in law, and an ex-student of mine
who passed away a month ago.

Sugar cane and tangerines.

A small cup of expresso coffee for my dad,
and some mole for my father in law.

The black and white photo of my father in law, Edmundo.
The big photo is of my dad, Louis.
And the smallest photo is of José Antonio Leal who was
my student in 5th grade. A great kid
who is missed by so many of us.

Some of the kids who came asking for candy.

Great looking mummy.

And what do you think about these little girls
dressed like "Merlina" from the Addams Family?
I think theEnglish name of that character
is Wednesday.
They are really cute!

We sat outside to wait for the candy asking kids, and since it was a bit chilly I got out my coffee maker, and made some coffee. Soon some of our neighbors came over to have a cup, and in no time we had a nice crowd of people chatting and enjoying the evening.
Hope your Día de Muertos was just a nice as ours.
And hope you have a great week!!

Crafts.

2009-10-25T15:56:00.006-06:00

When I started writing on this blog, my plan was to post photos of my crafts (knitting, sewing, etc.), but I got into posting mosly about Mexico. I mean, the themes in Mexico are never ending. And I think I haven't posted not even one theme about my crafts. So today's post will be about this.

First, I am actually participating in a Craft:along. Every month three different crafts are posted so the participants can make. I really enjoy doing these things. Here are some of the things I've made.

Some crazy-stitched coasters.

Felt pouches which I gave as gifts
to my friends from Puerto Rico and New York.

Individual placemats. These I gave to my brother
and his wife for their new house.
I recieved an Amy Butler pattern as a gift
since it was chosen best craft of the month!!!!!

Knitted scarf which soon will be
sent to Hungary.

My waterproof lunch bag.

And lime cookies (yes! I baked them myself).

At the moment I'm knitting a balaclava
which will also be sent to Hungary as a Christmas
gift.

I also participated in My Mama Made It Gift Exchange. I recieved some really nice sewing notions from Sofia in South Carolina.

She gave me a pouch she made, and the pattern
for making more. She also sent me two pre-cut pieces
so I could sew them. I love this gift.

I've also been visiting many sewing blogs, and I've found some I am really loving. Incredibly, there are so many giveaway. I participate in many of them. You see, it is very difficult for me to buy the many beautiful things for sewing that are online. I earn a salary in pesos which is great here since most things are soooo cheap, but what may be cheap for most people over there (U.S), is terribly expensive for us here. So I participate in the giveaways.
For example I just participated in a fabric giveaway at Sweet Tidings.
I also enjoy seeing what other people are creating. and get ideas for gifts to give over here.
So this is my crafty post. I will try to post more of my crafts every once in a while. And I hope I can have more giveaways (this time I promise to send the gifts sooner).

I wish you all a great beginning of week.....

Abasolo.

2009-10-20T21:09:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago we went to a small town that is about 25 minutes from our town. The town's name is Abasolo.
It just so happens that many states and towns in Mexico just had elections. The elections were for mayors, senate representaitves, etc. My husband has a student whose father was elected as "regidor", a position which works closely with the city's mayor.
Anyway, he decided to have a BBQ to celebrate his recent election and birthday. He has a small piece of land about 5 minutes from the town, which he uses for family gatherings. There is no electricity or water, but it does have a cistern. And the road to the place is dirt. It is very rustic, but I found the place and hills next to it beautiful.
Here are the photos.

This is the place where the party was celebrated.

My sons and I went walking and took

this photo of the place from a distance.

Lots of plants.

The sky was a bit overcast, but it was still
a nice warm afternoon.

Lots of insects, autumn flowers, and of course, cacti.

We have been fascinated with lichens
for some time. I love the color of these.

And the view....look at that sky. Isn't it beautiful?

You can see the color of the sorgum, wheat, and corn fields
in the background.
For me, Autumn is roasted corn....
with lots of chile sauce...mmmmm.

I love October and Autumn.
How's your Fall season coming along?
Hope it's great!!

Quesadillas.

2009-10-07T20:19:00.007-05:00

Oh, my. My posting has been very poor lately. I don't like to use excuses, but there has been so much work at school!
I really should make time.

So I've decided to leave the Morelia photos for some other time, and talk about food.
During this time of the year, lots of yummy food (for us) start to appear. Some of these dishes date from pre-hispanic times.
My favorites are pumpkin flower and huitlacoche quesadillas. Pumpkin flower, I'm sure you've seen. Huitlacoche? Ha, most probably not! Huitlacoche is the fungus of the corn. Yes, the fungus! In English it is called corn smut, and you can read more about it here.
Anyway, I'll show how both delicacies are prepared. (Kelli, I owed you this post).
First I'll start with Flor de Calabaza (pumpkin flower) quesadillas.

