Mellow Days

Sunday....a day of rest....especially in Mexico. 

The world seems to stop...and everyone spends time with family, friends, paseando....relajeando.

Wild Greens: Mizuna, Swiss Chard and Lamb's Quarter

We've been harvesting and finding wild food during our travels.  These greens yielded a beautiful saute which our bodies crave.

First Harvest - Zucchini

Our lote's first harvest...these humongous zucchini...which I will turn into Zucchini Bread (once I figure out differences in elevation, degrees Fahrenheit v.s. Centigrade, my new oven).

Life is amazing....just when you think you've figured out your environment, you run into a place like the Historic Archives of Chapala, which sat on the same corner all this time and which I had not noticed until recently.

Historic Archives of Chapala: this nineteenth century building served as the Mayor´s office until 1998. Today it houses the Municipal Historic Archives, founded by the initiative of Professor Armando Hermosillo.  It is one of the richest archives in documents in Jalisco.

Historic Archive Entrance

Archive Work Never Ends

Seal: City of Chapala

(Notice the chapulin - grasshopper, fishing nets, small ceremonial ceramic vessel

holding an Ojo de Dios)

Harmony of Elements: Sun,  Earth, Water, Wind

 Professor Armando Hermosillo, Founder

On  Sundays, the town takes to the shore....relaxing, playing, exploring.

Our local balloon animal-makin' payaso

Local enjoying one of life's simple pleasures - elote with limon, sal y chile!

People of the 3rd Age

Sunday in the park with Jorge

Smiling local with fountain

Ice Cream Sunday

Happy local on the Malecon

Escaleras

We live in Mexico’s western mountain range, the Sierra Madre Occidentál.  And as a result are surrounded by beautiful elevation changes throughout Chapala, which afford us vistas and stairways such as this one.  The bird's eye view apartment at the top of the stairs is an artist studio...one I wish I had for my painting.

Music in the parque

More Nieve!

3 Hombres: 2 working, one not

Our vendors come in all shapes and sizes.   Here a strolling, blind songstress

gifts us with her melody.

In Mexico, all ages play together...well

Our lovely Ribera

Lago Sunset

Sunsets here are magical...the light changes...ultra violets take center stage

and the mood slows a bit...yet left with plenty of life for the day is not done.

Anticipation

Strolling local

JOCOTEPEC

Las Olas

Being market day in Jocotepec, we ventured out to score some locally grown food.  The mercado yielded freshly grown and harvested corn, tomatoes, onions, garlic, avocados.  We also stocked up on much needed grains:  lentils, frijoles, avena.  And to top it off we also found small fish for our lot's rain catchment system.

Ensalada

Our shopping done and eyes sated, we headed back to Chapala.  On the way one HAS to travel through San Juan Cosala and pass the seafood restaurant row there.  And as is usually the case, one HAS to stop at one of the many, delicious eateries for comida...which we gladly did. 

We chose Las Olas.

Aside from resting your dogs and having breathtaking views of the lake, you were also treated to a cornucopia of food choices.  We ordered guacamole, green salads to start and Shrimp Stuffed Chile Rellenos and Stuffed Lenguado for our entrees.

Shrimp Stuffed Lenguado (fish)

The presentation was only second to the taste!

MEZCALA

Ivan

I had been itching to get back to Mezcala, to work on my friend Santiago's farm.  It is harvest time so Santiago, his son Ivan and I headed east to their lake front rancho.  The journey is filled with spectacular vistas, rivaling those of the French Riviera or Malibu coastline.

Cohuetes

We arrived in Mezcala at the end of their Fiestas Patronales and the rockets/cohuetes were still being launched and heard throughout the area, creating smoke clouds.  Santiago said the local lore believed rockets kept the rains away....something that we definitely did not want to occur...

we need the rain for our crops.

Fco. preparing for  the day's work

Ejotes - harvest for the day

Butter Nut Squash

Ivan with his catch

I told Ivan that Brad needed some small fish for our rain catchment container at the lote.  Immediately Ivan was on the job...and managed to hand catch a baby Tilapia, which he deposited in a plastic bottle.

Santiago and his bounty

LOTE

Growin'

Our plants are happy, relatively pest free (knock on my head) and growing!

We've arranged to have the fencing completed around the property so that cows and horses don't wander in and eat all of the food.

Beauty abounds

Sexy squash

Our lot uses rain water which we also catch/harvest during this time of year.  One of the challenges was to keep the mosquito larvae in check...so we found that adding fish to the water supply accomplishes this task efficiently.

Fingerlings

Release

We've also added fingerlings to our fountain at home...and find

that we can all live harmoniously

From my Rinconcito de Amor to yours....I wish you only the best.

