Waiting for Water

Our beautiful Talavera water dispenser.  I love it.

A fact of life here in our area of sunny Mexico is that unless your home has its own water filtration/purification system, drinking water must come from a garafon.  That's Spanish for those big water bottles placed on office coolers throughout the world.

We were thrilled to discover when we first moved in here that Ciel delivered right to our door, without fail, twice a week, every week.  All we had to do was put the empty bottles outside, and they would come by with full ones.  If we happened to be out when they came, we left the money in the bottle and always returned home to find full garafons waiting for us.  It was a perfect system which rarely failed.

Full water bottles are a beautiful thing.

Then they changed drivers.   Aside from asking us for little favours, such as reheating not one but 2 large pizzas in our microwave, demanding glasses of water and generally rude behaviour, the new drivers were also unreliable.  Regular Monday and Friday deliveries became Fridays only, which turned into every second Friday, or Wednesday afternoon if they felt like showing up.

Not a huge deal for Kevin and I as the garafons are sold at every grocery and convenience store in the bay, but with 3 rooms full and the additional tasks of running a full house, hauling our drinking water home becomes a huge inconvenience.

So, we switched to the other supplier, Santorini.  This caused no end of whining from the Ciel guys, and for many weeks afterward, materialized every Friday and Monday demanding an explanation as to why we did not leave any bottles out for them.

The new delivery system with Santorini also worked great.  For for nearly 3 years, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, they would come by at 11:30 am to exchange empty for full bottles.  I was delirious and once again, our world was perfect.

All good things must come to an end, which happened when they changed their route and began coming by on Tuesdays and Fridays.  This would have been fine, except that they didn't actually get here most Fridays, and Tuesday morning deliveries turned into Tuesday evenings.

Those of you who follow our Facebook Page know that Tuesday is Taco Night here.  We tried leaving money in the bottles as we had before, but either they were not coming or they didn't want to leave full bottles out on the street.  The drivers are really quite nice, and we wanted to keep their service, but even calling the office early on Friday or Tuesday morning did not always result in a delivery.

Rooster, probably dehydrated, waiting for water delivery.

Once again, we were packing our water bottles into the car.   In an effort to combine errands, we would take them with us on Taco Tuesdays and fill them at San Javier, the local water company, on our way to dinner.   But, we don't always go to the same taco stand so, like the water trucks before us,  it was kind of hit and miss.

Eventually, we asked the good people at San Javier Agua Purificada how to get on their delivery list.  I was given a tiny scrap of paper with a name and phone number to call.  Several attempts to call the number proved that it was invalid.   So, Kevin took the scrap of paper back with him on his next water run and a second name and phone number were added to the scrap.

It really was a tiny scrap of paper!

On Tuesday, I called the second number and Enrique said water would be delivered to our door that very day.   I really should know better, but I actually believed him and waited all day for the water to come.  Wednesday morning, I called him again.  He sounded surprised that our order had not been filled and promised to send someone right away.

And he did!!  2 lovely men in a well kept truck filled with water bottles arrived and exchanged 2 empty garafons for 2 full ones.  Again, I was delirious with joy and quite proud of myself for having accomplished this whole ordeal in Spanish.   I was so encouraged that I ventured to arrange with the driver to have him come next Wednesday to repeat the transaction.  He readily agreed and I did cartwheels all the way up the stairs.

Yup, these very same stairs.  You will have to imagine the cartwheel part.

Yesterday was Wednesday and, after putting our garafons on the front step, I passed the morning confident that my arrangement with the driver had been  understood and water would be delivered again this morning.   At 2pm, I called Enrique wondering where the water was.  He said he just sent the truck out, and I should see them in about an hour.   Once it became dark, I gave up waiting and promised myself I would try again tomorrow.

Sigh, no water truck in sight.  

Using the last flicker of hope in my heart, I called Enrique again this morning, Thursday, and   asked him to please deliver water to us.  I again gave him our address and confirmed that yes, they had been here just last week.  He seemed surprised that we would be calling again already.  Perhaps, he assumed that because we are Canadian we subscribe to the " save water drink beer "concept.  Whatever.  Water DID arrive, today, delivered by the very same men who brought it  last week.

Thinking perhaps they misunderstood my original request to regularly deliver water to us, I asked them today if they could arrange to bring water every week.  They looked at me like I had asked them if the sky was blue, and said of course!  So I asked  which day would be most convenient for them to come.  The answer?  Wednesday.

Hope does spring eternal!!  :)

Life without Pie

By now, it is no secret that I love to cook.  In general, time spent in my kitchen tends to make my good moods better and,  if I am having an off day cooking anything can pull me out of my slump.

Which is why my I am astounded at my unwillingness to bake a simple pie.  Could it be that my past efforts have fallen so short of the pies my mother makes that redemption seems impossible?   Memories of my stepsons specially requested Birthday Pie, with an impossibly thick crust, that  I somehow managed to burn black on the edges yet keep raw at the bottom still linger in the recesses of my mind.    Lucky for me, he was only 8 or 9, and children tend to overlook these things.    My sister in law, whose pies are always as perfect as my Moms had the dubious honour  of being witness to the debacle.  All these years later, just the mention of Brendans' Birthday Pie will cause us to laugh till tears stream down our faces.  

