Breakfast in Mexico - "Las Cazuelitas"

Breakfast at Las Cazuelitas...
fast food in Mexico!
(Hard to believe these pictures were taken just last Friday.)

My husband and son consider
Las Cazuelitas
the fastest and tastiest breakfast in
Tecoman, Colima, Mexico.
After my opportunity to "dine" there
 this past week, I will agree...
it IS fast... and oh so tasty!

A typical breakfast at this popular establishment is

Beverage
* jamaica - a sweet-tart tasting beverage made from the
the flower of the jamaica plant - which may look similar to a hibiscus flower
* horchata - a sweet rice water drink

Tacos
* shredded cooked chicken, chilies, onion, tomatoes, and Mexican cream stirred into it after the first
ingredients are cooked
* shredded cooked chicken with cubed squash, tomatoes, onions, white shoe-peg corn all cooked together
* shredded cooked chicken, slivers of nopalitos (cactus), onion, tomatoes, shoe-peg corn
* cooked "chicharron" - pork skin, diluted tomato
sauce, slivers of cooked onion

Toppings for tacos
* chopped cilantro
* chopped white onion
* thin sliced radishes
* fresh limes for juice
*sea salt

These taco ingredients are served in thin corn tortillas made right there on the spot. They double the corn tortillas to add
a little more substance to the meal as well as to help hold
the ingredients inside.

Yes... Las Cazuelitas is fast,
but it is also
soooo goooood!


I'm linking to
WOW Us Wednesdays

At Savy Southern Style
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

and

What's It Wednesday
at

Ivy and Elephants

http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

and

This is new to me... "Your Cozy Home Party"!

I'm so excited. Shannon just told me about it.

So here I go for the first time.

Come check it out.

http://cozyhomescenes.blogspot.com/

It looks like a lot of fun and it's

my kinda place!

and

http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Check out Full Plate Thursday!!

Home from Mexico

Lance, Marcela and Family

We had a wonderful time with family

in Mexico. Business might be only one of the forces

that takes my husband and me down South...

but celebrating our granddaughter's 8th

birthday was the true reason.

It is always a blessing to see your grown children

handle the challenges of work and family

(and I have to add... in a foreign country)

and see how they manage simply single-handedly.

Pictures will be posted later as we recoup from a

long day of travel...

but just had to post this picture!

I"m barely getting in on time for

Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday, Carmen!!

Our precious Carmen was born

January 27, 2004.

She has always been such a ray of sunshine

and has given us so much joy.

Carmen is our first grandchild, but she is

also the first girl in our family.

Her love of fashion...

Her love of sports...

Her energy and sweet beauty

has been such a gift to my husband and me.

Carmen's grades are excellent and she is fluent

in English and Spanish.

She is active in her church.

She loves to help in the kitchen.

Having Celiac Disease is not easy, however,

Carmen has mastered the diet and is careful to follow it.

I love this picture. Carmen is in my kitchen and is wearing

an apron that my grandmother made for me.

 

We will travel to Mexico on Thursday where

our son and his family live

so that we can celebrate Carmen's eighth birthday.

We can't wait to see our girl!

Love you, Carmen!!

"Abuela"

Colonial Corn Bake - Talaquepaque, Mexico

As we plan to make a trip to Mexico for our granddaughter's birthday I have been reflecting on previous

trips as well as when we lived about 30 miles, down the coast from Manzanillo. So many great memories...

which of course includes food.

Colonial Fresh Corn Cake

is absolutely one of my favorites.

I blogged about it a couple of years ago,

but I'm bringing it back.

You can get a good look at it in the lower left-hand portion of my collage above. It is worth every step... and every bite!

Colonial Fresh Corn Cake

8-10 side dish servings


SAUCE
4 c. water
1 fresh poblano chile (about 3 oz.) stemmed, seeded and cut into thick strips
1 small green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into thick strips
1 ½ c. (loosely packed) baby spinach leaves
¼ c. chopped white onion
3 whole cloves
2 garlic cloves, flattened
2 bay leaves
¼ c. (1/2 stick) butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 c. whole milk
2 teaspoons powdered chicken bouillon


CORN CAKE
4 c. fresh corn kernels (cut from 4 ears) – I used frozen corn
4 large eggs
1 c. whole milk
9 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt


SAUCE
Bring 4 cups water to boil in large saucepan. Add poblano chile and next 6 ingredients; boil until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Transfer vegetables and ½ c reserved cooking liquid to blender. Blend chile mixture until smooth.
Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add flour, whisk in milk, then blended chile mixture. Whisk sauce constantly over medium heat until it boils and thickens, about 3 minutes. Whisk in bouillon powder. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before using.)


CORN CAKE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 13x9x2 inch baking dish with foil. Butter and flour foil. Working in 2 batches, puree all ingredients in blender until almost smooth. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until baked golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean… about 1 hour.

Invert cake onto platter. Cut into squares and serve warm with sauce.