Mazamitla

Today was Charis' birthday and she and Craig invited us to Mazamitla to celebrate the day. We'd not been to the mountain town on the south side of the lake, and were excited to see this 7000 foot elevation natural treasure. The huaraches that I have worn now for more than 15 years were made in Mazamitla, so it seemed fitting for them to return to their home place.

But before heading to Mazamitla, we decided to stop in the lakeside town of San Cristobal Zapotitlan, where the women's weavers cooperative is located and where they create wonderful corn husk and palm weavings.  This would be Charis and Craig's first time at the cooperative and we knew they'd be overjoyed to experience this special place and meet the women of the collective.



Palm for basket weaving. 

Each bundle is labeled with the name of the woman who will be weaving with this local material, making beautifully crafted work.

Some of the craft for sale at the cooperativa store

More raw material for the women weavers

Corn husk figures

Un pedido (special order)

Special orders arrive all the time to the weaver's cooperative.  They may make a large order of figures as table centerpieces for a baptismal fiesta, first communion party, birthday celebration or wedding.  Given a few weeks of time, these orders are custom made from top to bottom.

Some colorful wreaths

Happy visitors and shoppers

Carretera to Mazamitla

So loaded up with baskets, figures, flowers we headed to our destination, climbing up from the lake's shore to the mountain village of Mazamitla.

Brad picking lamb's quarter and Charlie guarding

We stopped to stretch our legs and for a bit of refreshment.  Brad wandered off to study the local flora and found lamb's quarter, which he picked and I cook in a yummy breakfast omelet the next morning.  We love our wild greens!

View from our lunch spot Quinta Del Bosque

Entrance to Quinta Del Bosque

Local fauna

Mazamitla main plaza

Mazamitla (La Capital de la Montaña) is a town and municipality and is a popular resort destination for travelers from Guadalajara. Its name comes from the Nahuatl and means "place where arrows to hunt deer are made". The municipality has 11671 inhabitants and is known for its natural beauty.  It is considered by the federal Secretariat of Tourism as a Pueblo Mágico.

Strollin' and shoppin'

The town's streets are centered around their main plaza, as are most villages in Mexico.  Mazamitla has also created a pedestrian avenue full of quaint, small shops and eateries offering local delicacies such as fruit in syrup and milk based candies.

Taking time to play

Antique Mexican toys are found throughout the area.  Brad found a rolling penguin toy most enjoyable and showed us how it is done.

If you can't make time to play, then what's the point?

Bouquet

So from us to you, enjoy when you can. 

Salud, amor y pesetas para gozar!

Growth

We've been spending quite a bit of time in the lote or garden that we planted.  We started a few weeks ago...and since it rains almost everyday or night and the sun shines most days, the plants love the caresses of the landscape and grow quickly.

Our lote...notice the height of the corn...not quite to an elephant's eye...but soon!

Brad tweaks his rain catchment system...now it is optimized.

Maiz y Ejotes

Lovely clabazitas...growing beautifully.

And in the midst of all the work we also find time to enjoy the scenery.

Santiago y Familia weeding.

Reading and contemplating while Brad works.

Discussing growing techniques

Maiz y Tomatitos

Happy Gardeners

There is a tranquilness of body and spirit that happens when you pull weeds, bury your hands in rich soil, sweat sincerely and sit enjoying the products of your efforts...this cannot be replicated in any other way for us.  We hope you find your tranquilness wherever you are.

Food For Thought

Food For Thought

Dedicated to my father

Javier Gonzalez Murguia

August 4^th, 1925 Ì August 25^th, 2011

As most of you know, food is a very important aspect of my life.

It is the glue that brings and holds my family together…the twine that binds me to my friends…the reason why I get up in the morning (well, one of them).  Breakfast is the first thing Brad does in the morning…me I awake with the sun and prefer a nice fresh cup of rich coffee first thing while I read email, write my blog, read the papers, etc.  Then my stomach starts up a few hours later, Brad wakes up and we have a hearty Mexican breakfast or light oatmeal with fresh fruit, nuts and maple syrup…then we feast at comida time.

Our life here is scheduled around the Tianguis…the local markets.  On Monday we have the prepared foods market at the Hole In One as well as the local Chapala open-air market…Tuesday is Organic Market day…Wednesday is the Ajijic tianguis…Thursday takes us to Jocotepec for their weekly open-air event…and Friday we rest…phew!

We don’t always attend all the markets, but there is always something special that we would like to buy from one of these gems.  Honey and queso fresco from San Antonio, greens from the Organic Market, veggies and artesania in Ajijic.  There is always a reason to stop by these lovely, cobble stone streeted markets.  Sometimes I don’t have anything to purchase but choose to stroll through the street fairs just for the joy of it.

