Posted in Casita Colibrí, Celebrations, Culture, Food, tagged birthday dinner, food porn, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, terrace dining on February 5, 2021| 8 Comments »
It’s been a whole month, so I figured it’s about time to again showcase the culinary creations by my friend, neighbor, and cocinera extraordinaire, Kalisa. If you can’t take the mouthwatering temptation, I advise you to step away from the blog post now.
Just so you know, the last two are not everyday fare — they were for my birthday. (Please, don’t ask.) I think Kalisa outdid herself!
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Food, Holidays, Religion, Restaurants, Travel & Tourism, tagged Candlemas, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, Día de Candelaria, food porn, Levadura de Olla Restaurante, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos on February 2, 2021| 4 Comments »
Today, besides being Groundhog Day, it is the Christian holy day, Día de la Candelaria (aka, Candlemas, Presentation of Jesus at/in the Temple, and Feast of the Purification of the Virgin). In Mexico, tradition calls for families to bring their Niño Dios (baby Jesus), decked out in new clothes, to the church to be blessed. Alas, in the time of Covid-19, the Servicios de Salud de Oaxaca (health department) has called upon Oaxaqueños not to gather this year and, while the doors of the Cathedral will be open, the faithful are asked to stay home if their Niño Dios was blessed in previous years.
Custom also calls for the person who bit into the baby Jesus figurine hidden in the Rosca de Reyes (3 Kings Cake) during Día de los Reyes Magos to host a tamalada on Candelaria. As I write, tamales are steaming all over the state. The virus will not stop the cocineras of Oaxaca from rising before the crack of dawn to make and serve tamales. As I previously mentioned, I munched down on a figurine. And I wasn’t the only one — my neighbor and friend Kalisa also had the “pleasure.” I must confess, we took the easy way out and pre-ordered our tamales from Levadura de Olla Restaurante. I can’t wait to eat them!
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Food, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged El Día De Los Reyes Magos, food, los tres Reyes Magos, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, Rosca de Reyes, Three Kings cake, Three Kings Day, Wise Men on January 6, 2021| 5 Comments »
Feliz Día de los Reyes Magos / Happy Three Kings day! Today is the day Gaspar, Melchor, and Baltazar bring gifts to the children of Mexico. In normal, non Covid-19 times, the municipal DIF (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia) agency and private organizations sponsored a toy drive. Toys filled the Alameda to be given to the city’s disadvantaged children, along with milk and juice. Crafts, games, and music were set up to entertain. I haven’t seen or heard of any evidence it is happening this year. Let’s hope these children have not been forgotten.
In addition to kings bringing kids gifts, January 6 also calls for a special cake — the wreath shaped Rosca de Reyes (Three Kings bread). This morning, I walked up to Pan con Madre bakery to buy mine to share with apartment staff and friends.
And, surprise, there is a plastic Niño Dios figurine hidden in each Rosca de Reyes, remembering Mary and Joseph concealing baby Jesus from King Herod. If you are the “lucky” person to bite into it, you must host a tamales and atole party on February 2 — Candelaria (Candlemas).
Guess who the lucky person was? Yes, it was me!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged Christmas tablecloths, food porn, holiday dining, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, terrace dining on January 3, 2021| 14 Comments »
Kalisa, my many times mentioned friend, neighbor, and cook extraordinaire, outdid herself in December.
It was a challenging but definitely delicious year!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Celebrations, Culture, Food, Holidays, tagged coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, El Día de Acción de Gracias, food porn, friendship, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, Thanksgiving on November 28, 2020| 4 Comments »
What an unusual yet lovely (and delicious) Thanksgiving 2020 was.
After the fact, I realized this was only the second Thanksgiving I’ve shared with just one other person. Childhood dinners were filled with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Even the Thanksgiving I spent in Denmark, the international school I attended prepared a turkey with all the fixin’s dinner — to the delight of the American students and curiosity of the other international students and Danes. Once married, we hosted or joined family and/or friends — and that has been my tradition ever since, even here in Oaxaca.
