Tag Archives: mexican food

Oct18

Birria

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Birria

Birria has its roots in Jalisco and I was first introduced to it at a street market in Miravalle when I lived in Tlaquepaque years ago. Of course I had no idea that it was goat and by the time I found it what it was I was already hooked.

Birria is a stewed meat dish with a variety of seasonings including chili peppers. In some places lamb or beef is used rather than goat. In Wenatchee I found a place that had birria on the menu but it was beef. Staff there told me that goat wouldn’t readily be accepted by Washingtonians. I opted to wait until I got back to Mexico to find the real thing.

Two doors down from where I live in Aguascalientes, there is a small restaurant that specializes in birria. Today I picked up two tacos for lunch and they were awesome. I passed on the spicy pepper on the side, but did pour on the sauce and the onions along with a squirt of lime on top.

On the plus side goat meat is a healthier option than red meat. But not on the plus side is the amount of saturated fat in the sauce that accompanies the tacos. Everything in moderation is my belief.

Although birria is commonly served on festive occasions, there are an abundance of restaurants in Mexico where you can find birria on their daily menus. And of course there are always the restaurants that specialize and serve birria such as the one on the corner of my street.

Sep15

No I Haven’t Yet

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No I Haven’t Yet

It’s crunch time but I still haven’t booked any flights. I’ve been too busy doing other things. Of course yesterday I did take a cursory glance at available flights but decided to delay the frustration a while longer.

My granddaughter Madeline started kindergarten this week. We did a video call yesterday and she looked very tired. She goes to day care after kindergarten so it’s a long day. And she has finally given up her afternoon nap. As I recall her mother gave up that afternoon nap when she was just a few months old. Very different. But Madeline is doing the same activities her mother did at her age – ballet, swimming lessons and Sparks. Seems like just yesterday….

On Monday I volunteered at the 9/11 service at Spirit of America in Cashmere. When I first came to Washington state back in 2016, this was one of the first places I checked out. And I’m amazed at how many Washingtonians I’ve met who have never been here. I’ve brought friends here for the first time. And many have never actually even attended the event on September 11th.

This has also been the week for Mexican food. I normally don’t eat Mexican much while I’m up here. After all, I get the real thing when I’m down south in the winter. But on Sunday after church we went out for Mexican. And on Tuesday after Tai Chi we checked out a new restaurant. My favorite restaurant in Cashmere just opened up a place in Wenatchee. How convenient!

I have my story for writers’ group done and printed and it’s a week ahead of time. Bittersweet though. It will be the last meeting I attend before I head back to Mexico. We come from all walks of life and the talent in this group is amazing. I will miss our discussions over lunch and will attempt to keep in touch by email. But it won’t be the same.

Today I got a ride home from Tai Chi with new friends who have led quite an interesting life. Originally from California, they came here back in the eighties with two very young children. When they retired, they traveled by motorhome and motorcycle for five years. Did they ever have adventures!

Time to visit Duolingo.

Hasta luego!

Mar5

In Three Weeks

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In Three Weeks

Another week has flown by. As I’ve been adding things to the calendar I noticed that three weeks from today I’ll be back in East Wenatchee. This past week I finished a five week bible study. Five weeks has gone by? We just started! And I started a new discussion group with the Ripple Foundation in Leavenworth. I also got a notice about an upcoming SAIL activity in Wenatchee. Winter is definitely coming to a close.

As I look around my room, I see that I still have some organizing to do before I’m ready to leave. The countdown is on and the last days before I leave go by all too quickly. I hear you people. The snow is mainly up in the mountains and not in the town. But it isn’t the 85 degree weather I’ve grown accustomed to here. At least all my warmer clothes are waiting for me when I get back to Washington.

I had a delightful lunch with Alethia and Raul yesterday. Alethia made the most delicious pozole, one of my favorite Mexican dishes. She sent me a video, in Spanish, and I’m going to attempt to prepare this when I’m in Washington. Hopefully I’ll be able to find the ingredients.

