Mexican food

The food in Mexico is delicious and cheap. I finally discovered the wondrous chocolaty joy of mole, and ended up ordering it at least once everywhere we went. Look for "enmoladas" on the menu. It's not an accident that "enmolada" sounds like "enchilada" -- they just mean "in mole sauce" or "in chili sauce" respectively. And don't forget the ever popular "enfuego" -- on fire!

Freshly made churros were definitely one of the culinary highlights of our visit to Mexico. It's just dough extruded by a giant spritz press, then fried and covered in coarse granulated sugar. The outside is chewy-crisp, and warm and soft on the inside. I've really only had them at Disneyland -- three bucks for one long reheated churro (still tasty) -- but for twenty pesos (about US$1.25), I had an entire bagful, freshly made, that I shared. Oh man, what an experience.

The Lebanese place (Meson de Terraplen) on the corner from where we stayed was excellent too. Very flavorful, great textures, and beautiful presentation. San Miguel has not one but TWO Lebanese restaurants. Who would have guessed?

San Miguel de Allende Colors

Hot Air in the Jardin

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

We heard from the locals that a hot air balloon was going to lift off from the Jardin the next morning at 7am. We somehow managed to wake up that early and rushed up to see it. Hot air balloons aren't normally launched from the center of town, but it looks like an exception was made here because it was being filmed for a Canadian art TV show. As you can see, the balloon is as big as the Parroquia (the cathedral)!

First the balloon is unrolled on the ground and the basket is placed on its side and attached. A big fan is used to mostly fill the balloon with air. Heating the air with a huge flame finishes the job.

Most people were right next to the balloon taking photos up until it lifted off. I ran around the Jardin instead to capture the balloon from the side and different angles before it flew away. The silhouettes of the geometrically cut trees framed the balloon in unusual ways (in more photos than I've posted here). I like how the size of the balloon is emphasized when seen towering over the trees and with the Parroquia just peeking out from behind.

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

San Miguel de Allende is a small charming town in the central mountain region of Mexico.

San Miguel looks like it could be anywhere in Italy -- narrow cobblestone streets, colorful buildings, peeling paint, lots of people walking around. Most buildings are one or two stories, and have very simple facades, just a door and a few windows. You would never guess at the opulence and charming architecture of the buildings behind the walls.

Pear Jam

Friends gave us a big bag of pears so I turned them into jam. It's delicious and almost like eating candy. What's funny is that I made four batches of blackberry jam (about 4 - 8 jars per batch) and only made 3/4 batch of pear jam (5 jars), but by the photos it looks like I only make pear jam.

I took several photos with the blackberry jam in the same setting but the pear jam just came out visually more appealing. The golden yellow really pops against the green moss, and in other images seems to naturally match the surrounding colors.

Snow Day

I woke up this morning to find the neighborhood covered in a thick layer of fluffy snow. A lot of fluffy snow. At least six inches of fluffy snow. Did I mention it was a lot of snow? It snows here once or twice a year, but usually an inch or less. My neighbor said this was the most he'd seen since moving here thirteen years ago. On top of that, more is on the way in the next few days. The weather will remain below freezing which means all the snow-covered streets will turn into ice and take seemingly forever (days) to melt.

All the neighborhood kids were out sledding in the streets (us too, briefly) which is a ton of fun. It also means that the city shuts down because it's nearly impossible to drive anywhere. To put it simply, infrequent snow, hills, and inexperienced drivers are a bad combination.

Kids standing at the bottom of the local steep street called out when a car foolishly started heading down it. The driver, realizing they made a mistake, experienced their car sliding and spinning in slow motion down the icy street. There were a lot of close calls with the one car abandoned near the bottom of the hill but amazingly most cars managed steer and avoid collision (although it was eventually hit with minor damage). Truly a suspenseful and terrifying spectacle. Good thing someone put up a warning sign at the top of the hill.

Golden Pear Jam

Home-made organic pear jam illuminated by the sun.

Hide and Seek

How long did it take you to see the rabbit in the picture? Isn't it amazing at how well the rabbit's mottled fur matches the dirt and twigs in the background? Wow.

Fall Colors All Year-Round

Bold yellows, reds, and oranges from around the nation (Chicago, top; Columbia City / Seattle, middle; Lahaina, bottom)

Fall Harvest

Fresh vegetables and squash from the local farm stand. The rainbow chard is especially delicious.

Garba-Raas dance for Navratri

Celebrating Navratri is something everyone should experience. The whole room was moving up and down, forwards and backwards like waves breaking on a beach as everyone danced the Garba. Like gears in a clock, an overwhelming view of color and motion as circles of people orbited around other circles of people around the shrine in the center, like planets rotating about themselves and the sun at the same time. Hundreds of people following each other and they danced around the room. Oh the poor people who had to follow me. They eventually gave up in polite frustration and jumped ahead.

We formed a giant circle, two concentric circles for the Raas, the dandia dance. Yes, we banged dandias (sticks) together like swords and in a short pattern and kept rotating partners. Banging dandias with people of all ages, from 3 to 60 or more, is a great way to break the ice with a lot of people since you have to stare face to face as you coordinate the movements and rotate to the next partner.

People from all backgrounds were represented. Although most people were Indian or of Indian descent, people with backgrounds or from Asia, Africa, Europe, and local Americans were there too. Just in our group of seven there were people from Estonia, India, Africa (not sure which country), and the US. I even ran into some of my Indian co-workers who I think were more surprised to see me than I was to see them.

Ghost

Sent in by an avid reader (thanks Mom!). The story is that she saw this cookie and it reminded her of a photo from many years ago, which she dug out of  her archives (it runs in the family). What a great pairing!

The Apple of Man

One of the favorite costumes that I've seen -- so simple and very clever. For those who don't know the reference, see this link at Wikipedia.

Wild Mushrooms

These images represent a small sample of the myriad types of mushrooms that appear just within my neighborhood in the fall. I'm simply amazed at the diversity. Some are huge, some are small, some are layered, some are clustered, some stand alone, and come in so many shapes. They would be delicious grilled on a BBQ if only they weren't also poisonous.