Also pictured in this collage: Guacomole with tostados, tropical fruit compote with yogurt, tamarind margarita, shrimp bisque, fresh bread with butter wrapped in corn husk.
Restaurant - Casa Fuerte, Tlaquepaque, Mexico, a "town" within Guadalajara.

 

Friday you will find me joining in with other "Foodies"

for Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Don't miss out on some major mouth-watering recipes!!

"Juan Wayne" - it's what's for breakfast

"John Wayne"

If you were a kid at the ranch your dad, along with other dads, prepared "John Wayne" for breakfast.
This meant that all of the left over grilled meats prepared throughout the weekend were diced and cooked along with onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, maybe some left over baked potato... And the way the kids would eat it was to tell them,
"John Wayne eats this every morning for breakfast!"
It worked!!

So now along come the Petersons who cannot leave anything alone.. including the food.

I fried

bacon

I sauteed

red onion

red and green bell pepper

(Serrano chili would have been good, but didn't have any.)

I diced up the left-over meats

rib-eye steak

Polish sausage

buffalo sirloin

I then cut

4 corn tortillas

in almost 2" squares

and fried them in canola oil

until crisp. I drained them and sprinkled

sea salt over them. (No nibbling!)

Then the part I think is fun!

I buy raw flour tortillas... sometimes located where you

would find canned biscuits in your grocery store.

In a teflon pan heated to medium-high place a

raw tortilla

and allow it to puff up.

Flip.

Toast.

Place in a folded tea-towel.

(My opinon about tortilla warmers - the flour tortillas lose their delicate crispiness)

I didn't include a picture of beaten eggs but you know whata that looks like anyway.

Beat a

dozen eggs

Add a little milk and season with S&P.

Now...

Combine all of the sauteed veggies,

meats,

and fried corn tortillas

in a skillet.

Add beaten eggs.

Cook until done.

Scoop a serving of this delicious mixture

and place it in the warm flour tortilla.

Now, add a spoonful of salsa

and sprinkle with grated cheese.

There you go... with the Mexican twist to this,

it is now

"Juan Wayne"

Enjoy!

I'm linking to

Little Red House for

Mosaic Monday
http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

So sorry! Still having problems with Blogger.

When I try to comment on someone's post,

it freezes my computer!

I'm open to suggestions.

:-(

Also just found out it's only certain blogs

that I cannot post on.

????

Blogger Problem!!!! Grrrrr!!!

 I hate having blogging problems!

Who doesn't??

Everytime I try to comment on someone's

post it freezes my computer.

I have tried emptying the cache as

someone recommended but that did

not help.

Any suggestions??

Turkey Scrapple - It's what's for breakfast!!

Christmas Dinner - 1960

A typical holiday dinner with my grandmother, Ruby Boykin (we called her "Mother 'B'") where we could count on a delicious meal always. My family is made up of wonderful

cooks. L-R are my sister, Aunt Jo Anne (I've blogged about her before), my father, my younger brother, yours truly and then my grandmother.

Below is the recipe for "Turkey Scrapple"...

a delicious after-holiday dinner treat!

I posted this recipe in 2009.

Scrapple

Have you ever heard of scrapple? Well, I know you Easterners have, but I'm referring to turkey scrapple that is just part of our after-Thanksgiving menu. This was a concoction made by my father's mother, Ruby Opal Heath Boykin, absolutely one of THE best Texas cooks I've ever known. Mother "B" is what we called her in our adult years, "Bum "B"', in our younger years. This is how you make Scrapple - Mother "B"'s style:


•Pick the leftover turkey meat from the bones and cut into smaller than bite-size pieces and place in a Dutch oven


•Add leftover dressing (I wouldn't add the nuts, if there are any in the dressing) and add about an equal amount to the turkey


•Pour some leftover gravy so that it sort of becomes a dry mush (Isn't this sounding delicious?)


•Cook a big pot of grits and add it to the turkey mixture. I keep enough out to pour about 1/4" in the bottom of a "Pam'd" loaf pan. The point is to make the grits your binder. If there is too much dressing then the mixture will crumble after chilling.


•Pour the turkey, dressing, gravy, grits mixture into the loaf pan(s)


•Cover with foil and chill overnight or all day.


•When chilled, turn out onto a cutting board and cut into thick slices (an inch or a little more).


•Dredge in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper, dip in beaten egg, dredge in flour again.


•Fry in oil in a frying pan until crisp. (I love using a cast iron skillet for this)


•Serve for breakfast or a quick lunch.


I know that this probably looks like just a homemade, thought-up recipe... and it probably is because I have never found anyone who has a recipe that even slightly resembles this. But I promise you... it is fantastic with fried eggs, fried bacon, fried sausage, biscuits, toast, butter, homemade plum preserves (my grandmother's of course with two pits left in to make it tart!) or honey, milk, coffee, juice. For sure I know what we're eating for breakfast tomorrow!!

