adios con pozole

Mi madre headed home Sunday and it looks like I am headed back to the real world tomorrow, so this is my adios post. 

So, I want to leave you with a yummy recipe for…

POZOLE!!

This recipe is from Manuel’s mom Maria, and I probably don’t have it exactly right, so feel free to improvise, etc.

Start with the hominy.  This recipe is based on the huge can (not sure how many ounces that is).  She recommends Tisdale brand. 

Boil the hominy for a few hours (2ish). 

Then add 1 bunch of garlic.  She says the secret is to put the whole bunch in and discard the skins later (not sure what the best method is for doing this).  Boil for another hour. 

Then add the meat….a good pozole is all about some pork.  It doesn’t have to be all pork, but at least a third should be to have great flavor, the rest chicken.  Buy meat with bones!! 

Seasoning.  Oregano for sure, and some salt.  Not sure what else, again…improvise.  Boil for another 2ish hours..make sure the meat is cooked through. 

Optional…add a chile to the broth, for seasoning and color.  Or you can add chile to taste during the garnishing stage. 

Serve with iceburg lettuce or cabbage.  Finely chopped onions.  LIME!  Chile.  Raddishes. 

Enjoy!!

 

Mamacita Guest Speaker Day 2

The second day in San Martin was filled with more adventures, including a couple that I won´t have to repeat in my lifetime.  But most of which were quite enjoyable.

Following the traditional siesta, which may have to become a part of my life, we drove to the next little town of Cocula.   This is the birthplace of Mariachi music and they had a very nice museum with all sorts of  memorabilia.  The town’s cathedrals are beautiful and the plaza was a fun place to enjoy a agua fresca and watch the kids ride their bikes.  Then it was back to San Martin for the start of the evening festivities.

The parades are a bit different each day and snake through the town at various times so you never know when you might encounter one.  Each day of the fiesta has a theme and yesterday´s honored ex-pats who have moved to the US.  So Mere and Manuel  had gotten up at 5am to participate in the morning parade (I watched from the front door as they danced by the house).   The castillo (fireworks castle) is also different each night – last night’s was amazing with stars and USA and a space rocket that launched off the top and into the crowd.  Absolutely no worries of lawsuits and liability issues here!  I also experienced my first and last palenque (cock-fight).

I’ll post a few pictures so you can get a taste of the family oriented fun we are having . . . .

Cute kids in the parade

Cathedral in Cocula

Mere and Manny at mariachi museum

I cant believe he ate the whole thing!

 

Adios, hasta mañana, mh

Mi Madre made it down…

 

Hola, this is Meredith’s mom typing . . .  I arrived in San Martin yesterday and am having a wonderful time . . . the climate is perfect, the people friendly and my hosts (Meredith and Manuel) extremely hospitable.  If they ever invite you down, I would definitely say “go for it”.

 

We have enjoyed a delicious shrimp cocktail on the way into town, the fun  of the Fiesta complete with food, music, games and fireworks and today went outside of town on a picnic with Manny’s aunts.  Amazing sights (parades everywhere), smells (food being cooked on every corner), sounds (did I mention that the rockets start at 6am and end at midnight?) . . . you really have to be here to understand but I’ll post a few pictures to give you an idea . . . .

 

Base drum with Virgin de Guadalupe !!

Did I mention that we milked the cows and yes I did try the fresh warm chocolate drink but unfortunately no tequila this morning 😦

The picnic location (Manny's parent's farm) was like being in a Van Gogh painting and the Tia's cheesecake was amazing.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings . . .but first have to find new batteries for my camera . . . .  Mary Helen

 

Go Chivas!

The big excitement of the weekend….

 

At OmniLife Stadium, about to see the Chivas play!

Manuel, Aunt Chonita and I went to Guadalajara for the last regular season Chivas game of the year.  Now, I am not the biggest sports fan, but I made an exception and got pretty into the event.  Manuel and I even bought jersies!

 

The Chivas play futbol for Guadalajara and are ranked number one going into the finals.  Check out their way cool new stadium.

Here are the Chivas themselves.  I love that a pro futbol team is called the goats, and another is named the monarcas!

No pro sports event would be complete without this…

Hot dog!

The Chivas ended up tying with Pachuca 2-2, but it was a great night and so fun to take Tia Chonita, she is a huge futbol fan and I think she really enjoyed the game!

 

Day 1, check

So Manuel and I are easing into the Fiesta Days, we have nine of them afterall!

But we did kick things off right with some Churro Love!

Behold the Churro!

If you are not familiar with the churro, you are totally missing out and should become aquainted soon.  It is similar to a funnel cake, another love of mine, in that it is fried dough!  The dough is then sprinkled with sugar and enjoyed warm and fresh.

Churro dough and the churro press!

 

The dough is pushed through the above aparatus into the hot oil, in a maneuver we like to call the “churro dance”.  Unfortunately I did not get any good pictures of this.

Frying!

and then…

Just needs a light dusting of sugar!

After churro goodness we listened to the San Martin band for a long while and enjoyed the Castillo.  A constructed structure loaded with fireworks that explodes daily, pretty amazing!

The San Martin band in front of the church.

 

The Castillo!

 

Tomorrow we are headed to a Chivas game and we are taking Tia Chonita!  We have amazing seats, should be exciting.