That may have been the last time I attempted a pie crust.  Honestly, I  prefer to think that I am just too lazy to try again, rather than admit that I have been defeated by piecrust.  And, so far, it has worked.

But, all good things must come to an end.  Kevin was in Canada in September, and brought back 2 cans of pumpkin pie filling (still difficult to find here at a reasonable price) looking forward to the upcoming Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.   Somehow, I managed to get past the day without having to make "The Pie".  (and the dinner too, but that is another story for another day).  Which is why my loving husband mentions those cans of pumpkin about every third day.   He has dropping hints since the beginning of October and I had almost reached my breaking point!

What the sun would look like it it had to make a pie.

Not one to give in that easily, I considered that since Canadian Thanksgiving had passed, and American Thanksgiving has not yet arrived, if I acted now, I might be able to get that pumpkin used up without actually having to make a pie.

While looking thru my recipe site for Halloween food ideas, I stumbled across "Alexander McCream Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream"!!  

With a name like that, I could not resist giving it a try.  I knew it wouldn't use the whole can of pumpkin, but I figured I could put the rest in some muffins, Kevin would have his pumpkin fix and I would sneak thru another year without having made a pie!  Perfect.

Yeah, no.  The 1/3 cup of puree that the ice cream needed hardly put a dent in the can.  A fact I was unable to hide from my ever vigilant husband.  He also noticed that the entire can, when mixed according to the recipe on the label, actually makes not one but 2 - 9 inch pies.  Well, well.

My mind started racing - couldn't we just freeze it in 1/3 cup portions so we could make more ice cream?  How about some pumpkin muffins?  It wasn't until HE offered to make the pie crust that I gave up my efforts to avoid the pie.  I was almost resigned to blending flour with lard to make the perfect pie crust when it hit me... Graham Cracker Crust!!  And we happened to have those on hand!

A match made in heaven.

So, this afternoon, after saying my goodbyes to a very lovely guest who had been with us this week, and helping load her bags into the car so Kevin could take her to the airport, I finally admitted defeat  and made the darned pie.

Ta Daaaaa!!

It looks pretty good, even with the burnt edges.  Perhaps that will become my trademark. like,   "It's not a Heather Pie unless the edges of the crust are just ever so slightly blackened".  It could even become something people expect, nay, dare I say look for as a sign of excellence in a pie!  

The ice cream, has turned out perfectly.  I think it will be just lovely with a slice of the pie.

Seriously, you owe it to yourself to try this.

Recipe info:
The recipe for the ice cream is from The Icereamists by Matt OcConnor and can be found on the Epicurious website.    I made it to recipe, except for increasing the rum to about 4 dashes so that it would properly mix with the sugar and spices in the blender.  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/alexander-mccream-spiced-pumpkin-ice-cream-51187420

The recipe for the pie is pretty much off the side of the Our Compliments can, except that the entire list of spices was replaced with 2 teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch each of Allspice and Nutmeg.   Bake according to directions on the can and you are set.  If you are lucky, the edges of your graham crust will be just slightly blackened.    lol

Preparing for Patricia

Hurricane Patricia was on her way to us and murmurs of her arrival started about Tuesday last week.  Admittedly, were  nonchalant about her in the beginning.   This year marks our 7th Hurricane Season in the Bahia de Banderas.  Each season begins with a storm whose name starts with the letter A, and they work their way down the alphabet to the last storm of the season.  Not all named storms turn into hurricanes.  We are far from "seasoned" but "P" is the 16th letter of the alphabet, meaning that this year alone, 15 storms had already formed, with the potential to turn into a hurricane and 15 storms had passed us by.

By Thursday, however, the murmur had turned into enough talk to cause us to take precautionary measures around the house.  Basically, this meant stripping our walls, inside and out, of any and all decor and hauling all our outdoor furniture into indoor shelter and locking it up.  We also put a couple of days worth of food and water in the room with the smallest windows, thereby limiting our exposure to flying glass, should the storm be strong enough to break windows.

Kevin reads the news daily on his computer.  I am not a big watcher of news, preferring to worry about what is going on in my backyard "now" rather than being concerned about what is happening everywhere else in the world.  News of Patricias' impending arrival, however, was unavoidable!  She was everywhere and would soon be in my back yard.   Countless friends, in person, by phone, email and on Facebook brought reality crashing down upon me.   Something hugely frightening was headed our way.

So, I took a second look at what we had on hand.  Really, under normal circumstances, as with most Canadian households, we could easily survive for several days on just what was in our fridge.  But,  if the power went out, all that would quickly spoil and we would be forced to live for who knows how long on half a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread.

Which is why Friday morning found us scrambling to get more last minute stuff taken care of.  Kevin got into line at the gas station to top up the tank and then went to the water store for an additional 20 litres of water.  I went to Chedraui for extra candles and packages of ready to eat tuna and beans.  Ever the optimist, I also bought some deli meats because even if we did loose power, the food could be transferred to coolers.