Scrapple at the ranch this past weekend.

P.S. -- Just realized that I inherited all of the milk glass in this picture!

Today I am posting to

All the Small Stuff
http://allthesmallstuff-cole.blogspot.com/
Check out Cole's

Pesto Chicken Salad

http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/

Blessed with Grace by Lisa

Check out Lisa's
Baked Spaghetti

***
Check out "Northern Nesting"
for a fantastic give-away.
It's an amazing wire cloche!
http://northernnesting.blogspot.com/

Meet Lynne of Butterfly Creek Pottery

I want to introduce you to a dear friend of mine,

Lynne Brown. I think you'll find her blog,

Butterfly Creek Pottery,

http://www.butterflycreekpottery.com/

absolutely wonderful!

I met Lynne through Jan Karon (the Mitford book series)

message board. I actually flew from Mexico to North Carolina to meet Lynn as well as other Mitford fans

for a reunion of readers.

We knew we would remain life-long friends!

If you notice a similarity in our blog names...

now you who inspired me.

Lynne makes beautiful pottery and a visit

to her blog is not only for inspiration but

an opportunity to view her amazing creations!

So hop on over and be follower.

My Vintage Thingy for Thursday - Recipes!

Ruby, my paternal grandmother,

married a man who was in the hotel business

for many years. Mother "B" was a wonderful

cook and many of her recipes were written on sheets

of hotel stationery.

I love vintage recipes.

These recipes for Chow-Chow and Cherry Pie

were two of her favorites.

My late mother wrote in a cookbook she compiled with my grandmother's recipes, "I suppose that living in Midland (Texas) at the Circle CB was the closest "Mother B" ever came to living on a farm where she had the opportuniity of "puttin' up" fruits and vegetables. I can still remember the wonderful pungent smells coming from her kitchen when "chow-chow" was being made. Hardly readable now, her recipe for "chow-chow" has been passed among family and friends and will always carry lovely memories with it."

Chow-Chow

1 gallon ripe tomatoes

1 gallon green tomatoes

1 gallon cabbage

1 dozen sweet peppers (red bell peppers)

1 dozen hot peppers (chilies), or to taste

1 dozen large onions

3/4 cup salt

6 cups sugar

2 tablespoons powdered ginger

2 tablespoons dry mustard

1 tablespoon each: turmeric, cloves, cinnamon

1/2 gallon vinegar

Chop first five ingredients into small pieces and mix. Pour salt over mixture and let stand for 2 hours. Squeeze with hands removing the vegetables from the brine. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook a few minutes until thoroughly hot - 2 to 3 minutes. Seal in sterilized jars while hot. Makes 9 quarts.

**

Cherry Pie

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons flour

5 egg yolks or 3 whole eggs (beaten)

1/2 cup milk

1  1/2 cup cherries (Fort Collins brand)

Melt butter in top of double boiler, add sugar, stir and then add flour. Cook until smooth; then add eggs a little at a time. Slowly add milk and blend well. Add cherries and cook a few more minutes. Serve with whipped cream.

No mention is made of a pie crust, but I imagine this is the filling and should be poured into a baked pie shell.

Today I am linking to

Vintage Thingy Thursday

at Colorado Lady

http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

Come check it out!

Remembering my mother, Rosemary

Rosemary Elizabeth DePasquale Boykin

Mother was born to Jean and D.V. DePasquale of Dickinson, Texas on January 3, 1926.

Her mother, young and an immigrant from Italy at the age of nine, and her father, well-educated and of Sicilian descent from Texas, were parents who insisted that their children

"leave their mark".

My mother, on the right, was a good student, played the piano, was proud of being a gymnast. She went off to SMU at the age of 16.

She married my father, a WW II veteran upon her graduation from college... her father insisting there would be no wedding unless there was a college diploma!

Their courtship was only three months, but their

love lasted 62 years when their passing was but four months

apart from each other.

This is my favorite picture of my mother.

She had done an amazing job of

"leaving her mark"

by 2008.

*She was mother to four children

*She worked throughout most of her married life

at several universities, primarily at Texas A&M University.

*She traveled and lived abroad with my father in Syria, Iran and even eight years in Africa.

*She published two books pertaining to Italian history and genealogy.

*She wrote and illustrated cookbooks for fundraisers as well as for her family.

She had so many more accomplishments.

Most of all she was a loving wife, mother and grandmother.

I truly miss her.

She would have been 86 years old January 3rd.

Happy Birthday, Mother!



Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

from Deep South Texas

My Chocolate Lab, Simon, and I went for a walk

at our deer lease. Above are a few of the beautiful

sights we saw.

Yes, man's best friend enjoys the fog, brush, and cactus

at Las Islas Ranch as much as I do.

One morning we were fortunate to see a beautiful

deer. I'll have to remember the sight from memory as

I wasn't quick enough with my camera.

Wishing you good health and good fortune in

2012!