Fiesta Days

Today, November 3rd, marks the beginning of the “fiesta days” here in San Martin.  The fiesta is honor of San Martin de Tours, for whom the town is named and will last nine days. 

The fiesta is pretty much the biggest thing that happens in town and it is everywhere, the streets have been decorated, downtown closed to cars and vendors galore have come in from all over.  The fiesta is also in our ears constantly, the custom here is to periodically shoot off loud rockets from the church….this started at 6am this morning!   I am very excited to be here for the fiesta days and can’t wait to eat tons of street food. 

I wanted to share some photos of the wonderful lunch Manuel and I had at my favorite mariscos restaurant, but sadly my camera is not cooperating. 

Manuel is doing well, his surgery was a little rougher than expected, and the bus ride home was a little grueling, but he is a trooper.  One eye down and one to go.

A Different Kind of Coctail

Manuel and I are having a fierce debate over our favorite seafood spot in town.

Today I present his.

Mariscos Chon

Chon has been making shrimp coctails almost as long as I have been alive and he does an amazing job!  Our favorite is this one, a mixture of shrimp and octopus.

Shrimp and octopus coctail!

 

The ceviche is to die for and this is saying a lot, because Manuel makes a mean ceviche in his own right.

About to enjoy some ceviche! (and desperately in need of a haircut)

 

The draw back to this place is the atmosphere.  A little lacking, if I do say so….non-descript building on the edge of town.  Soon I will present my favorite spot for a good mariscos fill.

 

In other news Manuel and I (with the help of Tia Carmen) conquered Guadalajara public transportation today, taking a bus into the city, then the metro, then a taxi and later a city bus!  Tomorrow we are going to attempt to do it without Tia Carmen’s help and with only one eye.  Manuel is having some eye surgery performed, happy thoughts please!

Happy Halloween in Guadalajara

The mercado in Guadalajara. All ready for dia de los muertos.

I spent the day in Guadalajara with Manuel and his good friend Enrique.  We spent much of the day eating!!

 

We stopped by the huge mercado and observed lots of food, but ultimately moved onto this….

My first margarita this trip...how have I waited so long?

Then these…

 

Some great tacos and sopes.

The Panamerican games have just wrapped up, but the city was still all decked out!  We loved looking at these Catrina’s participating in the different sports.

Canoe Catrina

Bicycle Catrina

And just for fun…

 

Hope you all had a great Halloween! I am hoping to catch some dia de los muertos celebrations over the next few days.  Lots of marigolds being sold in Guadalajara and colorful wreaths here.  Such a beautiful tradition.

Tito’s Tacos

Sorry for not posting yesterday…

Manuel arrived in the afternoon and we began our quest to gain a pound a day for the next 14 days.  Just kidding!  But we did eat a ton!  First, the aunts prepared a killer mid-day meal.  We enjoyed some cervezas and later enjoyed these…

Manuel is really excited to be in Mexico!!

@

 

Tito's Tacos!!

Our favorite tacos are Tito’s Tacos.   Tito himself is the grill master behind these beauties.   Tito caters to the late night crowd and I truly love everything about them, the traditional plates, the handmade tortillas and the delicious toppings!

Here is Tito doing his thing….

Tito grilling up the meat!

The most popular taco is grilled beef, cut up into tiny pieces, a few beans, cilantro, and onion. Topped with a myriad of different picantes!  So good!

already to eat!

Here is Tito’s newest menu addition…

Some amazing looking tortas.

Carne de Res con Chile

I always know that something delicious is in the works when it begins by going next door.  Our next door neighbors are truly the real deal, they actually live on a ranch outside of town, but come in daily to sell tortillas, cheese, tamales, chicken and probably other goodness that I don’t even know about.

Today, Tia Chonita put two tomatoes on a plate and headed out the door…so naturally I followed with the camera.

She was headed to do this….

Roasting tomatoes in the fire.

When they were all done they looked like this…

Roasted!

 

Tia Chonita then took the tomatoes home, removed the skin and stuffed a clove of garlic in each tomato.  Then blended them up.

Ready to be blended.

The tomato goodness is to be cooked with beef.  Most beef here in Mexico is cut very thinly and cooked in a skillet or over an open flame.  I think you could use skirt steak or something of the sort to make this and it would work fine.  Tia Chonita took her thinly cut pieces, removed all of the fat and cut them into bite sized pieces, using this method…

Tia Chonita cutting up the beef. Yes, she is holding the knife with her stomach and pulling the meat over the blade. An interesting technique!

 

She then seasoned the meat with salt!  A must.

Heat some oil in a skillet, cook up the meat.  Drain off any extra grease and add the tomato goodness.  Then add a cup or two of water, making more of a broth.

All it needs now is a chile to simmer with.  I don’t know exactly what kind of a chile this is, I will have to get back to you…Tia Chonita called it a chile verde, not to helpful.  The chile was added totally whole.

Finished, just needs to simmer for a while.

 

The following picture is a little graphic, but I wanted to emphasize how hard core the next door neighbors are.  When we went over to roast the tomato, this had just taken place….

and then I watched as it was plucked by hand.  Next time I want to give it a try.  I have a feeling that it would take me about six times longer!

 

Plucking the chicken.

 

Hope this didn’t bother anyone.  I like chicken, so I figure I should be ok with the process…I gaurantee this chicken tastes delicious.  Ok, maybe too much information.  Mom, you up for chicken harvesting when you come down?