This is the way the flowers are sold at the market.
First you have to wash the flowers.

Then you have to pull the flower away from the base
of the flower, including the pistil. If you leave this part,
it will taste sour.

Here are all the discarded parts.

Then proceed to chop up the "flowers".

Sauté some diced onion (here we use white onions)
in oil. You can use olive oil if you want.

When the onion is transparent, add the flowers.
The flowers will wilt pretty quick, and lose some moisture.
Season with salt, pepper, whatever you like to use.

You let the liquid evaporate a little (not too much,
you don't want it dry) and it's done. This is how it looks.

Now the huitlacoche....

These are the "diseased" corn grains. I also wash them,
and remove the "threads".

A closer look at he stuff.

The "grains" are chopped.

As with the flowers, dice onions, sauté them, but with the
huitlacoche you will also add chopped tomatoes and green chile.
Hitlacoche is dry, so the tomato will give it moisture.
Some people add epazote, a very strong
flavored leaf or herb used in many Mexican dishes.

Our neighbors were having "carne asada" (BBQ)
so I shared the huitlacoche and flor de calabaza,
and they shared meat and sausages.
The stuff in the pot is huitlacoche. You can see
the epazote leaf near the top

A quesadilla of each (tortilla with string cheese, and a
spoonful of each dish). These are put to the heat so the
cheese melts.

Mmmm, we love it! But I can understand
if YOU don't.

Hope you enjoyed this "cooking lesson". If you have pumpkin flowers on hand you should try it. It is really good!
Have a nice evening, adios......

Palacio Clavijero

2009-09-27T18:23:00.008-05:00

The place I liked the most in Morelia was the Clavijero Palace. It was built in the 17th century, and is now a museum. The day we went, there were seven expositions. There was a very cool one about modern, useful ceramics. There were some great designs there. Another exhibition was done by a sculpture artist who used obsidiana stone for some very interesting carvings. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed. I was only permited to photograph the building, the murals by Alfredo Zalce, and the poster exposition from the last biennal
competition. This is a competition done every two years, and there were posters from everywhere, with themes ranging from ecology, domestic violence, art, music, women's rights, animal preservation, anti-was, I mean every kind of theme. There were hundreds of poster. The whole top floor was full of these incredible creations.

This is the top part of the main entrance to the palace.

Through the main entrance you can see the fountain.

This is the courtyard with its fountain.

View of the courtyard fron the second floor.
You can see the floor pattern from here.

It was a bit cloudy, but the light effect was beautiful.
Wish I knew how to take better photographs.
Cannot even imagine what a profesional
photographer could do with this.

Alfredo Zalce's murals. Very Mexican muralists style.

They are painted in the stairwell that goes to the 2nd floor.

Love this one with the working hands and eyes.....

Looking down from the stairs you can see the fountain again.

View from one side to the other. These windows
do not have glass, they are just open rectangles.

Another side to side view. I just kind of
liked the way it looked.

And a few (very few!) examples of the posters.

I was surprised to see this one from my hometown,
Puerto Rico.

Too bad the glass gave off so much reflsection. No matter how I moved, the light from so many sources showed up on the photo.
There were so many, and I liked almost ALL of them.
So I hope you also enjoyed this small sample of this incredible museum. Next time I go, I'll try to get previous permission so they let me take photos of the other expositions.
Hope you have a lovely week!!

Morelia V

2009-09-18T18:38:00.002-05:00

Continuing with Morelia.
We came upon another small plaza. In the plaza there was a statue of Miguel de Cervantes, and here many artists were selling their creations. Water colors, pastels, oil, and sculptures made of used metal parts. It was very interesting to see so many different types of works of art....

El manco de Lepanto, Miguel de Cervantes.

Metal Man

More metal creations, and in the back an outdoor café.

Jaguars

Views of Morelia.

Another view of the plaza.

More art....

By this time, we were hungry, so
we stooped to eat at this corner fonda.
Very old building, but the food was good.

I haven't finished posting all the photos from this trip, and we are already planning on going there soon again. I better hurry up and finish this series.
Wish you all a great weekend!!!