And I’ve finally figured out why we Mexicans are so notoriously late for everything.  We forget to factor in the time we spend saying hello to friends and acquaintances that we run into every time we leave the house.  This is a common occurrence…whether it be Alphonso at the street block’s corner telling you about his recent plantings and how his corn is growing in our emerald mountains…or Teo, the local Huichol leader and amazing artisan who had my beaded bracelets with him which he repaired for us.  Or Arturo my friend and local shoe shine man in the Ajijic Plaza.  I needed to know how his wife was faring with her acute illness…thank goodness she was better!

Teo y Su Familia

Teo's Kids

So when you factor in the time it takes to stop and say hello to old and new neighbors and friends, well you truly need an extra hour or two just to arrive at your destination.  Every once in a while the metropolitan in me rears it’s punctual head and says “hey dude, your going to be late”…but then I remind myself of what is important at that precise moment and I return to my wonderful conversation…and the person waiting for me on the other end doesn’t seem to mind my tardiness…they just take it in stride, of course.

For all of our casual living lakeside, life seems to spiral in a rush all around us.  Whether it be the myriad of psychedelic insects breeding, birthing, living quickly or the avian lot, such as a the barn swallows dashing Mach 1 to and fro, or the gregarious grackles chuckling at you in your slow state, they all seems to move at lighting speed.  This is life…in a hurry to “be”, to enjoy, to celebrate before the inevitable turn takes hold.  And take hold it does, much too quickly for most of us.

Which leads me back to food.  Food here is direct.  It comes from the earth of the lot down the carretera, or from Joco down the road.  It is relatively free of pesticides and preservatives.  When we buy our queso fresco from San Antonio, it doesn’t stay fresh in the fridge for a month…you eat it immediately upon returning home, savoring the amazing aroma and taste…wanting more.  The wide variety of fresh fruit is astounding…and is best enjoyed from the tree.  The honey is captured from local hives and is the sweetest taste around.

So I’ve learned to shop and cook with an immediacy and hunger that I didn’t have before.  In the same way I’ve learned to live with a gratitude and respect that seemed to be dormant until now.

As I look forward to traveling to Patzcuarro, Mexico this year for Dia De Los Muertos, I am already planning my altar, looking forward to that special time and place to remind me of my mortality and of the eternal joy that can be had if I just stop and listen to the sage advice of the universe.  It is inside all of us.  It just needs a lovely appetizer to boot it into gear.

Enjoy!

Teo's Headless Fish Soup

(Traditional Jalisco Caldo Michi)

Serves 6

2 kilos carp, cleaned and cut into thick slices
3 zucchini, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2 fresh yellow chiles, sliced
6 cups chicken broth
1 handful cilantro, coarsely chopped
Fresh or dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:

Thinly sliced cabbage
Limes, cut in quarters
Additional chopped onion and cilantro
Hot sauce

Bring broth to a boil with the onion. Add the other vegetables and simmer 15 minutes and then add the fish, salt, and black pepper.

Simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes or until the fish is almost done. Add oregano and fresh cilantro, cook another 2 minutes.

Offer thinly sliced cabbage, quartered limes, additional chopped onion and cilantro, hot sauce, and a basket of tostadas.

Note: My spin on this Mexican recipe is to use any ocean fish bought filleted and cut it into chunks to add to the broth. I find it much easier and I do not like the idea of fish bones in soup. Teo buys the carp from a fish farm in Jocotepec, but it can also be purchased in the Jocotepec central market or fish market every day.

Oddly enough, Teo always eats sliced bananas with his Caldo Michi. He does not consider this the least bit unusual.

Casa de Adobe

One of the things we're happily being exposed to here lakeside is the "green" sustainability community.  People here are very forthcoming and giving when it comes to introductions and networking.   In this way we came to know Luis y Jan, two people who decided to build their own adobe casa here in Riberas del Pilar.  Jan is a mixed media fiber artist who created an adobe residence and separate art studio on her property.  Along with their 2 rescue pups, Luis and Jan live a tranquil, ideal existence at the foot of our beautiful mountains.

Exterior

Jan will be administering art and craft classes from her studio, and Brad has been asked to teach a course in weaving as part of her curricula.

View to mountains from roof

Studio spiral stair to roof

Studio entry door

Lizard rain spouts

Studio patio

Main house floor spiral

Tinaco spiral

Ceiling beams

 

Interior Wall detail

The mixture of red brick, adobe brick, wood, steel, stone and petate all flow harmoniously through this lovely home.  Because of the circular shape of the structures, the interior spaces seem large.  The entry flows into the living and dining areas of the open kitchen design.  The bedroom provides privacy as well.  This home has all the comforts needed for a lovely existence.

And we look forward to spending time in the adjacent studio, creating and inspiring each other as we go.

Gracias Jan y Luis