Aguas- what we Americans consider juice. Its pureed and strained fresh fruit with added citrus(as preservative i hear) sugar and water. Seriously life changing. The first time I had "aguas" here in Mexico was @ Nayellis mother and fathers home. I was fascinated and delightfully pleased to hear how simple this drink was to make.
So far I have tried Lima, Lemon, pinya y pinocolada. (I prefer when they are not strained and you get delish pieces of fruit while you drink!
Ok that was my silly little foodie fact for the day!
Rest assured when I get home I will be buying a blender and making Aguas for everyone who visits my home, why not share the wealth?! lol
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Classes again :)
Well tonight was another set of classes I have been giving while Im here in Tepic. As requested we had chicken fried rice and strawberry crepes! strange combo I know but hey it was delish none the less.
My first class is the serious group. My second has two brothers in it and I swear all I can think is "Herald and Kumar" every time I see them. Non stop jokes from those two.
I started by dicing all the vegg, onion, peppers, celery, carrots and scallions. Once everything was diced up the students and I took turns piling everything up on plates to be fried. (totally changs Mongolian grill style) lol.
I had so much fun explaining all the different things that were not so common in the community. ie, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil.....
Wow what an experience. The kitchen was bustling with people and the smells were amazing. I could seriously do this teaching thing.... I loved trying everyone's creations!
( personal note..... ponder teaching possibilities when I return home, although I could see a weight gain down fall involved with this life decision. So on second thought, teaching was fun while it lasted. Ill leave the experience in Tepic!) lol
My first class is the serious group. My second has two brothers in it and I swear all I can think is "Herald and Kumar" every time I see them. Non stop jokes from those two.
I started by dicing all the vegg, onion, peppers, celery, carrots and scallions. Once everything was diced up the students and I took turns piling everything up on plates to be fried. (totally changs Mongolian grill style) lol.
I had so much fun explaining all the different things that were not so common in the community. ie, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil.....
Wow what an experience. The kitchen was bustling with people and the smells were amazing. I could seriously do this teaching thing.... I loved trying everyone's creations!
( personal note..... ponder teaching possibilities when I return home, although I could see a weight gain down fall involved with this life decision. So on second thought, teaching was fun while it lasted. Ill leave the experience in Tepic!) lol
Vegetarian service for 10
My first vegetarian dinner for 10!
Wow I am not going to lie this was a bit daunting t first because I literally had no idea what to prepare. I wanted something filling yet fresh. So after googling (yes I google as a hobby) local fresh ingrediants and top ten Vegetarian food eats I decited to go italian!
The appetizers were fantastic I made garlic crustini with a ridiculously thick puttaneska sauce. (tomato, olives onion, parsley, capers, sundried tom) to dip the crustini into. woohoo BIG HIT!
The entree was delish I prepared a trio of mushrooms simply sauteed in butter and a little bit of sage and crushed garlic. (I think I used two full bags of mushrooms in this one) I needed it to be hearty atop the pasta since there was no meat. I had walked into town and bought some fresh pasta from the whole wheat bakery I blogged about last week. Spaghetti was one of my three options at the store and thats what i went with! I made a delish Alfredo sauce and it was heavy on the Parmesan cheese! (I plated with the oh so classic noodle twirls a laded of Alfredo to cover and a whoppin serving of yummy shrooms! It looked and smelt amazing!
I needed something light and refreshing so I made a salad. using an onion two cucumbers, two zucchini, mushrooms, mozzerela, basil, and tomatoes I putt a medium dice on everything. It was time consuming because I wanted it perfect but well worth it because it was simply gorgeous!
They loved it and good thing I bought so much pasta because two of them actually asked for more! wow!
So I guess maybe I should not have stressed so much about this dinner. In the end it went off without any glitches and everyone was satisfied.
(from what i tasted in the kitchen while cookin this was a winning dinner and I will be sure to use this recipe again)
Wich led me to ponder..... Maybe I should try bein a vegetarian?! It certainly is healthy and can lead to weight loss :) Also allowing me to broaden my culinary horizons?! Ill think a little more about it and let yall know!
Sunday morning I will be going to a local vegan resturant! This will be a first for me and I cant wait to let yall know how it was!
