Seis de Mayo

Because Cinco de Mayo came at the end of a tiring week of this,

Posing in factory apparel. Exhausting.

my holiday was spent like this after a few Coronas:

Ole!

Sunday morning was a slow-moving, ill-humored wake up, disgruntledly drowsing at the alarm until I actually got going with these increasingly-popular breakfast foods.

Coffee/tequila not pictured.

 Camp counseling, 2003. I taught canoeing,
drama, music and salsa eating.

Salsa Verde recipe I picked up long ago from one of the kitchen ladies at Camp Arrowhead. Muchas, muchas, muchas gracias, Senora.
This will make damn near a quart, which is not enough.

1 small red onion
1 lb. tomatillos, blanched and skinned (or 3 cans) (I know)
1 small tomato
1 lg bunch cilantro leaves and a few stems
2 mean serranos, seeded to reduce the heat (or not, ole!)
juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 t cumin
1t salt

blender or food processor

1. Blend/pulse tomatillos, tomatos, cilantro, cumin & lime until mixed.
2. Chop fine by hand or pulse in serranos and onions. Do Not Liquify.
3. Add salt to taste. Then chips. The biggest bag you can find.


We took this batch to my cast mate's house for a small fiesta writ large with comida, cerveza and...

Photo by Emily Ho

Horchata!

What you need for fast aguas frescas:

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

1 cinnamon stick

1 can sweetened condensed milk

3 cups hot tap water

A holding vessel & a pitcher

Tea towel or cheese cloth

1. Allow the rice to soak with the cinnamon in water, our holding vessel was a tall tumbler. Many people add blanched almonds to the soak. See this recipe for more. Soak overnight or as long as you can wait. A few hours will do. (thankfully)

2. Using an immersion blender, blend/grind the mixture, now softened slightly until smooth. Strain through cheese cloth or a tea towel, like your abuela used to do.

3. Add the sweetened condensed milk and blend well. Now you have horchata concentrate. Add water to taste (you're aiming at about two quarts total). Chill in a pitcher to make your aguas frescas frio then go to town. I enjoy mine over ice. Maybe with a churro or two. Yes. Vicky I'm thinking of you.

That same day, Bill and I had a chance to try Two Bells Tavern, a legendary old burger hole that smells like, well, an old burger hole that's seen some grisly days. There is a smell. Their burgers arrive on crusty sourdough lengths with your choice of cheddar, swiss, havarti or bleu, (I hear their blue burger is a siren song.) Bill had the Tavern burger with swiss, and I was in love. I had the basic havarti burger, and must admit it was not as juicy as I had heard it would be. For sides, no fries will do. They make baked beans in house, which I've never had the occasion to rave about before but do so now, since I kept pilfering from Bill's small bowl, and a cole slaw with bacon and a mustard wash, (yes!) Potato salad is also an option, and if you have no heart, there's also chips. 

See all of you soon.