The line at the gas station was bad enough, but much quicker than the line at the grocery store.  The clerks were doing their best but when everyone in the bay decides to stock up at the same time, things do slow down.  For the most part, in spite of the crush, people were considerate, polite and in good humour and the hour I stood in line waiting to pay passed without incident.

We came home and started the BBQ, because the chicken we had planned to have for dinner still needed to be cooked.    While that was happening, on the advice of friends, I did a few last minute things I never would've thought of:  pet food, briquets, matches and personal documents were all put into zip lock baggies and stowed for safe keeping.  In all, we felt we were as prepared as we could be so we waited.

As predicted, Patricia, a category 5 Hurricane hit land south of the Sierra Madre mountains and did a lot of damage.   Mexican authorities managed to ignore all the CNN hype and concentrated their evacuation efforts in the areas where National Hurricane Centre (NOA) was predicting landfall.  They nailed it, and it is my understanding that no lives were lost in spite of (for me) unimaginable damage.  

As the photos show, the devastation wrought by Patricia was nothing that I could have prepared for.  If asked to evacuate, we may have gone to the shelter set up at the university, or we may have driven to Guadalajara.  For the future, we will remember that evacuating to Guadalajara may be a poor choice.  There are videos on line showing floodwaters pushing loaded busses down the street.

All that water has to go somewhere and within 24 hours it had travelled down the Ameca River and arrived here.  When we cross the bridge, the Ameca normally takes an eye blink to pass.  A friend sent a video Saturday, and it took a  full 2 minutes to cross the flooded area.  Jarretaderas was evacuated on Saturday,  but people were back in their homes on Sunday.  Again, a masterful job by civil authorities doing what needed to be done when it needed doing.


The good people of Vallarta and area are very aware of just how lucky we were with this storm and have rallied like no one else can rally to provide food and water and volunteers to the centres who need help as they start cleanup from the storm.    Our local Starbucks is the drop point in Nuevo for donations of food and water and there are several on line sites where monetary donations have also been made.   The positive from this is that our community as a whole has rallied to help with the aftermath,  which can only be a good thing.

Many thanks to Mary Pitrowsky and Stephy Finch along with AF News? for photos used in this blog.

Embracing change

Well, the Canadian election is over and a new leader has been chosen.   I loved the build up to the election, and I loved how, finally, most people finally agreed on one thing:  The need to exercise our rights as Canadians to VOTE!

Regardless of who won, I have never seen Canadians so stirred up over going to the polls.  Certainly a breath of fresh air, and for that reason alone, Canadians had already won something that seemed to have been lost over the past several years - passion.

My Mom, showing off her Canadian Flags

Even though Kevin and I (and countless others like us) were not allowed to vote in this election because we live on the other side of the Canadian Borders, we do care about what goes on in our country.  We are Canadians and always will be Canadians.  We love our country, and are very excited to see what the coming years will bring.

Principally, I am hoping that Mr Trudeau and the Liberals will also be able to give us back our ability to hold our heads up high when we tell the world that WE. ARE. CANADIAN!  And I am hoping we will soon earn back the respect we used to have as Canadians wherever in the world we happened to travel.   Once again, I want Canadians to be recognized not because of our standard of living, or our tax or education system, but simply because we are the faces of  a nation who can and does accept people because of their differences and not in spite of them.

Honestly, after listening to Justin Trudeaus' speech last night, I don't think I have ever been a prouder Canadian.

This started out as a blog about the upcoming Halloween season, but I guess that will have to wait for another day because I just can't think of a way to segue this into a blog about Trick or Treating and the Day of the Dead.  So, thanks for reading all the way to the end, and as your reward, I leave you with this photo of Kevin and Alexa and a Katerina.

How's your Spanish?

After living here for 8 years, one would think our command of Spanish should be pretty good.  And, for the most part, it is.  We can meet new people, discuss the weather, enquire as to the state of someones health all in Spanish.  We can order our food in Espanol, after having made full enquiries as to how it is prepared and how it will be served, in our second language.  We can also manage blood donations and our own doctor and dental appointments, all in Spanish.

Casa Madera, your home away from home

Why, then do we have such difficulty when it comes to dealing with contractors????  Perhaps it is their redneck mentality,  (I know!  Being a proud Alberta girl myself,  I was shocked to learn that we are not the only people on the planet to have perfected this attitude). but I prefer to believe that the twists and tricks of the Spanish language are more to blame.

We were having some work done  last week, and the contractor needed a couple of last minute things to finish the job.  Would Kevin be able to go get them?  Sure, no problem.   Our conversation was going very well, so well, that the contractor forgot who he was talking to and began using words we were not familiar with.  Language barrier, resurrected.    You know how English speaking people speak LOUDER when someone doesn't understand them...Spanish speaking people speak FASTER!!  Any hope of understanding what he needed had now been lost.

Wet cement.  A sure sign that a contractor is in the house.

Surgencia - means suggestion, but when the contractor is holding a roll of electrical wire in one hand  and gesturing wildly at the ceiling with the other, suggestion is the last word that comes to mind.