Wow I am not going to lie this was a bit daunting t first because I literally had no idea what to prepare. I wanted something filling yet fresh. So after googling (yes I google as a hobby) local fresh ingrediants and top ten Vegetarian food eats I decited to go italian!
The appetizers were fantastic I made garlic crustini with a ridiculously thick puttaneska sauce. (tomato, olives onion, parsley, capers, sundried tom) to dip the crustini into. woohoo BIG HIT!
The entree was delish I prepared a trio of mushrooms simply sauteed in butter and a little bit of sage and crushed garlic. (I think I used two full bags of mushrooms in this one) I needed it to be hearty atop the pasta since there was no meat. I had walked into town and bought some fresh pasta from the whole wheat bakery I blogged about last week. Spaghetti was one of my three options at the store and thats what i went with! I made a delish Alfredo sauce and it was heavy on the Parmesan cheese! (I plated with the oh so classic noodle twirls a laded of Alfredo to cover and a whoppin serving of yummy shrooms! It looked and smelt amazing!
I needed something light and refreshing so I made a salad. using an onion two cucumbers, two zucchini, mushrooms, mozzerela, basil, and tomatoes I putt a medium dice on everything. It was time consuming because I wanted it perfect but well worth it because it was simply gorgeous!
They loved it and good thing I bought so much pasta because two of them actually asked for more! wow!
So I guess maybe I should not have stressed so much about this dinner. In the end it went off without any glitches and everyone was satisfied.
(from what i tasted in the kitchen while cookin this was a winning dinner and I will be sure to use this recipe again)
Wich led me to ponder..... Maybe I should try bein a vegetarian?! It certainly is healthy and can lead to weight loss :) Also allowing me to broaden my culinary horizons?! Ill think a little more about it and let yall know!
Sunday morning I will be going to a local vegan resturant! This will be a first for me and I cant wait to let yall know how it was!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Shenenigans
Oops i did it again...... got my nose pierced! (for ten bucks.) Don't worry everything was sterile and unopened needles. I took lots of pics too but I am not posting any because the view up a bleeding nose is not attractive in any way!
Steph got her lip pierced. She did realy well was not nervous at all!
I love being spontaneous!
The girls took me out last night and we had so much fun! We started @ church(where I got to see Rachel Allen! oh goodness it was a great reunion!) It was actually comical because if you are from the NW you will be firmiliar with the preechings of Rev. Vince and Landon Shott! They were in Tepic doing a revival-esque sermon! It was quite entertaining and I had forgotten how white Vince's teeth were! lol. There were men and woman wailing during the alter call, people flooded the stage and it was amazing! (Total Brandon Beals summer camp tent revival feeling.... if you know what I mean!)
After the service we went to a coffee bar where i had a strawberry milk. (it was coconut milk and strawberry puree) so stinkin good! We ordered a few apps and all shared them. I was dared to eat a jalapeno and I did it! woo spicy!
After we ate we took a ton of pics and laughed for about a half hour then we played pool! I was the only one who knew how to play and it literally took us an hour and a half to play two games. With two on one team and three on the other! ( we won both games);)
We did not get home last night until about 1am. I had a blast.
(my nose does not hurt at all!)
Steph got her lip pierced. She did realy well was not nervous at all!
I love being spontaneous!
The girls took me out last night and we had so much fun! We started @ church(where I got to see Rachel Allen! oh goodness it was a great reunion!) It was actually comical because if you are from the NW you will be firmiliar with the preechings of Rev. Vince and Landon Shott! They were in Tepic doing a revival-esque sermon! It was quite entertaining and I had forgotten how white Vince's teeth were! lol. There were men and woman wailing during the alter call, people flooded the stage and it was amazing! (Total Brandon Beals summer camp tent revival feeling.... if you know what I mean!)
After the service we went to a coffee bar where i had a strawberry milk. (it was coconut milk and strawberry puree) so stinkin good! We ordered a few apps and all shared them. I was dared to eat a jalapeno and I did it! woo spicy!
After we ate we took a ton of pics and laughed for about a half hour then we played pool! I was the only one who knew how to play and it literally took us an hour and a half to play two games. With two on one team and three on the other! ( we won both games);)
We did not get home last night until about 1am. I had a blast.
(my nose does not hurt at all!)
few days late...I know!
First I would like to apologize for my lack of blogging the last three days! I have been uber busy and tired. My apologies, blog readers!