Keeping Covid-19 protocols in mind, Kalisa, my (now famous) friend, neighbor, and cocinera extraordinaire and I decided we would persevere in an attempt to carry on with an albeit downsized celebration of just the two of us on my terrace. For the main course, we ruled out turkey, discarded chicken as not special, and settled on repeating the success of rabbit — concluding it would go well with my cranberry/pear relish and sage dressing. And, who knows? The indigenous peoples may have proffered rabbit to the starving and clueless foreigners.
So, we made our own pilgrimage up to Pochote Mercado Orgánico in Colonia Reforma to again purchase the criollo rabbit Kalisa would be preparing. A couple of days later, at Mercado IV Centenario, we happened upon camotes/sweet potatoes to be used for her “pumpkin” cheesecake. Unlike my first several Thanksgivings here, when bags of fresh cranberries could only be found at Mercado Hidalgo, I was able to purchase all the ingredients for my cranberry/pear relish at Mercado Benito Juárez. As for the dressing, I still had some Bell’s Seasoning brought from the USA a couple of years ago, and the rest was easily found. Looking at our menu, it occurred to me that perhaps we needed something green. That was easily solved with some baby lettuce from my garden (alas, no photo).
And so it was, a Thanksgiving where two friends gave thanks for our very present blessings — friendship, health, abundance, and being welcomed into the beautiful and loving arms of Oaxaca.
By the way, the place settings were for photo-op purposes only. We retired with filled plates and glasses of wine to the south end of the terrace where we could sit and eat 8 feet apart.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged food, food porn, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, pizza, roast chicken, roast rabbit on November 24, 2020| 8 Comments »
It’s been a whole month since I’ve delved into the food porn photo archive. With Thanksgiving only two days away, what better time for a few of my dinners from the past ten days.
And, what better time to express my gratitude for having such a great and talented friend and neighbor who delights in sharing her culinary artistry with others. ¡Muchisimas gracias Kalisa!
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged Black and white photography, food, Mexico, National Day of Mexican Gastronomy, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, street food stall, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 17, 2020| 3 Comments »
Yesterday, Mexico celebrated the National Day of Mexican Gastronomy and the tenth anniversary of traditional Mexican cuisine being designated by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Due to pandemic restrictions, in the absence of being able to savor the sights, smells, and flavors of a food festival, I honor the day with a photo of one of Oaxaca’s ubiquitous street food stalls.
This one, at the corner of Matamoros and García Vigil, always has customers — big and little, seated and standing, human and canine.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged comfort food, food, food porn, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, pozole, terrace dining on October 23, 2020| 2 Comments »
Last night’s socially distanced dining on the terrace featured pozole!
My kind of comfort food. Thanks, Kalisa!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Casita Colibrí, food, food porn, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, terrace dining on October 20, 2020| 16 Comments »
Given that the socially distanced dining on the terrace ice was broken earlier in the month, the entertaining continued with the arrival of L, my BFF since we were twelve. Kalisa — neighbor, friend, and cocinera extraordinaria – rose to the occasion and the three of us have been eating extremely well.
Lest you be concerned about the intervening dinners, the quantities were huge, doggie bags were taken back to our respective apartments, and leftovers continue to be happily consumed.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Casita Colibrí, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, food, food porn, home cooking, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, terrace dining, terrace garden on October 3, 2020| 6 Comments »
Last week, after seven months of Casita Colibrí being a visitor free zone, friends from California came to dine. Socially distanced seating was set up at the south end of the terrace.
The counter at the north end of the terraced was used as the staging area for food and drink.
We took turns selecting the fabulous fare prepared by my previously mentioned friend and neighbor, Kalisa.
Masks stayed on, except when eating, and early evening quickly turned into night as we talked and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. It had been so long!
Kalisa, the visiting couple, and I had so much fun, we did it again two nights later. And, yes, there was mezcal both nights!
Posted in Agriculture, Creativity, Culture, Flora, Food, Markets, Travel & Tourism, tagged @frontealcolor, corn stalk images, farmers' market, La Cosecha Oaxaca, maíz images, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, organic market, photos, popular travel destinations, Ulises Martinez, wall art on September 3, 2020| 7 Comments »
Entering La Cosecha Oaxaca farmer’s market, look to the left and you will see…
… murals by Ulises Martinez celebrating the gift of maíz.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Food, Gardens, tagged Dragon fruit, flowers, fruit, Hylocereus undatus, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, Pitahaya, white flowers on July 24, 2020| 6 Comments »
This morning as dawn broke, a pitahaya bloomed in Oaxaca. Tipped off by my neighbor, I ran upstairs with my camera — before coffee, no less!