Finally, we realized he had come up with a different way to wire the outside lights than we had originally discussed.  That only took 10 minutes, and way more charades than most people are comfortable with.

Registra - From the verb Registrar, which means to inspect, to frisk, to register, or to record.

Registro - There is no verb, this is the word.  It means inspection, registration, recording or registry office.

Given that he was pointing to a light fixture, I am pretty sure that none of the above translations applied.

As Kevin and I were standing there with blank looks on our faces, trying hard to understand the impossible, the contractor sighed.

It finally occurred to me to have him write it down!!  Then we would only have to show the magic word to our friendly hardware store guy and the mystery would be solved.  Except that by the time I thought of this, the contractor had already decided that getting a "registro" was no longer worth the effort and he would figure things out himself.  So, off Kevin went to get the item we did understand and the contractor went back to work and finished the job, without our "help".

As it happens, our neighbour is looking for a contractor and stopped by last night to ask if we were happy with our guy.  Yes, despite the communication difficulty, we got on quite well, and we are happy with the finished project.

Our neighbour is an engineer.  It took him less than 5 seconds to notice that they had installed an indoor light switch on our outdoor post.    Kevin and I looked at each other "OH, REGISTRO!".  We may call the contractor to come back to fix it, but probably this afternoons project will be just doing it ourselves.

Yes, our rooms are nice.  

Thanksgiving Weekend in Paradise

Its Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, and honestly, I am finding myself at a bit of a loss this year.  In past years, we have searched for days to find a turkey, gone to a restaurant serving turkey dinner, or joined friends here to celebrate the big day.

Turkey is now much easier to find in October.   Our first couple of years here, finding a turkey so far in advance of American Thanksgiving, was  impossible.  One memorable year, the best we were able to do was a dismal smoked turkey, pulled from the depths of Wal-Marts walk in freezer, most likely left over from the previous Christmas, or maybe even the Christmas before that.  It truly was the turkey that should have stayed in the store.

As for dining out, our options are far from limited, but we know from experience that Blakes Restaurant  (https://www.facebook.com/Blakes-Restaurant )makes the best turkey dinner in the bay, hands down.    If we were inclined to go out this year, we would have gone to Blakes.

Friends invited us to spend the day with them, and honestly, we do love our friends here, but somehow, this year, Kevin and I just needed to be home, as a tiny little family of 2, wondering how we ever thought Thanksgiving in the Tropics could be better than spending the day with our kids and families up north.  Don't get me wrong, we love it here, but living in Paradise does come with a price.  

Anyway, this morning, as we do every Sunday, we were having coffee on our rooftop, enjoying the gentle morning sunshine while we read back issues of Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines,  deciding how to appease our appetites this week.   It truly is our favourite time of the week.

Yesterdays trip to our favourite meat market (that's Carniceria, if you want to sound like a local) did not net us a turkey, but we did find some wonderful looking beef short ribs.  My project this morning was to figure out what I was going to do with them.

After checking a few magazines, I decided to streamline my search and just go to  epicurious.com a website, which has never let me down.

TA DA!   It jumped out at me almost immediately..."Simple Smoked Beef Short Ribs", by Ardie A Davis and Chef Paul Kirk.   It sounded kind of funky, with a "Mustard Slather" that included a whole cup of prepared mustard (which I have taken to mean French's), AND a rub which included 2 tablespoons of sea salt, but the cooking method was irresistible.  A total of 3 hours of cooking using indirect heat in a charcoal grill????  We were hooked.

This was our opportunity to see just what our new Weber BBQ can do, and the first thing we discovered is that what we had come to deem as a "normal amount" of charcoal is way too much.  So, the starting grill temp registered 350 instead of 250F.    We put them on anyway, hoping the grill temp would drop sooner instead of later.

I tweaked the recipe just a bit, having only 1 kilo of short ribs, I cut the recipe for the "slather" in half and put only two- thirds of that on the ribs to start and used the rest for basting during the cooking process.  I actually could have done with a full batch as it helps keep the meat moist.

I also cut the recipe for the rub in half and increased the sugar by 2 teaspoons.   Based on others reviews, that said this was way too salty, I cut the salt back by half and "sprinkled" only about 1/4 of the rub over the already slathered ribs.   Honestly, at this point, I was not sure about our little experiment but there was, literally nothing to do but sit back and wait.  For 3 hours.

Our cats have no difficulty whatsoever playing the waiting game, as Dulce was keen to demonstrate this afternoon.

 I, however am wired differently.   Relaxing is fine, but what do I have to show for the time?????
My addiction to Pinterest and all its charming ideas is well known in this household so fortunately, I was able to fill the time "constructively" while Kevin wasted his time doing odd jobs around the house and watching the bbq temp.

Eventually, the short ribs finally reached their properly cooked internal temperature of 185F.  We let them rest while we grilled some bread and heated the corn on the cob we so happily brought home from Sams the other day.   I was so busy on Pinterest, I didn't have time to make the salad that should have gone with our lovely repast, which I regretted, because some lettuce and tomatoes would have really balanced this meal.