Mysteries? I just registered for a program offered by NCW Libraries. It’s called A Nicer Kind Of Murder: The Evolution Of Crime Fiction. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? I’ll be doing it online but can’t wait to get back and go to some programs in person. I’ve heard some great speakers and done some fun crafts in the past and am looking forward to doing more. NCW has a wonderful variety of programs for adults as well as kids.

My TV remote doesn’t always recognize my gringa accent so I’m back to manually selecting channels. I even got Alexa to talk in Spanish to it but the remote didn’t like her accent either. Sigh………………….

Have A Great Sunday!

Oct22

Sunday Sunday

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Sunday Sunday

Now that I’m back in Mexico, every day feels like a Sunday. There are no scheduled classes to teach and no regular activities to attend. The only routine in my life is how I start my day. With Christian Gospel music in the background, I check emails and texts and play Candy Crush. Yes, I’m still hooked on that game after ten plus years. And of course I’m sipping coffee throughout all this.

Sundays in Washington. Church and brunch with friends and hanging out together in the afternoon. Yard sales, frozen yogurt, shopping, perogies……………….I’ve left that all behind until next spring. I haven’t found a Christian church that I like near where I live. So I do two things. The first is that I tune in to Sage Hills Church in Wenatchee online on Sunday mornings. The second thing I do is go to a Catholic church close by for mass. No, I’m not Catholic. But I figure God hears me no matter where I am. Of course I get rather strange looks from other attendees because I don’t kneel or go up for communion.

Now for the other six Sundays of the week. Routine is totally out the window other than the morning one mentioned above. I didn’t have my first cup of coffee until 12:30 pm on Friday. That’s what happens when you stay up all night writing. One minute it’s 11 pm at night and then suddenly it’s 4:45 am the next day. Yesterday was a little better. I actually was on my second cup of coffee by 12:30.

I’m trying to get back in the groove of immersing myself completely in Spanish again. This results in some interesting conversations with some of the locals. Next door to me, this elderly couple are always sitting outside with all kinds of clothes hanging from their front fence. The other day the lady was trying to convince me that I needed to add to my wardrobe with some of the stuff they sell. She opened the door to their home and I saw a front room that rivals the stock at Macy’s……packed with clothes. Of course, everything is very used and polyester and definitely not what I’d ever even consider wearing. So far no one has successfully talked me into buying a dress and my neighbor sure isn’t going to either.

My neighbor on the other side makes potato chips, the really greasy ones that taste so amazing. I first discovered those when I was up in the Copper Canyon on El Chepe. The guy himself is really nice and great to talk to, but I’m really going to have to watch myself with those chips. I’ve decided one bag a month is probably more than enough. Of course one a month is only the goal.

I was looking for a bottle of antibacterial gel to keep in my room. I have the small purse ones I buy at Bath and Body works in the USA. And I’m not interested in the industrial size that can be found everywhere here. That was one entertaining conversation with the lady in the farmicia. She was super impressed with my Warm Vanilla Sugar small ones. It took three visits, but she finally came up with just the size I wanted for my room. She has connections with other vendors.

There’s a new chicken place nearby. Chicken is a huge of my diet as I seldom eat red meat. Rotisserie chicken is one of my favorites so I was delighted to discover that I now have one close to where I live. I struck up a conversation with the owners. One of them gave me a card and explained to me that they will sign the card after every purchase. When the card is full, (I think it’s four), the next one is free. That will definitely be an easy one for me.

I also checked out a breakfast place this week as I was craving a bolillo. So many fillings to choose from! I told the guy that I’m not into spicy anymore and he let me try samples to make sure the heat wasn’t too high. Naturally he asked me where I was from. And naturally I answered Washington State. Canada wasn’t even close to being on the radar.

That’s my Sunday. Hope yours is a good one.