Morelia IV

2009-09-10T21:00:00.002-05:00

As I said before, there are a lot of stone buildings in Morelia. We found a small plaza with another church. There was hardly anybody here. We sat down to rest, and across from the plaza I saw this small hotel. If I ever stay in Morelia overnight, I'd like to stay at this place....

This is the small hotel.

Huge iron flower pots decorated the plaza.

Stone and iron...

I enjoy looking at the texture of these old walls.

Here the side entrance of the church can be seen.

The view from one church to another.

Most churches here have an iron fence around them,
But this one had stone walls all around it.

Another view of the stone wall.
This place was very peaceful and relaxing.

Unfortunately the church was closed. I would
have liked to see the inside.

Anyone visiting Mexico should reealy come here (Dani, you have to come here, you will love it). I still have about a trillion photos from this visit. I hope it doesn't get boring..
Have a good night.

Morelia III

2009-09-03T19:52:00.004-05:00

We stepped into this store in Downtown Morelia. It was an old building with a big courtyard, which was the main part of the store (the courtyard was covered). They sold all sorts of things, especially Mexican artesanías (typical artwork). I liked this place very much. They had calaveras (dressed up skeletons), leather bags, querubines (those strange angels that have only heads and wings), wooden boxes, so many nice things. Here are the photos...

There was this stone fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

Iron benches, plants, balconies.....I liked this very much.

Lots of candles, wooden furniture, religious paintings....

Calaveras, all dressed up ready for a party.

Wall full of querubines.

I love these wooden boxes. The colores are beautiful.
They have iron fittings.

So much stuff.

We enjoyed this place even if we didn't buy anything. Sometimes just looking is enough to feel satisfied.
I hope you are having a great week.
Hasta pronto.

Morelia II

2009-08-27T21:41:00.006-05:00

The first museum we went to was the only one where I could take photos. This museum's theme was prehispanic artifacts, and the first chronicles of the Spanish. All from this specific area (the state of Michoacán).

There some really nice things. And many are very old. So here are some of the photos.

There were many small statues like this one.

Many of these statues were used for rituals.

These "molcajetes" (for grinding and crushing, and making salsas) haven't
changed much through the centuries.

Carvings on stone.

More statues.

Original Spanish book showing the chronicle
of the "conquistadores".

This is a drawing made by a spanish monk.
It shows drawings of the local natives.

Original door made by Spanish artisans.

And a very, very old Spanish uniform.

And my kids were excited with this. An
original cilice (for body punishment). They remembered it from a recent movie
(boys will be boys).

Tomorrow I will continue with more.
Have a good night...

Morelia I

2009-08-25T21:29:00.005-05:00

We went to Morelia two weekends ago for the Baptism of our friends' daughter, Emma. I had passed through Morelia 26 years ago soon after I got married. I really didn't remember much about the place, and even though it is only an hour and a half drive there, I haven't been there since. So, boy was I surprised!! The place is beautiful!! (At least for me). It is the capital of the state of Michoacán, and you can find more information here.
We got to Morelia at about 11:00 a.m. for the religious ceremony, then we had till 5:00, (that was when the food was going to be served at rented party place) to walk around and sightsee.
We got so excited we got to the reception at almost 6:00 p.m.
It was a Sunday, so all the museums admitance was free (in all Mexico this is the law). We went to five museums, but the last was the best (I'll leave it for my last post about Morelia).
I'll start from the beginning and go on from there...

The inside this small temple,
Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Merced.

Emma, with her parents Aida and Emmanuel.

A new Christian.

The outside of the temple.

Looking down the street from the temple.
All the buildings are made of stone.
No one can alter any building here because
it is a World Heritage Site.

This is a school in an old building. It must be incredible
to study in a 400 year old building.

Computer room.

Inside patio.

Outside again, with the hills in the distance.

This building is a hotel.

One of the many temples in downtown Morelia.

I still have about a trillion photos of the trip. I'll continue tomorrow with some pre-hispanic carvings we saw at the first museum.
Good night....

De regreso....

2009-08-23T19:08:00.002-05:00

I'm back!! Sorry I was away for so long, but first I had to finish a three week online course which was so time consuming. Then my car got hit by a Taxi, and we had to check insurance, get my work leave, and that was also very time consuming. Fortunately I'm O.K. and the car only had minor damages. Tomorrow I'll post some photos of our trip tp Morelia (beautiful place). Just want to apologize to my giveaway winners for not sending their gifts yet. I'll send them next week.

Tomorrow is first day of school here! So lots of activity for the week.
And hope you have a great week also......