Because of the learning curve with the grill, this was the most difficult meal we have put together in a very long time.  Was it worth it?  Oh, yes!  You all should put this recipe on your list of things you MUST make.   Heed my warning about the salt in the rub, but that mustard "slather"?  Use it ALL, it is pure genius.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/simple-smoked-beef-short-ribs-395251

Whatever you are eating this weekend, and whoever you are spending it with, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving from Casa Madera!

Our Favourite Fried Chicken

If you are like Kevin and I, we don't eat as much fried food as we used to.  But our love of fried foods still dwells within us!  The big difference being, that now, if we are eating something fried, it had better be good!  No longer do we settle for mediocre fast food fare to satisfy our cravings (though I will admit to a weakness for the onion rings at Carls Junior lately).   Mostly when we want something fried, we want the best darn fried food we can find, and for food snobs like us, that usually means making it at home.   

Enter Bon Appetit magazine and their recipe for southern-style fried chicken.   Originally published in 2012, I only discovered this recipe last year.   (Go ahead and make fun.  Food nerds like us are thrilled to have back issues that we can read at our leisure as many times as we like.)   The recipe actually calls for the chicken to be fried in oil stove top, so I balked at trying it for a long time.  Both Kevin and I, being career insurance people, know very well just how dangerous a pot of hot oil on the stove can be.  

However, their claim that this is "the only Fried Chicken recipe we will ever need" had us searching for a good deep fryer at every store we entered for the next 6 months.  This is not Canada, and while they are easy to find now, 3 years ago when we started looking, it was like hunting for hens teeth.

We eventually convinced ourselves that we live in a concrete house, with marble counters and finally, we talked ourselves into making this without a deep fryer!!  We should have videoed our first attempt, as I am sure all the precautions and worry we took were worth a sit com series but in the end, the finished product was well worth the effort and worry!   Juicy inside with a crispy crust, and the hot vinegar pulls it all together.

You will need to start the vinegar a week in advance, and the chicken does have to sit overnight, so there is some planning inovolved, but I promise you it will be worth it!   We are used to doing it stove top now, and are  happy with the results but if you prefer using a deep fryer,  just be sure that your oil is at the magical 350F before adding the chicken.  I am sure you will get the same results.    The real key to this is to use a smaller chicken and to let it sit in the dry brine over night.

I have tweaked the recipe a bit from the original, which you can find at www.bonappetit.com

Here is my version of Skillet Fried Chicken:
(serves 4, 1 serving is approximately 616 calories)

2 tablespoons kosher salt, divided
5 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 3 - 4 lb chicken cut into 10 pieces, back removed
1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 egg

3 cups flour
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1 litre canola oil for deep frying (more or less, depending on size of your pan)

• Whisk 1 Tbsp. salt, 2 tsp. black pepper, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and onion powder in a small bowl. Season chicken with spices. Place chicken in a medium bowl, cover, and chill overnight.
• Let chicken stand covered at room temperature for 1 hour. Whisk buttermilk, egg, and 1/2 cup water in a medium bowl. Whisk flour, cornstarch, remaining 1 Tbsp. salt, and remaining 1 Tbsp. pepper in a 9x13x2" baking dish. 
• Pour oil into a 10"–12" heavy straight-sided skillet (not nonstick) to a depth of 3/4".  Heat over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 350°.  You can try propping the thermometer in the pan, but I never have luck with that.  I just keep it close and check the temperature of the oil frequently.  Meanwhile, set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet. 
• Working with 1 piece at a time (use 1 hand for wet ingredients and the other for dry ingredients), dip chicken in buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip back into bowl. Dredge in flour mixture; tap against bowl to shake off excess. Place up to 5 pieces of chicken in skillet. Fry, turning chicken with tongs every 1–2 minutes and adjusting heat to maintain a steady temperature of 300°–325°, until skin is deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 165°, about 10 minutes for wings and breasts and 12 minutes for thighs and legs. 
• Using tongs, remove chicken from skillet, allowing excess oil to drip back into skillet; transfer chicken to prepared rack. 
• Repeat with remaining chicken pieces; let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
  
  
  And voila, better than takeout any day!  Oh, and don't forget the Spicy Vinegar!  
  
  
  SpicyVinegar
  1 cup white vinegar
  1 habanero chile
  1 serrano chile
  
  
  Slice chiles into quarters, lengthwise and place with vinegar in resealable jar.  Seal and shake.   Let sit at room temperature for 1 week before using, shake daily.  After that it will keep almost forever in the fridge.  

Tamales

We moved here armed with 2 Mexican cookbooks and a great determination to learn to cook the cuisine while we were here.  

And we did get an excellent start on it!!  Those who have been following us from the beginning will remember Kevins' hilarious account of using the washroom right after working with chiles.  Yes, he learned the hard way why men here wash their hands both before and after using the washroom!

The honest truth, though is, I lack motivation.  I can get some of the best tacos in the bay right down the street and  the only effort I have to make is to put one foot in front of the other for about 15 minutes.   A 5 minute drive gets us to Valle Dorado where the options to taste authentic Mexican food are endless.   I'm talkin' GOOD Mexican food.  Not the stuff one often finds in the tourist zone, made by people who know they will never see you again so why try anyway.    Made by cooks who know that their business is only as good as their last service because word in a small town travels fast and even a poorly made tortilla could stop people coming to their spot.  And, it is inexpensive.  So why go thru all the effort in my own kitchen?