The eight inches across flower was definitely worth it because, alas, by late morning this beauty will have wilted. It will dry, eventually drop off, and fruit will begin to form on the section hiding behind the flower and from which it emerged.
In a few months, there will be a red luscious dragon fruit, like this one on a neighboring stalk. I miss the pitahayas that used to climb the chain link fence surrounding my terrace.
By the way, if you are confused about the difference between pitahaya and pitaya (as I used to be), this page from the Mexican government gives the most complete explanation I’ve seen. It’s worth running through a translator if you don’t read Spanish.
My entry in Cee’s Flower of the Day photo challenge.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Food, Restaurants, Travel & Tourism, tagged cocineras, cooks, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, food, food porn, home cooking, Kalisa Wells, leftovers, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos on July 12, 2020| 12 Comments »
Up until last week, under semáforo rojo (red stoplight), dining at Oaxaca’s much celebrated restaurants had been prohibited and food-to-go became a new and popular option. The Facebook group, Taste Of Oaxaca! soon was filled with restaurant takeout and/or delivery menu options. It was really quite wonderful to see how creative restaurants and chefs became in trying to maintain their businesses, keep staff employed, and meet the needs of their clientele. However, I was blessed with an alternative — mi amiga y vecina (my friend and neighbor), Kalisa, whose passion is cooking and sharing her flavorful fare.
While living in the age of Covid-19, at least I’ve been eating well — and this is just a small sample! By the way, rumor has it that tonight I will be going up and over the rooftop with my bowl in hand for pozole rojo. Yummm…
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Food, Restaurants, Travel & Tourism, tagged Café Brújula, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, cubrebocas, graphic arts, masks, Mexico, Mister D artist, Oaxaca, photos, skeletons street art on July 3, 2020| 8 Comments »
Even if you’re just going out for coffee, mask up!
A reminder from the shutters outside Café Brújula in Plaza Santo Domingo on Macedonio Alcalá. Artist: Mister D.
Posted in Buildings, Churches, Food, Health, Science & Nature, Tragedy, Travel & Tourism, tagged Chapulines, construction workers, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, disasters, earthquake, grasshoppers, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, Templo de San José on June 24, 2020| 8 Comments »
This morning’s headline in NVI Noticias: Oaxaca revive pesadilla de los sismos en lo más álgido de la epidemia por COVID-19 (Oaxaca relives the nightmare of earthquakes in the height of the epidemic by COVID-19). I wasn’t in Oaxaca for the 8.1 earthquake September 7, 2017, so I don’t know what it felt like. However, I still have vivid memories of experiencing the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area. As scary as that one was, yesterday’s 7.5 temblor was definitely more violent and lasted longer.
The good news is I, my neighbors, and all my friends in Oaxaca are okay and the city sustained mostly minor damage. However, there is much devastation to roads, homes, and other structures closer to the epicenter near Huatulco. And, saddest of all, the death toll is now up to seven. For a more complete report, with dozens of photos, click on the article, Suman siete muertos por el terremoto.
Two months ago work stopped on the roof and bell tower of Templo de San José — due to virus restrictions on construction sites. This morning, workers returned to check out earthquake damage.
This, and the state of Oaxaca’s coronavirus statistics, like most of Mexico, continue to rise precipitously. And, unfortunately, many of the hospitals near the quake’s epicenter sustained damage. (Click on image to enlarge.)
Side by side statistics: June 19 and June 23. Grey=cases notified; green=negatives; orange=suspected; red=confirmed; turquoise=recovered; black=deaths
Oh, and did I mention, we have had massive rain storms the last two nights? We are all wondering what is next, locusts? 
Yikes, look what I found on my screen door this morning! At least in Oaxaca, we know what to do with chapulines (grasshoppers) — toast them on a comal with lime and salt. They are a great source of protein. Yummm…
Mexican Peso Converter