So lets pick up where I left off......
The day after my classes was great, I had a shopping day with Stephanie to gather things for the upcoming "Torta Tour". We started our journey @ walmart, then a local grocery store called Ley. I had decited to go with a philly cheese steak play on a torta. So we grabbed about a dozen peppers, some various cheeses for me to create a sauce with some chilies and fresh baked bread! (we were feeding 80) I was amazed because after all the food we grabbed the total was only about 40 bucks!
We went back to the house and had some down time and began preparations for the sandwiches.
We washed and cut all the vegg. Then lightly sauteed the peppers and onions and whipped up an ease sauce. (with some added chilies for a Mexican flare. lol) spicy!
We had about a dozen people involved in the food program here to aid in assembeling the tortas and it went smoothly, assembly line style. We did however run out of meat half way through but have no fear we ran to the store and purchased some more! About an hour later we had 80 tortas wrapped in plastic bags and ready to be distributed.
This is where things truly got exciting. The tortas we had prepared were headed to a local government ran hospital. There were tons of people laying on benches, sitting on the floor and crammed into hallways just waiting to be seen by a doctor. Andy explained to me that people in this area rarely receive health care and come to the hospitals when things are seriously wrong. It can sometimes take days and weeks to be seen so families will camp in or outside the hospital for as long as it takes. Sometimes going days without food. I was shocked and my heart was heavy. We all gathered outside the hospital and said a prayer before going inside.
The people were so amazing, little children and old and young all inside. They were so thankful to be getting a sandwich. The looks on their faces when they learned we were offering free hot sandwiches was priceless and humbling. I could have stayed at that hospital for days. Never before have I seen such patience, humility, gratitude and love in a strangers eyes. It made me realize just how good i have it and I will forever remember these moments and reflect upon this time.
When all the Tortas were gone we again gathered outside the hospital. We took some pictures and reflected on what we had done and again Andy explained a little about why it it so important to reach out and offer help to those in need.
I used my culinary skills in the best way I have ever used them.... I fed the hungry! What an amazing feeling. Thank God for the gifts he has given me and my ability to aid others and show his love.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Day 2 my classes
They were wonderful. the firstl class went by so quickly because I was flustered and hurried through. (accidently leaving out the all so important cilantro in the cucumber salade) my bad. There were about 9 in my first class and 7 in my second. We had fun making an asian cucumber salad and sweet chili chicken! tasted great too!
No cuts or burns!
I was exhausted by the end of the night. But relieved it was over and a little excited about the class on Thurs! Pad Thai and fried rice, as requested!
We all decited that going to get dinner was too much of a hassel so we walked a few blocks up to the grocery store and got some foods to munch on while we watched a movie. I ended up buying yogurt and diet coke! (go figure)
Nayeli, Andy, Stephanie, Omar and I all sat down to watch a movie. After the movie I quickly went to bed. Goodnight geckos, goodnight new friends, goodnight Tepic!
No cuts or burns!
I was exhausted by the end of the night. But relieved it was over and a little excited about the class on Thurs! Pad Thai and fried rice, as requested!
We all decited that going to get dinner was too much of a hassel so we walked a few blocks up to the grocery store and got some foods to munch on while we watched a movie. I ended up buying yogurt and diet coke! (go figure)
Nayeli, Andy, Stephanie, Omar and I all sat down to watch a movie. After the movie I quickly went to bed. Goodnight geckos, goodnight new friends, goodnight Tepic!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Day 2... shoppin for classes
Just finished shoppin for my classes today!
Stephanie and I went into Tepic via taxi, shopped at walmart (oh it felt like home) We also headed to a small outdoor store where we could get a couple drinks before heading home. Delicious lime aguas!
I have about 30 students in my classes, one begining @ 6 and another set @ 730. I am so excited:) I will be sure to post somethin later tonight and tell everyone how they went.
Lots of pictures to come!
Stephanie and I went into Tepic via taxi, shopped at walmart (oh it felt like home) We also headed to a small outdoor store where we could get a couple drinks before heading home. Delicious lime aguas!
I have about 30 students in my classes, one begining @ 6 and another set @ 730. I am so excited:) I will be sure to post somethin later tonight and tell everyone how they went.
Lots of pictures to come!
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