After 7 years here, our knowledge of Mexican Cuisine is mostly limited to knowing which restaurant or taco stand has "the good stuff".

There is, however, one Mexican Food challenge I have been working to perfect - Tamales.

Even though, every night, there is a truck at our Oxxo, selling Oxacan-style tamales, we have yet to try one.    Our reluctance to do so stems from our first weeks here, when  we would buy tamales from a vendor who passed by our apartment nearly every day.  They were wonderful.  Until the day Kevin bit into one with a whole, uncleaned shrimp hidden inside of it.  So whole, the antennae and shell were still on it.   Thus ended our love of the tamale lady, and tamales in general.

We don't buy tamales anymore, but the flavour still haunts me.  Plus, I love the concept - Little bundles of corn husks, hiding more corn  and filling inside.  They are tasty snacks that are nice to have on hand, and, they re-heat beautifully in the microwave!

Perfecting this particular Mexican food has become my challenge,  and, for the most part, I have had pretty good reviews.

As a matter of fact, my Ecuadorian girlfriend liked them so much, she set aside a whole afternoon so I could teach her how I make tamales.  (Yes, this the truth!)  We made a fairly large batch and she took half home.    In an uncontrollable fit of generosity, she actually shared our hard work with a Mexican woman in her condo.  A couple of hours later, the woman returned.  Not to thank her for the gift, but simply to tell her that they were dry, period.   Suggestions, tips, insider secrets....????   Sigh.

So, today, another try, at less dry tamales.  Armed with a pot full of leftover braised pork shoulder, I tried again.

For todays version of my tamales, I used Alton Brown's recipe on FoodTV.com as a guide.  The braised pork and liquid were from earlier in the week, and the masa recipe I took from the bag of Tamale Masa.

My results while not entirely authentic, are a very tasty attempt, which at the end of the day, is really all we wanted.

Watermelon Agua Fresca

Its summer the weather is fine and watermelons are plentiful!  

I love watermelon, But I have to admit after the first half, I am looking for ways to get rid of it!

Yummy as it is, just plain fruit gets kind of boring after awhile.  

Being it is the weekend, I thought I would focus on drinking it.

One of the quickest and easiest ways to use it is just to fill up the blender with chunks of the watermelon, seeds and all, add a little water, a small chunk of bit of ginger,  peeled and  roughly chopped, some sugar if you like and blend away for about  45 seconds.



















Strain the mixture thru a fine mesh sieve and there you have it, Watermelon Agua Fresca!!

You can then drink the juice, or freeze it in ice cube trays, then put the ice cubes in the blender for a watermelon slushie.

A great after work treat, and if you have had a stressful day, add a splash of tequila and you have a watermelon margarita!



Oh, if you want the flavour of a watermelon margarita but don't want to go thru all the effort, just cut some cubes (abut 2 cups), add 1/4c silver tequila and 1/4 cup simple syrup or a couple tablespoons of sugar.

Let it sit for a few hours, stirring every once in awhile so the tequila gets into all the pieces.

Serve in a Margarita glass with a salted rim and a fork.  There you have it!

Enjoy your weekend, and remember to eat and drink responsibly.

How the system REALLY works - or not.

Something that has always bothered me about Mexico is the number of people standing on street corners and public markets begging for money "for their operation".    Having been born in a country  where health care is a given,  I really did believe that those people begging for medical money had, in fact found a way to use their disabilities as a source of income.   After this mornings conversation with our gardener, I am not so sure.

It seems he and his wife are caught in a loop of red tape which I will try to explain.  You may think you are reading Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First" routine but honestly, no one can make stuff like this up.

You will recall, our first and unsuccessful attempt to give blood was in the Seguro Popular in San Pancho, in the state of Nayarit, which is the home state of our gardener and his wife.

Due to a medical emergency which could not be dealt with in San Pancho, his wife was rushed to the Pitillal branch of Seguro Popular, which is in the state of Jalisco.

At this bright, friendly hospital, which I quite liked, our gentle gardener and his wife were lead to believe that they would perform the operation to remove her tumour once they had donated the allotted blood.  We left the hospital feeling confident that our blood would complete the requirements and the operation would proceed.

OMG, not so fast.!!!  Now that the Jalisco branch of the hospital has our blood, and our gardener and his wife have exhausted ALL avenues for donors, the powers that be have decided that her operation is not urgent enough and she must go back to hr home state and the San Pancho hospital to have her surgery there.  

Uh-oh, a red light.  Had to know it was coming.

One would think that isn't that much of a problem, all the blood has been collected and credited to the patients name, so.... they can just ship it out to the other hospital.   I think most reasonable people would deem this a logical solution to a rather small problem.

Trouble is, the hospital in San Pancho does not seem to want to do the operation.   They have even gone so far as to issue a false document stating our gardeners wife had been scheduled for an operation in April for which she failed to show up.  

Our gardener swears there was no appointment in April, and I believe him.  Why would the hospital have scheduled an operation before enough blood had been collected?   Predictably, some administrative dummy in Jalisco has decided to accept this piece of garbage as the truth, which is complicating matters even further.

Needless to say, our conversation with our gardener this morning was not the positive one we had been anticipating and because he was so angry, he was speaking so rapidly it was difficult to follow the whole story.   Lucky for me, our maid was also here and she was able to fill me in on some of the details I was unable to get.

Spiny - how our gardener felt this morning!

She tells me he will go to the Recursos Humanos, which, as I understand it, is a Human Rights commission to see if anything can be done.   Hopefully, they will help him, but I fear things will just drag on so long that it will be faster for us to just wait until we are able to donate blood again!

There are times when Mexico really shines and there are so many things that make this country great, but honestly, Mexico, this time, you have failed miserably.   Shame on a hospital system that treats its patients so poorly, and shame on the government for allowing it to happen.

Strong words for an outsider, but, based on this event, I do feel that my opinion is justified.

Fat Cats looking down on the general population?

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Giving Blood - our first experience.

Awhile back, our sometimes neighbour called us from her home in Mexico City.  She does this every so often, just to check on her house and, fill me in on any gossip she has heard from her other friends here in Nuevo.   We have shared the same gardener for nearly 2 years now, and  this time, during our conversation, she asked how our gardeners' wife was doing?   Apparently, she had been sick for quite some time, but I knew nothing about it.    Hmm, come to think of it, our gardener,  is normally a happy, chatty person.  I had maybe noticed that he hadn't been as cheerful these past few weeks, but I really didn't think much about it.

So, on his next visit, I asked what was wrong with his wife.  Because he has an accent I find extremely difficult to understand, I don't get everything he says, but I was able to ascertain that she has some sort of tumour, possibly related to the female anatomy, but I honestly can't say for sure.   It sounded kind of personal, so I didn't pry too much, but what I did get from the conversation was that she needed an operation.

Their health care is thru Seguro Popular, which I understand, is free to all Mexicans.  I asked him why, if she was so sick, they had not operated already.

Turns out that one of the costs of this free service is that in order to get an operation, the patient must first come up with blood !!   Yes, before she can have her operation, she is responsible for finding enough donors to get her thru the operation.   I have limited understanding of all the details, but the bottom line appears to be no blood, no operation.

He continued to say it has been extremely difficult for them to find suitable donors and they had already exhausted their supply of  friends and relatives.  All of whom, while more than willing to donate have been deemed unsuitable donors by the hospital for a variety of reasons.  At this point, I really had no choice but to tell him that I would love to try to help.  He brightened and said "y el señor tambien?"   Which meant that, Kevin also had no real choice but to step up to the plate as well.

You would think we could just march into a Red Cross or local branch of Seguro Popular and donate blood on someones behalf and get on with our day.  Nope, not that simple.

Blood donations for a specific person must be made at the hospital that is treating the patient.  They were using the hospital in San  Pancho which only accepts blood donations on certain Mondays between certain hours, first come first served.  

So, the appointed day comes, we wake early, have a light breakfast grab a coffee to go and are out the door by 6am so we can be there for 7am to meet our gardener and hopefully be among the first in line.

This hospital did not give me a good impression.  It was dark, and the staff, while not unfriendly were certainly not friendly.  The doctor interviewed us begrudgingly and seemed quite pleased to be able to kick us out of the queue because we had thoughtlessly eaten a bowl of Frosted Flakes before leaving the house.  Telling our gardner that we screwed up so badly was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do.

The next appointment would not be for 2 weeks, and we would be on vacation in Canada then, so our second attempt at donating would be delayed another month.  Because of that stupid mistake, his wife would not get her operation and will remain in pain while her tumour presumably grows.

In hindsight, this turned out to be a good thing, because in our absence, there was an emergency for which she had to be transferred to the Seguro Popular hospital in Pitillal.    Our gardener was very happy with this, because the difference in hospitals is night and day!  Aside from friendly staff who made them both feel like they were important, the biggest difference is that anyone can show up on on any day and get in the line up to donate blood!!   Yay!

So, last Thursday, we drove to the hospital with our gardener, so he could be sure that our donation was credited to his wife.   Wow, he certainly was right about the difference in hospitals!  It truly did feel like the staff cared about what they were doing.   We remembered not to eat before our appointment this time, so there were no snags and we were able to donate blood for our gardeners wifes' operation, which, if I understood correctly will take place on the 24th of June.

As a way of thanking us, our gardener had us stop at the local taco truck so he could buy us breakfast.

Doing the right thing has a way of making us
feel very humble.

It's All About the Dough!

We love the food here.  Especially the authentic Mexican fare.  Nothing can beat it.  However,  occasionally, our Canadian roots show themselves and cravings for pizza like they make back in Alberta causes us to go in search of the perfect pizza here in our new back yard.

Oddly, pizza was one of the first foods we realized we missed.   Perhaps that was because, for the first couple of years, we honestly could not find, what we felt, was a good pizza!  We tried many, but none came close to matching the taste of Kevin's' favourite, the Pepperoni, Ham and Green Pepper combo from Royal Pizza in Sherwood Park  http://royalpizza.ca/locations.aspx.  No trip home will ever be made without at least one stop here, 5 if he can fit them in.

My favourite pizza has always been the deep dish pan pizza from Pizza Hut.  You know the kind.  The stuff they served back in the 80's and 90's, when in my opinion, they were at their best.   I can hear many of you right now, gasping and gagging because you think the crust is too oily, but to me, it is the ultimate comfort food.   I love the crispness the oil in the pan gives the bottom of the crust - and biting thru that into the gooey layer of cheese and toppings - nirvana.

Pizza Hut Pan Pizza
http://www.pizzahut.com.mx

Which is why I so excited to discover that Pizza Hut right here in Puerto Vallarta served exactly that pizza!!     At first, I thought it strange to find a Pizza Hut here, but, it turns out that Pizza Hut opened its original location at the Plaza del Sol mall in Guadalajara, in 1959!  Fancy that!   PV now has 2 locations, one conveniently located in the Galerias Mall, right upstairs, just beside Chili's.

Clean, modern and fully air-conditioned, we will probably eat here a lot this summer

Plus, the view is pretty nice

Unfortunately, Pizza Hut does not deliver to Nuevo Vallarta.  In the beginning, when we started working to open Casa Madera, there were only 2 only pizza delivery options and while both were excellent options at the end of a long of painting, furniture finishing, plumbing, yard work,  whatever, we were both too exhausted to do anything but pick up the phone and call for dinner.  However, neither offered the pizza "experience" we craved.  Not that it mattered much,  back then, I could fall asleep while eating, so taste wasn't all that important.

When La Dolce Vita opened within walking distance,  we were thrilled.    A swanky new pizza joint right down the street!!   And, we have enjoyed our share of their wonderful thin crust pizzas.  http://www.dolcevita.com.mx

And now, it seems, pizza places are popping up all over the place!  Locally owned joints, with wood fired ovens and a range of crusts from wafer thin to thicker than deep dish!  And they are all putting out quality product.  The difficulty now, is not finding a pizza place, it is deciding which one!!

Irresistible, no?

Within a 25 minute walk, from our door, we have:
La Dolce Vita as already mentioned, and
Ciao  https://www.facebook.com/CiaoPizzaNV .

For those who wish to venture further, a 50 peso cab ride will get you to either

Pizza Diavola https://www.facebook.com/diavolapizzaitaliana?fref=nf 
or
Buenos Aires https://www.facebook.com/RinconDeBuenosAires

and, of course, our go to spot in Bucerias, is
California's Pizza https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaPizzaMexico,

California's Pizza in Bucerias 

These are the places we have eaten at in the past year, and, no, they have not paid me to mention them by name.  (though if they were so inclined, they could do so.  lol)  Most likely, they will never even know that they have been mentioned in this blog, but many of you readers will be guests with us in the near future, and you will want to know about the great eateries we have here.

Ultimately, at the end of most days, we prefer to eat at home.   Since there are still only 2 options for delivery,  Kevin has embarked upon a quest to find his perfect pizza dough.   After numerous recipes, many, many taste tests, and a whole lot of fun, he has  found the dough that works best for him.  

Inspired by none other than FoodTv's Guy Fieri  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/prime-time-pizza-dough.html, this is our go-to dough for at home pizza, baked right here, in our own oven.

Our own, fresh from our oven.  

1 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for kneading
2 T olive oil
1 cup warm water (110F)


In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk sugar, yeast, salt and flour.  Add  warm water and olive oil and mix with dough hook until the dough starts to come together.   Allow the machine to continue kneading the dough until smooth and elastic.

Turn onto lightly floured board and knead 3 minutes.  Place in oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap and let stand in warm draft free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  Punch down and divide in half.  Each half will make 1 large thin crust pizza.   On lightly floured board, form into smooth balls and cover loosely with plastic wrap.   Return to warm draft free place and let rise another 35 - 45 minutes.  (You can wrap 1 ball well in plastic and freeze at this point if you don't want to make 2 pizzas. )

Preheat oven to 500F.  If using a pizza stone, put it in the oven now so it preheats along with the oven.

Press the dough with your fingers until it is as flat as possible, then pick up and stretch over the backs of your hands, gently pulling the edges outward while rotating the crust.  If that proves too frustrating, just use a rolling pin to roll it out.  The texture will be different, but you won't be so frustrated.

Try for round, but amoeba shaped is ok too.

If using a pizza pan, put the dough in the pan, and top the pizza as you like it.   Pop it in the oven and bake 8 - 14 minutes, depending on thickness, until the edges are golden and cheese is melted.

If using a pizza stone, stretch your dough and put on a well floured pizza peel before putting on the toppings.  Once you have the toppings on, slide the pizza off of the peel onto the stone and bake.  Baking time could be less on the stone so keep a close eye.  When cooked, use the peel to lift pizza off the stone and transfer to cutting board.

Buen Provecho!